The chair of the Manx Motor Cycle Club which organises the Manx Grand Prix says it's hoped the return of the Classic TT will attract more people to the Isle of Man and assist the hospitality sector.
Manx Newscast
Manx Newscast: Manx Motor Cycle Club welcomes extended MGP
Hi I'm Sean, one of the editors at Manx Radio. Now this morning we've been hearing that the classic TT will be returning as part of an expanded Manx Grand Prix schedule. In 2025 the event will be on for 12 days with the Department for Enterprise also committing to the event for the next three years. So just what does this mean for the event and why has that changed been made now? Myself and Ben spoke to the Chair of the Manx Motorcycle Club John McBride. So John, first of all can you just summarise what this new format is? Well the new format will begin on the 17th of August which will be Manx Grand Prix practice, that's the Sunday. There'll be three days of, or three, yesterday days of practice solely dedicated to Manx Grand Prix riders who will be riding two types of machinery this year which will be super twin and super sport and that will be repeated again. So they'll have two races. They'll have races dedicated to those classes and then on the Saturday and on the Monday they will have a junior and senior Manx Grand Prix which will consist of those classes as well. Then we move on on the Wednesday to the classic TT. They will have three classes. There'll be a Formula One which is for super bikes. They'll move on to lightweight which will consist of 252 strokes and 400cc which will formally super sport 400 and then on the classic 350 and on the Friday they will have the senior classic and the superbike classic. So good programme there too. So it's a lot of racing, eclectic racing which should appeal to everyone. Now it is quite an expansion on the schedule we've seen in the last couple of years. What is it hoped that this will achieve? Well it's hoped to, obviously we're bringing back with TT brand, the Department of Enterprise want to leverage a little bit to bring more fans to the island and obviously to assist in the hospitality sector. It was found, I mean particularly with the weather disruption last year that the hospitality sector suffered and it was a bit stop-start for them and this sort of thing. So really it's been a lot of thought has gone into it but in a very short space of time because it's less than two months since the Manx Grand Prix so there's a lot being gone on behind the scenes. We know that fans have been calling for the schedule to go back to the two weeks pretty much since the shorter schedule came in a couple of years ago. Why are we only seeing these changes now? Well the big problem was a volunteer really, I mean the whole event runs on volunteers and trying to get sufficient volunteers for a full two weeks has always been problematic but it became more and more problematic particularly with safety protocols and this sort of thing. So we needed to reduce it unfortunately but since that time the TTMA have done a lot of work behind the scenes from their point of view in motorsport medical services they've really pushed along and they're hopefully confident that they're going to be able to meet the demand which is good. I mean they really rallied in 2024 over the 2024 event to fill the gaps despite all the weather disruption they really came up trumps, they rallied the troops and got things moving so that's a good sign and we hope it's going to... but it's a chance for everyone to get behind the event now. Now we've gone back to the two week event it's time for everyone to get behind it and those who may never have marshaled before there's plenty of instant management courses going on and they've only got to go on to the islandman TT marshals.com website and book a book a course and become a marshal. What feedback have you had from likes of riders, residents on these changes? Well riders are happy because it's... it's... because the Manksgram pre-finishes on the Monday there's no extension to the time they have to spend here from Manksgram pre-pointed with and similarly for the classic TT they start on the Wednesday finish on the... on the following Friday so it's... it means that they're not going to have a problem there. We're still at to... I mean Gary Thompson from the AC events is dealing with the road closures and everything in the road closure order and we'll hear from him shortly but as I say it's all been a bit quickly so... Now we've heard from the Department for Enterprise that this is a commitment to the event for the next three years so from your point of view does this mean the future of this event is secured? Yes I believe so, yes. I mean they've got to put time limits on these things so it's uh... we're confident that this ensures the future of the event, yes. Oh John you're obviously a huge motorsport fan yourself so the fact that the classic TT is returning the Manksgram pre is going back to effectively the old day two-week format. How excited are you personally about this change for next year? I'm really excited about it. I think it's going to have some fantastic racing and a fantastic atmosphere because I think the Department for Enterprise will make a show of the classic TT. There's a lot of interest in that sort of thing it's particularly because it's going to concentrate on the 70s, 80s and 90s which is a relevant time period for a lot of fans these days. And you could say as well that sort of TT brand and the Manksgram pre-brand together. That's a fairly potent mix. I think yes, believe it is. Thank you for making it to the end of the Manks Radio newscast. You are obviously someone with exquisite taste. 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