Motorsport Ireland today announced the cancellation of this year's Phoenix Park Motor Races due to inadequate funding. The event is one of the oldest sporting events in the World and is due to celebrate it's centenary in 2003 although that is now on hold pending a full review and exploration of other possible sources of funding.
While the news that the 2002 event has been cancelled will be a major source of disappointment to motorsport enthusiasts all over Ireland, the fact that centenary celebrations have been put on hold will be a major cause of concern throughout the worldwide motorsport community.
While plans have been put on hold for the 2003 celebrations Motorsport Ireland has set aside €100,000 for work on resurfacing parts of the Phoenix Park circuit in the current year. Cecil Sparks, Chairman of Motorsport Ireland said that the decision to allocate funds for re-surfacing works had been taken as Motorsport Ireland wish to ensure that the proper infrastructure can be put in place should the necessary funding can be found to go ahead with the 2003 celebrations.
He said, "Without the resurfacing there would be absolutely no chance of going ahead with centenary celebrations in 2003. Even with the €100,000 which, we are allocating further work still needs to be done. We will be utilising the time to discuss possible ways of getting this funding from the relevant authorities. It is our belief that some of the roads are public roads and do need resurfacing. While we realise that we need to help with any such works Motorsport Ireland would never be in a position to raise the total funding needed to resurface the whole circuit."
He continued, "We are obviously very disappointed at having to cancel this year's meeting as it will leave a major gap in the Irish motorsport calendar. It is difficult to reconcile our situation with what happens in other countries. One has only to look at Australia, which also promotes racing in a centre city park to see what can be achieved. It is easy to forget that the Australian Grand Prix takes place in a venue similar to our own Phoenix Park. The potential is huge."
Filed by Johnny Proby
