Increase in visitors to Manx Grand Prix

Wednesday, 21 September 2011 12:23

There was a ten per cent increase in visitors to this year's Manx Grand Prix Festival.

The figure is contained in a letter from Department of Economic Development chief executive Colin Kniveton to the Manx Motor Cycle Club, which organises the race programme.

But are there moves afoot to change the current format?

Sports editor Tim Glover reports (text, below, from attached audio file):

The rise in people coming to the event is indeed good news.

But the rest of the press release from the club seems to be a defence of the current race programme and a response to last week's article in Motor Cycle News suggesting a purely classic meeting was the way forward.

Among the points made are: Fifty-five entries for the Newcomers race, the largest for many years, and a full grid for the revised Super Twin/Lightweight race, against only marginal increases for the Classic events in recent years.

The club says it acknowledges the significient contribution of the Classic and Post Classic races to the event, but the modern machines will 'remain at its heart', and a similar race programme for 2012 is proposed.

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Increase in visitors to Manx Grand Prix

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