ENGLISH FORESTRY EVENTS NOT ABLE TO RUN UNTIL SEPTEMBER
New guidance says that Forestry England events are off-limits until late 2021
Motorsport UK has been advised that stage rallies on Forestry England land will not be permitted until September 30, despite rallying being allowed to recommence in the estate earlier this year.
Last September, Forestry England launched an independent review into the use of its forests for motorsport with its findings published February. Some 1700 responses were collated, and Forestry England agreed to allow its forests to be open for stage rallies once again after a temporary suspension throughout the review process.
However, MN understands an access agreement is yet to be agreed between Forestry England and Motorsport UK, and now permits for events are being withheld until September 30. In a statement last Friday, Motorsport UK said it “understands that Forestry England’s estate has proven more popular than ever as restrictions ease and anticipate that this demand from the public will increase more over the summer staycation months.
“The governing body continues to liaise with Forestry England in regard to the longer term access arrangements that were announced in February.”
This news is a blew to organisers of the Kielder Forest Rally who had hoped to host the first UK multi-venue rally in 15 months on June 19. The event was supposed to kickstart the 2021 BTRDA Rally Series but that will no longer be possible.
The British Rally Championship calendar has been affected too with Trackrod Rally Yorkshire’s planned date of September 24-25 falling just a single week too early to comply with the new restrictions.
There had been no update from either championship or any of the affected events when MN went to press.