Fire Gear

While I was away, the Manx Motorcycle Club (MMCC) announced that the pit crew have to wear approved fire-retardant gear. Typical knee-jerk reaction following the two fire in pit-lanes during this year's TT - apparently it's the insurance company (and lawyers) who are forcing this change. Nice if they could have given us more time to get equipped, but lawyers have no frikkin' clue about what motor-sport is all about and I guess they don't give a damn either. So... every fire-retardant gear supplier in Britain has had a mega rush on their stock in the last 2 weeks.

TT 2014 - Grant Wagstaff gets off his bike in a hurry

The MMCC have managed to negotiate that only the for this year, just the refueller has to have the fire-retardant gear, the other pit crew can have what we've been allowed in years past. This helps a lot because a fire-retardant suit is quite dear. I've managed to get away with just over 200 quid for a suit, balaclava, goggles and gloves. Next year, the hand goes in the pocket for the rest of the crew.

I'm happy to ensure the safety of my crew, but it's another expense that is making the Classic TT/ManxGP less affordable for Privateers while the organisers pay good money to professional riders and teams for us to compete against. This is the corporate world - it's just business.