ROAD racing bosses of the Enniskillen and District Motorcycle Club have today confirmed that their roads event will not be held in 2020.
Among concerns, organiser cited rising costs and road surface conditions as some of their chief reasons for not running the meeting next season.
A statement from the Club reads:
After many years of hard work and two successful Road Race events the club has decided that it is no longer feasible to carry on with the Enniskillen Road Race for 2020. We have worked hard to try and make this event work, but unfortunately due to several reasons, some beyond our control, we now feel that we are unable to run the event next year.
The cost of running a road race is high, and despite our best efforts to try and keep costs down we have found that excessive cost and logistics of hiring safety equipment such as the bales from other clubs, rising medical costs etc, along with a trend of spectators choosing not to contribute by buying programmes or contributing towards the event means that overall the sport in general is suffering and something clubs can’t sustain in the long run.
Our attention has been drawn to recent laying of water mains that have taken place on the circuit and heavy traffic diversions that have been put in place, our club members are concerned that this may have a negative impact on the road surface. The roads Inspection team would only identify this at the beginning of 2020 which leaves little time to make any improvement and as we currently are unable to secure any commitment from the department of infrastructure regarding improvements this must also a contributing factor.
We have had some very positive feedback from riders, and offers of help and support pending this announcement, and it has not been an easy decision, considering the amount of effort it has taken to get to this point. We have proven that we can run an event of this scale; and we are very proud that after 66 years of an absence, the Enniskillen Road Races were once again back on the road race calendar. We will continue to actively seek an alternative circuit with lower running costs so we will not rule out the possibility of another road race in Fermanagh in the future.
We understand that most clubs are struggling more and more to find good volunteers who are prepared to give up their time for sport, and our club is no exception. A massive thank you must go to all those who pushed forward, made sacrifices and helped us make our road race possible over the past number of years.
