Eighth Irish road race added to 2026 calendar after Fore club confirms 'Race of South' at Walderstown
An eighth Irish road race is scheduled to go ahead in 2026 following confirmation on Sunday afternoon that the Fore club will run the ‘Race of the South’ at Walderstown in Co Westmeath.
A date has yet to be confirmed but a statement from the organisers said this would be decided “in the coming days”.
“Fore Motor Cycle Racing club held a follow up meeting to the club's agm which was well attended again today,” the statement read.
“Discussion was about finalising a committee and the running of Walderstown road races, Race of the South.
“Fore club is delighted to announce we will be running our event in 2026. Date has yet to be decided on, but will be secured in the coming days. It may have taken a while to get here, but it’s a go from now. And so the hard work begins.”
The announcement comes after the Kells club confirmed the dates for the return of the popular race at Crossakiel from June 20-21 as road racing makes a comeback in the Republic of Ireland for the first time since 2022.
Crippling insurance costs have prevented any road races from running over the past three years, while motorcycling in the south was dealt a huge blow last year, when no short circuit races, trials or motocross events were held.
However, governing body Motorcycling Ireland secured an insurance policy covering all disciplines of motorcycling this year, with budgeting for three road races.
In December, Motorcycling Ireland’s PRO, Karl Brady, said: “The way the insurance was done for 2026 to get all disciplines over the line was called a basket policy, which allowed 26 motocross events, five short circuits, and three road races, so the various disciplines had a structured amount of events.
“But with the road racing, there is the opportunity of adding on further events, which would be on top of the premium. As it stands now, we budgeted to run three road races, and the possibility of extra races is there.”
As it stands, there will now be eight Irish national road races in 2026 in addition to the North West 200.
The season will blast off with the Cookstown 100 in April followed by the NW200 in May, Kells and Tandragee in June, the Skerries 100 and Armoy in July and the returning Mid Antrim 150 (July 31-August 1). The South West Road Races at Athea in September is set to be the final road race of the year.
A government-backed effort in conjunction with the MCUI (Ulster Centre) is also underway in a fresh attempt to revive the Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod in 2027, giving motorcycling fans plenty of reason for optimism after a tough few years for the sport following the Covid pandemic and insurance challenges.
2026 Irish Road Racing Calendar
April 24-25 – Cookstown 100
May 6-9 – North West 200
June 20-21 – Kells Road Races
June 26-27 – Tandragee 100
July 4-5 – Skerries 100
July 24-25 – Armoy
July 31-August 1 – Mid Antrim 150
September 12-13 – South West Road Races Athea
Date TBC – Walderstown ‘Race of South’