Racing on the everyday roads is a big breakthrough, writes John Wheeler.
Motorcycle racing enthusiast James Kelly, after years of searching, reckoned he had found a stretch of road that seemed perfect for a race. Calling in at the local bar, he met the owner, Connie Herbert who had been searching for an event to bring people and business to the town of Athea, Co Limerick.
The result was that after a lot of very hard work by a dedicated team, wonderful co-operation from local people, the first Athea Road Race was held last year. The Motorcycle Union of Ireland (MCUI), the sport's governing body, reckoned the newly-formed Athea MCC would be fortunate to attract 7,000 spectators. Wrong: the gardaí estimate over 14,000 attended last year's event.
Not just that, it is reckoned that the event brought over € 1 million of new business to the locality both from Ireland and, importantly, from overseas. Living here we tend to forget that along with the Isle of Man, Ireland has something unique to overseas motorcycle enthusiasts - real races on everyday roads. It is reckoned that around 30 per cent of the spectators at the recent TT Races came from Germany. Clearly Ireland has a seam of business capable of being developed other than the oft-courted salmon fishers and US senior citizens coach tours.
Given the success of last year's event it is no surprise that the races are being held again this year. Make a note, this coming Saturday June 21st sees the practice sessions, the races themselves are on Sunday June 22nd. A mere € 5 buys you a programme and admission to both days. Get there early, the roads close at 11 a.m. on both days.
Amongst the attractions will be a demonstration of six racing sidecar outfits, your only chance to see them this year. William Dunlop, son of Robert Dunlop and nephew of the immortal Joey Dunlop will be there. Some 120 riders will be taking part, including Martin Finnegan, Victor Gilmore, John Donan, Dan Byrnes, Julian Bull, Hew Hews on his Rotary Norton, Francis Rycroft of Dingle with his Manx Norton and Karl Wilkie with his Triumph Triple.
In all there will be eight races, all eight laps on the 3.3-mile course: 401-750 cc Support, Open 201-1,010 cc, Classic 250-350 cc, 600 cc, Junior 250 cc, Support 201-400 cc, Lightweight 124 cc. Classic 351-1,000 cc, Grand Final Championship and Support 401-750 cc (Non-Championship).
A huge amount of work goes into organising such an event, the team has been meeting every Monday without fail for the past year. The races require some 70 marshals, 100 more on crowd control, four ambulances plus a helicopter ambulance, around 30 gardaí, 30 Civil Defence personnel, four doctors and the fire brigade. For rider safety there will be over 3,000 straw bales around the short track:compare this with 500 used in the TT races, and a further 18 new MCUI Safety Bales.
It promises to be an exhilarating and affordable weekend of racing. To get to Athea from the Dublin/Limerick direction, take the N 21 to Abbeyfeale town, turn right at Leen's Hotel, and go straight on for four miles to Athea.
More information on www.athearoadrace.com or on 068-42611.
Finally a reminder. It is a lot safer riding in the safe, well-controlled environment of a properly organised road race, than in everyday traffic. Everyone is going in the same direction. The riders have demonstrated in the practice sessions a distinct level of ability.
Do not emulate their prowess on ordinary roads on the way home from the races. You are mixing it in two-way traffic with other road users. The sort of hooligan antics that a very small minority of racegoers display after these kind of events frequently results in serious, sometimes fatal accidents, and are a dis-service to motorcycling.