No carbs at the sidecar TT

[karl bennett IOM]

Peter have you ever spoke with Paul Phillips I'm a TT enthusiast that spends everything I have and more to race the TT course carbed engines are old no ones said there bad but it's time to move on newer is better times are changing and if we don't follow we'll be left in the dark ages.

[ACER]

They should have giving warning this 2016 TT would be last for carbed engines and that 2017 would be injected only. This would allow teams time after the TT to decide on what they want to do !!!!

[tonybsa2008]

Karl,to qoute a famous american Nascar driver,"just because something is newer,dont mean its better.Its better if its better".The TT was better when they raced RACING bikes NOT proddie bikes.

[karl bennett IOM]

Didn't no they done a production sidey.... goin well off topic! I agree earlier notice would of been better but am sure there are reasons to why, there was 2 carbed engines at TT 2015 most are defiantly missing the point of moving forward in the sport and the people with an issue with it arent even entering the event... The proof is in the pudding or they would have gone back to carbed engines the newer are better

[tonybsa2008]

The proof definently is in the pudding,for the answer why not compare the number of entries 25 years ago to the number of entries last year.(I have no idea if its more or less)I am sure someone on here will know.

[steve-e]

I don't understand why it needs a ruling, surely natural selection would decide when they are no more.
The usual reason for new rules is to get rid of any unfair advantage which in this case is not there, or for safety which I doubt is the issue directly.

I can also understand not wanting sheds out there, but I don't think having or not having carburettors determines what is and isn't a shed, it doesn't really even determine the age of the bike - but I can see where it does with solos where the two stay together for most of their life and this kind of rule would make sense if you only want newer/theoretically safer outfits out there.

The big issue for the few teams concerned that I see - after all it is only 2 or 3 teams - is a matter of the cost of upgrading everything in time to get it running right in 4 months when they could have had a year or even 16 months to prepare.

As you say a lot of the people complaining are not riding Karl, but there's a lot of years experience here (not necessarily me I mean the other old gits ) which probably explains the anti organiser cynicism (*1)

Still it's done, has anyone spotted any other changes to the regs that have gone unnoticed? The press stuff I've read keeps saying about major changes to rules in supersport and sidecars, carbs and the level of tuning are the major ones I can see, and nobody builds an engine now for the TT after the last few years yes/no to tuning until the latest regs are released do they?

*1 I got cynicism spelt right without a spellcheck - but did have to google it after to be sure.

[karl bennett IOM]

I can't argue with any of that Steve bit more notice would of been better, the qualifying time has jumped to about 98mph too or 117.5% of 3rd fastest time in qualifying which am not sure some have noticed last yr it was about 93? I think

[steve-e]

I'll have a look cheers Karl. What do you think of that, good idea? I guess if people are getting caught on the last lap regularly this will help ease that. I don't know how much of a problem people are on the last lap, assuming that's why it's done.

[oldbelly]

The qualifying time should have been 98 mph twenty years ago. There will always be a lower limit ( mph) for newcomers.

[kew]

The allowance for newcomers was done away with several years ago.

[oldbelly]

98mph is about right though Kew with the circuit as it is now and the speed of the outfits. Theres too many quick lads out there now to leave it as it was in the early 90s.

[steve-e]

Geoff, please explain to us people that don't know, why 98mph?

Is it where people get caught up? Is it that if they're not that quick they get in the way more? More for other people reading this, I get this one

[ChrisWells]

Easy enough to understand. Based on a percentage (I think now 117%) of the estimate of how fast the third fastest qualifier will be (as per the rules). Estimate based on the top teams performances last year. If the organizers are willing to let X teams race then they have done the math to figure out that after X teams start, given the delay between teams, they have computed the final team will have to lap around 98mph or so to avoid being caught by the top team (really just a mathematical calculation).

So if the top team laps at 117mph you don't want them to catch and overtake a back marker traveling more than 20mph slower for a couple of reasons. 1) the top team is already pushing 10 10ths and does not have much leeway to alter their line to avoid the back marker, 2) there are many places on the course where the back marker would not be visible to the top team due to blind corners and/or elevation changes, 3) the course is very unforgiving in the event of a collision, 4) since the TT is judged on aggregate time then overtaking a back marker could disadvantage the teams that caught them compared to teams that started later and got a clean run to the finish.

All that said, I agree the organizers have every right to set the % and that it will likely workout to around 98mph. I also agree they have the right to alter the rules with respect to carbs. However I don't think they did this in a fair manner, simply because they gave insufficient notice.

Consider this. The driver that will attempt to qualify on the F2 I rode last year currently rides an Ireson with a carbed motor in North America. He has already been over to do some testing on my old F2. What if he had been planning to ride his Ireson and had ALREADY SHIPPED IT TO THE UK before they announced the rule change. Had already paid the freight, already paid for the trip to the UK to test. Sorry your bike is not eligible, too bad you wasted $20,000 for nothing and you won't have your bike to ride this season. Good luck getting sufficient signatures to apply next year without a bike. None of that happened, but it could have and I feel very sorry for everyone that did get caught out by that rule change. Some teams plan for 5+ years just to get to the TT, have a little consideration.

Chris

[oldbelly]

Totaly agree Chris about the lack of notice for this year. Cant believe they didnt give at least one TTs notice. As for 98mph Steve . It had already been mentioned that was going to be the new qualifying speed.

[petercaughlin]

I think Chris Wells has made the point very well about the totally inconsiderate lack of notice to competitors, perhaps his letter should be shown to the powers that be regarding the TT, but then we know how they would treat it, I`m beginning to think they are like legions of Popes they are "infallible in matters of faith and dogma".

Mea Culpa !!!!