The Manx Grand Prix languishes under a commercial cloud after a barrage of post-event criticism has been left unsubstantiated or otherwise by a complete absence of relevant hard data writes Roger Willis.
This year’s Centennial Manx Grand Prix at the end of August once again ran to a controversially shortened itinerary, slimmed down from 14 days to just a nine-day duration. Most of these days were taken up by practice and qualifying. Red-flag incidents and weather problems further limited track time. Only two and a half days were allocated to actual racing, and that programme was seriously scuppered by bad weather.
Friday’s solitary curtain-raising Lightweight race was postponed and then crammed into the tail end of Saturday’s revised schedule, which eventually saw it reduced to two laps from three as course visibility deteriorated. An earlier headline Classic Senior race was also cut from four laps to three. With no racing on Sunday, more inclement conditions affected the final Monday’s action too, which didn’t kick off until a late afternoon start.
Overall, the mood among both visiting fans and local businesses reliant on them for turnover was a disappointment. Campsites around the course had been noticeably thin on customers and popular trackside spectating locations often had empty hedgerows. Motorcycling road traffic volume appeared to be visibly lower as well. Celebrations dedicated to the MGP Centenary drew muted attendance responses and some activities were cancelled.
Initial complaints after the event soon emerged in local print media, led by Andy Saunders, chairman of the Isle of Man Licensed Victuallers Association and landlord of the well-known Quids Inn hostelry in Douglas.
“I’ve not met anybody that doesn’t want a return to the two-week format,” Saunders told an Isle of Man Courier reporter. “I’ve heard nobody speak positively from any angle, not riders, race officials, visitors or locals. All of the town events that go on around the Island also got squashed in, so they were all on the same day. This affected not just the hospitality sector but retailers too.”
Most unusually, figures from the Isle of Man’s Steam Packet shipping line on ferry passengers and motorcycles carried during the MGP period still haven’t been released two months later. Equivalent flight passenger data from the Island’s Ronaldsway Airport is also absent. During this year’s TT, such information was almost instantly available, given it was conveniently upbeat.
We know the Steam Packet suffered a couple of ferry cancellations at the beginning of 2023 MGP practice week owing to bad weather and struggled to provide replacement bookings within a reasonable timescale. Some reduction in headcount was anticipated, though. Numbers had been inflated for the revived 2022 event by advance ferry bookings made pre-Covid in 2019 and then rolled over. Many of those visitors were really annoyed because they were unaware that the format had been slashed to nine days until they arrived, and were left twiddling their thumbs for almost a week without any more racing to watch.
Cynical observers are now suggesting that another dose of bad news is being buried by the Manx government, plus the ferry line and airport – both of which, of course, it is the sole proprietor.