Vern returns
By TMX Archives on 15th Oct 10
Vernon Mount, the legendary track overlooking Cork, which hosted three GPs in the mid-1990s, will once again reverberate to the sound of motocross bikes this weekend after Munster MC moved back in to save the site from dereliction.
Racing ended in the late 1990s when insurance costs forced the club to sell most of the property.
But the developer who bought the residence was refused planning permission to convert it into a hotel as the house was placed on the World Monument Fund list of the 100 most endangered monuments. Fortunately the club had retained a strip of ground within the estate.
And earlier this year invited Johnny Douglas Hamilton – the track builder with a golden touch who built such classics as Gore Basin and Matterley Basin – to come over for nearly a month to give the track a facelift.
Totally re-landscaped, the infamous stones recently crushed and spectator areas all re-seeded, the venue is now ready for a Winter series, which the club hope will become an annual fixture on the calendar.
"They had a special machine that smashed the stones down to 10mm and a you can see in the photos the track looked a treat,” enthused ‘JDH'.
The series starts this Sunday, October 17, and will be followed up by a double-header weekend on November 20/21.
There are trophies for the first seven in all youth and clubman classes at each round and for the first ten in the series, plus more than 2,000Euro in prize money (1,000 for the champion) for the Pros.
The 20Euro registration fee will be refunded to anyone contesting all three rounds. More information at – www.munstermotorcycleclub.com