Ulster Grand Prix cancelled for 2022 as funding pulled

THE 2022 Ulster Grand Prix has been cancelled due to funding issues, it has been announced.

 

After being forced to cancel the 2020 and 2021 events, the Ulster Grand Prix was scheduled to return in 2022 after it was announced earlier in the year that new funding would become available to the race thanks to a change in organising clubs. 

However, it has been announced today (7 March 2022) that the Ulster Grand Prix will not be going ahead in 2022 after being denied funding by authorities.

Bike Sport News reported that, in a statement, Mervyn White and Phillip McCallen from the Revival Racing Motorcycle Club said, “We would like to place on record our thanks to the Department of Economy and the Department of Finance who both fully endorsed our proposal which would have delivered the biggest investment in motorcycling ever seen in Northern Ireland.”

The statement continued, “Unfortunately, Tourism NI has informed us it will not support the level of funding agreed.”

Funding for the 2022 Ulster Grand Prix was intended to be gained through a “joint venture between the UHP and NW200 to provide support to both international events which showcase Northern Ireland around the world,” according to the statement by the Revival club. 

The statement also said that the Revival club had been working “with Tourism NI and government departments to explore the opportunities to increase the economic benefit of the UGP and NW200 to Northern Ireland.” The statement went on to say that “business case appraisals” had confirmed funding for the Ulster Grand Prix could provide a positive economic impact for Northern Ireland.

This latest development is a major blow to the Ulster Grand Prix, and to road racing as a whole. The Ulster is one of the most celebrated races in the road racing community and had been a long-standing fixture on the road racing calendar, yet now its future looks just as uncertain as before the change of organising clubs. 

The BBC reported that Tourism NI said in a statement that it “has received a request from Revival Racing Ltd seeking funding of £800,000 to stage the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix in 2022. This is six-times the funding provided by Tourism NI to stage the events in 2019.”

Tourism NI’s statement continued, “The funding request has now been considered by Tourism NI’s board and it concluded that it could not justify the level of funding requested both on financial and legal grounds.”