Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Updated 31/7/2020

By Chairman • July 31st, 2020

Update 31/7/2020

We have been trying so hard to ensure we could run at least one event this year but we have now reached the point where we have had to admit defeat and cancel our last possible event, the September Sprint at Aintree.

Because most of its staff have been laid off, Aintree Racecourse hasn’t been able to remove the horse running rails that sit between the Grand National Course and the Motor Racing Circuit this year, and to bring staff in to remove them for just one event presents the Club with a financial burden that would render the Sprint completely unaffordable. The further lockdown of substantial areas of the North West and Yorkshire that has been announced today brings added complexity to the situation particularly as these are areas from which so many of competitors travel. Cancelling is, without doubt, the right course of action to protect the Club and everyone at its events. All competitors’ entry fees have been refunded in full.

We managed to keep our Aintree events going through the Foot & Mouth epidemic in 2001, but this time we have an unprecedented situation affecting human health, the effect of which is completely out of our hands.

We are planning to run a full season of “Covid-19 compliant” events in 2021 at both Aintree and Barbon, We hope that you will be with us at our events once motorsport resumes and we thank you for all the kind messages of support you have sent in during this most difficult of times.

Stay safe everyone, see you next year.

John Harden, LMC Chairman

Announcement 6/7/2020

With the information we had back in March, we had been planning for Liverpool Motor Club’s events to go ahead as normal this year unless we were instructed otherwise.

However, things subsequently changed completely and all British Motorsport was cancelled until July and permits for all events prior to 30th June were withdrawn by MSUK.
As a result, the April and June Aintree Sprints, the May Track Day and the June Barbon Hillclimb all had to be cancelled.

Subsequently, we made the tough decision to also cancel the July Barbon Hillclimb that was due to take place just 4 days after the end of the suspension of motorsport. It became clear that we were likely to have serious difficulties securing sufficient volunteers to run the event, particularly adequate medical cover as several of our medics are NHS personnel who cover motorsport on their days off. It’s extremely disappointing to have to cancel any event, but we felt that it was the responsible thing to do at this most uncertain of times.

We have refunded all entry fees for the affected events, and thank those competitors who asked us to hold on to their donations to North West Air Ambulance. We will pass those on in full at the end of the season.
The Air Ambulance service in England receives no Government subsidy and is as busy as ever during the Covid crisis. They need all the help they can get, so please consider making an extra donation to NWAA via their website: www.nwaa.net

In June we decided to postpone the LMC Speed Championship until 2021 as 18 of the 24 qualifying events had been cancelled making the championship unviable.

In July we reached the point where we had to decide whether we could run the 22nd August Aintree Track Day. Having examined the various requirements from our insurers, from Aintree Racecourse and the UK Government, and having taken into account all the issues and responsibilities connected with social distancing, we have reached the conclusion that we cannot safely run a track day at Aintree at the present time. No doubt many of our regular participants will be as disappointed as we are that the event will not run, but we hope you will understand why we have made this decision. We hope you will all be back with us at our next track day in May next year.

We will continue to monitor the situation and follow the instructions of  MSUK and the relevant authorities. We still hope to be able to run the September sprint, but this is by no means certain.

In the meantime, stay safe, heed the Government’s warnings and look after yourselves and those around you.

John Harden, LMC Chairman

6/7/2020

Motorsport UK COVID-19 Update

Friday 26/6/2020

Motorsport UK is continuing to updating its guidance about Motorsport in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.

See the latest news and information HERE.
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