Firstly, I didn’t get to Armoy but from what I hear credit must go to the riders and the organisers for what was a very difficult day.
As for the UGP we had our final press launch last night hosted by one of our partners, Lisburn City Council. LCC have been a great supporter of the UGP
throughout my 11 years as Clerk of the Course, a special thanks to Robert and Jim from Leisure Services, whose advice over the years has been
invaluable and I look forward to continuing our work together to enhance what a special place we have at Dundrod.
The Council will again sponsor the Superstock race which will be the first race on Grand Prix day.
The second Supersport race is sponsored by Around a Pound, owned by Gerard Rice, who is also a sponsor of Michael Dunlop. Gerard is pretty confident
Michael will deliver the goods on Saturday week, and who could argue after Saturday’s performance at Armoy.
This wet weather is taking its toll on the fields at Dundrod, fields that we depend on for car parking around the Dundrod circuit and although we are
hiring matting for cars to drive on I would urge anyone who could travel with a friend please do so in order to avoid not getting parked or getting
stuck!
No matter where you are on the circuit next week, there will be no excuse for not knowing what’s going on, because as well as Radio Ulster covering
the six races on Saturday on 94.5fm, we have our own Radio UGP on 107.8fm, which will be broadcasting all week around the Dundrod circuit – so make
sure you bring your radio!
This year the cars for race officials are being supplied by Townparks Antrim, owned by Martin Elliott who is a big motorsport fan himself. Martin
is an ex-competitor in karting and rallying. I would like to thank him very much for his association with the McKinstry Skip Hire Ulster Grand Prix.
With the e-mails and telephone calls non stop the final pieces of the jigsaw are being put into place in preparation for the ‘world’s fastest road race’
and if you’re not getting excited about it all you must have ice in your veins!
Noel Johnston