06 TT gets safety boost

Isle of Man TT organisers have responded to safety fears about the event by tripling the marshalling budget and implementing £30,000 worth of safety changes to the course.

The improvements are the result of an in-depth study conducted by a combination of TT competitors and the Isle of Man Department for Transport that looked at the safety of the entire course.

The result are some significant changes including new run off areas in particularly dangerous spots, relocation of street furniture, more pole protectors and the phasing out of straw bales in favour or much more effective Recticel Safeguard barriers.

The marshalling, which has been heavily criticised, has also been addressed with a budget three times bigger than in 2005.

There will be an increase in the number of trained marshals, deputy sector marshals and official flag marshals as well as more training days and incentives for more marshals to participate.

There will also be increased use of response cars and an expanding of the radio communications system.

There has now been significant commitment to the 2006 event by top teams including HM Plant Honda with John McGuinness, Klaffi Honda with Martin Finnegan, Stobart Honda with Ian Lougher, TAS Suzuki with Bruce Anstey and Ryan Farquhar, Yamaha UK with Jason Griffiths and McAdoo Kawasaki with Ian Hutchinson.