Ryan Farquhar 'amazed' by support for Armoy Road Races but fearful over sport's long-term prospects
Irish road racing great Ryan Farquhar said he was ‘amazed’ by the support for the Armoy Road Races as he returned to the event for the first time in several years.
Farquhar provided Magherafelt’s Paul Jordan with a KMR Kawasaki for the Supertwin races at the final Irish road race of the year.
The Dungannon team owner was impressed by the large crowds in attendance over the weekend at the Co Antrim meeting at a time when the sport is facing a myriad of challenges.
“The last time I was here at Armoy Derek McGee was riding for me – it might have been 2019 – and Armoy always was a really hardworking club, and you were always made to feel welcome,” Farquhar said.
“The amount of spectators that’s here this weekend… I’m amazed at how much support Armoy is getting and it’s good to see that they’re getting a massive turnout and hopefully most of them have bought a programme to support the event, and with a bit of luck they’ll keep going from strength to strength.
“I spoke about it many times over the weekend with different people and you’ve got three races now in the whole of Ireland with Cookstown, the North West and Armoy.
“Back in probably 2009/10 and ’11 I remember starting the season at the Easter short circuit meetings to get a few laps in for the start of the road racing season and we didn’t have a free weekend until the Gold Cup was over at Scarborough in September.
“We were away for a week at the North West; nearly three weeks at the TT; a week at the Southern 100, almost three weeks at the Manx Grand Prix; all the Scarborough meetings and then you had the Irish road races in between.
“There’s been a massive change now and unfortunately it hasn’t changed for the better and it’s just the way the whole thing is going unfortunately.”
No road races have taken place in the Republic of Ireland this season for the second successive year and although Farquhar says clubs may be provided with an insurance offer in 2025, the costs involved are likely to be unmanageable.
“Hopefully they will come back and I always enjoyed going to the races in the south because it was always a really good weekend’s craic and the clubs and fans made you feel so welcome,” he said.
“But it’s a shame for all of us who love road racing that it’s turned out the way that it has; what the future holds I don’t know but with a bit of luck they will get the likes of Tandragee back and hopefully get a few more races back on the Irish calendar than what we have now.
“I had a chat with a fellow who’s quite high up in one of the southern Irish clubs and he reckons that they will be able to get insurance in the future, possibly next year, but he thinks it will be in the region of 80,000 euros and as club they just cannot afford it.
“If they were to take it on then they’d have to charge the riders a lot more for their entry fees and it just wouldn’t be justifiable. The costs involved is what’s going to put the final nail in the coffin for Irish racing unfortunately.”
Ulster rider Jordan failed to finish Friday’s opening Supertwin race on the Jack Reid Cars/KMR Kawasaki because of an issue with the slipper clutch, but made amends with a strong ride to third in Saturday’s race behind Jamie Coward and Mike Browne.
Irishman Liam Chawke is now set to ride a KMR Kawasaki Supertwin for Farquhar at the Manx Grand Prix in August.