‘TT safe’ says ACU as crowd funding begins

Crowd funding has been launched in a bid to save the North West 200 after spiralling insurance costs proved fatal to 2023’s Northern Irish race calendar.

Fans concerned about the future of the Isle Of Man TT following Thursday’s announcement cancelling all Northern Irish road and short circuit racing were reassured by ACU General Secretary Gary Thompson - National Governing Body for Motorcycle Sport in Great Britain.

”Insurance costs have gone through the roof but the TT is covered by the ACU,” Thompson told Bikesportnews.com over the weekend. “We do have a medical repatriation package - established when the FIM removed the world championship status - and it would cover overseas riders and might include those from Ireland. As I understand, they would retain their MCUI licence but could apply for an ACU licence.”

The TT, while run by ACU Events Ltd, is effectively owned by the Isle of Man government, and is critical to the tourist industry of the island, bringing in £30 million plus of revenue.

The organisers and supporters of the North West, now starting a campaign to raise funds to cover the doubling and more of the insurance costs, make a similar point that their event raises circa £15 million to Portrush and the north west coast.

Other events such as the Cookstown 100, Tandragee 100 and Armoy, plus others including the proposed relaunch of the Ulster Grand Prix are more vulnerable. The Motor Cycle Union of Ireland (MCUI) is staging a crowd funding campaign to raise money to cover the insurance cost which they claimed had risen from £150,000 last year to £400,000 this year.

An MCUI statement said the Ulster Centre was confident that an amount could be raised through negotiation with the insurers adding that clubs