See this.. . ... this weekend
Road racing is back in anger for 2022, and while you need to plan an Isle of Man visit it’s possible to see Ireland’s greatest events, with amazing atmosphere and epic, between the hedges action, almost on a whim. Photographer Stephen Davison has been finding the best spots to watch the action for 40 years, while Geoff Hill has been riding Irish roads for even longer. They’ve got the inside line…
There are ten between the hedges events scheduled for 2022, five in Northern Ireland and five south of the border. The Ulster Grand Prix was supposed to celebrate its centenary in August, but the club is broke so it won’t happen.
The biggest event is the North West 200 which attracts all the top names in the sport including Peter Hickman, Michael Dunlop, Dean Harrison and John Mcguinness. The grid also includes riders such as Alastair Seeley who don’t race on the roads anywhere else. At 8.9 miles long the course is a lot easier to learn than the TT.
The other big difference between Irish events and the TT are the mass starts. This makes spectating much more exciting – it’s like a BSB clash between hedges and telegraph poles.
I am frequently asked which Irish road races are the best to attend. I get it that many folk want to visit the North West 200 because it is the most famous event, with all the big names everyone recognises, but for me the most enjoyable races are the Irish Nationals.
Basically, local clubs of volunteers cordon off a field as a paddock, chase out the cattle, draw a start line across the road, throw a few trailer loads of recticel bales at every corner and then the riders are let loose around the local country lanes.
With practice on a Saturday and racing on Sunday, there is plenty of time to get your bearings and soak up the laidback atmosphere of these smaller meetings. Run on B-roads, no more than a dozen feet wide in places, you will be witnessing a sport that still feels like it is lost in the back of beyond.
All of the racers are amateurs, competing across classes that cater for everything from 125cc tiddlers to 220bhp superbikes for the sheer hell of it. But don’t make any mistake, this is serious racing. The narrow, bumpy lanes fire the fastest riders such as the two Dereks – Sheils and Mcgee – three, four or five feet into the air, often when they are still leaned over on take off.
The diary by Stephen Davison
If you are clever in your planning you could see two races in a week in 2022 because from Kells in June until Faugheen in July there are races every weekend in the Republic of Ireland. Each enjoys its own brilliant atmosphere and always remember that no matter where you are in Ireland you are never more than a short stagger from a pub where you can rub shoulders with the riders and their crews over never ending pints of Guinness.
Pressed to choose three I would say it has to be the North West 200 for the big show. Skerries would be in there too as the biggest road race in southern Ireland – it attracts crazy crowds that flock out of nearby Dublin city to cheer on the locals against the men from the north.
But the one you really don’t want to miss is Armoy. Armoy is the home village of the infamous racing Armada quartet of Joey and Jim Dunlop, Mervyn Robinson and Frank Kennedy who competed during the Seventies, and just for good measure the County Antrim village is transformed into a festival for the race weekend. It’s an experience you need to savour.
There are spectacular places to watch riders such as 19 times TT winner Michael Dunlop who lives just a few miles down the road. The feature event is called the Race of Legends and there are a host of jaw dropping vantage places. Aside from Lagge Jump there is Acheson’s Leap where the bikes take off while leaned over as they crest a hill. Or the 170mph final corner which has installed a pub in a hayshed on the inside of the bend for your convenience.
So what are you waiting for? Get that ferry booked, the bike packed and as they say over here, may the road rise to meet you.
The details
» It’s easily possible to see the North West 200 and Skerries by flying into Belfast or Dublin, and using public transport, or renting a car. But much better to take your bike on the ferry and enjoy some great riding while you are there (see overleaf for suggestions).
» Accommodation close to the circuit books up early, but internet research should provide options, or take a sleeping bag and wing it. Again, Skerries and the North West 200 are close enough to Dublin and Belfast respectively to allow you to stay in the big city.
» We live in strange times, and weird restrictions might reappear so it is best to check before travelling.
‘Aside from Lagge Jump there is Acheson’s Leap where the bikes take off while leaned over as they crest a hill’