Motorcycle racer Andrew Murphy is considering a return to his off-road roots as the sport’s insurance crisis has forced the cancellation of events across the country this year.
The Mountcollins-based rider is a former frontrunner in the Supersport class and last year’s Moto 400 class runner-up in the Dunlop Masters National Championship.
Between 2014 and 2018 Murphy competed in grass track events throughout Munster. He won several races and championships in that discipline before returning to short-circuit racing in 2019.
In recent years he has been more focused on racing at Mondello Park in County Kildare and occasionally events at Kirkistown in County Down.
This weekend he is set to sample speedway racing for the first time.
Speedway is a motorcycle sport involving up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of a loose surface short oval circuit around the same size as a greyhound track.
The motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes.
Murphy is heading to Scunthorpe Speedway in England on Saturday where he has enrolled in a one-day speedway training course.
“It has always been an ambition of mine,” he said. “I am not expecting much, just try it out and see how it goes. There is nothing like this in Ireland.”
Murphy is considering a return to grass track events in Ireland as there is a possibility that off-road motorcycle racing will get a separate insurance policy from circuit and road racing which will allow that branch of the sport to continue in Ireland this season.
He is also eyeing up short circuit events in Wales later in the season.
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