When you ride millimeters away from catastrophe around the 37.73-mile Isle of Man TT race track, which doubles as public roads for the rest of the year, you need emergency teams that can react as quickly as the riders are going—well, almost as quickly because essentially no one could round the course as fast as Michael Dunlop last year—because unlike MotoGP, where the marshals are spread around the track, at the IOM TT, they follow.
For the past few years, volunteer riders who specialize in incident management have ridden Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblades. But for the next three years, including this racing season, marshals will be on BMW S1000RRs, and the two Liaison Officers, John Barton and Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle, will be atop M1000RRs.
“Our medical response team is continuously driving innovation to improve our safety standards,” said Head of Motorsport, for the Isle of Man TT, Paul Phillips, before adding, “Having the best equipment available to them – and to all our officials and marshals – is essential in allowing them to operate as effectively and safely as possible.”
BMW isn't only providing two-wheeled machinery, as there'll also be a range of X5 and X3 SUVs on hand, as well as a 616 hp X5M, which will serve as the Medical Fast Response Car.
UK Head of Marketing and PR at BMW Motorrad, Scott Grimsdall, said, “The TT’s experienced officials, travelling marshals, and medical response teams are integral to putting on one of the greatest spectacles in motorsport... Deploying safely and efficiently is a crucial part of their roles, and we are delighted to partner with the Isle of Man TT Races and provide them with a range of BMW machinery packed with class-leading technology to ensure they are able to do so.”
This could be an especially brilliant marketing play from BMW, considering all eyes will be on Michael Dunlop this year after breaking the all-time IOM TT win record last year, and he'll be riding an M1000RR in all supersport races this year. So, if he does well in those races, which he's likely to, all eyes will be on BMW.
