Road Racing. The future?

Some of the very earliest memories I have are of summer Saturdays sitting in a hedge somewhere in the country watching road races with my father and mother. I love the sport and have had many many happy days at races down through the years.

Since the tragic loss of another fine rider in Darren Lindsay I have been thinking about the future of road racing as we know it.

This is not intended as a knee-jerk reaction to Darrens death, but hopefully a serious discussion on where the sport goes in the years to come.

I would not like to see road racing stopped, but given the speed of modern bikes are circuits like Cookstown or Tandragee fit for these bikes in the modern era? Already gone are the Temple 100 and the Carrowdore 100, so are there others which should go the same way?

Should just the two "flagship" events, the NW200 and the UGP remain?

Of course there will always be young up and coming riders who will wish to race the roads, the young Dunlops spring to mind, but I really can't bear the thought of losing more talented young men on what are now becoming seen as micky mouse circuits in terms of road surface, width and safety.

Other young lads like the Lavertys, Rea and Nutt seem to be doing well across the water in the BSB series and probably have their eyes on WSB or maybe even Moto GP. There is no doubt that the talent exists in Ireland, but is it being wasted on the roads?

I suppose it is unlikely we will ever have a world class circuit anywhere in Ireland which would bring the premier race series to our shores, so how does bike racing in this country move on?

What do you think? I don't have any answers, but am interested in what other racing fans think about the future of the sport we all love.

Aidan,

I also have many happy childhood memories of going to "The Races" - CastrolR, TZ Yams etc. - it was truly a golden era. Unfortunately, this era is coming to a close. Who would have ever imagined the deaths of Joey,Norman Brown, Mark Farmer, Ian King, Gary Dynes, David Jeffries, Britton etc just to name a few.

I don't even think there really is much of a depth - of -quality in the fields anymore. I reckon the North West will be the only survivor in 10yrs time and maybe that's a good thing. Also, the guys doing well in the SuperCup etc. ic definitely the way forward.

Things move on and maybe it's about time the people sponsoring the few remaining events would be better selecting a few up & coming riders and sendign them to the UK series each year and build it from there.

Time moves on but I want to say a big Thank You to the greats who have unfortunately lost their lives in tragic circumstances on the roads while still giving us all some of the finest sporting memories anyone could wish to have.

Ciao

The bike manufacturers and those who stand to make most money out of motorbike racing as a whole will see the end of road racing in Ireland. We no longer have 400's, 250's, or 125's on the market; the 600 classes are stuffed to the gills with, for the large part, very inexperienced riders on bikes that they cannot possibly control, and the 1000cc classes are, as you point out, stupidly fast for road use.

The only thing that can turn this around would be the introduction of a new intermediate class...... but that in itself would require machines on the market to fill it. And, as shown by the inclusion of 650 twins in other classes, there aren't enough "intermediate" bikes on the market to make it truly competitive.

Couple all this with the former Clerk of the Course for the NW and UGP who's stated aim is to kill off road-racing (primarily to make himself more money by trying to fill the gap with a couple of world class rounds that he can promote, IMO), the sport is screwed.

Road Racing.

One thing to bear in mind that the last two 'names' to recently go Britton and Lindsay were both killed in accidents caused by mechanical failure.

Although as pointed out by Aidan a large amount of the road surfaces encountered during these races can be unsettling at 60 (ahem) never mind the speed the racers tackle them at.

I've enjoyed road racing for years and would admit that the speeds travelled on tha lanes would scare the life out of me.

Bazza.

a personal view

the 1979 North West was the last road race that I went to. I was unfortunate to witness Tom Herron's crash and the ghouls who took broken pieces of his bike as souvenirs. A friend had a house at Quarterlands, outside of which a rider died in controversial circumstances during an Ulster Grand Prix. He doesn't watch road races anymore.
After each race, whether short circuit or road, there are accidents, some tragic on the roads after as some try to emulate their heroes.
With sections of the motorcycle press obsessed with the BHP and top speeds of the "racing" models and the latest go faster, handle better, stop quicker accessories, there is a subliminal message to push your personal limits and bask in the glory of your latest smash, break, non-fatal incident - a good crash is one that you can walk away from.
Road racing is dangerous. Riding a bike, whether with a motor or without is dangerous. Driving, working, eating, drinking, sleeping can all be dangerous, if done incorrectly.
Road racing pushes the limits of man and machine - in a controlled environment. Accidents happen, and can happen in road racing.

The future - there is no purpose in a ban, as there will always be those who wish to race and it is better to race under some control than on open road. If the sport is to die, it will through falling numbers of competitors or spectators.

