The Motorsport Ireland calendar has been released, although the locations are still unknown. This year, the championship will consist of 5 rounds, which is a decrease compared to previous years when there were 8 rounds. On the other hand, Tullyallen Kart Club has an impressive 8-round calendar that will visit 4 different locations, potentially more than Motorsport Ireland.
At first, the reduction in the number of rounds may have seemed disappointing, but upon reflection, is a smaller calendar really a negative thing? Ireland boasts incredible talent across all classes and in various teams. Each team has standout drivers, regardless of the class they compete in, which is truly remarkable. However, should these drivers be limited to competing only within the country?
During my racing days from 2007-2010, there was only one championship, Motorsport Ireland, consisting of around 8 rounds. Depending on the year, there were separate races for the IRL plate, C plate, and O plate. With fewer races, it provided racers with the opportunity to explore racing abroad. The reduced number of races allowed for more time and budget to be allocated for international days. Now if you were to compete in MI, TKC, UKC, LKC etc the number of rounds would exceed 20, depending on the class. In the past, my calendar included test days in Lonato, South Garda at the beginning of the year, the Motorsport Ireland championship, and possibly test days in Angerville or Genk during the summer. However, with the current schedule, competing in multiple championships in Ireland leaves little opportunity to race abroad.
Unfortunately, it seems that we may have lost some drivers as a result. Conor Grant, our 2023 MI Senior X30 Champion, and CJ Bennett, who has been performing exceptionally well since his impressive win in Galway, are both heading to Belgium, and possibly even the Euro series. While it is fantastic to see them excel internationally, it is also disheartening to lose such talented drivers from our local competitions. And that's only two that's confirmed or that I can say in public. Their is many more that's very close to pulling the plug on Irish racing and going abroad instead. Had we a MI calendar sooner maybe we could have had a better outcome with drivers doing it and international races. But with the uncertainty, people made their plans sooner rather than later which you can't blame them. Teams fill up, hotels, flights etc has to be booked and so on. And as good as the Tullyallen championship is, it's still 'only' seen as a club championship, it doesn't have the prestige of a MI championship, but maybe that'll change over time.
Recently, watching Jack Buckley, Colin Cronin, and Andrei Dabija at a club race made me realize how fortunate we are to have such skilled drivers in our country. However, we will undoubtedly miss the excitement of seeing these top drivers battle it out on our home turf.
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