All Northern Irish road races cancelled for 2023 in latest blow

All Northern Ireland motorcycle racing – including the prestigious North West 200 and the resurgent Ulster Grand Prix – have been canceled for 2023 because the governing body is unable to provide public liability insurance.

The news was officially confirmed by the Motorcycling Union of Ireland on Thursday evening after weeks of negotiations to secure the season failed to produce a positive result.

MCUI is believed to face a significantly increased insurance bill for the coming year, with the body’s best offer being almost triple the six-figure fee paid for five road races and the track Ulster Superbike Championship in 2022.

And after a final decision made at an emergency panel meeting on Thursday night, chairman John Dillon confirmed the costs meant the only option available was to cancel the 2023 races.

“The consensus was,” he said in a statement released after the meeting, “that the proposed costs were not feasible at this time for most clubs to provide the necessary public liability insurance to carry out our planned events. However, MCUI will continue to pursue all options for the provision of public liability insurance should they arise in the near future.”

The governing body is also responsible for issuing personal liability insurance for racers riding under an MCUI license – an issue that could potentially affect six-time Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea, with separate attempts to resolve the issue expected in the coming days .

It’s also not yet clear what will become of the island’s other national road races in the Republic of Ireland, which are controlled by a separate governing body but face even more difficult circumstances thanks to the added complication of Brexit.

Motorcycling Ireland, which was previously insured by UK-based brokers whose ability to trade in Ireland has been restricted in recent years, faces a similarly uncertain outcome as the company also scrambles to secure cover.

“Late 2021 when we scheduled our annual meeting with our broker to be told they were no longer able to negotiate with us due to Brexit,” Chair Sean Bissett said in a press statement. “They forwarded our details to another broker who took us on.

“At the end of October 2022 we received an email from our new agent stating that the insurance company Allianz, which we have been insured with for years, would no longer insure us as they no longer cover motorsport and are turning to other companies no one would take us over.

“So we emailed our old agent and many other agents. Our old agent came back to us after many calls and emails over Christmas and said he would try to help us.

“He put us in touch with their Dublin office who, along with three other brokers, are trying to persuade insurance companies to take us on.”

After two years of no racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic – and the resulting financial hit of many clubs organizing races – the prospect of another season without racing is very bad news for the sport indeed.

Already struggling financially before insurance prices were raised, it now increasingly looks as if there is no future at all for national-level road racing, at least without fundamental reforms to the structure of the sport, which is currently run by a loose coalition of mostly semi-professional or amateur clubs with little supervision or coordination.

With the scene relying on local sponsorship and government funding for income but unable to attract major partners and at a time when public funding is likely to dwindle, it’s hard to see a way back now, at least without that from insurance companies requested sums decrease – an unlikely scenario.

In addition, there is also the impact that losing the ability to race at home will have on the next generation of drivers from the island. Arguably punching well above his weight, as past World Championship successes of Joey Dunlop and Rea have proven, he will make life considerably more difficult for future talent when their only option for racing is headed straight for mainland Britain travel.

There is also the potential for a significant domino effect at road racing’s blue riband event, the Isle of Man TT, which will see racers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland make up a sizeable portion of the grid and feature names such as Guy Martin and Michael Dunlop Learned first her craft.