I stopped going to Road Races some years back but do make the annual trip to the NW. Iwas at several races where riders where killed and started to get the feeling that i was no better than a spectator at Christians/lions events of days long ago. I've heard all the claptrap like "the throttle works both ways you know" and it's "their life and choice" blah blah.
So many of these brave guys leave young children and the hurt and damage done to their lives no one can possibly conceive unless you've been there.
I would support a road racing ban in Ireland and would to see apurpose built GP circuit where racing can take place inthe safest possible way.
I would consider any active road racer who has young dependent children to be acting irresponsibly towards them.
I often used to see my GP(Doc) at races on duty in the +aid tent then didn't see him for a long time. On a visit to his surgery i asked" why no see"and he told me that he'd been given the task of telling racer X's young daughter that her Dad had been killed, and that convinced him that racing on public roads was no longer supportable. i have many diehard friends fans but i'm glad to say more of them are starting to realise that the bike/road/races as we know them are indefensible.

compelling / insane

I can't remember the year but guess late 60's or early 70's when I discovered road racing at Skerries, then living not that far away from the circuit. The buzz was incredible, guys on aermaccies (Spelling?), air cooled TZ yams and "old" british bikes that shook the earth as they thundered by. I was young and saw no down side; rode my Honda 125SS home with a huge grin and imagined myself to be a racer. Never did race, probably didn't have the bottle, skill or whatever but I became a comitted spectator.
It changed for me too in 1979 at the NW200. I had followed Tom Herron,had seen him pull his bike out of the ditch at Dublin corner in Skerries in his early years, saw him in the IOM, saw him on the telly. I would not see him again; there was a huge down side, he left twin girls and I just had a kid. My perspective was changing.
Moved to where I live now, Skerries a long way away but got there in the early 90's and watched guys banging fairings down by the glasshouses. Sick with terrible anticipation where I would once have cheered. Nobody died that day; decided I was a an old worrier. Went to the odd race still but would prefer to go for a good "spin" than be a passive spectator to what was an unacceptable level of risk.
Getting back to Ballybunion last year from a "spin" through the midlands to catch some racing; lots of bikes heading against me, something odd thought I;sadly Richard Britton dead. Saw Darren Lindsay win in Athea now he's gone. I can remember where I was when hearing that JFK, John Lennon and Joey died. Joey's poster is still in my bed room, born the same year as him, after Tom Herron he was my God, an Irish man to be truly proud of when others killed each other for Ireland; never imagined he would die racing but he did.
What I'm trying to say is that road racing is insane and compelling, compellingly insane or insanely compelling. I can see the risks and list the dead yet remember the Skerries buzz all those years ago.
I really dont want it banned but can't suport the production of orphans as a form of enterainment.
I climb mountains, have visited Everest base camp but will not climb it. I am not compelled to stop others climbing it. Many will die trying but it is not billed as a days enterainment for spectators. That's where the real problem with road racing is. As a previous correspondent remarked "lions & christians".

I'm not going to try and match the the previous posts, so here's my two cents.
I think the power and speed of the bikes around decades ago never mind today
is far too extreme for wall and ditch lined roads. I would imagine it's these
barriers that cause many of the fatalities. I appreciate mechanical failures
play a big part in a lot of the accidents, but these accidents need not have been fatalities.
I think some kind of short circuit would be just as thrilling as road racing, I'm not
saying anyone who insists on road racing over shortcircuit racing wants to see
someone maimed or killed implied with the lions/christians post but I cant see the
difference between the two apart from that.
I watched my brother fall at speed in Mondello, my heart was in my mouth,
scared the s**t out of me. Had it been a fall at similar speeds on a roadracing
circuit I'll never know would he have survived or not.
I'm not advocating the banning of road racing, but I'm glad the brother doesn't
do it anymore, and I do think the number of fatalities at these events is
too high. I dont think a spectators enjoyment for a few hours is worth the likely
death of one of the competitors.

Misunderstood?

If I suggested that road racing spectators wish to see injuries or death that was not my intention and wish to apologise for any inadvertent implication that they might. The human psyche is deeply ambivalent and enjoys the close encouters with castrophie but I know nobody who would willingly seek death or injury as a spectacle and did not wish to infer such motivation existed.

GerryC said:

If I suggested that road racing spectators wish to see injuries or death that was not my intention and wish to apologise for any inadvertent implication that they might. The human psyche is deeply ambivalent and enjoys the close encouters with castrophie but I know nobody who would willingly seek death or injury as a spectacle and did not wish to infer such motivation existed.

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Gerry,
I don't think you did and neither did I. My point was, that the biggest
difference between the two formats was the likelyhood of a bad accident,
not that people went just to see it happen. I should have worded it better.







BTW, disks went out this morning.

Aidan1150 said:

What do you think? I don't have any answers, but am interested in what other racing fans think about the future of the sport we all love.

