Sad start to the season
We'd all hoped that the coming season would quickly banish all memories of 2020 to the history books. Sadly things haven't worked out that way and a number of early events have already been reluctantly cancelled by disappointed organisers. The most high profile of these is the BSRA Scarborough National, which was due to be held over the Easter weekend of April 2-5. The 2020 National at Whitby was an early casualty to Covid last year and any tickets carried forward from that rally will still be honoured for any future BSRA event.
It's very easy to criticise the decision to cancel something that's still a couple of months away but, as we've said before, a major rally isn't organised overnight. For BSRA there are contracts to sign, risk assessments to complete and both insurers and local authorities to satisfy. Cancelling at this stage minimises everyone's financial losses, including scooterists who can now avoid hotel cancellation fees. The BSRA/ VFM teams have been working for over a year to make Scarborough a season opener to remember, so this decision was taken with a very heavy heart. Hopes are still high that the season will be started sooner rather than later, but any future decisions will of course be determined by the Government's approach to Covid. This isn't just a blow to the BSRA and scooterists, it also affects the traders who rely on income from rallies to keep them going throughout the year. We all know who they are and where to find them online so don't forget to support them through these bad times and they'll still be there to support us when the good times return. Details of further developments can be found at www.scootering. com, our Facebook page or on the newly revamped BSRA website: www.bsra-uk.com