The Manx Motor Cycle Club and Department for Enterprise have today confirmed plans for a ‘new look’ Manx Grand Prix in 2022. It follows a review undertaken by both organisations earlier this year, working closely with other stakeholders critical to the delivery of the event including the TT Marshals Association, Manx Road Racing Medical Services and ACU Events Ltd.
The review was designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Manx Grand Prix, which is set to celebrate its centenary in 2023. Factors considered as part of the review included: Analysis of the delivery costs and the benefits to the local economy, the impact road closures required to stage the event had on residents and businesses, safety risk management, the provision of sufficient marshalling cover for the full event duration, and fan, media and industry relevance, and the continuous need to attract new fans.
The new look for the event will bring to an end the use of the Classic TT designation, with a five-race programme planned featuring a range of classes for modern and classic machinery all held under the Manx Grand Prix title.
The Manx Grand Prix Races for modern machinery will be more closely aligned to the Isle of Man TT Races, with the Senior and Junior Races, for Supersport and Supertwin machines respectively, operating to similar (but not identical) specifications as seen at the TT, giving riders the opportunity to achieve their goals on the TT course.
The Mid Antrim 150 Club have announced via a Facebook Post that the 2022 Mid Antrim 150 Road Races will be run on 9th – 10th September 2022, and will mark the end of the 2022 Road Racing Season.
“On behalf of Midantrim150club as some people know we have been unable to officially release our dates for 2022 Midantrim150 road races due to clash of proposed dates with ugp and bc the difficulty’s the new promotors have had securing this event to the 2022 race calendar again . We can know confirm that 2022 Midantrim150 will return to clough circuit on 9/10 th September 2022 with a full 2 day event to end the ulster and Irish road race championship . We are hoping to see full grid of our top and up and coming stars return again to mid antrim roads for 2022 (sic).”
The TBNI Road Racing Calendar will be updated as soon as new information comes to light so make sure you are subscribed to that : https://tbni.blog/road-racing-calendar/
With Covid 19 still among us and a new variant already starting rumours on how 2022 may be affected the TT have come forth with some great news today and confirmed the schedule for the 2022 TT Races!
The news has been posted on the Official TT Web Site and explains the changes, and why they are important, but mores that they are just a step for bigger changes die to take effect in 2023.
Whilst the changes to the schedule next year are less significant than those planned for 2023, they still come after a lot of careful thought and feedback – as well as some valuable first-hand experience – as Clerk of the Course, Gary Thompson, was keen to explain:
2022 Ulster Grand Prix is Scheduled to run on 16th – 20th August 2022
Things have taken a positive turn for the Ulster Grand Prix today.
It has become public knowledge that Mervyn White (former North West 200 Event Director) will take the helm of the struggling Ulster Grand Prix.
The event last ran in 2019 and it was disclosed that the Club and Event had been crippled by huge debt.
Then came Covid and the Ulster Grand Prix was cancelled in 2020, like every other event. (except for Cookstown who through some great planning managed to run a September 2019 event). Covid cancellations maybe even saved a bit of face for the UGP as it was now able to be declared as cancelled due to the pandemic. Covid also managed to ruin the 2021 race season, save the Cookstown 100, along side Armoy who were both lucky enough to get events on the Calendar.
So, as almost in a strange and positive twist of fate the UGP wouldn’t have ran in 2020 or 2020 anyway and that pause has given time for plans to be made and measures to be put in place to attempt to save the historic event and club.
On another positive note, the 2022 Ulster Grand Prix will also mark the event’s Centenary.
The second, and final, road racing event of 2021 was the Cookstown 100 and was held over the weekend of 10th and 11th September 2021.
What is traditionally the season starter has actually marked the end of the Northern Irish Road Racing Season in 2020 and now 2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and as restrictions now start to ease I, and the rest of the road racing fraternity, hope to see the Cookstown 100 back to its rightful place as the opening event in the 2022 Season.
In respect of the 2021 event we were treated to another well run event with a busy Friday Practice Day with a few races to wrap up the day and then a Saturday Race Day that started off rather slowly with a number of red flags, but then picked up steam and rattled through a packed schedule of 12 Races.
We had classics, support, 125s and Moto 3s, 600s, 1000s and superbikes… Something for everyone. Despite a few last minute withdrawals such as Michael Dunlop to a BSB event, Derek Magee to injury we were treated to some excellent racing, and every competitor deserves a mention. So to everyone who donned a set of leathers and took part this weekend we applaud you!
In a horrible twist of fate the weather followed in an almost carbon copy of 2020 in that it was dry all day race day right up until the Superbike Cookstown 100 final. Then a heavy shower soaked the circuit, red flagging the final which had just got underway with a full grid.
(In 2020 the rain actually led to the final race being abandoned and there was no Cookstown 100 feature race).
After a delay to let the rain stop, 2 sighting laps were offered to the riders to make a decision and the decision was that the race would run however only seven riders took to the grid to take on the now damp and rather greasy Orritor circuit.
The 2021 Cookstown 100 Final ran as a short four lap sprint and from start to finish there was a duel between Darryl Tweed and Forest Dunn, with Tweed initially in the lead, but Dunn snapping hard his his heels for the first couple of laps. However, at the point that mattered, Forest Dunn took the chequered flag by 0.551 seconds to take home the coveted Cookstown 100 trophy.
Isle of Wight Road Races : 20th – 23rd April 2022 :
Bringing international motorcycle road racing to the Isle of Wight :
With the Diamond Road Races having been reportedly scrapped it seems that the event has just taken a different, more toned down direction, and the plan does indeed seem to be to bring a road racing event to the Isle of Wight in 2022. Good luck to the organisers and we will post more news and developments as they come.