Click to expand...

One of the most thought provoking threads I've encountered in a very long time. Started following the road racing in the late 80's while still in my teens. Stopped after the loss of Richard Britton last year. I have a son a bit younger than Richard's lad, & it just got to me when I saw a picture of the boy at his daddys funeral. I just couldn't bring myself to go back. The loss of other riders like Mark Farmer & Gary Dynes, even Joey himself - tragic & shocking as they were - didn't affect me the same way. Probably because I'm a dad too, I just couldn't get over that image of young Loris standing there & I just decided that was it for me, it's not worth dying for. I miss the racing, the heart-in-mouth anticipation, the buzz in the paddock, the whole atmosphere. It's defined my summers for most of my adult life. I'd hate to see it banned almost as much as I'd hate to hear of the loss of another participant. But I can't stand idly by and watch it either, complicit in the fact that these guys are risking everything for the entertainment of people like me. Who knows, maybe I'll go watch another road race, but I suspect the buzz would be replaced by that sick aw-god-no feeling that greeted the news we'd lost Darran too. So I think that - ultimately - the sport is doomed to die, or perhaps as others have said, relegated to one or two big races like the Northwest or the UGP. Oddly, I'm somewhat saddened at the prospect.

Watching road racing was what got me hooked on Motorcycling in the first place. UGP 1971 in the pissing rain when I was 10 watching Ray McCullough beating Phil Read and Jarno Saarinen. I'm not an avid race fan now as I prefer to ride the bike but I would see at least one road race every year and I do enjoy the excitement on the day. Though I think I actually enjoy watching short circuit racing more now and go to at least a couple of those a year. I reckon that the death toll in relation to road racing is too high but I would not support a ban.

A purpose built GP circuit is not going to happen in Ireland. Planners on both sides of the border have allowed a house to be built at the corner of nearly every field and it is impossible to site a circuit without running into noise issues. The time that this was most likely to happen was in the early 1980's. The plan was to have a circuit sited at Edendariff in the wake of Tom Herrons Death. I was involved in that campaign and was involved in doing calculations in relation to noise abatement for the project but the lobby in that area to prevent the track proved stronger. In addition, a track would not satisfy the riders for whom pure road racing is the only way. Several of our road racers wouldn't be bothered with track riding. I wouldn't support a ban but maybe road racing will fade away. The reason I wouldn't support a ban is that Motorcycling itself is clearly Irresponsible. Below are statistics qouted in the Department of Transport 2003 publication "An in Depth Study of Motorcycle" Accidents

In 1999 a motorcyclist was killed or seriously injured for every 665,894 kilometres ridden. Car drivers, however, covered an average of 18,661,626 kilometres before a serious injury or death occurred. According to these figures, in 1999 motorcyclists were approximately 28 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the roads in Great Britain than car drivers.

It dosen't take a Great leap of imagination to think that if we allow a ban of road racing the powers that be, may think that the irresponsible pastime of Motorcycling (indicated by their own statistics) should itself be banned. I think that this is happening by stealth in any case. The average age of bikers is rising due to the fact its still the same folk from the boom in the late 70's that are out there riding. In 1979 the average age of a bike licence holder was 22. By 2003 this had gone up to 41 Young riders today have to jump through so many hoops now to get a licence that they can't be bothered. So as we get older the number of riders out there will gradually dwindle away and as it does so it will become easier to ban motorcycling full stop. The smaller the minority the less votes it affects and the easier it is to swat.

Sorry this has gone a bit off subject but if you ban road racing then road riding itself becomes easier to ban.

A very good thought provoking thread here. I did follow some road racing during the 80's as a few friends were racing at that time, and continued to do so during the Joey era.
I still try to get to the NW200, when work permits, but it doesn't feel the same for me, i also still love the TT, but I'm there mostly for the festival side of things , like Bushys corner, every nite etc, and a trip round the course on mad Sunday.

At the moment I'm booked on for the TT next year for the 100th anniversary, and really looking forward to it, as its been 7 years since i was last there, and it really is, for me personally, the best road racing Ive watched, although the party atmosphere around the whole Island makes me feel that way

I'm still on the fence about a ban on road racing, i can see both sides of the debate, but i fear that the decision to stop it, or some restrictions, will have to come at some time, with the nanny state we live in. The Manx government are finding it tough to keep the racing going now, with regular votes/ reviews over the future of the TT, despite the revenue it brings in.

I really feel it will be a sad day if /when it does stop, but like most things, sometimes its better to go sooner, rather than wait until the press start to demonize it, and the public start to turn their backs on it.
Maybe its better to be remembered as a glorious era in time, with the great names associated with it, rather than some dangerous sport that had to be banned.