THE (BAD) LUCK OF THE IRISH
As Fast Bikes went to press, there was some stunning news coming out of the island of Ireland about the future of road racing there. The MCUI (Motor Cycle Union of Ireland), which looks after racing in the north of Ireland, and MCI (Motor Cycling Ireland) which does the same in the south have both been struggling to find insurance cover for their race events. The blame has been spread about online, with Brexit, insurance firms moving out of motorsport, and large outstanding claims all being cited. Whatever the causes, the situation at the start of February 2023 was that there would be no Irish road racing: the NW200, Ulster GP, Tandragee, Armoy and even the Sunflower Trophy at Bishopscourt all facing cancellation.
Campaigns have been set up to raise funds and awareness, to find possible solutions though, and the North West 200 organisers in particular have been vocal that they will find a way round the problem.
There are fewer worries about the Isle of Man TT and the Manx GP. The IoM government organises racing events there, so is in a much stronger position than a semi-professional sports club when it comes to insurance and legal problems. But, with no smaller road race events in Ireland to act as a ‘feeder’ class for the Manx events, it’s hard to see where new competitors will come from in future.
Honda unveiled its race bikes for the 2023 BSB, TT and NW200 events, with a familiar HRC-influenced red/white/blue paint scheme on the CBR1000 RR SP Fireblades. The BSB bikes of Andrew Irwin and Tom Neave, and the road race machines of John McGuinness and Nathan Harrison’s look superb, and are some of the classiest-looking bikes in British racing. Tyre sponsors’ stickers apart, the quickest way to tell them apart is the tall double bubble screen on the TT bikes, all the better to tuck in behind.
Havier Beltran, Honda Racing UK team manager said: “2023 is going to be an exciting season for the team as we have a mixture of new and old faces returning to the team. We are also now into the third year of development with the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and we’ll look to continue building on the success that we have experienced to date. Continuing our relationship with all our valued sponsors enables us to resume this journey. We look forward to getting the season underway and working together as a team to realise the potential of the Fireblade on the roads and in BSB”