IRISH ROAD RACING CALENDAR UNDERGOES A REVAMP

Ballymoney's Michael Dunlop in action at the Mid-Antrim

The Irish National road racing calendar has undergone a revamp for the start of the 2016 season, when traditional curtain-raising meeting the Cookstown 100 will be the third event on the list, taking place on Saturday, April 30.

Beforehand, the returning Mid-Antrim 150 will kick off another year of domestic action between the hedges on the 3.6-mile Clough course after the race was cancelled in 2014 and 2015 due to a lack of funding.

The popular event has secured a new title sponsor in JFM Haulage for the first time since 1982 and Mid Antrim 150 Club Chairman Jack Agnew hopes a switch from the race’s usual August slot to Saturday, April 2, will help boost grid numbers.

“One of the reasons for the change is because the July and August dates are full of road races with events like Armoy and the Ulster Grand Prix,” said Agnew.

“But we also have a school on our course and we had initially aimed for the last Saturday in June as a possible date, which would tie in with the start of the school holidays.

“But to do that we would’ve needed the school closed down for a day and it wasn’t really suitable, so we went for the Easter date instead and if it works for us next year, we’ll be going for it every year: the Saturday after Easter, because the schools are closed for a fortnight up to that date and that gives us the opportunity to push on with course set-up and get everything set-up around the school without any problems.

“I don’t want to be offending anybody by running the Mid Antrim as the first road race of the year but it’s just the circumstances we find ourselves in.”