Hill climbs from August – ‘sand’ season blown away
LATE summer hill climbs and the Vale Castle Speed event could be salvaged from the Coronavirus crisis for motorsport enthusiasts.
But sand racing won’t happen at all.
Ian Le Page, president of the Guernsey Motor Cycle and Car Club, said the club had taken into consideration the financial obligations for the club to run events, and also the ability to run them under the current and future restrictions that have been put in place by government and its own regulatory bodies.
‘We have also liaised with the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club to ensure that we are delivering a consistent message for our sport and are on the same page with regard to events in the island this year,’ he added.
Sand racing can’t happen, though.
‘With the various restrictions that have been placed on the club, there would not be an opportunity to run any events until at least August.
‘This would leave the club with only a maximum of three dates on which we would be able to run events.
‘This would not be enough meetings to run a Championship this year, and with so few meetings available, we have already been informed by several competitors that they would not choose to complete in the discipline this year.
‘The club has already met several financial obligations this year for sand racing and hill climbs, with regard to insurances and advocates fees, to name two.
‘With fewer competitors predicted, the events would add to these costs and the events would add further to the losses already incurred, and therefore are not considered viable.’
As for hill climbs, subject to permissions and permits GMC&CC will press forward with plans to run the August bank holiday Monday meeting and the Vale Castle Speed Event on Sunday 16 August.
But both events depend on competitors showing sufficient interest.
‘Should there not be enough entries to run these events successfully, they will not be run and will be cancelled,’ said Le Page.
‘This is a tough decision, but it is being made to protect the future of our club.
‘The Guernsey Kart & Motor Club will be adopting a similar philosophy and will also be announcing their plans for hill climb events from August.’
There is good news for both the winter trials and autotests run by the GMC&CC. The trials season is scheduled to recommence on 4 October and autotests are scheduled to recommence a week earlier.
