Just had the news I was expecting from my club, the opening round at Pembrey on March 28th & 29th is cancelled as is round 2 on April 17th & 18th at Oulton Park. Having only ridden it for the first time last Sunday after a winter of preparation, a track day at Brands where excellent progress was made with both wet & dry settings, I was really feeling at home on my new ride & looking forward to the season opener. Whilst I know the reasons behind this make sound sense, & the health of the greater population has to be the priority, to say I am disappointed would be an absolute understatement. My view is that the season will not happen, stats suggest that if the current measures work & there is a relaxing of the sanctions after 2-3 months, that would lead to a spike in cases again in the Autumn, in which case I can't see any relaxation ahead of another winter. Statement from Formula Prostocks organiser Keith Chambers below, still haven't seen anything from NG Racing but it is only a matter of time! "Unfortunately I have to sadly announce that due to the current UK situation, regarding the coronavirus, the ACU have today announced that they are suspending all competition and social activity until 30th April. This will be continuously monitored, but basically means that our first meeting at Pembrey and second meeting at Oulton Park are not going ahead as per our fixture list. We do not know at this time, how long the suspension of events is going to last, but will bring you all new information, as soon as it is available. The events that are postponed, may be rescheduled for later in the year, but this will not be confirmed until such time that the restrictions have been lifted and information will be released in due course. I hope that you can all appreciate that this decision is totally out of our hands, I know how disappointed everyone will be with this news, but at the end of the day, people’s health is far more important than racing. I would like to wish all our members, families and friends the very best of health in these difficult times, stay safe."
That is really bad news @Bad Billy and after all the hard work you have put in over the winter to get ready, feel your disappointment. Both me and my grandsons were looking forward to the Oulton Park session.....
Mate, things just got worse, Chris has got a cough & feeling under the weather, she has been told to self isolate for 14 days, along with anyone else in the house (me!). All this but without a test or proper diagnosis that’s us in quarantine! Luckily I can work from home, Chris can’t, at the moment she feels poorly but no worse than a cold, I am fine. Let’s hope it is nothing more than a cold.
I am so very sorry to read this, @Bad Billy, though not surprised. I'm sure you are tremendously disappointed. So are your forum friends who were really looking forward to your photos, videos, and race reports.
Ah, Billy, that's truly bad news. I hope that, yes, it's nothing more than a cold. My 23-year-old nephew and his girlfriend both have been very ill. She's a nurse so got tested but had to wait four days for results. In the meantime they self-quarantined. Turns out they both had very bad colds but not COVID-19 thank goodness. Hopefully the same will be true for Chris. Keep us posted. Sending positive thoughts your way.
What a disapointment, especially after your work on the new bike, and as you were only going to have a limited season anyway I hope the illness is nothing too serious.
Thanks Sandi, I am pretty sure that this won't turn out to be COVID-19, but both Chris & my employers are insististing that we follow the 14 day self isolation with no test. Luckily I am working from home & will get paid, Chris is a different matter.
Oh my, I hope she improves quickly, please pass on my thoughts to her. There is no doubt that this virus is now starting to have significant impacts on our forum members .......
Cheers Wessa , will pass on you best wishes to Chris, I too wish all affected by this a speedy recovery. I just find it bizarre that you are required to self isolate but there is no test, how are we ever to know the full extent of the virus? Also how many workers are sitting at home unnecessarily with little more than a common cold, this is financially crippling on all levels, it will have far reaching implications for a very long time to come. TBH - I work in the transport sector, our business has already implemented a contingency plan which included splitting the operations team so that 50% work off site for 2 weeks then do 2 weeks in the office, this way you reduce your risk of a total operational shut down should anyone get the virus.
Yep it is a real challenge for all. Not sure how they can test everybody, so I guess that is why they are advising stay at home. Belts and braces .....
Well, not good - but not unexpected - news ..... ermmmmm ... the racing cancellations that is, not the supplementary about Chris's condition! Do hope that she gets back to full fitness quickly and easily. I was thinking the other day that we really are living in unprecedented times and that there will be long term ramifications that we can neither predict or, perhaps, understand right now. I suspect that society will see some long term outcomes and impacts from this that will irrevocably change many, many lives. Businesses will falter, fail or change. Our health services will change. The way that society handles similar "events" is likely to change - perhaps for the better. Fundamentally, things will never be the same. I think the only way to look to the future is to hope that nobody on here suffers any great loss - personal, financial or societal from it all and that whatever we will call "normal" when all this is done and dusted, isn't in any way worse than what we called normal 6 months ago. Best to you both.
Thanks Adie, the good news is that Chris is already feeling a little better, we were pretty sure from the start that she had a cold not the Corona Virus, she had no high temperature just the cough & a tightness in the chest. She & I followed the advise as per guidelines so have self isolated, I still have no symptoms whatsoever, but as I have mentioned before, I was already destined to be working from home as part of the emergency measures my firm have put in to combat the virus. I agree with your view that things are changing, likely to never be the same, and the problems associated with this outbreak not just for our health but also for the way of life as we know it, this will be a very difficult time for capitalism, people through no fault of their own are going to be in great difficulty financially. The thing I am finding the most difficult to deal with is the selfishness of our society, the me first, greedy hoarders that are making a difficult situation worse.
Hi Billy, Just read your post and wanted to say best wishes to the both of you. Sadly the same is happening over here as well, the “me first” attitude of selfishness is in overdrive. Stricter control measures are already being put in place across certain sectors of business such as restaurants and pubs etc. Lots of companies are plotting different scenarios and already looking at critical and non personnel to minimize risk whilst still keeping their doors open for business. Financial implications are going to be significant. A rate cut was announced earlier today to try and stimulate an already battered and bruised economy. I’m not sure how that’s going to help when people start loosing their jobs and homes because they simply won’t be able to meet commitments.
