Dean Harrison - Solo Champion

On announcing confirmation of the 2018 dates, Race Secretary, George Peach said:

‘Now that the dates for 2018 have been confirmed, the Race Committee are able to start planning for next year’s races.

‘At the present time we anticipate the race programme to be similar to 2017, which proved successful and popular with competitors, enthusiasts and fans alike.’

2017 saw a record number of Newcomers race at the July meeting, 30 Solo riders and four Sidecar crews making their Billown Course debuts.

Likewise, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company reported a 12.5% increase on the number of motorcycles carried on their vessels totalling just shy of 1000 machines.

Passengers coming to the races were also up some 4.8% to 7,700, which is encouraging for both the organisers, sponsors and the Isle of Man Exchequer who estimated that the Southern 100 International Road Races 2016 brought in £1.4 million from those attending the races.

The Southern 100 continues to attract huge television audiences with 417,000 tuning in to watch highlights of the races on ITV4, with further coverage being shown world-wide in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean, Africa and the USA.

Social media coverage of the races continues to increase with 213,000 Facebook pages being viewed during the 2017 Southern 100 Races, with 104,616 ‘engagements’!

Manx Radio’s video spots posted on Facebook attracted 34,400 views during the race period.

John Holden & Lee Cain - Sidecar Champions 2017

Jon Quayle of Greenlight International said:

"New international broadcasters continue to sign up to Greenlight's coverage of the southern 100 and we expect another increase in viewing figures in 2018. The Southern 100 is more popular than ever."

Regulations and Entry Forms will be available to download from the club’s official website, early January 2018.

As always, the organisers, Southern 100 Racing and the people of the Isle of Man look forward to welcoming returning fans and enthusiasts and offer an even warmer welcome to first-time visitors to the ‘friendly races’ in 2018.


Photographs courtesy of Tracey Killey