Former MotoGP rider Jeremy McWilliams left the Ulster Superbike Championship amid fallout with organizers at a recent Kirkistown conference.
Jeremy McWilliams continued his active racing career in the ’60s, becoming a regular in the Northwest 200 and becoming a rival in the Ulster Superbike Championship.
However, due to the “continuous differences” between himself and the Irish motorcycle coalition, he chose to leave the latter.
This comes from the incident at the Kirkistown Meeting of the Ulster Superbike Championship on June 7, when McWilliams challenged the Supersports class at JMCC Racing.
In a statement issued earlier this month, McWilliams said they were unable to check racing equipment at 8:30am on June 7th, along with several other competitors.
This meant he missed the qualifying round and had to start from behind the grid, and McWilliams said this was done as a “reminder to those who call the shot.”
He then mentioned the second incident in which he was not allowed to start the race due to the Pitlan exit closure, claiming that “it has become clear that racing on USBK is not welcome anymore.”
The full statement reads: “My team arrived at 8am on Saturday and began to lead the JMCC racing bike into technical control.
“By 8:30am, I was given a bike and I walked to the high-tech control garage wearing my helmet, leather and boot gloves and carrying the document.
“To find out that the shutter was closed at 0830.
“We have seven or eight people who are trying to complete the necessary checks but are unable to enter the technical control building.
“As this progressed, most of us missed the qualifying session. After that, most people said, “If you can do the kit right now, you have to start from behind each grid.”
“A mere reminder to us who call shots.”
In the second incident, he added:
“The rider in front wasn’t in the middle of the pit lane. That was it. I was told, ‘You’re not going.’
“For some reason, it became clear that I am no longer welcoming to racing on USBK.
“I feel like there’s a revenge from some little hearted people to make sure I’m not on the grid.”
McUI fought back in its own statement, saying it was “abusing the system” in terms of technical check times, without mentioning McWilliams by name.
“One competitor has been consistently behind over the last 12-18 months and we hope that the scrutiny will execute the checks, especially for him,” the statement read.
“Every event in the world has time to participate in technical management. If you missed it without a reasonable reason, you cannot participate.
“Like recent Easter, this one competitor couldn’t check PPE equipment on time and didn’t sign on to the event the following day until the next day when technical control was set to regulate.
“Unfortunately, on Saturday, June 7th, the scrutiny inspectors carried out a regulatory era that left several competitors behind to prevent technical control from being completed.
“This included the same competitors who said they were abused the system and went to technical control at 8:30am.
“McUI (UC) understands the frustration of members rather than tolerating action on the day of the panel.
“170 participants were technically managed within the allocated time, and many were there hundreds of miles from across Ireland and competed.”
It also fought back at his claim that Pitlan had been explicitly closed for him.
However, this response from McUI has proven to be McWilliams’ final straw, who announced a few days ago that he would not return to the series.
“In light of the contents of that statement and the ongoing differences, I have made the difficult decision for now to take a step back,” he said.
“As much as I want to stay involved, the current organisation vibe has, unfortunately, taken away the fun I’ve always found by competing at local events. The fun side was the main reason I kept coming to my home.
“I really hope that these differences can be addressed and resolved in the future, and that we can go back to support and enjoy grassroots races at home again.”