2001
Coca Cola International
North West 200
Motorcycle Road Races
Press Conference
13th March 2001
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Foot and Mouth Disease
From statements made at the press conference and at the time of writing this article the Coleraine and District Motor Club's view on the race status is as follows:They are reviewing the situation on an ongoing (weekly) basis. No decision has been made as yet to cancel the event, bearing in mind football matches have been resumed, but views of the Minister for Argriculture, Minister for Sport and MCUI will be taken into consideration. The race is 9 weeks away and at present it is on until it off and planning is at an advanced stage. If there are problems with cross channel riders attending, it is envisaged that the race will still go ahead.
Obviously the matter will be given a lot of consideration by the Coleraine Club and I'm sure they are taking an objective view, but I hope for the sake of supporters who have travel and accommodation plans made, that should there be hints of a cancellation, it is communicated timeously. - NIBIKER
CP Hire to sponsor Production Race
At this evening's Press Conference in the Europa Hotel, Mervyn Whyte, Race Director, welcomed sponsors from Regal (Davie Wood), Velux Windows (Bill Lindsay), Jonathan Gates (Coca-Cola) and of course CP Hire (Jonathan Hutchinson) whose sponsorship of the production race was announced - their 15th year of North West 200 sponsorship. The CP Hire production race has a prize fund of over £8000, with the winner receiving £2000.Speaking on behalf of CP Hire, Jonathan Hutchinson said...
"We are glad to be back again, the North West to us is one of the best racing events in the country, never mind the province. We're not supporting the Grand Prix this year but we're reaffirming our commitment to the North West. We think it is a great event and hopefully we will be supporting it for a good few years to come."
Course Upgrades
Regarding the course / paddock upgrades Eddie Johnston, Race Director said"...the work is ongoing and it is a continuous improvement programme with the incidents that have happened over the years, it is always our intention to continue to improve and to make the course as safe as we possibly can. The risk assessment carried out by MCUI has highlighted a number of areas that we have taken on board, some of those areas to be upgraded. Again, the help that we get from BT and NIE: they are already starting to move poles for us and starting to make areas safer, and there are other areas that we will be doing ourselves. We can't make racing totally safe, but we can help to make it safer and our thanks go to all those people who give us tremendous support from the various bodies and authorities."
Improvements to be made include... removal of a number of lighting poles, railings at Primrose Hill, piping of the drain at Station Corner (whatever that means exactly - nibiker). There are plans to have a new grandstand located in the field at the exit of the Mill Road roundabout to add to the viewing facilities.
News about riders...
David Jefferies and Ian Duffus will race V&M Yamahas, John McGuinness and Adrian Archibald will be out to win for the Honda team, and Ian Lougher will be riding for the TAS Suzuki Team. No word as yet from Jim Moodie, and Michael Rutter has been contraced to do supercups by Kawasaki, however, it's early days yet.In attendance was Richard Britton from Enniskillen, last years winner of the CP Hire Production Race and the 2000 Regal Champion. Richard will be hoping for a win again this year on the PJ O'Kane Yamaha R1. Richard's schedule this year will be filled with the roads, short circuits, TT, UGP, and maybe some superstock depending on dates not clashing. He will be taking part in the Superbike, Production and 600 races at this years NW200.
He said:
"I wouldn't mind the same again at the NW and maybe a rostrum at the TT - we were close last year and will try to improve on that...thanks fo PJ...and I'll do my best this year for them.
Woolsley said:
"The infrastructure is there, we just need the results. The bikes are looking good...but there's too much HP...the problem will be to harness it and put the tyre on the road...a nice complaint."