armoy races are back

Launching this year’s event at the Bayview Hotel in Portballintrae, Armoy Motorcycling Road Racing Club members came together with road racers, sponsors and invited guests, to celebrate the Armoy Road Races; the first time since 2019.

Hosted by title sponsor the Bayview Hotel and owner Trevor Kane, guests had the opportunity to hear about the history of the races and meet some of this year’s riders, including Yorkshire man Jamie Coward who was recently crowned leading TT privateer for the second time after securing five top-eight results at the Isle of Man TT, Magherafelt man Adam McLean, Ballymoney rider Darryl Tweed, who will be racing for Wilson Craig Racing, Cullybackey man Neil Kernohan and James Rothery from Cumbria, as they took part in a panel discussion.

Not making an appearance at the launch was nine times winner at Armoy and 21 times winner at the Isle of Man TT Michael Dunlop, as he was on his way to the Immatra Challenge in Finland. With a tentative entry, the Club hopes that Michael will be back to defend his title, on what is seen as his home course, for the tenth time and the Bayview Hotel Race of Legends title.

Clerk of the Course, Bill Kennedy MBE said: “Armoy Road Races, now in its 12th year, is indebted to the high calibre of riders and loyal fans who continue to support it year on year. This year, for some reason, the time has just flown by but with race entries now closed, and the programme going to print, we are well and truly into the final preparations.

“With entries from Austria, France, including rider Pierre Yves Bian, who won the Supertwins race at the NW200, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man and locally there is a very strong entry. This year we’ve added a Classic Superbike race. With local riders Darryl Tweed and Dennis Booth taking part, the rest of the riders are from England including Guy Martin, Jamie Coward and Philip Crowe so I’m looking forward to seeing how we get on with that. When I was at other races, I was also told that riders with a 750cc bike had nowhere to race, so that’s why we’ve added the race to the programme. It’ll take a year to establish, but the riders with a 750cc bike now have a race at Armoy.

“Our returning sponsors include Hilton Car Sales, James McKillop and Torra Homes, MJF Builders, Euro Autospares, Tilesplus, Diamond Bar and the Mermaid Club, PES along with the Bayview Hotel. I’m also delighted to see new sponsors, Steadplan Sales, Lunneys Electrical, BlueSky Resource Recovery and the Galgorm join us. The Armoy Supporters Club has also over the years made a real impact and it’s looking likely they’ll be helping out with the sponsorship of a Superbike B race as once again we’ve numerous entries, so thank you!”