Blow for local road racing as Mid-Antrim ‘150’ cancelled

The meeting, scheduled for the 1st and 2nd August has been cancelled due largely to the knock on effect on the clubs finances of a few bad years.

The meeting did not take place in 2008 but returned in 2009.

A deliberate and strategically placed oil spill after practice left the then Clerk of the Course Jack Agnew with no alternative but to abandon the 2011 meeting. I think it’s probably fair to say that the clubs finances still haven’t fully recovered from that.

A date change to June in 2012 proved to be a bad idea as it suffered very badly from proximity to the TT and the usual mid season glut of road race meetings.

Last year’s crowd was also badly down, more than likely due to a bad weather forecast for the day.

Now, sadly, a statement has been issued by the club saying that the meeting has been cancelled.

Race secretary Derek McWhirter said: “We have been debating the financial side of things for a few months now and we just couldn’t see how we run the meeting.

“The club have decided to sacrifice this years Mid Antrim to allow us to build for 2015.

“We will try for a different date for next year,” the statement added.

The club have said they will run an ISB round at Bishopscourt on the 21st June.

It is my understanding that the Mid Antrim, like all other National road races, costs about £70,000 to run, with a large percentage of that going to insurance.

Despite a drop of some 4% in the insurance premium, the bill for 2014 was still expected to be in the region of £15,000.

There are also other costs such as safety equipment, doctors and ambulances, radio communication etc.

It all mounts up to staggering proportions which have caused a serious shortfall in the club’s bank balance over the past four or five years.

This has proven to be unsustainable to the club, so unfortunately we are left without a road race in Clough in August.

The Bush road race was also cancelled last year, although it’s due to make a comeback this season. Kells has also fallen victim to rising costs over the past few years, although thankfully it is going to be held on the Crossakeil track again this year.

I hope that the Mid Antrim gets back on track for 2015 and that common sense prevails and spectators will be made to pay for the privilege of watching Ireland’s greatest road racers in action.

I wonder how much money would be raised if everybody had to pay even £5? Very little for a great day’s entertainment.

Roy Adams