NOEL JOHNSTON
With rumours of the Ulster GP’s future being in jeopardy, we caught up with UGP main man and Clerk of the Course Noel Johnston to help us set the record straight…
What are your main duties at the Ulster Grand Prix as Clerk of the Course?
I’m involved with everything to do with the racing, so that’s overseeing how the course is set up, which involves working with the governing body, who set standards for the roads – I have to make sure the course it set according to those standards. Everything needs to be risk assessed, including every corner, marshal point, etc. And we are trying to improve the safety all the time, so that’s an ongoing thing. I also spend quite a bit of time working on attracting new riders to the event, and then the general running of the races during the race week and weekend.
How much work is involved in getting the track up to spec?
There is a good five weeks’ work involved in turning the public roads into one of the best race circuits in the world. All around the 7.5-mile course there are sections of removable fencing which, as you can imagine, take a lot of time to sort, and anywhere where there are trees, fences and items of road furniture that we can’t move, we put all the rectocele bails in place. And then there are loads of areas we need to fence off to keep the public safe, too. We rely on a lot of voluntary help to do that.
What does the UGP bring to the community?
People come from all over to watch the UGP. They are using the ferries, the airlines, they are staying at the hotels and eating in the restaurants and bars, so there is no doubt that the event is good for the local community and the economy.
There are plenty of top-level, worldclass riders at the UGP. How do you attract the big names?
It’s not difficult at all to get top riders to come over here because everyone knows the circuit is a favourite of the riders. Once they have decided they want to come over and race at the Dundrod circuit, the job of getting them here becomes pretty easy!
Why do people love it so much?
The actual layout of the circuit hasn’t changed a bit in 50 years. There were times when they tried to put chicanes and the like in to slow things down, but when I took over in 2002 my intention was to remove that type of obstacle – to me, a chicane is just somewhere else for people to fall off. I wanted to keep the circuit fast and flowing, the way it’s meant to be, and I think that’s why it’s a favourite amongst the riders.
There has been speculation about the event being in jeopardy after bad weather led to a lack of spectators
in 2019, is there any truth in this?
Yes, the future of the event is very much in doubt at the minute. The situation we are in isn’t just down to what happened in 2019, it’s something that has accumulated over a number of years through bad forecasts and bad weather – these things have really hit spectator numbers. I can’t say too much about it at the moment, but if we are to move forward, we have to manage finances more efficiently and that is something that has been out of my control. In all honesty, we should never have let it get this far, but we are where we are with it now and I’m determined to keep fighting to keep the UGP alive.
Has a bit of bad weather really hit attendance that bad?
It hits the local people, yes. The people coming from farther afield tend to have bought their wristbands in advance, they have booked their ferries and whatnot, but it’s the local people that look out of their window in the morning, or listen to the whether forecast and decide against making their way to the top of a mountain to watch the racing. On a sunny day there is no better place, but if the weather is bad, you’re on top of a mountain and there is not a whole lot of shelter, so too many of them decide against heading out. This year the forecast was bad for Saturday morning and it did put a lot of local people off, who probably thought there wouldn’t be any racing. We got a window and got some racing in, but by that time too many people had decided to stay at home.
Can we be optimistic about the future of the Ulster GP? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
I’m not giving up hope just yet, but at this present time a 2020 Ulster GP is extremely doubtful. A decision will have to be made within the next month or so, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed and see what happens. I’ll be doing all I can.
There has been talk of a World Series of road racing, can you see this happening?
It would be good to see, but I can’t see it happening. I don’t know how it would be managed, and it would probably be far too big an undertaking for most riders with all the travelling that would be involved. I like the sound of it. but I think it’s a bit pie in the sky, to be honest.
If you could get any rider to come and race at the Ulster GP in 2020 (assuming it happens), who would it be?
That’s easy… Joey Dunlop.