2023 Cookstown 100 Results :
The 2023 Cookstown 100 ran over the 21st and 22nd April 2023.
The Friday session ran over a sun kissed day, that was bathed in uninterrupted sunshine from early morning until the session finished. Then came race day, which saw rain come in just in time for Race 1 and lasted the entire day again almost without interruption.
Races 10, 11, 13 and 14 did not run due to the weather, which as the conclusion of the day came, became even worse. However, credit were it is due, getting 10 races completed in that weather was a great achievement in its own right.
Overall, the 2023 Cookstown 100 must be seen as a great success, no one can control the weather but what can be controlled is the management of the event. Friday was seamless, once things got underway the practice sessions ran smoothly without any incident, and no needless delays. The three races also ran smoothly, and the result was time left at the end of the day.
Some commentators have suggested that due to the glorious conditions on Friday and the time left on the road closure clock that more should have been squeezed into the Friday. The weather forecast did show that Saturday was going to be wet. I can see this point too, but I think making such a decision puts big pressure on the club. There is a huge amount of spectators that can’t make the Friday sessions due to work. The Saturday is the big day and if the Friday gets filled the Saturday only spectators will then question the decision as to why their sessions are cut. I just don’t think that is an argument that will ever be won and maybe we just have to accept the schedule is the schedule as it is laid out and put everything else at the mercy of fate.
The management of Saturday’s racing was again superb. Hard decisions had to be made in the event of a couple of red flags and race results being declared. A couple of running order schedules did change to try and ‘catch’ the best of the weather and a lap was cut from each race. However getting 10 out of a scheduled 14 races ran in that cold, wet, did I say wet, weather was a fantastic achievement.
Credit must also be given to every rider who went out in the conditions and gave us 10 fantastic races in all classes. Also to the Marshals who stood out from roads closing at a very early 7am until the racing concluded at almost 5pm and all the officials who ran the event, and of course the spectators who stood in that same cold and wet to see the first road racing event of 2023 after what was looking like the season that may have never been!
