By Kyle White Belfast Newsletter
Kennedy, who has also stepped down as club chairman, will instead devote more of his time to other key components of the event, including working to bring established and up and coming riders to the national meeting and negotiating with sponsors.
A decision on who will take over the reins in 2023 is expected within the next week.
Established as one of the top national road races on the calendar, Armoy has attracted many of the sport’s leading names over the past 13 years.
These include Ryan Farquhar, Michael Dunlop and his late brother William, Guy Martin, Keith Amor, Dean Harrison and Conor Cummins, while this year Davey Todd dominated with four wins and a new absolute lap record on Clive Padgett’s Honda machines.
Kennedy puts the success of the ‘Race of Legends’ down to the Armoy Club’s refusal to rest on its laurels, and has vowed to keep striving to ensure a bright future for the County Antrim road race.
“I think that it’s always good to be looking to the future,” Kennedy said.
“I had a good chat with the club members and said that I always want to be involved, but I don’t need a particular title or role; my responsibilities will continue to include talking to riders and sponsors and looking for young talent coming through.
“I just think maybe it’s time for someone else to move into the role and I can see a few other areas where we can maybe sharpen up and improve in what we are doing, so I will now be able to concentrate more of my time on those things.
“We need to be prepared for the future and thankfully we have people within the club who can step up,” added Kennedy, who was the assistant clerk of the course for the inaugural race at Armoy in 2009 and again in 2010, when Jack Agnew was in the chief role.
“I had to do two years as an assistant clerk of the course in 2009 and 2010, and that requirement remains the same today – you can’t just go straight in as clerk of the course.
“We’re very fortunate that we do have club members who are willing and capable to take on new roles and I was always very mindful of the need to bring lots of people into the club, look after them and encourage them to be involved.”
Event newcomer Jamie Coward won the inaugural Classic Superbike race at Armoy in July.
Event newcomer Jamie Coward won the inaugural Classic Superbike race at Armoy in July.
Kennedy is particularly keen to bring new talent to Armoy and has been impressed this year by several promising riders he feels can make a name for themselves.
“At the moment you have riders like Joe Yeardsley and Marcus Simpson from the Isle of Man, who I believe have the potential to go far in the sport,” he said.
“And then here’s James Hind too, who has been making a big impression. I’ve been trying to bring James over for a few years and sometimes it does take a few years of trying before it actually happens.
“This year we brought Jamie Coward to Armoy and that has taken three or four years. Jamie actually sent me a nice message and said he regretted not coming sooner because he really enjoyed himself, he loved the course and he said he was looking forward to coming back next year.
“I want to build on the rapport I have with the riders and I’ll have more time to focus on that side of things now.
“You’ve got to be actively trying to sign riders up and you can’t rely on riders simply putting in an entry, so I’ll free myself up to keep working on things like that and also to try and bring some more money into the club to ensure we remain in a strong position financially going forward.”
This year, a Classic Superbike race was added to the programme at Armoy and Kennedy believes the class will continue to grow in popularity over the coming years.
“I think some classes have run their course, while other classes have the potential to grow,” he said.
“We are the only road racing club in Ireland that has promoted a Classic Superbike race and there has been a lot of interest in it.
“It appeals to those riders who maybe aren’t interested in riding the older Classic machines because although the Classic Superbikes don’t have quite the same power as a modern Superbike or Superstock bike, they still appeal to a broader range of riders and it’s becoming more popular.
“I think there’s a lot of potential there but I always believe it takes about two or three years to get a class to where you want it to be.
“You have to start somewhere though and there are plenty of Classic Superbikes out there, but there isn’t a lot of opportunities to race them outside of the Manx Grand Prix or Scarborough,” he added.
“You need to be looking to make your race as appealing as it can be and thankfully we had another very good year.
“The club has always been in a healthy position and we had good support again from our local spectators, but also spectators coming from the south of Ireland, England and Scotland.
“We’re lucky to have a lot of very loyal sponsors who have been with us since the beginning. The likes of the Bayview Hotel have never missed a year since 2009 and in fact they have been our main sponsor for the past five or six years, so long may it continue.”
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