I could be that some folk will think that I am being a little flippant in my attitude to racing, especially by shrugging it off with a "hey ho" that's racing. Not a bit of it. I take racing very seriously, but there isn't one rider out there who doesn't understand the issues of overtaking competitors, and not only on the TT course. However Hammerhead sums up the situation perfectly, the most difficult overtakes can be a rider of similar ability, and choosing the spot to overtake is really tricky. What catches the fast men out with lapping a rider is the speed differential IN THE WRONG SPOT.
With Hammerhead confirming the difficulty of overtaking riders of similar ability, it confirms in my mind that the system is flawed. These "Top 20", are the targeted riders for a win, they are the ones (it would seem), trying the hardest for the win, or at least a decent top finish, yet they are the ones facing the greatest difficulty with being caught, or catching up other top riders. In fact they don't mind a bit. Bruce chooses his number 5, just as Hutchy chooses his etc etc. They are not perturbed by the prospect of overtaking, so why on earth should the riders out of the top 20? There has always been scope to bring the odd rider forward who clearly is setting times ahead of his number, but that just results in minor programme changes.
As it is today, it's a real dog's breakfast, and I've hardly touched on the dangers caused by trying to qualify in order to  gain the lowest number.
My first TT proper was 1984 (I did the 1975 Production). I was the Senior MGP winner from the previous year. The ACU gave me No. 73 and 80 respectively for the two big races. I finished 9th and 7th. I never remotely worried about my start number in either race.
OK, things have moved on, but, come on, what is the problem?