Ulster Grand Prix: famous road event OFF this year
Last updated 7th Mar 2022
Organisers of the Ulster Grand Prix - Northern Ireland's oldest road race - revealed today (Monday) that this year's event will not be staged as planned this year.
And they said they were unable to say when it would ever be staged again.
In a statement they said they were unable to get the level of funding they needed from Tourism NI.
The statement read: "It is with much regret that we must announce the Revival Racing MCC is not in a position to stage the Ulster Grand Prix in 2022.
"We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to the Department of Economy and Department of Finance who both fully endorsed our proposal which would have delivered the biggest investment in motorcycling ever seen in Northern Ireland. "
They said their funding proposal was a "joint venture between the UGP and NW200 to provide support to both international events which showcase Northern Ireland around the world. "
The statement went on to say "We are aware that the cancellation of the UGP, which is celebrating its centenary year, is not just a huge disappointment for fans but also a major blow to the sport."
It ended by saying: "We would like to thank the UGP officials for their unwavering support and endeavours to get the historic event up and running again. Whether the Ulster will be staged again in the future is unclear."
In response to their statement, Tourism NI said it had received a request from Revival Racing Ltd seeking funding of ÂŁ800,000 to stage the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix in 2022.
But it added: " This is six times the funding provided by Tourism NI to stage the events in 2019. The Department for the Economy and Department of Finance provided Tourism NI with the necessary approvals in principle to pay out the sum of money requested if Tourism NI was in a position to do so.
"The funding request has now been considered by Tourism NI’s board and it concluded that it could not justify the level of funding requested both on financial and legal grounds."
Tourism NI went on to say it was "operating in a highly constrained budget environment" and was considering requests for support for a range of events across Northern Ireland in 2022.
And it concluded: "Tourism NI has provided Revival Racing with an indicative offer as to what it could expect to receive and what we believe would be sufficient to allow both the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix to progress this year.
"We are disappointed to hear that Revival Racing has decided not to proceed with the Ulster Grand Prix this year."
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