James Kaye has a vision to bring international motorcycle racing to closed public roads on the Isle of Wight.
Changes to UK law in 2008 made it possible for public highways to be closed to allow motor racing events to take place. Most people know that the Isle of Man has hosted the world-famous TT Races for more than 100 years. There’s no reason why this could not succeed on the Isle of Wight.
“We’ve built important relationships within the world of motorcycle racing and we are starting the process of building new relationships with the residents, business and organisations that will be affected by the event, commented James.
“I firmly believe that the benefits to the Island will far outweigh any temporary inconvenience. My organising team is determined to place the Isle of Wight on to the international motor sport map.”
“The proposed Diamond races which were due to take place in the Isle of Wight have been scrapped.
They were expected to run annually each October but a journalist on the Island claims the organisers have now decided against operating the Isle of Man TT-style event.
A separate road race is still scheduled for April next year with proposals currently at the public consultation stage.
Isle of Wight Radio Journalist, Iona Stewart-Richardson, says she’s been told the Diamond races were dropped because of safety concerns”
Despite ongoing efforts to run this year’s Gold Cup, Oliver’s Mount have announced that this years Gold Cup will not go ahead. The Health and Safety issues around refurb needed at the Paddock could simply not be completed on time.
The most worrying aspect of this press release however comes from paragraph 3 :
We are totally committed to the future of Olivers Mount, but we now need to take stock of where this leaves Oliver’s Mount due to the financial hardship the last 2 seasons many cancellations have created.
Oliver’s Mount : 16th August 2021 : 16:45
I wish all the best to Oliver’s Mount at this very difficult time, and keep my fingers crossed that a resolution can be found. Road Racing has taken an absolute battering over the last two years and no Oliver’s Mount would mean no road racing at all in England. Sad and worrying times.
Following the discovery in June of a number of serious structural building issues within the Oliver’s Mount paddock, Oliver’s Mount Racing and Scarborough Borough Council have been working closely together to further investigate the issues and plan for the safe demolition and reinstatement of the buildings to secure racing at Oliver’s Mount for many years to come.
The problems at the site are now known to be more severe than initially thought, made worse by the position of the paddock at the bottom of a steep incline, leading to many of the building issues now known to be caused by insufficient surface water management and the building foundations being undermined by years of heavy rain water. This means that the works required will now involve safe demolition of the buildings, including asbestos disposal, relocating of incoming mains electrical supplies, establishing new surface water drainage systems and the design and building of a number of retaining walls to reduce the risk of future issues within the paddock.
As a result of these detailed investigations and the complexity and expense of the required plans to get the paddock back into good order, it will not be possible to carry out all of the required works before the remainder of the meetings this season.
However, very constructive discussions have been held between Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough Borough Council, 243 Road Racing Association and the ACU and all parties are fully committed to running the Hillclimb on 11/12 September and The Michelin Gold Cup on 18/19 September if they can be held in a safe manner. Unfortunately, as the Supermoto course runs through the paddock, the safety restrictions make it impossible for the proposed Supermoto events to take place over the August bank holiday weekend of 28-30 August, but NoraSport and Oliver’s Mount Racing very much hope to reintroduce Supermoto events to Oliver’s Mount in 2022.
There is still a lot of work to achieve before the event dates to ensure competitor and team safety in the paddock, and there are high levels of confidence that the events will go ahead, but until all of the mitigation measures are in place, there will remain a degree of risk for the events and it is important that we are open about this with competitors and spectators as we have been all the way throughout the very difficult last 2 seasons. As ever, be assured that in the unlikely event these meetings do not go ahead, 100% refunds will be immediately available to all entrants and ticket holders.
The support from Scarborough Borough Council has been fantastic and their commitment to ensuring Oliver’s Mount continues long into the future is very clear to see and greatly reassuring. The ACU and 243 Road Racing Association are also offering all available support and this is greatly appreciated.
Following The Michelin Gold Cup, we will continue working closely with Scarborough Borough Council throughout Winter to ensure we can have a trouble free season in 2022. After the difficulties Oliver’s Mount has experienced since 2018, we certainly need a good season so we can continue to invest in future improvements. As ever, the best way people can support Oliver’s Mount is to get behind the Mount, understand the current challenges to keep Oliver’s Mount alive and most importantly come to support the events whenever possible so we can re-invest the proceeds for the future.
The TBNI Road Racing Calendar will be updated as soon as new information comes to light so make sure you are subscribed to that : https://tbni.blog/road-racing-calendar/
The Cookstown Club earlier stated in a Facebook Post that Michael Dunlop would make an appearance at this years Cookstown 100 on his MD Racing Machine and the Synetiq Superbike.
Dunlop makes Cookstown 100 return
Michael Dunlop, star of the recent Armoy road races will return to the KDM Hire Cookstown 100, which is scheduled to take place on Fri and Saturday 10/11 September.
The Ballymoney rider, who last raced at Cookstown in 2018 will compete in both 600 supersport and Open races on his MD Racing Yamaha and Synetiq BMW by TAS Racing machines.
Dunlop, who won the 600 invitation race in 2018, and scored his only ever national road race win in the supertwins here in 2015 has not won the Feature Cookstown 100 race since 2013, something he will be eager to put right in 2021.
Dunlop’s attendance will certainly whet the appetite for road race fans, who have been starved of action between the hedges over the past two years.
Looking back to Armoy, the 17 times TT winner, Dunlop was in scintillating form, having had time during the pandemic to recover from injures received at the Southern 100 road race in 2019.
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