By An unfortunate update this morning, the anticipated 2026 Irish road racing finale, the South West Road Races at Athea is officially a non-starter this month.
Meeting organisers, via Facebook, issued the below displayed statement, subtly discussing the details around the cancellation of Athea’s roads scene comeback.
“It is with absolutely brokenhearts that we have to announce that the South West Road Races are cancelled.
Everything was ready to go, but unfortunately our track inspection did not go to plan. While the general areas and corners were completed, issues remain on the back road and there is simply not enough time to carry out the necessary repairs.
We cannot put into words the turmoil and devastation within our club right now. We have invested an enormous amount of time, work and money into making this event happen, and unfortunately this situation was completely out of our hands.
All tickets sold will be refunded. We would respectfully ask everyone to please give us a little time to process these refunds, as they will have to be dealt with individually. We promise we will work through everyone.”
Statement continues:
“We would also ask all sponsors, traders and anyone who has made payments directly to the club to please contact us at [email protected] so we can begin arranging repayments.
Our hearts are genuinely broken. The financial loss from this cancellation is devastating. We put everything we had into getting these races to the start line, and to lose it at this stage is extremely difficult to comprehend.
To every sponsor, trader, competitor, volunteer, marshal, supporter and spectator who stood behind the South West Road Races, we are truly sorry.
Please bear with us while we work through the refunds and repayments. We will get back to everyone as quickly as we possibly can.
The club will issue a furthermore detailed statement later today outlining the issues which it feels need to be addressed in-order to prevent a similar situation occuring in the future.”
Statement via South West Road Racing Athea Facebook page.
Words by Stevie Rial #dontletfearcontrolyou
