Marshaling requirements add more fuel to Isle of Man fire

An ongoing row in the Isle of Man following the announcement of changes affecting the Manx GP, the now defunct Classic TT and, more recently, the TT Marshals Association has exposed the absolute need to do things differently in order to cater for a world which is almost the opposite from the the fifties and sixties.

The announcement that the 2022 TT will be covered live on must surely have convinced the social media Doubting Thomases that this year’s event is not threatened. Indeed it is the start of a revolution by boss Paul Phillips and his team.

And the changes being made to the TTMA, some of which have not gone down well with everybody especially since the dismissal of a senior marshal who criticised the speed of change, has also exposed the size and importance of a voluntary body which is largely unknown.

They are a group certainly bigger, and in some ways more important, than the riders themselves. Because without both the TT would not take place.

On any given race day the 37 and three quarter mile circuit requires something on the region of 600 or more marshals. And the TT fortnight will require total number of something like 1500, all volunteers.

The challenge from 2022 onwards is the even greater attention to rider safety which requires more intensive training, clothing which reflects the seriousness of the role, including better protection, and the time commitment given by volunteers The total cost, underwritten by by IoM government but distributed by ACU Events, will be somewhere in the region of £200,000 which includes training days on the mainland.

So, encouraged by ACU Events and Race Director Gary Thompson, the TTMA is turning from being a club into a business - non-profit making but a business