Isle of Wight Road Races, which was due to go ahead in April 2022, will now be delayed due to unresolved issues with its Motor Race Order (MRO). This is the permission needed to close public roads for motor sport and is essential for the event to go ahead.
Event promoter James Kaye commented: “We have reluctantly accepted that the Isle of Wight Road Races now can’t go ahead on our planned dates this year. Our Motor Race Order application was submitted on time to the Isle of Wight Council on 19th October 2021, but has not yet been determined. We understand that there are some technical concerns, but this is out of our control and the clock has run down.”
The ACU has confirmed to the promoter that it issued all the relevant paperwork, including the correct permit as part of the Isle of Wight’s application. In a statement to the promoter, the Council has said that ‘it is not yet satisfied that the application has been duly made in accordance with the relevant legislation’.
The IWC is the Highways Authority which can issue a MRO, whilst the ACU is the governing body for motorcycle sport in Great Britain (less Northern Ireland). It issues the race permits that form part of a MRO application.
The IWRR team will be looking firstly for ways to understand and resolve the problems which the Isle of Wight Council has highlighted before negotiating new dates within the international road racing calendar.
It was expected that the Isle of Wight Road Races could bring in the region of £30m of direct investment to the Island with much of this income shared directly amongst local businesses.
“We would like to thank all the Isle of Wight Road Races fans and in particular the Island-based motorcycle clubs and the Facebook supporters group for their continued enthusiasm and encouragement. Especially those who had already looked to book travel and accommodation for April. We have received an enormous amount of positivity from across the whole Island, including many residents, land owners and businesses based in and around the circuit in Brighstone, Chale and Shorwell. We look forward to securing new dates for the Isle of Wight Road Races as soon as possible.”