Editorial: Cancellation of Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod shows how difficult times lie ahead for the sport of road racing

The latest cancellation of the historic Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod, while expected, is a further damning indictment of the perilous state of Irish road racing.

The iconic motorcycle race was last held in 2019 before its rapid demise was kick-started when the organising Dundrod Club was issued with a winding up order in 2020.

Drowning under the weight of debts in the region of £300,000, the club entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with its creditors in 2021.

Efforts were made by the Revival Racing Motorcycle Club, helmed by legendary Ulster road racer Phillip McCallen, to take over the running of the event, but proposals for a major financial injection fell at the final hurdle in 2022 after Tourism NI said it could not justify an £800,000 rescue package.

After almost every motorcycle race was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ulster Grand Prix has now been called off in five consecutive years.

It is a huge miss for road racing and a blow for the tourism sector in the area.

There is some optimism that one of Northern Ireland’s greatest sporting spectacles – which marked its centenary in 2022 – will one day return, but for many this is merely wishful thinking.

Formerly a round of the Grand Prix World Championship, the Ulster GP has an unrivalled motorcycling pedigree in Northern Ireland, with greats including Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini and John Surtees competing at the event, while our own Joey Dunlop was a record 24 times winner at the event.

Only three Irish road races are scheduled for 2024 – the Cookstown 100, North West 200 and Armoy – and with high insurance costs creating an ongoing challenge for organising clubs, the outlook remains bleak.