The organisers of the North West 200 have confirmed that plans to host the event in 2020 have been officially cancelled.

A provisional date to run the 2021 meeting has now been set as May 9-15.

There had been growing confusion over whether or not the international road race meeting could go ahead later this year after it was announced in March that the event would not take place on its scheduled dates of May 12-16, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Isle of Man TT was cancelled in March, with July’s Southern 100 at Billown also shelved until 2021. All Irish national road races in the Republic of Ireland were also cancelled, with the ‘Race of Legends’ at Armoy – due to have taken place at the end of July – also scrapped until next year.

Last week, the Classic TT and Manx Grand Prix (August 22 to September 24) were cancelled as uncertainty over the longer-term impact of the Covid-19 impact prevails.

And now Coleraine and District Motor Club has thrown in the towel as the lockdown in Northern Ireland continues for another three weeks at least.

A statement said:

“Since March the organisers of the NW200 have been in consultation with all of the relevant agencies to explore the possibility of running the event at a later date during 2020.

“We have corresponded with officials from the N.I. Executive as well as Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council plus all of the NW200’s stakeholders, considering every option available to us should there be a suitable window of opportunity.

“Despite these efforts, it is now obvious the disruption and uncertainty the virus will continue to place on all of our lives and activities in the coming months will make it impossible to deliver the extensive planning required to run an event on the scale of the North West 200.

“That being the case, Coleraine and District Motor Club have taken the unfortunate but responsible and necessary decision to cancel the 2020 races. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause for our competitors, volunteers and race fans.”

On the proposed 2021 date, the statement added:

“A provisional date for the 2021 fonaCAB and Nicholl Oils NW200 Race Week Festival has already been set for 9th to 15th May. We hope everyone stays safe and well so we can return to an even bigger and better North West 200 12 months from now.”

For now, the Tandragee 100 remains postponed indefinitely, although last week the organisers of the Cookstown 100 reiterated their commitment to exploring all avenues to run the national road race on September 11-12.