milestone 11
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Is TT sustainable
Sadly, we are subjected to delays again. The likelyhood of seeing any racing today is remote.
After the debacle of 2011 and the subsequent arrival of Gary Thompson in 2012, there's been no wet racing. I concur with Gary wholeheartedly, I do not believe that TT should be run in the rain or for that matter when conditions are not consistent. That, however, creates the delays we are experiencing.
Last year, the weather was exceptional, as it is this year but diametrically opposed. There are few TT's without rain but will these conditions with the current diktat maintain TT's sustainability? I doubt it.
The Isle of Man is not the easiest place to get to whilst also being far from inexpensive when there, £45 to get into Bushys, what a nonsense. Many Marshals are visiting the Island and without them, racing will not happen, being sat at your post for 7-8 hours in wind and rain with nothing happening is far from amusing. I've been there. Many of these Marshals and visiting fans are not going to be prepared to spend, certainly in my case, a lot of money getting there for nothing. Fans, I believe, will stay away. The NW200 is a case in point, there are a lot fewer there now than in its hey-day.
Sadly, I believe TT's day's are numbered.
(This post was last modified: 05-06-2019, 02:29 PM by milestone 11.)
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05-06-2019, 02:13 PM |
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warrior
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RE: Is TT sustainable
Sadly since they decided they wont run on wet roads back in around 2010 this fortnight was always going to eventually arrive, i'm only surprised its taken this long given our climate.
Right i'm going to be controversial here.
As long as there is adequate visibility and no STANDING water, I think they should run the races, it is up to the riders whether they wish to enter the TT in the first place, how fast they wish to go, which tyres they wish to use, or if they wish to ride in a particular race, for the same reason that we cant move the walls and trees, we cant change the weather either!!
This is the TT, the ultimate test of man and machine, it is unique in the world, a test of speed and endurance over a varied course, and up to 10 years ago in varied conditions too, sadly it has now become some kind of extended BSB meeting.
I really do think it is time for the organisers to sit down and have a meeting to decide just what the TT now stands for, and whether they should either make some changes, or scrap the whole thing.
Unless they move the event to Tenerife or somewhere with a similar climate, this is going to happen again and again, and as pointed out above, there are only so many years that people will continue spending huge amounts of money to get here, to sit watching the rain from their tent or hotel, or huddling in waterproofs staring at an empty road, likewise the marshals who we so rely on are faced with all the same issues.
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05-06-2019, 03:27 PM |
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milestone 11
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RE: Is TT sustainable
They won't race in the rain Warrior, ever again. This likely extends to patchy conditions too.
Whilst it's not carved in stone, since Gary Thompson became CoC (2012), there's been no wet racing. Gary Thompson is the best CoC that TT has ever had, secretly, I believe that he will never sanction a wet race again. I agree. It's too bloody dangerous. You run slicks, find it's wet under the trees or raining at Kirkmichael or over the mountain, tip it in and you're on your ass heading for a wall, a tree or even a drop off the side of the mountain, (a la Conor Cummins). Run wets and they're not going to do a lap if it's dry in parts of the circuit. The sheer size of the course and the typical Manx weather leaves us with this conundrum annually.
You mention Tenerife, that will be great for me it's only 30 minutes on the plane. However, I'd rather you brought it here.
(This post was last modified: 05-06-2019, 03:44 PM by milestone 11.)
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05-06-2019, 03:43 PM |
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Goldfinger
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RE: Is TT sustainable
2 weeks of rain and half the forum wants to scrap the TT. Quite insane, isn't it? And this has nothing to do with the TT and less with sports. Every Outdoor activity could be rained out. Thats no reason not trying to do it, in worst case, there is another year next year.
Was there ever somebody who asked for scrapping wimbledon, because it could be rained out? bullcrap that is! I can't when the downhill world cup on the world famous Streiff was last run over the full distance. Every year they have problems with snow, fog, rain or even the sun. Nobody stops coming, nobody asks to scrap the race.
And would it be so bad, when some spectators would stay at home? In the last years I only read about full ferries, full hotels, full camping areas, ... Perhaps prices would drop for everybody, when the run to the island would be a little smaller.
But what I would want to know is why it is not possible to race in the wet. Is it the modern bikes and tyres or what. They race in the wet on circuits. They did it on the mountain course for nearly 100 years. And I can't see more heavy crashes back in the day.
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05-06-2019, 05:45 PM |
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warrior
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RE: Is TT sustainable
(05-06-2019, 03:43 PM)milestone 11 Wrote: They won't race in the rain Warrior, ever again. This likely extends to patchy conditions too.
Whilst it's not carved in stone, since Gary Thompson became CoC (2012), there's been no wet racing. Gary Thompson is the best CoC that TT has ever had, secretly, I believe that he will never sanction a wet race again. I agree. It's too bloody dangerous. You run slicks, find it's wet under the trees or raining at Kirkmichael or over the mountain, tip it in and you're on your ass heading for a wall, a tree or even a drop off the side of the mountain, (a la Conor Cummins). Run wets and they're not going to do a lap if it's dry in parts of the circuit. The sheer size of the course and the typical Manx weather leaves us with this conundrum annually.
You mention Tenerife, that will be great for me it's only 30 minutes on the plane. However, I'd rather you brought it here.
This pre-dates Gary, I wont go into detail, but it started creeping in around 2008 or 9
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05-06-2019, 06:25 PM |
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BenjiesDad
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RE: Is TT sustainable
After watching the footage tonight of the 600 race,
One thing that did catch my eye,
From all the on board footage and outside shots, On the second lap on the west coast,
There was not waved yellow flag to warn the riders of rain in the air, let alone the flag that a lot of these guys are now used to at short circuits, the white and red one,
2/3 riders knew at which point to take there hand of the bar to signal that things weren't correct, In a place that you wouldn't normally let go full stop,,,,
So had they been briefed ? Or just showing there dismay at the lack of flags ??
Like some of you have said, Gary has done a great job, since being in charge, More so with all the Health and Safety these days,
But it was Neil the ex Coc that decreed that there would be no more wet races, And that trend has carried on, much to the detriment of the event in my opinion, ( But being old school when we raced in all weathers, I might be biased,, )
Just my thoughts for now,
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05-06-2019, 08:37 PM |
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milestone 11
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RE: Is TT sustainable
(05-06-2019, 08:37 PM)BenjiesDad Wrote: After watching the footage tonight of the 600 race,
One thing that did catch my eye,
From all the on board footage and outside shots, On the second lap on the west coast,
There was not waved yellow flag to warn the riders of rain in the air, let alone the flag that a lot of these guys are now used to at short circuits, the white and red one,
2/3 riders knew at which point to take there hand of the bar to signal that things weren't correct, In a place that you wouldn't normally let go full stop,,,,
So had they been briefed ? Or just showing there dismay at the lack of flags ??
Like some of you have said, Gary has done a great job, since being in charge, More so with all the Health and Safety these days,
But it was Neil the ex Coc that decreed that there would be no more wet races, And that trend has carried on, much to the detriment of the event in my opinion, ( But being old school when we raced in all weathers, I might be biased,, )
Just my thoughts for now,
Eddie Nelson was CoC immediately prior to Gary Thompson.
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05-06-2019, 11:12 PM |
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