Will the 2021 Isle of Man TT be cancelled or held later in the year? Decision confirmed at 12pm on Monday

An official announcement will be made at 12pm on Monday, when cancelling the event for the second successive year due to the Covid-19 pandemic or holding the two-week festival later in the summer are the key options on the table.

Earlier this month, Chief Minister Howard Quayle stated that a final decision was imminent as talks continued over the 2021 race.

Addressing a question at a Covid-19 briefing on the Isle of Man, Minister Quayle said: “I will confirm we are discussing this in the Council of Ministers at this moment in time but I can’t announce a decision at this moment.

“We are going to try to make it as fairly imminently as possible once a conclusion has been reached and I will obviously update everyone, or the Minister for Enterprise [Laurence Skelly] will update when we can release that information.”

One possibility is holding the event on the dates usually reserved for the Classic TT and Manx Grand Prix in August/September, however a straight cancellation cannot be ruled out and the decision to schedule a public announcement raises concerns in itself that the news for road racing fans might not be what they want to hear.

The coronavirus pandemic wiped out the calendar in 2020, with the Cookstown 100 the only Irish road race to go ahead in September.

Next year’s TT is due to take place from Saturday, May 29 to Friday, June 11, and although the North West 200 has a provisional date of May 11-15, it is understood Northern Ireland’s biggest race will be held in late summer.

* A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. To subscribe, click here.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor