The Isle of Man TT has officially been cancelled for 2021 due to the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing global pandemic.
The world’s most famous road racing event thus becomes one of the first motorsport events scheduled next year already shelved because of doubt cast by Covid-19.
The Island nation only has six active cases of coronavirus and had a three-month spree between June and August with zero confirmed cases. However, the TT relies heavily on the support of volunteers from mainland United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.
It will be the second year running that the event has not taken place after this year’s edition was called off back in April.
This is the first time since the Second World War the TT has been cancelled in consecutive years.
The early decision may be surprising to fans and riders. But Isle of Man’s Minister for Enterprise Laurence Skelly says a call to cancel the event was to “provide certainty and clarity to race fans and everyone else involved in our event.”
“We do not underestimate the disappointment that this decision will cause to many people,” said Skelly.
“The TT relies on thousands of volunteers and officials across a wide range of organisations, and we could not move responsibly towards operating to that date and commit to welcoming tens of thousands of people to the Island in June, despite the progress towards a vaccination programme globally and on the Island.
“We evaluated all possible options including moving the TT to a date later in the year, but there are complexities and risks, including scaling up of certain infrastructure and critical delivery elements of the TT, as well as existing resident and visitor travel in late August, which would cause further disruption to thousands of people.
It was also announced that the 2022 TT has been scheduled to take place from May 28 to June 11.