Feedback from visitors to this year’s Manx Grand Prix showed dissatisfaction with the event’s new shorter format.

Changes were made to the MGP format this year, cutting it down to nine days, with organisers saying it was necessary to sustain the event going forward.

The shortening of the event came about because of shortages of volunteers, race officials, medics and marshals, which organisers, the Manx Motor Cycle Club, said made its staging unsustainable in its longer format.

The news comes as changes for next year’s TT were this week fixed, in spite of some of the measures being criticised by many.

While the Manx Grand Prix, including its scheduling, is organised by the MMCC, the Department for Enterprise carried out its annual visitor survey, which looks at travel, accommodation and local expenditure to gauge the event’s economic benefit.

When asked about feedback on the event by David Ashford (Douglas North), Enterprise Minister Lawrie Hooper said his department ‘didn’t actively seek feedback on the schedule’, but had engaged with organisers for their experiences and feedback.

Mr Hooper added: ‘Some visitors used this as an opportunity to provide separate feedback about the new format.

‘While it is fair to say that this feedback expressed dissatisfaction with the shortened format, ultimately it did not address the fundamental operational issues that are recognised as insurmountable in delivering the event to a two-week format.

‘As this year also saw fans who had booked back in 2019 and had their bookings rolled forward, there will also have been an audience of visitors who had booked expecting a longer racing format.’

Mr Hooper’s response further highlights the difference between those involved in organising and competing in the MGP and its fans, without which the event will not survive.

When announcing the format for next year’s event, John McBride, the chairman of the Manx Motor Cycle Club, said there was an ‘overwhelmingly positive response from marshals, officials, riders and teams to the new-look five-race programme that attracted a strong quality of entry that saw some great racing out on the TT Mountain Course, and was delivered with significantly reduced time pressures’.

Despite acknowledging the dissatisfaction with this year’s event, organisers and Mr Hooper have confirmed that the MGP will run to the new shorter timetable next year.

He said: ‘As stated before, this two week schedule is, in the opinions of the organisers and key stakeholders not sustainable and it will be 2023 and beyond before the full impact of the changes can be fully understood.’

The centenary celebrations will get underway on Sunday, August 20, and finish on Monday, August 28, and will include a programme of events designed to mark its history and future.

In terms of the TT changes, Chief Minister Alf Cannan ordered a second consultation into proposals, which included racing on Mad Sunday and moving Senior Race Day to the end Saturday.

The original consultation, held in 2021, had a low response and of those who did engage, including visiting marshals, many were against the planned changes.