I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kara Rann, the young woman driving the 'Campaign for an Isle of Wight TT' for Motor Cycle Monthly.
Kara's vision is simple; the Isle of Man runs a tremendously successful road race that pulls in millions of Pounds for the Island's economy. So why can't the Isle of Wight do something similar?
Kara is, in many ways, the ideal person to head up this campaign. She is a native Islander, and has been brought up around bikes and road racing her whole life (she lived in Northern Ireland - the heartland of road racing in the UK- for a time). Her partner is a road racer himself and they have a young son; a strong motivation to bring some much needed revenue to their home.
Kara is honest enough to realise the 'IoW TT' (she has promised that name will go; but it needed something catchy to get the campaign off the ground!) will not rival the Isle of Man, but if it can capture just a fraction of the IoM's huge success, it could pump millions into the Island's economy. She has also done her homework and talked to the right people. Timing is crucial in any campaign... and Kara's was impeccable, coming as it did on the tails of the awarding of a substantial grant to upgrade the Island's roads. A spot of sensitive application of those funds would see the proposed course laid with shiny, new Tarmac - essential to lure racers to the Island, at least in the early days.
So that is one major obstacle out of the way, just the big ones to go: gaining approval from the Island's community and permission to waive speed limits on what are, remember, public roads. Kara is on top of the former, but the big one is the latter. It presently requires Parliamentary approval but negotiations are under way to get this dropped.
One thing no-one seems to have addressed is; when would this event be held? There is no point pitching it at or around the same time at the Isle of Man races, likewise best not to clash with the Northern Ireland road race season (not a good idea to bite the hand of a group of people who have offered guidance and support), and I would think any plans to hold the race in peak holiday season would fall on deaf ears. But there is a window that would suit all parties. The Isle of Man hosts another series of races: the ManxGP. This is where the up-and-coming stars of the future hone their skills and get a taste of what the TT is all about. This takes place in late August/early September, so why not hold the Isle of Wight races just after?
This would give the teams a competitive environment to fettle riders and machines - and a late fillip of a few million pounds would provide a strong end to the tourist season.
Can Kara succeed where others have failed (there have been previous attempts to organise a road race on the Isle of Wight, as recently as the 1970s)? As long as the speed limit obstacle can be removed I think she can. The big difference this time is Kara; her understanding of the Island, the local people, the local economy and her love of road racing brings the right mix of energy to such a campaign. Right now, she can but continue to canvass the right people and build public support via her Facebook campaign (3500 people at the time of writing.)
I wish her well; it would be good to see someone so clearly passionate about their home be able to do something to help ensure it's long-term financial future.
To read the full interview with Kara in Motor Cycle Monthly, click on the following link:
When the page loads go to Pg 14 for the interview