Gary Thompson, Clerk of the Course for the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT, has thanked everyone involved for their “support, patience and resilience”.
The event’s final days were hit by inclement weather, following on from a difficult end to the 2025 TT fortnight earlier this year.
In a video, Mr Thompson said: “We’ve had a great two weeks. Unfortunately, the last three days we’ve set the events suffered because of the backlash, if you like, or the hangover from Storm Erin.”
He explained that contingency sessions were available but highlighted the event’s reliance on volunteers.
Volunteer Sector
“We are reliant on a huge volunteer sector, whether that’s marshals, officials, personnel in Race Control. The whole event is reliant on these officials, marshals and everybody giving up their time freely.”
Mr Thompson outlined the plan for the final day: “The plan today was to give everybody, every class, a race. People have put a lot of time and effort to get here.”
However, after the Historic Junior race, conditions deteriorated.
“The last few competitors were literally being chased across the mountain by a rain cloud.”
A track inspection followed for the Senior Classic race.
“It became clear that there were certain parts of the course which just was not suitable for classic senior bikes to be run on slick tyres.”
He added: “Safety always comes first. I made the decision to cancel the rest of the event because obviously safety is paramount, and we want everybody to go home safely.”
He concluded by announcing next year’s dates, which will be the two weeks leading up to the bank holiday weekend, and added: “I look forward to seeing you all at TT 2026.”
5 Comments