Waterford Raceway Limited welcomed under Motorsport Ireland umbrella
Following months of talks Motorsport Ireland are pleased to announce an agreement has been reached with Waterford Raceway Limited which will see Hot Rod Racing return to the sealed surface fixed venue at “The Pike”, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford this year.
Speaking on the agreement Motorsport Ireland President Mr. Aiden Harper said; “This agreement is a great opportunity for Motorsport Ireland, our affiliated clubs and Waterford Raceway Limited. As the ASN for Motorsport in Ireland it’s great to be able to support grassroots motorsport. We see this as an opportunity and consider it a feeder series to our mainstream motorsport disciplines. When we were approached over six months ago by the senior officials of Waterford Raceway Limited, it was agreed at Motorsport Council level to explore the possibility of bringing them under our umbrella and thanks to hard work, and in consultation with our Insurance broker MIS, an agreement has been reached.”
The agreement will see Hot Rod events run by Waterford Raceway Limited fall under the Motorsport Ireland mantle but outside its judicial system and technical rules in a matter similar to how digital motorsport and the Tillotson T4 Regional Kart Series operate currently.
Harper continued; “Apart from the benefit of acting as a feeder series, each competitor will need to hold a Motorsport Ireland competition licence which means up to 100 new members for our existing affiliated motor clubs, which in turn will hopefully mean additional help for these clubs in the running of their own events. It’s a real good news story in particular, for the youth in the area who begin their motorsport activities at this venue, like many of our current rally and race competitors have in the past. We are delighted to have them on board and wish them every success for the season ahead.”
Waterford Raceway Limited held an information meeting last Saturday evening in Lawlor’s Hotel, Dungarvan for their current and past members. Two members of the Motorsport Council who had been given the mandate to deal with the arrangement at the last Motorsport Council meeting in December, were also invited to attend this closed meeting. It transpired that some people were refused entry to the meeting as they were neither current or past members of Waterford Raceway Limited as per the meeting announcement. These people were not known to the officials of Waterford Raceway on the door and neither did they identify themselves, or make contact with the two Motorsport Council members who were attending the meeting.
It was reported in the media that one of the people turned away was the Vice-President of Motorsport Ireland. Motorsport Ireland would like to clarify that having spoken to Waterford Raceway Limited and the Vice-President, he was not turned away because he was the Vice-President of Motorsport Ireland but because he wasn’t a past or present member of Waterford Raceway Limited. Three more people, two of whom are members of the Motorsport Ireland Technical Commission, were refused entry to the meeting for the same reason.
Motorsport Ireland look forward to building a strong relationship with Waterford Raceway Limited in the years ahead.