<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mattsteg @ May 14 2009, 11:34 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The Island has an exceptional racing heritage, of that there's no doubt. There is still the question of what the abilities of the current participants are relative to the best world-class riders compared to when the participants
were the best world-class riders. I don't think any of us will deny that certain aspects of racing have changed a lot over the past 2 or 3 decades. Safety at pretty much everywhere except the Island has gotten a
lot better. Money's gotten bigger, and the bigger names have specialized more. To pick another random name and event, Eddie Lawson was world champ and Daytona 200 champ in 1986. Would a world champ contender likely entertain the idea of competing in that race today? No. It's a race for domestic support series riders these days. I'm not at all suggesting that the races on the Isle of Man have suffered a similar downfall - but I want to make it clear that the schedule of todays top racers and those of the top racers of the past are a lot different.
Today, a top rider contesting a race like the Isle of Man TT would expose himself to greatly elevated danger relative to "normal" racing and impose a significant financial risk on his sponsors and team. Your list is heavy on guys that raced a long time ago, with some relatively recent national-level champions as well. There's enough reason for most world-class riders to stay away these days. It doesn't mean it's not an amazing race and spectacle, but to claim that racers like Agostini, Read, Ubbiali, etc represent an accurate sample of the racers that contest the TT in modern times is more than a bit of a stretch. An outside "elite" rider contesting the TT these days is the excpetion rather than the rule.
Matt, don't indulge SS56, he's an imbecile.
Good post, good points well made, but like Johnny say's, if you read SS original post it contained a ludicrous generalisation about big balls substituting for skill, and he seemed to imply that successful exponents of The Island can't crack it on short circuits. I did not suggest that the luminaries listed in any way represented an accurate cross section of competitors over the rich 102 year history of the event, I merely identified some exceptional racers from National and World Championship short circuit racing that have had great success in the TT.
Like Al said, this guy doesn't have a mind of his own. Furthermore, he clearly knows very little about this sport, and went on to appropriate bits of your post to bolster his own misplaced argument.
I'm fully aware that 'an outside "elite" rider contesting the TT these days is the excpetion rather than the rule.' The island lost its GP status in '77 I think, Sheene being instrumental in the campaign to get it dropped from the calendar. Not because he was lacking in balls, Sheene's 'nads were as spunky as they came. Certainly he had safety concerns, but he expressed the same reservations about Spa and Imatra amongst other 'road' circuits, and yet raced at both. As popular legend has it, Sheene was anxious to axe the Island, because it was a complete pain in the testicles, (which were quite substantial don't forget), when it came to shipping his caravan over on the ferry to Douglas. Steam packet has never been the cheapest crossing on earth, and unlike the competitive cross channel routes, it would've cost Bazza a fortune to bring his 'van...of which he was the only rider in the paddock at the time that boasted one.
Both McGuinness and Reynolds struggled to obtain decent rides in BSB. Today, I agree, Road Racers seem to be a specialist breed. It is almost a paradigm shift to move between the short circuit and the road. Certain team efforts export their resources to meetings such as the TT, and the North West, and the riders that offer their services to such teams and secure the bigger budget sometimes factory rides, will usually prevail over the privateer.
Recently, Plater has had reasonable success in both, as has Rutter over the last ten years. This season it's good to see Steve doing so well in British Supersport, also competing in the World Endurance championship, and I wish him all the best this weekend at the North West. It was also great to see Easton win at Macau, whilst also being a consistent front runner in BSB this year.
Would be something tho, imagine rossi winning the senior TT
