I've long supported the notion that TT riders should have to ride the Manx first, though I appreciate this isn't necessarily a simple thing to achieve. It seems like madness to me to allow riders out on the toughest, longest road race in the world against the best in the world, without the opportunity to learn the course in a less pressured environment. But then there would be less opportunity to bring crowd-puller stars in and the loss of earning to the TT, perhaps. Safety or commerce, you decide.

Even so, this wouldn't help the guys in question here, as there is no Manx sidecar event so they couldn't have used that as a qualifying/proving event.

It's a shame that these enthusiastic individuals have been so abruptly let down. Perhaps the organisers are happy to do this as long as they can continue to pick and choose from an oversubscribed entry list, but it's definitely not what I would call good practice. They need to bear in mind the time and money invested by anyone who wants to ride on the IoM (for overseas competitors this can be huge) and if there is any chance they will not be accepted for the following year's event they should be advised either after that event, or immediately upon receipt of entry application. I agree it is necessary to grade applications and not accept someone who is not up to it, but there are ways and means of doing this.

A lesson to be learned, I hope.