Great 8 postponed
By TMX Archives on 21st Aug 08
THE QRA's annual Great 8 eight-hour endurance event, scheduled for next weekend, has been postponed due to the recent wet weather. The QRA's Tony Nash issued the following statement on Monday: ‘‘It is with much regret and a heavy heart that we have to inform you that the Great 8 cannot take place this weekend.
‘‘It won't be a surprise to anyone, particularly in the farming industry that much of the harvesting has not been able to take place at Hannington due to the lousy summer that we have had. That aside, we have made several visits to the farm to keep abreast of the situation.
‘‘It was hoped that enough dry weather could ensure the Great 8 main field that incorporates the marquee, parking etc., could be harvested before the event.
‘‘After a visit to the venue on Friday and a meeting with the landowner, Tim May, it became apparent that this would not be possible but he had a further field with two roads running in an L-shape that we could park people along running parallel to the field which would house part of the track, timing area etc. This was looking to be a good option.
‘‘As we stood in the field with Tim the sun was shining and he took us in his Land Rover to see all the various options that we could use around this new layout. The ever accommodating land-owner gave us options to use extra woodland and an additional field with the suggestion that we contact the local council to arrange the temporary closure of part of a bridleway on the land to ensure links were in place to maintain an eight-mile track.
‘‘On leaving the farm we felt quite confident that although we wouldn't get the ‘Great 8 Village' layout of previous years. It was all looking good in preparation for us to start laying the track out. Back home, the wheel was set in motion with the local council to arrange the possible partial closure of the bridleway.
‘‘Saturday came with fairly good weather during the day but later on turned to rain throughout the evening. We called Tim on Sunday morning and although more rain meant another harvest free day for him, he was still okay for us to move in and start preparing the track.
‘‘He did, however expressing misgivings over what damage over a hundred quads and eight hours of riding could do to his land. With the sun shining for most of Sunday, we could not comprehend the possibility of being beaten by the weather.
‘‘Finally, after an extremely wet Sunday evening, we received a call from Tim on Monday to say that he could just not allow the event to take place as the damage to his land after the latest relentless downpour would be too great.
‘‘It is not a decision he took lightly as he immensely enjoys the event himself but this is just another chapter in a bad summer for farming. About this time the fencing contractors contacted us to find out where to drop the fencing, of which they had 600 meters on two arcticulated lorries. We had to inform them that the event was not taking place and felt awful for doing so although we were not expecting them until Tuesday.
‘‘The Great 8 WILL be re-staged this year at a date to be confirmed.
‘‘"We apologise to everyone for this unfortunate postponement. It is completely out of our hands and we appreciate that the riders and teams will already have gone to a lot of trouble with machines, kit, travel arrangements etc.
‘‘We would like to thank the contractors and apologise for the inconvenience caused due to us having to call off marquee, skip, toilet, public address, fencing and plant/ generator hire etc. Not least of all the medics, trophies that have been ordered, Great 8 Bar, catering, printing, Stumpy, timing etc.
‘‘This event has been months in the planning and we wish to thank all supporters and sponsors of The Great 8 who, we hope, will continue to work with us for the re-stating of the event.
Further information visit www.qrauk.com or contact Tony Nash on 07774-434468.