I bet that you cant prove to me mathematically that it's any harder to win a replica now than it was in Bob Heath's heyday when more than 100 people raced regularly. The track is about 2mph faster and the race record is faster by about 2mph. Plus everyone must have improved their bikes even slightly. How is it harder?

I accept it's more difficult now than for the few years before Ryan started coming, but that is because the void left by Bob Heath was enormous and it took until 2007 for somebody to fill it! But entries were already in decline long before that (In the mid 1990s people were getting turned away because the grid was full)

I also think it is ridiculous to say that Olie Linsdell shouldn't be there. Surely in many ways he's the Bob Heath of today. He wins classic races on the short circuits, on the roads in Ireland, he has the best bike and he rides in the TT. The only difference is he's in his 20s not his 50s