North West 200: Future of road race '50/50' - Mervyn Whyte
- Published
The North West 200 motorcycle road race is scheduled to take place in May
It is "50/50" if the North West 200 road race will take place in 2023, says event director Mervyn Whyte.
The future of the road race had been plunged into doubt due to soaring insurance costs.
Whyte highlighted that while a deadline has not been set for insurance, the logistics of setting up the event mean a decision will need to be made "in the next couple of weeks".
"I certainly don't want to build up hopes at the present time," he added.
Delegates from governing body Motorcycle Union of Ireland Ulster Centre took part in an emergency meeting on Thursday, after which clubs deemed it impossible to run events because insurance costs had tripled for the forthcoming season.
Cancelled events included the Cookstown 100, Tandragee 100, Armoy road races, Ulster Grand Prix, plus the Sunflower Trophy at Bishopscourt and the Masters Superbike series at Mondello Park.
Despite the cancellation of events in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, North West 200 boss Whyte added that the rising costs were a "major shock" but he was determined to keep fighting for the road race to run in its scheduled slot from 7-13 May.
Public liability insurance covers injury to people and damage to property.
The reasons for the increased premiums include instability in the insurance market and insurers becoming very concerned by the number of claims in the sport.
"It is difficult and it has been difficult since the information came out last Thursday," Whyte responded when asked if he was keeping positive about the race's precarious situation.
"It was totally manic for a few days. You have to keep positive and keep hoping and hoping that the brokers themselves, through the underwriters, will come back with good policies that are acceptable financially.
"We're hopeful and we will keep the door open until we see what happens."
'We need answers in the next couple of weeks'
Mervyn Whyte (left) is event director at the North West 200
Whyte was speaking at a 'Meet the Riders' event in Coleraine, which was arranged and booked before the news about insurance came out on Thursday.
He added that the event was a distraction from the insurance issue and he hoped it would keep positivity around the race.
Whyte said it was "difficult to say" whether the race will take place in May and added the logistical challenges of setting up the event meant a decision would have to be made imminently.
"We have been working behind the scenes over the last number of days, once we got the information through from the governing body on Thursday," he said.
"It's hopefully going to work out. Our problem is that we are sitting in February. The North West 200 is in May and there is a massive amount of work to do.
"We need to be looking at it and saying, 'folks, we need answers within the next couple of weeks'. If we don't then we are going to run into serious problems.
"There is a massive amount of work involved in it. It's just 24/7 and there is detail, detail, detail in everything you go to do.
"There has been a massive amount of work going on behind the scenes and there is still a massive amount of work to do.
"We'll keep working at it and I know the Ulster Centre are doing exactly the same thing to make it happen through the brokers."