.

Another year!  And another £100k perhaps?

This is just my personal opinion, but if you're going to employ people in a management capacity in respect of the racing should they not have the expertise to advise government without an expensive consultation exercise?

I can't see how a World series is going to be financially beneficial to anyone.  This may seem like a strange thing for a long time TT/MGP supporter like me to say, but I don't think the 'brand' is strong enough.

Where this was discussed on the old site people hadn't really grasped the point of this series and were eulogising about the UGP regaining World status and so on.  From memory when this was announced (2 years ago?) the plan was to have a core of approx 20 'seeded' riders and the rest of the grid made up from local wildcards.  Circuits would be more Billown sized than TT course sized.  As the likely participants will all be otherwise engaged in the course of the usual race season then it would have to be a Southern hemisphere based championship and as the politicians wish to use it for commercial gain, it would have to be somewhere that perhaps isn't that aware of the IOM and would see it as a potential business partner.

Going back to the strength of the brand: The plan is that a host country will pay the DED (being the commercial rights holder) a fee to licence the TT name and to be a part of this theoretical series.  As commercial rights holders typically derive income from things like TV broadcasts the host circuit will need to derive it's own income somehow.  When Silverstone host F1 their only income stream is from gate receipts.  F1 gets away with it because there are enough places that want the kudos associated with hosting it.

So, how will the host countries benefit?  How much could the DED realistically expect to get paid per event?  Who will pay for the competitors to travel to the other side of the world?

Lots to discuss, so let's discuss it!

I am with you on this one Sticks , they are little boys in a mans world , and they think they have something far bigger than it is in the bigger wider world ,

Sadly (especially so for me being a Manx resident and tax payer!!) they will not listen to you, me or anyone else regardless of knowledge, experience, business acumen, or anything else for that matter.

They are determined to plough on with this, and will continue to do so until someone in senior government has the sense to step in and stop them.

The consultants involved, who are probably having a good chuckle over the naivety of their client, will obviously continue to sell them hope at the appropriate rate, for as long as someone is daft enough to pass their invoices for payment, which will be until someone bright enough to see through this, and senior enough to actually do something about it, pulls the plug.

Another £100k if they are lucky.
Anyone with half a pea brain with an understanding of basic economics and an knowledge of the subject matter ( road racing) could see that it was/is a non starter , mainly for the reasons that Sticky has pointed out.
What is even more confusing is given the money saving, and money raising things that Tynwald are imposing on the Island at the moment, this kind of ongoing expenditure is bizare.

I suspect Warrior is entirely correct in his assessment of the situation.  I presume most consultancies will keep accepting the cheques as long as the client keeps writing them...

What countries do we think might be approached?  Australia has a ready made venue in Mount Panorama at Bathurst and I'm sure there would be something suitable in NZ but as this is about commercial opportunity, would the DED think that these countries have anything to offer business-wise?

We're left with Asia - the most likely bet in my opinion, the Middle East and South America.  I suppose S. California & Florida are options for a winter series but could you ever get a road circuit up and running there? 

I also wonder if the DED have given thought to whether the riders would actually be able to devote the time to this.  Taking two of the riders I regularly report on as an example, both of them have become regular top ten finishers in their classes and as such are likely to be on the radar as potential competitors in this series.  One is self employed and the other works for the family business.  This would make it hard for them unless there was enough money available to them to cover their absence and to get them to these events.

I really can't see how this can work but I'm prepared to be convinced if anyone has a contary opinion

Please, someone can explain me how is the TT World Series project in this moment???
2016?? 2017??

We won't know anything until at least this time next year or longer if the consultants haven't reached a conclusion by then and that conclusion may be that there won't be a World Series at all.

Also it may be that we won't be told anything anyway if the report continues to contain 'commercially sensitive material'

This was never going to be, and never will be, a runner, and I said so at the time it was first mooted.


People in the DED (not the politicians but civil servants), along with the "consultants", sold the MHKs a Bill of Goods and the poor saps hadn't the wit to see that they were being conned.


The only people for whom this deal will be successful (financially, of course) will be the consultants plus, possibly, (allegedly?) one or two of the aforementioned CSs.


When I first rode the Manx, in 1978/79, there was a Rickie Lee Jones record on the jukebox in the Loch Hotel, entitled "Easy Money".


Says it all, doesn't it!!

Its been shelved as per MCNs Simon Patterson, also quotes from Laurence Skelly.

“It’s really looking at the potential dilution of the current event. We’ve had excellent growth over the past years, but we believe that there’s still more to come from the local events. Therefore, we need to ensure that, and take care of the local economy, before we look at the World Series and build on that.”

However, the other element of the plans, which will see the organisation of the event handed over to a private firm in return for a licencing fee, instead of the Manx Government running it internally, are apparently still underway, with a new promoter set to be announced ahead of the 2016 event, which gets underway in May.

Also up on http://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-new...s-shelved/

Good news IMHO.