TT 2023: Senior Race Day moves to Saturday

And racing will take place on Sunday

Next year’s Senior TT Race will take place on a Saturday.

Government has confirmed a new schedule for the TT Races which it says was made based on ‘extensive research’ including two public consultations.

TT 2023 will run from 29 May to 10 June – the first Supersport and Sidecar races will be on Saturday, 3 June with the first Superbike race taking place on the Sunday.

The Superstock and Supertwin races will take place on Tuesday, 6 June with the second Supersport and Sidecar races taking place the day after on Wednesday, 7 June.

The second Superstock and Supertwin races will take place on Friday, 9 June – despite no Senior race taking place on this day it will still be a bank holiday and will be known as the ‘TT Bank Holiday’.

The following day – Saturday, 10 June – will be reserved for the Senior TT alone.

“In its simplest form the new schedule aims to sustain current visitor numbers whilst also promoting growth” – Enterprise Minister Lawrie Hooper

The Department for Enterprise says these changes could drive ‘long term sustainability’ and increase visitor numbers, and economic benefit, by creating two long weekend options for travelling fans.

It also claims it will fill accommodation capacity, reduce the duration of race days and improve the offering for race fans.

Minister Lawrie Hooper said: “The schedule for TT 2023 has been developed following an extensive amount of research and stakeholder feedback.

“This research revealed that the existing TT schedule, the Island’s travel capacity, the Island’s accommodation infrastructure, costs factored against current economic climate, and the changing habits of customers are no longer compatible and do not meet the needs of the event’s customers.

“Taking into consideration these clear challenges identified in the research and bearing in mind the overarching TT strategy, the new schedule for 2023 is a proactive step towards supporting visitor growth and offers clear benefits to local businesses and the economy.

“The Island’s current TT capacity is limited to around 28,000 visitors at any one time, with the current visitor curve highlighting infrastructure pressures on the middle weekend.

“We expect this new schedule to encourage new visitor patterns and capitalise on capacity, driving an additional 50,000 bed nights over time, which would represent an additional spend on the Island of £6million.”

Public consultation

The provisional TT 2023 schedule was initially put out for public consultation in the summer of 2021.

A year later a second consultation was carried out following concerns that there was a ‘lack of awareness’ around the first.

Data from the 2022 consultation shows 1,442 responses were received – of these 1,032 were from residents (72 per cent) and 410 were non-residents (28 per cent).

Of the 1,032 local responses 295 were residents of businesses on the course – 16 per cent of total respondents came from volunteers who help with the event.

Shorter race days

Data from the consultation showed there were 742 positive consultation responses for introducing shorter race days compared to 597 negative - 103 respondents didn’t answer the question.

Sunday road closures

There were 872 negative responses in relation to Sunday road closures and 554 positive responses – 16 respondents didn’t answer the question.

Racing will take place on Sunday, 4 June - the department has confirmed the proposed road closure time would be 1pm which, it says, will allow ‘ample time’ for attendance at Sunday church services.

Additional race days

There were 496 positive comments for having additional race days and 920 negative – 26 respondents didn’t answer the question.

There will also be an additional contingency day on Sunday, 12 June meaning there will be three contingency race days in total.

“The new schedule is a key piece of that jigsaw and unlocks greater potential for more visitors to come to our island and experience the event at a time when it is attracting new audiences around the world with increased broadcast content and distribution.” – Tim Crookall MHK with responsibility for motorsport

The 2023 schedule for the races has now been confirmed, and Enterprise Minister Lawrie Hooper discussed the changes on Manx Radio Breakfast with Chris Williams and Sian Cowper:

The road closure application will now be submitted by the race organiser to the Department of Infrastructure in accordance with the Road Races Act 2016.

You can find a full copy of the schedule HERE.