The Tandragee 100 is poised for a return in 2025 with vital resurfacing work on the course set to be undertaken later this year.
One of Northern Ireland’s leading Irish road races, the Co Armagh meeting has not been held since 2022.
However, following yesterday’s announcement that the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) has pledged to carry out the work, the organisers say they will do all they can to run the event.
The news will come as a major boost for Irish road racing, with only three events taking place in each of the past two years, including the Cookstown 100, North West 200 and Armoy meetings.
No road races have run in the Republic of Ireland since 2022 because of insurmountable insurance costs.
In a statement on Friday, the North Armagh Motorcycle & Car Club said confirmation of the department’s intention to proceed with resurfacing work on the affected stretch of the A51 was “extremely welcome news”.
It added: “This is just the beginning of the hard work for us; we will now focus our full attention on securing the necessary financial resources and putting everything in place to enable us to apply for a Road Closing Order and undertake all the hundreds of activities that are needed to get the event up and running.
“As a Club we are delighted, and we are, as we have always been, committed to doing everything we can to bring this awe-inspiring event back in 2025.”
Meanwhile, Carrickfergus man Glenn Irwin kicked off his bid to win the British Superbike title this weekend at Brands Hatch in the best way possible by leading Friday’s first practice sessions ahead of the Showdown finale.
The Hager PBM Ducati rider will have to upset the odds to clinch the title for the first time, with Irwin trailing Englishman Kyle Ryde by 46 points and sitting 42 points behind Tommy Bridewell — the defending champion — in second position with three races left.
Irwin was 0.243s faster than OMG Yamaha’s Ryde, with Bridewell (Honda Racing) 0.339s further back in third ahead of team-mate Andrew Irwin.
Last year, the 34-year-old missed the chance of becoming the first BSB champion from Northern Ireland when Bridewell, who was his team-mate in the PBM Ducati squad, prevailed by only half-a-point.
His prospects of bringing the British crown home to Carrick are slim compared to last season, but Irwin will be waiting to pounce on any mistakes by Ryde or Bridewell.
“If we can get a couple of wins to start the weekend and outscore our rivals, then we can take it to the final race and anything can happen,” Irwin said.
“We have to make sure we are in the fight and to take advantage of any slip-ups by Kyle or Tommy. If we can get a bit of luck, then the title is possible, but either way, to finish where we end up will be a remarkable achievement.”
The 12-lap BSB Sprint race on Saturday is at 4.15pm followed by two 20-lap races on Sunday at 12.45pm and 4.00pm to decide the outcome.
Also this weekend, the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship is taking place at Estoril in Portugal.
Six-time champion Jonathan Rea was 10th fastest yesterday on the Pata Prometeon Yamaha as mixed weather hit the opening free practice sessions.
Rea said: “It’s hard to have expectations because, going into Aragon, a track I’ve been so strong at, I had a disappointing weekend. I struggled to be competitive.
“I’ve tried to focus a lot on Superpole, different tactics to attack it, trying to find the right rider to follow. It generally doesn’t fall my way, so back to basics, try to do my own thing and forget about other riders.”
Factory BMW rider Toprak Razgatlioglu, who can secure the title with one round to go, was fastest by 0.710s from Italy’s Danilo Petrucci.
Razgatlioglu holds a 39-point lead over Aruba.it Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega.
The first race on Saturday is at 2.00pm with the Superpole race on Sunday at 11.00am and the final race of the weekend at 2.00pm.