Coronavirus NI: Enkalon Trophy meeting and opening Ulster Superbike round at Bishopscourt postponed indefinitely

The Temple 100 Club meeting on Saturday, March 21 and the Enkalon Trophy event on Easter Saturday, April 11, were called off following a meeting between the organisers on Sunday.

Sunday’s announcement comes a day after the organisers of the Cookstown 100 confirmed the event in April had been postponed.

A statement said: “The Temple 100 event due for next Saturday, 21st March at Bishopscourt Racing Circuit, and the 44th Enkalon Trophy Races, which had been scheduled for Easter Saturday April 11th, also at Bishopscourt, have now been postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

“The Temple 100 and Enkalon Trophy Races Promoters – the Temple Motorcycle Club and Motorcycle Road Racing Club of Ireland – after consulting and obtaining advice from various departments including medical - can announce the postponement of the two events.

“Amid continued health concerns and with the World Health Organisation declaring the coronavirus as a global health emergency, we have decided to accept the facts and responsibilities to our local communities and postpone our events in order to ensure the health and safety of the events' staff, USBK championship participants and fans.

“We must mitigate each situation and adjust accordingly to protect our volunteers, many of whom could be vulnerable either by age or other underlying medical conditions, putting them at a higher risk to the virus.

“With any high-speed motorcycle event, we could unnecessarily put the NHS under more pressure through possible racing incidents. We appreciate the great caring service from the NHS staff... hopefully this will ease some of the pressure on them at this time.

“We hope through our actions now, that this may help stop spreading this virus throughout our communities and we hope for a quicker return of all sporting events soon.”