THE big news story of this week is surely the confirmation that the Isle of Wight is to host its own road racing event, as the Diamond Races are confirmed for 2021.
The event is slated to take place in October 2021 and it’s hoped it can become a bookend event to the motorcycle sports season.
Isle of Wight Damond Races onboard lap
The race is set on a 12.4-mile road course that takes in a large portion of the southern side of the island. One of the highlights of the layout is a flat out blast along the 4-mile coastal Military Road, where bikes will likely top 200mph.
The event is the brainchild of former BTCC racers, and Isle of Wight residents, James Kaye and Matt Neal. They had long bemoaned the lack of motorsport on England’s largest island and set about creating their own event.
After wrangling with a few different events types they decided to push on with road racing, hiring a pro team with Isle of Man TT experience to help them bring the event to fruition.
Paul Sandford, CEO and Co-Founder of the Diamond Races, said:
“As an Isle of Wight local resident, I am very excited to welcome motorsport fans from across the globe to this beautiful island, for what is sure to be an unforgettable weekend of racing action and entertainment for the whole family. The Diamond Races is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication and planning by the whole team, and we’re very lucky to have the best of the best involved with its setup. No stone is being left unturned in striving to deliver a spectacular event which we have every reason to believe will be a regular back-stop to the island’s tourist season and put the Isle of Wight on the international motorcycle road racing map.”
![Lee Jackson [credit: Ian Hopgood]](https://cdn.visordown.com/styles/v2_small/s3/field/image/Jackson-C96I2004.jpg?itok=TCKLT-e4 "Lee Jackson [credit: Ian Hopgood]")
