iomtt.com to re-launch

iomtt.com is to continue as the TT's official website for the next three years and will be re-launched by the Department of Tourism and Leisure with new features for TT 2007.

The site has been operated since 1998 by Duke, the local company with a long association with the TT races. To cope with worldwide interest in the TT Centenary event, the site will have increased user capacity and new features including radio commentary synchronised with live data and webcams during the races. A subscription fee of £10 is being levied for access to the web services during racing but the site will be free of charge for the rest of the year.

Peter Duke, Managing Director of Duke explained:

"With over 1 million visitors a year and peak traffic of nearly 30,000 visitors per race day, iomtt.com has only just coped with international demand for TT information in recent years. At the same time Manx Radio have also had a problem in meeting demand for radio commentary on the web with three times more people trying to access the feed than the audio capacity they have available. Unfortunately, internet services like data and audio cost quite a lot to deliver and with demand expected to be triple or even quadruple anything previous, the only way to cope with this year's traffic was to cover some of the costs with a subscription fee. By combining what fans from every corner of the globe want - data, commentary and news - and making a small fee, we now expect to not only meet all demand but can also offer extra services like webcams and podcasts".

During races, the new site will deliver a comprehensive rolling news service and extensive data from the live timing system, including the option to follow the progress of a 'rider of choice'. A 'mini dashboard' version of the race data will also be available for the thousands of race followers who want to follow the race action from their desks without obscuring the majority of their computer screens.

Throughout the year and free to users, the news section will be enhanced with stories from the paddock, race track and festival side of the TT whilst the popular TT database section is being expanded to include team profiles, data on sidecar passengers and an improved photo library. From March, the whole site will also be searchable using the latest Google technology to the extent that users will, for example, be able to find every rider on a 250 Benelli or every article featuring 'Joey' and 'Honda'.

A new TT Shop enabling fans to buy a wide range of approved products ranging from race programmes and grandstand tickets to memorabilia will also feature in the new iomtt.com.

The new version of the website is scheduled for launch at the end of February with the current site keeping fans up-to-date in the meantime.