Shaun Counsell who has stood down from his role as course inspection officer at the ACU

Official TT drivers had been ’clearly warned’ about exceeding the safety-imposed speed limits, it has emerged.

A statement has been issued by the Department for Enterprise following the front page story in this week’s Examiner about the departure of course inspection officer Shaun Counsell.

Mr Counsell has stepped down from his position with the Auto Cycle Union after a tracking system showed him apparently driving at ’excessive’ speed limit while on his way to a fatal crash at Ballaugh Bridge on August 24.

Mr Counsell said the system was not working correctly and the speeds he was tracked at were incorrect.

However, the DfE said it was not an isolated incident and official drivers had been ’clearly warned about exceeding the speed limits’, both at the TT and earlier in the Festival of Motorcycling, due to the ’obvious safety implications’.

A spokesman said:

’Shortly after an incident during the Senior Classic TT Race, director of motorsport David Morter received a verbal indication from an official that the course inspection vehicle, whilst responding to the incident, was seen to be travelling at "excessive" speeds.

’Later that day, on checking the tracking system history, it was found that there were a number of areas between the Grandstand and Ballaugh, where indicated speeds were recorded above the limits imposed by the racing authorisation, which was relayed to the organisers.’

Mr Morter advised clerk of the course, Gary Thompson, of the situation in regard to the indicated speeds as it could lead to an infringement of the racing authorisation.

The spokesman insisted that any decision as to what action was to be taken was that of Mr Thompson and the race organisers, and not one by either Mr Morter or an official in the DoI, as Mr Counsell had claimed.

’It is clear from the article that the course inspection officer took matters into his own hands by walking away from his role,’ he said.

’Ultimately any consequence of this discussion is a matter between the organiser and the individual.’

The DfE spokeman said the speed limits within the racing authorisation are very clearly defined and set specific boundaries.

Any failure on the part of the organisers to ensure these requirements are being adhered to has the potential to increase the risk of the authorisation being withdrawn and potentially putting further authorisations - and therefore the events at risk.

The spokesman said the trackers are not being used to monitor speed.

He said:

’The tracking system is an additional safety system that is being introduced in phases to show the status of moving vehicles at any particular point and is not designed for, nor will it be used as a speed monitoring system.

’It is important to note that the original concern came from an official at the event on behalf of the organiser, with the tracking system upon interrogation subsequently indicating there may have been excess speed in a number of areas.’

He added: ’The department fully supports the requirement for speed limits on non-competing vehicles and the decision taken by Mr Thompson to raise the issue with the course inspection officer.

’Any further comment or action is between the organiser and the officer concerned.’

The tracking system was introduced following the accident during last year’s TT when Steve Mercer was critically injured.

He was among a group of red-flagged riders who were sent back to the Grandstand the ’wrong way’ round the course and hit a course car, driven by Mr Counsell.

An 80mph speed limit was placed on course cars travelling over closed roads and 100mph over the mountain.

Mr Counsell said after being tracked going over the 80mph limit at three locations on the lower part of the course on August 24, he was told he would be driven round for the remainder of the race week by another course car driver.

But he claimed the tracking system was not working correctly. He said during TT he was tracked at Handley’s Corner when he was actually driving through Kirk Michael, and at the 33rd Milestone when he was actually at Hillberry.

Mr Counsell said he has had a number of flashbacks following the Mercer crash - and if it hadn’t been for his actions the incident would have been ’catastrophic’.