By Despite the best efforts of event organisers the Coleraine & District Motor Club Ltd, North West 200 action for 2020 has been officially abandoned due to you guessed it, the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to today’s update, organisers had originally postponed the showpiece meeting that takes place on the world famous Triangle roads course.
Irwin would have been piloting this week on the coast roads, factory Honda’s for the official Honda UK roads squad.
Photo by Tommy Vennard
A statement issued today by the Coleraine & District Motor Club Ltd, about the decision to call off NW200 competition for the first time since 2001, reads as follows:
“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.
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.”
Words by Stevie Rial, statement by Coleraine & District Motor Club Ltd
