Andy Priestley - Chief Marshal
Reporter Tom Curphey caught up with Chief Marshal Andy Priestley to find out how marshal numbers are looking at this year's Isle of Man TT and also what his role entails during the fortnight
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00:00Hello and welcome to the TT Marshals Association tent. We're in the tent right before the next qualifying session, Excitements Building.
00:07Andy, tell us a bit about what your role is here at the TT Marshals Association.
00:10Okay, I work here. I'm one of the directors, but I also work in the office.
00:15We administer all the background, signing on, allocation of marshals.
00:20And everyone says all the time at the TT, it wouldn't go without the marshals.
00:25Tell us how important they actually are from your perspective.
00:28It's massive. The event doesn't run and there's nothing like this in the world.
00:32We need five, six, five to operate on a day to run safely.
00:36Today, our numbers are 940. So we're running nearly double numbers, which is great.
00:42And we've had really good support all week. We've got 800, 900 marshals every day, pretty much, which is amazing.
00:49And in previous years, there has been some struggles for getting marshals.
00:51So this year must be a massive positive for you guys.
00:53It is. I mean, we've been doing some advertising, streaming of videos and stuff like that.
00:59With it going live on TT Plus and stuff like that, the global audience is becoming far more aware.
01:08And people are coming over, coming back and realising it's good to get involved and be part of the big team.
01:14And if people do want to get involved, how do they do it?
01:17You can go to iomttmarshals.com. You can sign on there, your details.
01:22There's two online training modules, about 20 minutes each.
01:25And when you've done that, you can register to marshal.
01:28Then you come and see us, collect your pass.
01:30You get a pass and a new shiny tabard to keep you all safe.
01:35And you're good to go.
01:37And just finally, Andy, tell us, what's the best thing about marshalling the TT course?
01:41It's just being involved in the best event in the world, isn't it?
01:43It's road racing. It's fantastic. You don't get closer to the action than this.
01:49And the guys, the riders, the girls, they support us. They really appreciate what we do.
01:54Very well put. Join the Orange Army. Thanks, Andy.