Big changes are to hit the TT from next year.
They will spell the end to ‘Mad Sunday’ and move Senior Race Day from Friday to Saturday.
Racing will now take place on the Sunday after practices – traditionally used by fans to ride around the course on open roads and nicknamed ‘Mad Sunday’.
With the course closed for racing, it seems the tradition will have to end.
Major changes will come into effect in 2023, meaning an extra day of racing.
The late May bank holiday will become the start of the TT, with the aim of enticing extra fans but for shorter visits.
Qualifying will start later on the bank holiday Monday, to minimise disruption to locals over what would traditionally be the first weekend.
The changes are broadly designed to ‘increase the popularity of the TT, both in terms of visitor numbers and both broadcast and online audiences’.
‘Over the past decade, visitor numbers to the TT increased but further growth is limited by travel and accommodation capacity and numbers are beginning to plateau,’ the Department for Enterprise said.
‘Research shows that potential visitors are looking to visit for a long weekend, but the current TT race schedule does not accommodate this change in visitor trends, with only one weekend of racing, which was at capacity in terms of travel and accommodation, and the Senior TT being held on a Friday.’
Two races will continue to be held on the Saturday, but one race will now be held on the Sunday (‘Mad Sunday’). This is being done to give weekend visitors the chance to see three races rather than two and ‘puts the racing in the best possible position for live broadcast of the event’.
In another change to the format there will no longer be Monday racing, with this instead becoming a contingency race day in case of delays from previous days.
Tuesday and Wednesday of race week will see two days of racing back to back. Qualifying and race length on these days will be shorter to minimise disruption to the general public. Thursday will remain a contingency race day.
The bank holiday Friday (previously Senior Race Day) will remain a bank holiday, with otherwise no substantive changes to the schedule of two races.
By having just the one Senior race on the Saturday, this is intended to allow ‘the opportunity for more fans to see three races over Friday and Saturday’.
Since the cancellation of the 2020/21 TTs, the Department for Enterprise said it had ‘carried out major research into various aspects of the event’, and that led to a public consultation being carried out about the proposed changes in 2021.
It is understood that the DfE had planned on implementing the changes for the 2022 TT but, following a backlash from the hospitality and travel industry (after thousands of visitors had already booked their visits around the traditional schedule), this did not happen.
The 2023 schedule announced on the government TT website is as follows:
Mon, May 29: afternoon and evening qualifying
Tue: evening qualifying
Wed: evening qualifying
Thurs: evening qualifying
Fri: afternoon qualifying
Sat: Supersport race 1, Sidecar race 1
Sun: Superbike TT
Mon: rest day
Tue: Superstock race 1, Supertwin Race 1
Wed: Supersport race 2, sidecar Race 2
Thurs: rest day
Fri, June 9 (Manx bank holiday): Superstock Race 2, Supertwin Race 2
Sat, June 10: Senior TT
The DfE is working with the Department of Infrastructure on how road closures will work and will release more information closer to the start of TT 2023.