The Tyrone Stages Rally, which was scheduled to host Round 6 of the 2020 Protyre Motorsport UK Asphalt Rally Championship on Saturday 18 July, has been cancelled. But the good news is that it has already secured the provisional date of 24 July to run the event next year.
In a statement, the Northern Ireland event organisers said:
‘Having considered the serious nature of the current situation regarding COVID-19 and the uncertainty of duration, it is with regret that Cookstown Motor Club, the event organisers, have had to take the decision to cancel the Tyrone Stages Rally 2020 which was due to run on 18th July.
Motorsport UK have advised that all motorsport events are presently cancelled until 30 June 2020 and there is no guarantee that their suspension would not be extended.
Cookstown Motor Club considered a number of different options but decided that in line with Government guidance public safety must come first and as such the event is cancelled.
Cookstown Motor Club would like to thank the relevant Championship sponsors Protyre BTRDA and McGrady Insurance, the event Main Sponsor MJE Wheel Repair Specialist; Special Stage Sponsors McNulty Motors, Somerville Commercial Repairs, David Ferguson Cars and CBradley Motorsport and Service Park Sponsor Euro Auto Commercials. We would also like to thank local business owners KDM Hire, Keystone Lintels & Trade Mouldings for agreeing to allow us to use their premises for the event.
We would also like to thank all personnel who had agreed to help us run the event, time keepers, paramedics, ambulance crews, recovery crews, etc… and importantly the marshals.
The dedicated and very experienced organising team considered the needs of the people living along the rally route and felt that it would be inappropriate for us to bring helpers and fans into their area, even if the pandemic was declining. Thanks goes to all local residents that had been in support of our event during the PR exercises already completed.
We very much hope that when this current crisis ends that we can commence organisation of the 2021 Tyrone Stages Rally which we plan to run in July next year.’