Paddock Gossip

Malcolm’s been virtually glued to his phone and computer to get the news from the four corners of the racing quarter.

As its official media partner, Classic Racer has a unique relationship with the Classic TT, and the man in overall charge of the event, Paul Phillips. In an exclusive interview Paul shares his thoughts on the Classic TT and its future with Malc Wheeler.

CR: With another Classictt successfully completed, are you happy with how the event is continuing to develop?

PP: Very much so. Without doubt it was the most successful one we have delivered to date, tainted of course, by the sad loss of the brilliant Chris Swallow.

This year was a big step forward in terms of the activity off-track and we have bigger plans for that side of the event moving forward. The way the schedule worked between on and off-track was much more cohesive than in previous years and there was an awful lot to see and do.

The Classic TT was full of stories this year, from Bruce Anstey’s amazing comeback from illness, to the first-time wins for Jamie Coward and David Johnson and the sheer razzmatazz generated by the presence of the likes of Giacomo Agostini and Carl Fogarty, among many others, right across the Bank Holiday weekend.

CR: In conversation you mentioned plans for 2020 and beyond. Can you share any of these with us?

PP: Our plan is to launch details of an updated Classic TT in early 2020 with some significant alterations to the look and feel of the event. We have been doing some work across the department, reaffirming economic development as the primary objective for both this event and the TT. So the conversation right now is very clearly around what we can do to further grow visitor numbers across each.

We want to broaden the appeal of the Classic TT and provide more to see and do, particularly across the August Bank Holiday weekend and tie that together with a focussed marketing approach that delivers new visitors in ever-increasing numbers.

What that looks like in terms of event make-up and scheduling, you will have to wait until the Newyear for those details!

CR: One interesting addition already announced is the Charterhouse auction to be held at the Classictt 2020 (see page 83 for more – Ed). How did this come about and do you see the stretch of water to the Adjacent Island being an obstacle to attracting buyers?

PP: It is impossible to say, but the early interest in the Classic TT Auction has been very encouraging. We had considered a motorcycle auction as part of the Classic TT since the outset and we have spoken to a number of different auction houses as part of that over the past few years.

Charterhouse have come to us with a lot of enthusiasm and they have really hit the ground running. A classic motorcycle auction staged at the home of the world’s premier classic motorcycle event is certainly an interesting proposition and we hope that this will be the start of something quite special in its own right.

CR: There seemed to be a few changes in the paddock layout this year, with some top classic teams relegated to the lower paddock areas. what was the reason? PP: The paddock at both the TT and the Festival of Motorcycle has had to evolve a lot in recent years with ever-increasing health and safety and other regulatory standards to meet. We now have a full-time production manager in our team who leads this work on a year-round basis and who is driving forward all the capital infrastructure works, as well as the day-to-day delivery of the paddocks, and feedback across both our events has been very positive from both the teams, the competitors and the regulatory bodies we work with.

CR: Classic Racer has had lots of feedback concerning the classic classes. At least one team that runs Ducati twins has already stated they it might not return if it has to compete against GP two-strokes. Do you think it might be time to revisit the way the classes are made up?

PP: We’ve got to keep looking at the classes and keep talking to those involved to make sure we can put on the best programme of races. We went out to the teams and competitors literally the day after this year’s event and asked for their feedback, which

we are still receiving and reviewing. We are very open to feedback and want those with an involvement to tell us how they would like their event to be shaped.

I can understand the concerns that an owner of a Ducati twin might have taking part in the Lightweight class, but that race is primarily designed for 250cc two-stroke GP bikes, a point we make no apology for, and allowing older four-strokes into the class was always just to give those machines an opportunity to be involved, albeit without truly being competitive.

We’re asked a lot about changing the dates for eligibility for the Superbike class, and while we do make some small changes to that class, I would be concerned that a wholesale cut-off date change would do more harm than good. We’ve created a great class with the Superbike Classic TT, which is delivering spectacular racing, great-looking bikes and a lot of variety.

CR: The Junior Classic Race has almost become a one-make Honda series, with no incentive for teams to run traditional single cylinder machines.would it not be possible to run separate awards for twin cylinder bikes and single cylinder bikes? PP: Possibly – although the Honda dominance in this class is not something new, nor is it something exclusive to the Classic TT. We do have a number of awards in this class, which are awarded for the first bike of various types home. But perhaps there is a step further that needs to be considered, which further incentivises owners of single cylinder machines or Italian machines for example. I don’t have an answer for you on that right now, but, as before, we will listen to ideas from those involved who want to feed them back to us.

CR: On a similar note the original race within a race, which separated professional riders and privateers, was popular. Could this be reintroduced to encourage the middle order runners? PP: As was? No. It was confusing and subjective. The definition of who is a professional and who is an amateur was causing a huge amount of debate and I would be strongly opposed to a return to that situation. What I am definitely not opposed to is looking at some way of further rewarding and recognising those riders who don’t contest the TT – the true Classic riders if you will – and we have ongoing conversations about that very point.

CR: And I guess the really big question is are the Classic TT and Festival of Motorcycling delivering the visitor numbers and revenue you had targeted? PP: This is the big question – it is often overlooked, but this is exactly the reason why this event happens, why it is funded by the taxpayer and why the Government supports the road closures, infrastructure provision and staffing that it does. It exists for economic reasons and economic reasons alone.

And to that end, it has been a resounding success, delivering sharp growth since its inception, generating many millions of pounds’ worth of additional spend in the Isle of Man economy. And we believe that there is still a lot more to come.