ROAD-RACING SAVED!
Disconcerting news broke back in February, that many events in Northern Ireland would be cancelled for 2023, including short-circuit racing, trials and road-racing events.
Cancelled events included the Cookstown 100, Tandragee 100, Armoy Race of Legends, the Ulster Grand Prix and the Sunflower, held at Bishopscourt. Right from the start the organisers of the fantastically popular North West 200 race – held on the 8.9 mile course between ‘The Triangle’ of Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine – were quick to say that they were ‘pursuing every avenue to make this year’s event happen…’
Fans and racers alike were crestfallen and it seemed as if it would be the passing of an era, not to be seen again. So why were they cancelled? Money: the cost of public liability insurance at such events is now some way north of almost half a million pounds – and that’s the tip of the iceberg as race organisers would be expected to pay out many hundreds of thousands of pounds on any claim made against them.
The outlook was bleak, but then in came people power. By the middle of March and with many fans realising they’d enjoyed free racing for years, crowdfunding secured the various events’ futures – for 2023 at least.
A statement from the Motorcycle
