pat slinn Wrote:A few years ago the senior race was posponed because of the weather and was held on the Saturday morning. ( cant remember what year). As a lot of the marshalls had gone home there was a appeal on Manx radio for marshalls. A guy that I know was helping me with the TT Race Mission with his dad, it was his second visit to the TT and his dads first ever TT, they voluntered to be marshalls. They were given a bunch of flags and about 10 minuits training. Could this happen again?????

That was 1971, The 125 race was run in lashinf rain and and the mist was down from half way up the mountain mile to kates and seriously thick around the veranda up to guthries, Barry sheene fell on his backside at Quarter Bridge where the water was sreaming riding the ex Stuart Graham Suzuki twin, it was his first and only international TT race, he was lying third at the time, I took over third place until retiring at Glen Duff with crank trouble Johm Kiddie too third in whatwas the worst race for visibility I have ever ridden in.

The Senior was run on the Saturday morning in perfect conditions and I had a cracking start to fnish scrap with Len Williams except for the fatal accident of a newcomer at Rhencullen that I mentiomed previously, it was an unusual race with the lack of spectaors and very few marshalls scattered thinly particularly on the mountain.

Wet races in bad conditions were accepted in the 60s and 70s and even during practice it was considered by many of us essential to go out and get a few wet practice laps in even if we did not need them.

It would be madness to run races today in conditions that were once accepted as part of the challenge, of course one tyre for all seasons was the norm, now with slicks but on a course where one moment you can be racing on dry road all the way o Kirkmicheal and the is sudden down pour a rider on a 200 mph superbike on slicks is in big trouble. I had this experience in a productin race , bone dry at the 13th seriously soaking at Kirkmicheal the biggest sideways slide I have ever had, never know how I got away with it and that was on good grip TT100s if I had been on slicks I probably would not be here today.

There never was and never will be room for error with all the solid property on the TT course unless good fortune is with a rider and that risk in my opinion has been increase a hundredfold with the sheer brute performance and power of todays machines good job they do't have melting tar these days that could be even worse because you could not see it till you were on it despite the pre race warinng board "wet tar at so and so".