Road Racing Clubs fight for survival

Road Racing Clubs fight for survival

A group of road racing clubs in Ireland are taking a bold step to ensure the future of their sport.

The Southwest Road Racing Club, based in Athea, along with the Faugheen 50 Supporters Club in Tipperary and the Fore Motorcycle Racing Club in Westmeath, are planning to break away from the Motorcycle Union of Ireland (MCUI) and Motorcycling Ireland.

The decision to de-affiliate comes as a response to the perceived lack of support for road racing within the current governing body. The sport has faced significant challenges in recent years, including a problems with securing insurance.

The three clubs have formed the Road Race Alliance of Ireland (RRAI) to hope to become the sole governing body for closed-road racing in the Republic of Ireland.

The RRAI aims to promote and develop the sport, ensure rider safety, collaborate with stakeholders, and protect the heritage of Irish road racing.

“We were told that the sport was untouchable among Insurance providers, however our negotiations to date have contradicted this and we are awaiting positive updates imminently, which we will communicate to everyone as soon as we have news,” said Eamonn Walsh, chair of the Athea-based club, “As everyone is aware, there has been no pure Road Race Events in the south since the end of 2022. We unfortunately have had no pure Road Race events in 2024, as the sport returned with all motorcycle disciplines seeing a welcome return to all counties and tracks. However, the roads have remained silent.”

The RRAI  say that it has developed a four-year strategy for the sport, developed a full complement of supporting documentation, a business plan, constitution, memberships and rules and regulations, in line with the MCUI and international best practices.