Should there be more incentives for top riders to race Ulster/Irish Championships?

If we turn back time to around twenty years ago, the Ulster and Irish Championships had real depth and a lot of interest. Despite being such a small country there was lot of racing at a very good level.

Names like Adam Lyons, Philip McCullough, Wayne Garrett, Tommy Merton (still racing), Brian Steele and many more used to race every week. Gordon Crockard who was racing GP’s at the time would have also made the effort to race around his schedule and then who can forget Shaun Simpson racing as well as the likes of the McKeowns and a young Martin Barr when it fitted around his schedule.

No disrespect to the riders that are at the front today as they’re still fast but the Ulster/Irish championships of today aren’t exactly what they used to be. Like everywhere in the world, tracks closing down and no longer used is a problem. Tracks like Ballykelly, Donemana and Desertmartin are really missed. But as we have seen that is even an issue in Belgium so it’s just one of those things our sport has to fight against.

There is also the complication of more championships in England, there used to be just one main championship in England but now there’s the British Championship, Fastest 40 series and the Bridgestone Masters. The top riders like to race in England and it is getting more and more difficult to run Irish/Ulster championships on different dates.

The Scottish Championship is also gaining in popularity. The fact that a lot of our local talent would rather travel there and race isn’t a great sign.

Could more be done to encourage the best riders in the country to line up? Jason Meara revealed to us he doesn’t even get a free entry to race so that is something worth considering moving forward. If the series can attract better riders it will attract more spectators so they should be able to pick up more money through the gate.

Remember entry lists? Years ago thanks to the Ulster MX forum you’d always have gotten an entry list. These days the casual fan won’t have a clue who is racing until they turn up at the event. That should be a bare minimal.

Another thing worth considering, if there’s an Ulster/Irish on the Saturday with a British on the Sunday. Why not let the Expert riders be the first race instead of the last? It’ll give them more time to get away and head for the boat and means they might at least consider racing. It has happened a handful of times throughout the years to be fair but hasn’t happened in a while. Perhaps something to consider.

Below is a table of the Ulster Championship prize money, per race. An expert rider that finishes fifth in a moto gets zero whilst a clubman that get’s fifth gets £15… interesting. Whilst the top riders have to pay for their entries as well they’ll have around £100 pound to show for their day if they go 1-1-1. Factoring in diesel, maintenance costs etc, they haven’t got much to show for it.

We asked some current and former riders their thoughts on the Ulster/Irish Championships and if there should be more incentives for them to race in their home country…

Martin Barr: 

Unfortunately the sport here at the moment is at an all time low. Like a few of the other guys from home I’ve commitments across the pond with my team so it’s always hard to fit races in at home. It’s a tough one but the biggest thing for me here are the tracks. They have been the same for years and haven’t changed with the times regarding preparation. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but why hasn’t our governing body not stepped in to help one of the best tracks in the world to get Desertmartin back up and running? I think all race tracks should be getting help to revamp them so people get excited about riding new tracks and want to go racing. Obviously if the prize pot was better as well it would give us a lot more of an incentive but it’s not all about us, the clubmen are the ones keeping the sport going so they need something back as well! But until all the powers of above start working together I can’t see anything happening anytime soon.

Jason Meara: 

Well, the first thing that I would say is the top riders aren’t treated with respect over here. You look at the Scottish Championship there for example. Yes, they’ve got money and yes they’ve got track prep but I went to Scotland this year with help with the entries and the guys didn’t even know who I was. I’ve come to Seaforde here today paid 40 pounds for an entry and asked for five pounds at the gate. It speaks for itself. Well, a free entry would be a start… It’s just, I don’t know, the whole thing is backwards over here. Everyone else is pushing on and we’re stuck behind…

Glenn McCormick: 

It’s a hard one as I think the Ulster and Irish have been so good in ways for me over the years but possibly could have been better. It wasn’t that long ago were there was big line ups and big names coming over here to race, as I’m pretty sure Shaun Simpson not so long ago was someone who came over to race amongst others. I think if there was more of an incentive it might attract more people! The way the tracks in the UK and Europe are now starting to be prepared is totally different now. I do think we are behind a bit on that now. With that being said with me riding for an English team I do have commitments in England which some unfortunately clash with back home. It would be great to see some changes and get motocross boosted over here the way it used to be!

James Mackrel: 

I think the main problem is the tracks are completely sh*t. We don’t have a good track to race, at all. Mick Mc Cullagh’s track, Sperrin, just lies there, nobody races at it but then they go to Seaforde twice in the one year for round two and three. I just don’t understand, there’s no wonder nobody wants to go and race. You are there all day long to ride a rubbish track that has been terribly prepped, you barely get any prize money back for being there. You get, what? £15 more per race win than the clubmen. I don’t know, if you ask me, the experts class put a lot more effort into it.

But it’s not really about the money anyway, it’s more about having a decent track to ride or a decent run event. There hasn’t been one that’s been decently well ran in ages. You go there and you don’t leave until 7PM and nobody wants to be there at that time. Leaving the track at that time, that’s the fun out of the day. Lining up at your last race at 5PM is no fun at all, you are done by that time of the day. But, there’s a lot of issues with it to be fair. The whole thing in general and the break between the rounds. Around five years ago there was nearly a race every weekend and now there’s very little. It has just gone sh*t and unless there’s big changes, I can’t see it even lasting. I can’t see there being racing in Northern Ireland or even Ireland.

Stuart Edmonds: 

Yeah, it would be great if there was more incentive to do the Irish and Ulster Championship rounds. Unfortunately, with my commitments this year I just have to put time into the areas that I have committed to at the start of the year. I think it could draw more riders into the championships for sure but those that have committed to UK races could be in the same boat as me and might not attend anyway.

