|
The 2008 TT & MGP races have come and
gone; it seems only a little while ago I was
saying it was daunting with them approaching; now it is the 2009 TT that is
on the horizon and that too will be on us in no
time The changes with the TT this year with ACU-E
Ltd being the race organiser worked extremely
well; the new people in and around the control tower soon found their feet
and it was business as usual. It was a great
honour to work with the Chief Constable who took on the
roll of Chief Marshal for the TT; his action in doing so gave the TT
Marshals great credibility in what they do.
As far as racing and marshalling issues went for TT 2008 it could not
have been better. The weather was almost perfect
and the races were quite exhilarating and to top it all we exceeded
the marshal numbers of 2007, albeit by one. One other welcome factor
which has seriously marred other TT events was the
lower number of serious crashes that, coupled with no fatalities;
long may it continue.
Just a brief mention of the MGP, this was also a well attended event though
the weather in
this case was less than kind. It was in fact down right unfriendly, with so
much rain you could
have achieved a better lap time with a jet ski. There were cancellations and
delays to test every one’s patience, culminating
with the threatened cancellation of the Senior Race on Friday, echoing
last year’s disappointment. It was however run on the Saturday and
the marshals never let us down. With a few radio
appeals and some sweet talking to pit crews and redundant riders we
filled the gaps, ending up with over 1500 marshals signed on - more
than at Centenary TT. As usual there is always the
sales pitch about marshals and marshalling; if you like the idea
of putting something into the races or would just like to be more
involved and are attracted to the idea of
marshalling we will be pleased to meet or hear from you. Visitors are always
welcome at our office behind the Grandstand; call
in for a coffee and have a chat, there will always
be someone there to show you what goes on. If you like what you hear and see
you can sign on. If you fall into the category of
a new marshal, don’t worry you will not be dropped in the
deep end. We need a constant flow of people to support the road races
here in the IoM, a minimum of 504 for every
practice or race; it is simple, if we do not support the riders and the
whole idea of racing on closed roads in a great
place such as the IoM, then it will cease to happen.
The other way to look at it is this, if you are here for the races
why not take part and marshal? The greatest part
of the work of the IOMTTMA Ltd is the continual recruitment of marshals
and the arrangement of the option of IMC training; we must all bear
in mind ‘without enough marshals there can be no
racing’. With that in mind maybe you can help even further - our
recruitment posters are still available and we need to get them put
on view in all the right places. If you are part
of a bike club or attend a bike friendly café or pub where a poster could be
displayed, please get in touch and we will be
pleased to send you some. If you were here this
year for either of the two events, don’t be hiding that tabard away as
you will need it for the next event - it’s not that far away. Until
then, on behalf of the committee of the IOMTTMA
Ltd thanks to all those who are committed to continue to marshal in the
future. We hope to meet as many of you as possible
in 2009. Regards, Bill Carden
IOMTTMA Ltd Chairman/Press Officer.
Please contact us at:
Tel: 01624 618191 (including answer phone)
Email: info@iomttma.com | Incident Management Training: training@iomttma.com
Website: www.iomttma.com
Isle of Man TT Marshals Association, The Marshals Office, The Grandstand,
Douglas,
Isle of Man IM2 6DA |
