All Irish road races in 2020 have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 crisis with the exception of the Tandragee 100 and Cookstown 100.
Copyright: jpimedia

On Friday, a majority of Directors in the Ulster Centre were in favour of cancelling the rest of the campaign and a statement to this effect was due to be issued on Saturday.

However, the organisation’s Secretary and General Press Officer, David McAllister, said he was requested to hold the statement back.

Following a meeting on Monday evening, a statement was then issued to the press on Tuesday, which said any remaining events scheduled in 2020 would only go ahead with the ‘support and agreement of government, local councils, PSNI, insurance and the wonderful NHS’.

The statement said:

“The local Motorcycle Governing Body, the MCUI Ulster Centre have recently received a framework document from Sport NI, and are presently reviewing the 24 page document for guidance & compliance. Motorcycling (Motorsport) is classified as non contact (stage 5). We are currently in stage 1.

“As guidance and restrictions continue to change, it is still too early to make any decision on all events and we will continue to develop our operational plan to resume if possible whilst continuing to review and communicate with the various relevant authorities in the coming months.

“If any events were to go ahead it would only be with the support and agreement with our Government, Local Councils, PSNI, Insurance and the wonderful NHS.”

The statement also highlighted the need for agreement with various officials such as timekeepers, marshals and medical personnel in order to proceed with any race meetings this year.

“Within the sport, we also need the agreement of the dedicated medical teams and first aiders, timekeepers, scrutineering, marshals, flag marshals and all the fantastic people it takes to run a race, not forgetting the people we're actually all here for, the competitors and the race fans.

“If it turns out that that's not possible this year then at least the operational plan will have been developed so we're a step closer to running next year.”

The response comes after the sport’s governing body in the Republic of Ireland, Motorcycling Ireland – incorporating the Southern Centre – condemned Ulster Centre clubs for pressing ahead with plans to run their events ‘in the current climate’.

All Irish road races in the south in 2020 have been cancelled and Motorcycling Ireland President, Sean Bissett, suggested in last week’s divisive statement that the sport was being cast in a bad light.

Mr Bissett made his comments after the Cookstown 100 organisers last week revealed they intended to run their event with restrictions on spectator numbers in September.

In Sport NI’s framework document for the resumption of sport in Northern Ireland, released on Friday, motorcycle racing is included in the non-contact sports category and falls within Step 5 of the guidance, which is in line with the NI Executive’s Five-Step Plan for easing lockdown.

At present, sports organisations are currently planning how to implement Step 1 of the advice.

When sport progresses through the various stages of the guidance and eventually reaches Step 5, spectators would ‘be able to attend live events on a restricted basis’, but also in line with the Public Health Agency’s guidelines at the time.

Any conditions in place relating to the size of public gatherings in Northern Ireland will also apply in Step 5.

Currently, groups of up to six people who do not share a household are permitted to meet outside.