Scrutneering comments from Paul Phillips

The following is taken from a posting on the official T.T. website by T.T. and Motorsport Development Manager Paul Phillips:-

"Scruitineering will take place in the first place (it has been said somewhere that it won't) and it will take place before every practice session and race. So any ideas to the contrary are nonsense. ACU Events Ltd have been discussing Scruitineering at the TT with a cross section of riders and teams of late however, and there are some ideas, which could be implemented to improve and modernise the procedure. There is no denying, that Scruitineering at the TT (and the MGP) has been a hot potato in recent years, and as with everything, evolution will take place to keep the TT at the forefront of motorcycle sport, but that in itself can sometimes alienate some. I know this with regards to change more than most when it comes to the TT!

What is certain, is that safety remains the most important factor in all aspects of the TT organisational team, and the vast proportion of our budget is spent on health and safety related aspects of the event, all revenue earned is used to offset costs in these areas, and the idea that someone mentioned, that the approach to Scruitineering is changing to cut costs is 100% incorrect... and then some!

Scrutineers will also continue to be deployed on the start line and in pit lane, however the management of the start line is to be changed for 2008 which will have a slight impact, but one that will be an improvement on a number of levels."

Earlier this week, Chief Technical Officer Jeff Kirby resigned after a dispute with A.C.U. Events Limited over major proposed changes to scrutineering at T.T. 2008.

Highly respected sources have told Manx Radio it was proposed that only a small number of bikes would be looked at at the start of practice week, with more scrutineering taking place ahead of races.