Feeling gr-eight: Michael Dunlop salutes his eighth consecutive Race of Legends victory at Armoy in 2019

Armoy race chief Bill Kennedy says he remains optimistic the Irish national road race will go ahead in the summer.

Along with the Cookstown 100, which has been rescheduled from April until September due to the continuing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the 'Race of Legends' meeting in Co Antrim is the only other road race in Northern Ireland that remains on.

The North West 200 was cancelled for the second consecutive year along with the Tandragee 100, while the Ulster Grand Prix, which has been crippled by financial problems, is also a non-starter this year.

In the Republic of Ireland, all national road races are off with the exception of the Skerries 100 at the beginning of July, although there is a significant question mark over the event due to insurance costs.

However Kennedy, who has been instrumental in the success of the Armoy event since it was first held in 2009, is growing more hopeful that the popular meeting will be the first national road race to take place this year from July 30-31.

"I'm still very optimistic that we can run our race, with the way the vaccination programme has been rolled out," Kennedy said.

"I've seen talk about other sports hoping that fans might be allowed to return by May time and there are discussions about schools starting back in March, so for me it's all positive at the moment.

"I'm trying to look at it in a positive light and I think Armoy can still run in the summer, although obviously I need to talk to people within the Department for Communities and we'll see how things are," he added.

"Hopefully the hospitals won't be under as much pressure at that time and some normality might have returned, but we've still some way to go until the end of July and that gives us hope.

"There's a lot of work to be done and if there are some restrictions required, then we'll comply with them and I hope the fans will be kind to us and come and support us if we can go ahead safely with our event."

Kennedy revealed that he has received a stream of steady requests from competitors over the winter months, who are eager for the opportunity to return to the home of the legendary Armoy Armada and take on the challenge of the undulating three-mile course.

"We will try and run a very successful road race at Armoy and I can say that there has been plenty of interest from riders, both from across the water and from further afield," he said.

"Competitors are keen to know if Armoy will be running and I'm receiving messages every week. My response is the same to each of those riders: that we hope to run and we're being positive, although obviously there remains the possibility that the decision could be taken out of our hands.

"All things being equal, we will try and run a race at Armoy on July 31.

"It's inevitable that at some point we'll have to return to some sort of reality, and people I think are beginning to get weary during this lockdown and we still have a way to go," Kennedy added.

"It's affecting people's mental health as well, so I believe people need something to look forward to and if we were in a position to say that Armoy will go ahead in July, then I think that would give a lot of motorcycling fans a great lift.

"It would be a huge boost also for the riders, sponsors and wider community to see something positive taking place this year and then if everything goes well, perhaps we can look forward to a full season in 2022."

Home hero Michael Dunlop has won the last eight headline Superbike races at Armoy, achieving his most recent success in 2019 despite carrying a number of injuries following a crash at the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man only a few weeks earlier.