Anthony Ingham Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 So the rally was this weekend. Full entry list with people being turned away. Loads of visitors, loads of spectators but still a shadow of the rally’s we had years ago. There was a lot of damage done to the reputation of the Manx rally scene over recent years, and over the weekend there seemed to be a real shortage of Marshalls and volunteers meaning that road closed signs were out an hour or more before they had to be, and the same when a stage had finished. It would be lovely to see some top end events over here again as we certainly have the roads for it. Should government be putting some money into helping get a round of a major championship back here? Could we ever host the WRC? Should the people employed to promote TT be doing the same for rallying? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiVibes Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 Some things were best and best left in the 1970's, Car Rallying is one. We should use our reputation for closing roads at a drop of a hat and devil may care attitude to human life and do something far more interesting instead, like a Red Bull rampage style event for e-scooters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 (edited) 35 minutes ago, Anthony Ingham said: Should government be putting some money into helping get a round of a major championship back here? I thought IOMG didn’t have any money? Well-run motorsport events will continue to grow; and badly run ones will fail. Edited May 12 by Jarndyce Punctuation 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Ingham Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 12 minutes ago, Jarndyce said: I thought IOMG didn’t have any money? Well-run motorsport events will continue to grow; and badly run ones will fail. There is money to spend if it will benefit the economy. That could be short term or longer term. The island had a round of the British rally championship not that many years ago, but screwed it up with piss poor event organisation. This weekend went some way to showing that the island is a very popular destination for the sport again. There were barely any hotel rooms in Douglas last night, and the cheapest was nearly £300. Ireland are looking to host a WRC event but have just failed again to get government funding for next year. The WRC want a British tarmac event and our roads are very similar to, if not better than those in Ireland. Done properly we could really put the island on the map. What’s the harm in trying? PS. Hivibes is right, we should also be targeting the various red bull events. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phat Tog Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 (edited) My neck of the woods hosted WRC rounds between 1996-98. At the time part of the criteria for a potential host was to have a certain number of hotel bed space available. I can't recall the number but 4500 comes to mind. Can the Island fulfil that these days? Also, the potential venue had to be within a given distance of an international airport - I think around 50 miles. Again, going from memory. Birmingham airport did the job for my area, so presumably the need to handle heavy jets rather than just medium haul aircraft might be an issue. Can you get an A380 into Ronaldsway? I'd love to see a WRC round on the Island but I think it may come up short on the required infrastructure. Another potential issue is getting a high volume of spectators into the stages for viewing. Going to need a lot of parking space or a very efficient shuttle service. My info is obviously not recent, so the criteria may have changed. If anyone would like to investigate then feel free - I've got too much to do before the TT! Edited May 12 by The Phat Tog typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 3 hours ago, HiVibes said: We should use our reputation for closing roads at a drop of a hat and devil may care attitude to human life and do something far more interesting instead, like a Red Bull rampage style event for e-scooters 3 hours ago, Anthony Ingham said: Hivibes is right, we should also be targeting the various red bull events. I may be wrong, of course: but I suspect that Vibey may have been slightly tongue in cheek when he made that suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiVibes Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 1 hour ago, Jarndyce said: I may be wrong, of course: but I suspect that Vibey may have been slightly tongue in cheek when he made that suggestion. Yes you are wrong, and Dave is right that I am right. Totally serious we should have a high risk e-scooter race, a biosphere friendly death race that appeals to people under 50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 58 minutes ago, HiVibes said: Yes you are wrong, and Dave is right that I am right. Totally serious we should have a high risk e-scooter race, a biosphere friendly death race that appeals to people under 50 Fair enough, happy to admit that I was wrong - that’s what I get for trying to second-guess the mighty Vibes. So: a “biosphere friendly death race” - how does that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Colombe Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 9 hours ago, Anthony Ingham said: a shadow of the rally’s we had years ago. A shadow of the rally's what we had years ago? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Poppins Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 14 hours ago, Anthony Ingham said: Should government be putting some money... It's not the job of government to be putting money into people's hobbies. If we are ever to have a smaller government then we have to stop thinking the answer to every problem is for government to put money into it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies are Grey V2 Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 Over subscribed event with various Championship points on offer, shows what a draw the Island's stage have for competitor from all over! Continue to do these events well - no need to over-reach for WRC (yet) Oh and keep the sun switched on!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarndyce Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 21 minutes ago, Hairy Poppins said: 15 hours ago, Anthony Ingham said: Should government be putting some money... It's not the job of government to be putting money into people's hobbies. Quite surprising that this is Dave’s view, really - given his recent comments on IOMG handouts to businesses, and to hospitality in particular. It seems inconsistent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 (edited) 18 hours ago, Anthony Ingham said: There was a lot of damage done to the reputation of the Manx rally scene over recent years, and over the weekend there seemed to be a real shortage of Marshalls and volunteers meaning that road closed signs were out an hour or more before they had to be, and the same when a stage had finished. They only 'un-closed' one end of the Mt Murray back road on Saturday which I found kind of amusing. I turned in off Cooil Road but when I got to the farms near the Golf Club the Road Closed barriers were still up. They had stages there twice that day, I think they just didn't bother opening it up properly between the stages. Edited May 13 by The Phantom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Ingham Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 3 hours ago, Hairy Poppins said: It's not the job of government to be putting money into people's hobbies. If we are ever to have a smaller government then we have to stop thinking the answer to every problem is for government to put money into it. Governments all over the world put money into major sporting events that benefit the wider economy. It’s not unique to the IOM. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Ingham Posted May 13 Author Share Posted May 13 3 hours ago, Jarndyce said: Quite surprising that this is Dave’s view, really - given his recent comments on IOMG handouts to businesses, and to hospitality in particular. It seems inconsistent. Why? Whats inconsistent about it? Investing in something that might have a good future and benefit the wider economy is good. Handing out money to one particular industry, or throwing good money after bad into poorly run businesses is bad. I don’t see how that shows inconsistency? In fact, money boosting sporting events actually benefits hospitality anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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