Jake Sheridan:

I definitely think there should be. From riding back home myself, you race hard. It feels like you have to race harder at home than you do at the British sometimes. Everyone is so close together and you have to be on your A game. More incentives? For sure. You have to ride balls off. It’s good racing, I had a good day at Gormanstown at the Irish. It was nice to be back racing an Irish and we got the weather. Ulster and Irish is good racing and I don’t think it gets recognised enough from abroad. It would maybe be nice for more to be put into it maybe, but it’s hard to say that when we had Covid. I think it will get back going and back to where it was like in the old days. Hopefully we can get back to full gates, there is lots of talent as well in the country from north and south. Hopefully it can really get back on the map again, it always has been but to produce good riders and get them out there in Europe to see what they’re made of. It would be nice to see longer moto’s and mesh starts as well to get that into production and move with the times. It could be achieved as well, maybe for 2025 they could implement that. There’s lot of rooms to improve.

Nathan Green: 

I honestly think all the tracks aren’t bad, they just haven’t got a revamp in years. People know what they’re going to ride before they start, when do you ever see people walking the tracks here? Obviously my family own Seaforde and I see how much work, time and money goes into it. There is no question the sport is on it’s knees here and I honestly don’t know what the answer is. I honestly live for this sport and I don’t like seeing it like this. Money is a big problem for people as well, I can’t figure out for the life of me why riders should get charged a fiver at the gate. For spectators that is fair enough. I think some of the clubs that have a bit of money should invest in their tracks, it’s the only way I can see it attracting the riders.

Gordon Crockard:

There are riders in every country around the world who only ride to put a pound in their pocket. Most of the local “national” events don’t generate enough income to offer a days pay to the event winner, Ulster & Irish championship events inclusive. If there was ” a days pay” of money to be made racing nationally on the island of Ireland, you’d find riders who race for financial income would come to try and win it. But currently, there isn’t enough of a days pay for any said rider to bother, so they don’t. We didn’t see Jett & Hunter Lawrence at Seaforde on May day, did we? The local sport is not a professional entity with a business model that generates enough revenue to put on sufficient prize money to attract riders who only race for profit, to pay their bills, we all have them. Volunteers kindly run our local sport for riders and spectators to enjoy.

Even in the case revenue was generated, through increased entry fees, increased licence fees, reduced spend on event facilities, sponsorship investment, and that money was used to pay the main event winners prize money worth winning, doing such activity would impact negatively on the majority of event participants and not make for positive development of the sport as a whole locally. Let’s imagine the Ulster Bank decided to sponsor the 2025 Ulster MX Championship with a £4 million investment to pay the Lawrence brothers to come race the Ulster championship rounds next year. How would that positively help local motocross in Ireland? Full grids? Doubt it. 10,000 spectator attendance? Don’t think so. The only guys reaping benefit out of the £4 mil would be Jett and Hunter….also known as “top riders.” That £4 mil would be better spent on creating a dedicated body of mx sport event organisers, improved track venues, new tracks, adult and youth coaching schemes, improving event facilities, etc….

Incentives to race, #1 is that it must be fun. If you’re repeatedly doing something and it’s not fun, and you are not getting paid to do it…that offers only a want to stop doing whatever that is. As initially mentioned; Some riders ride only for money. Some riders ride only for fun. There are more riders in the fun category. Creating an incentive to attract more riders of this fun category should be the primary focus. The only ride for money category guys are also welcome to come and have fun riding too, with everyone else riding for fun. Maybe one day we’ll see Jett and Hunter on May day at Seaforde… with or without the Ulster Bank’s help!!

Wayne Garrett:

Times have really changed over the years… If you go back to early 2000 era Easter weekend was well attended, full gates and a full field of spectators but them times have gone. Generations now have less interest in racing as much as we did back in the day and the cost of the sport now with buying bikes parts etc is a lot higher. Would increasing the prize fund help? It might well help but the Irish championship fund has been good in 2022 and we had a good championship that year. If we think about track choices we have at the minute there’s minimal options to choose from. 20 years ago we raced every weekend and nearly had a different track every weekend and only rode the same track a few times a year. I feel over here riders get a bit bored of the same track every other week and nothing has changed with most of them in a long time. I know how much time and money goes into track prep from the owners and that bit I think people take for granted what is needed. The one thing with tracks when you look in Europe we are behind, in the late 90’s early 2000s tracks were hard and slick now it’s about ripping up and ruts. If any riders in Ireland want to advance to British level and higher, you have to get over there and get used to that kind of riding as it’s so different to what way tracks are over here. If we could have all the tracks back that were running 20 years ago I’d say that would help (Ballykelly, Donemana, Desertmartin, Downpatrick, Drumahoe, Bells Hill and Johnstown to name a few).

Brian Steele: 

It’s a tricky one, the tracks available at home are far from optimal and don’t offer great preparation for our top riders to race on them. That said I feel it’s vital for the younger riders to see our best riders perform at a local level, they do provide inspiration that’s often the catalyst to motivating younger riders to excel. Obviously, prize money will create the biggest carrot but my opinion is well prepared tracks and an intelligent race schedule would go a long way to getting the guys interested.

Lawrence Spence: 

We have a meeting with youth riders and an adult meeting to see what the riders want. Hopefully we get some direction from it to move forward. 

Conclusion

There’s no magic answer but the main thing is to get everyone at the top working together to try and improve the sport in the whole of Ireland. The biggest gripe from the riders tends to be the tracks so perhaps investing some money into revamping the tracks we have and if there’s a chance of adding more tracks, even better. A push to get the likes of Desertmartin and Donemana back would be a real boost. Fingers crossed improvements are made to get the Irish/Ulster Championships back on track again.