Get Down to Irish opener
By TMX Archives on 2nd Jan 09
IRELAND stages the opening two rounds of the 2009 SPEA FIM World Trials Championship with a double-header weekend on April 4/5 and at a brand new venue, Donards Forest, Newcastle, thanks to the organising Lightweight Club and the local Down Council. There were fears that the event would be lost to Ulster following North Down Council's shock decision not to repeat the spectacular success of the event on the coast at Bangor in 2008 and the Lightweight club's Billy Rodgers admitted, Time was against us in coming-up with a new location but Down District Council has come to the
rescue.
We did consider various possible venues, including Castlewellan, but we are delighted to have the opportunity of going to Newcastle where the trial will be held in Donard Park. This is virgin territory as far as trials are concerned and obviously we will be looking to make the best possible use of the natural terrain.
The venue has been given the thumbs-up by the FIM's inspector, Jean-Marc Crumiere, Chairman of the Trials Committee. The event will run under the title of the Adelaide GP of Ireland thanks to sponsorship from Belfast insurance company Adelaide.
There's no doubt that the spectacular Bangor venue was a major blow so here's hoping that Donard Park can deliver. Down Council are 100% behind the event with Chairman Colin McGrath saying, This is a fabulous international sporting occasion which injects real economic benefits into the region which is fortunate enough to host it. We are thrilled to have been able to secure the event for Down District.
Final arrangements for the trial are being kept under wraps until the official launch in February but the Lightweight club is happy to have secured what it reckons is an absolutely superb venue that will provide an excellent course.
The World Championship will move on to Portugal before returning to the UK just over a month after the Ulster opener for another two-day event, this time at yet another new venue which is Nord Vue near Carlisle in Cumbria on the weekend May 16/17.
Apart from the sole flyaway round in Japan (June 6/7) the Ulster and English based trials are the only World Championship events to be granted full two-day status, the other European rounds are single day only.
T+MX will keep readers fully informed on the very latest news from both home World Trials Rounds.