joebean Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 9 hours ago, hissingsid said: Winnie the population of the Isle of Wight was 141,538 thousand in 2019 a bit off 220,000 are you sure you lived there ? I imagine that, like the TT and MGP, the number of locals who watch is irrelevant to its success for support from the local community, as its function is to attract visitors. For the organisers, success will depend on the number of people who pay for merchandise, seats to watch the races and any other festival activity. As someone who doesn’t watch the races I understand the irritation that many taxpayers feel when they pay for an event that a lot of those people who enjoy it think they should do so for free. Perhaps if the Diamond Races are free from public funding, spectators will accept the need to pay for their attendance. That seems a fairer arrangement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 12 hours ago, ShohSlaynt said: What is the exact relationship between Duke and the Diamond Races? You can't help notice that they immediately publicised the event through their social media channels, email lists, and website to existing TT fans, and are already advertising travel packages. It seems that there has been a significant amount of collaboration between the parties involved. Duke were previously partners to the TT in providing the 'official' website and social media channels for the event, which were not relinquished at the end of the tenure. Duke then trademarked 'IOMTT' for their own use, potentially stifling the government's attempt to build its TT brand presence. It is staggering that the government didn't publicly object to this potential infringement of the TT brand, seeing that they have often taken issue with small island retailers and individuals for minor violations. Duke's extremely valuable social media audience was previously built on the back of government support and now is being used to promote an event that could be a potential competitor to the TT. What notice was given to the government about these plans and how can they continue to be a partner of the TT on this basis? How far did the £188,428 TT World Series feasibility study influence the development of the Diamond Races? It does not take a huge imagination to see the direction this could take in further deals with multiple smaller road racing events to create a 'world series'. Well, if you believe some Google review content on the Duke Marketing website it would appear that they're not being entirely up front with others who create video content of sporting events either, allegedly copyrighting others' efforts/content online (as recent as only 3 months ago!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4 hours ago, joebean said: Duke registered the IOMTT web address years ago, probably before the TT trademark was registered by Government. I doubt whether anything could have been done to object to it. Duke are free to pursue any marketing activity they wish to. I suppose a lot depends on whether you view the Diamond Races as competition or not. Realistically, if an event that is said to be unique and that has a history extending back to 1907, is threatened by a new event that is does not have any of the TT “unique” features, it does not say much for the strength of the TT or its marketing. The real issues for the TT are cost of attending; accessibility; the demographics of the audience; festival length in a changing holiday market; lack of focused marketing activity; lack of paid-for accommodation; dependence on public funding; political interference and resistance to change. No doubt the organising team have many of these issues in their sights but alongside these, the Diamond Races would lack pretty low in my assessment of threats. I'm not a biker, haven't been since my early 20's but the Diamond Races course looks tame to me. And I do wonder whether IOMG/ACU may be looking to get more youngsters into road racing with an eye to having more 'qualified' entrants for the real McCoy (IOMTT). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 5 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said: I'm not a biker, haven't been since my early 20's but the Diamond Races course looks tame to me. And I do wonder whether IOMG/ACU may be looking to get more youngsters into road racing with an eye to having more 'qualified' entrants for the real McCoy (IOMTT). Is there any feedback from well-known riders? The IOM course is vicious; the IOW could be an ideal place to learn the skills needed. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Thats a great point. Riders setting off on 10 second intervals, so not a lot of over taking and less dangerous!! Great for letting possible TT riders have a go. Could be a great venue for classic bikes as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4 minutes ago, winnie said: Thats a great point. Riders setting off on 10 second intervals, so not a lot of over taking and less dangerous!! Great for letting possible TT riders have a go. Could be a great venue for classic bikes as well. Location, schedule it for half term - win, win, win. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliX Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 36 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said: I'm not a biker, haven't been since my early 20's but the Diamond Races course looks tame to me. And I do wonder whether IOMG/ACU may be looking to get more youngsters into road racing with an eye to having more 'qualified' entrants for the real McCoy (IOMTT). Did you watch the full lap with Plater? Lots of very thin bits of road that'll be run at very high speed with some unpleasant looking walls on each side... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 13 minutes ago, HeliX said: Did you watch the full lap with Plater? Lots of very thin bits of road that'll be run at very high speed with some unpleasant looking walls on each side... Good videos on: https://www.diamondraces.com/ and interesting to hear the commentary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 37 minutes ago, HeliX said: Did you watch the full lap with Plater? Lots of very thin bits of road that'll be run at very high speed with some unpleasant looking walls on each side... Yes I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 2 hours ago, Andy Onchan said: I'm not a biker, haven't been since my early 20's but the Diamond Races course looks tame to me. And I do wonder whether IOMG/ACU may be looking to get more youngsters into road racing with an eye to having more 'qualified' entrants for the real McCoy (IOMTT). The MGP has been doing just that, particularly in latter years after a bit of a lull. Agreed that the more interest from younger riders the better, however they are talking of pretty small grids compared to the IoM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxmann Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Is there any feed back to what the Isle of Wight residents think about this idea? and can they get permission to close roads like the IOM does? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 31 minutes ago, Maxmann said: Is there any feed back to what the Isle of Wight residents think about this idea? and can they get permission to close roads like the IOM does? According to some of the articles, it's been well received locally. The UK passed a law allowing road closures a couple of years ago. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliX Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4 hours ago, Andy Onchan said: Yes I did. For my money I'd feel safer at the TT than there. Maybe in part because I know the TT course well, but there's some pretty hairy bits of track on the Diamond Circuit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hissingsid Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 They seem to have seriously underestimated the cost of setting and running this affair if they think four million will cover it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilligaf Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 1 hour ago, hissingsid said: They seem to have seriously underestimated the cost of setting and running this affair if they think four million will cover it. Not so sure about that Sid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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