Iconic road race set for long-awaited comeback with resurfacing planned
Huge boost for Irish road racing as Infrastructure Minister gives green light
The Tandragee 100 is set to return in 2025.
Resurfacing work is planned, meaning the road racing event is poised to be held for the first time since 2022.
The boost for the County Armagh, Northern Ireland, meeting is welcome news for the road racing scene.
Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd confirmed that vital work on a stretch of the A51 will be carried out, allowing the Tandragee 100 to be held again.
“Over many years my Department has been working with race organisers to facilitate the safe conditions for the Tandragee 100 to take place,” O’Dowd said.
“This has involved carrying out road surface and drainage repairs in advance of the event and that essential work will continue with the resurfacing of a small stretch of the road in preparation for next years’ event.
“Our rural road network is at the heart of local communities and contributes to their connectivity and economy.
“The Tandragee 100 Road Race is part of a busy NI motorsport calendar and attracts many thousands of motorsport enthusiasts.
“It also generates opportunities for local businesses and tourism.
“I am committed to supporting and investing in our rural road network to enable local communities deliver local benefits.”
Tandragee 100 race organisers expressed their joy.
“We’re absolutely delighted,” Clerk of the Course and Club Secretary of the North Armagh Motorcycle and Car Club, Anne Forsythe, told Armagh I.
“I mean it’s the start of the journey for us, we have a lot of work to do now.
“Behind the scenes, we had been working away anyway and we have to apply for our date application with our governing body and we’ve already done that. We did that in August. So we’re just going through all the normal procedures.
“Now that we’ve got this news we’re on to the next stage. We’re now going to be able to turn our full attention to secure all the necessary resources including financial.
“The bottom line is if the resurfacing wasn’t done we would have had a year with no Tandragee 100. That’s the only reason we didn’t run in 2023 or 2024.
“It’s brilliant. It really is, because we bring so much by way of opportunities and both social and economic impact on not only County Armagh but as far down as Newry, and attracting spectators to come and spend their money from all over the world.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
