Motorsport suspended until at least end of April

[Sal the 2nd]

All of their eggs in one basket is what comes to mind when I see whats happened to UK rallying this year. Ok so Ireland has closed roads however the vast majority of events take place in the woods and on private land on mainland Britain. Therefore at a stroke the sport has come almost to a grinding halt other than a couple of minor s/v events "behind closed doors" when the various FCs etc withdrew their consent. Contrast that with the rest of Europe and in deed the world, even NZ has had stage events and look at what lengths they went to lockdown, a quick check of Youtube is the proof.

Problem is though in most other countries, and its going to pain me to say this, rallying is still "a thing", a pretty big thing at that. Today 25 years ago a certain Scots duo in a blue and yellow car won this countries first World Rally title. There were probably a million spectators out over the week/end cheering them on. Contrast that 25 years later where a UK driver stands a great chance of claiming the title again and what coverage is he likely to get? Italy has suffered terribly from Covid yet rallies have taken place nearly every weekend certainly since the summer, the majority on public roads through villages that have probably seen a lot of loss yet they came out to watch and cheer on the crews, which just goes to show their acceptance of the sport. Can you imagine that happening in the UK? Not if it stopped someone getting to Ikea or Maccy D's, in fact part of the reasons the NW Stages has been canned is to not upset public opinion.

If we get a vaccine in the numbers they are talking about, and despite all the other crap thats going on in this country, we may get back to something late summer however what that means for rallying, its various championships and everyone involved only time will tell.

[adrianbay]

Thanks for updates

[Sal the 2nd]

The Isle of Man have just announced the cancellation of next years' TT festival so guess thats also going to mean no Manx National rally as well.

[AndyRAC]

Must admit, I was quite surprised by that; I had seen comments that it may run later in the year, possibly replacing Manx GP/ Classic TT. They've been quite pro-active and made a very early decision. I wonder if they've jumped the gun a little too early?

[Sal the 2nd]

When I went back to the IOM for the Manx National last year I was surprised how much of a retirement island it had become, always had tax benefits however there was concern about how they were going to get young people to stay and bring the average age down! I guess with such a potential for the bug take hold they still arent taking chances. They are really strict. Heard that 3 builders got banged in jail for going to an off-licence rather than straight to their digs after getting off the ferry during the summer.

Another cancellation is the Riponian which is my local event. Due to take place in early Feb but too much uncertainty and no FC access. Shame as it got binned at the 11th hour this year and was scheduled to be the first round of the 2021 British Historics..

[Steve Boyd]

The Isle of Man have just announced the cancellation of next years' TT festival so guess thats also going to mean no Manx National rally as well.

I'm not so sure. The Manx National doesn't attract 10's of thousands of spectators like the TT. I think the chances of the Manx National going ahead will depend on the level of infection in the UK & Ireland and what tier of border control the IoM Government have set in April/May.