Race of the South action features in new book
A number of stunning photographs from the annual motorcycle races at Walderstown feature in a newly released book, The Wee Roads, by award-winning photographer Stephen Davison, a native of Antrim.
Having first discovered motorcycle road racing as a boy in 1974, Davison has spent a lifetime documenting its beauty and danger. The images in the book are a stirring tribute to the people, places and spirit of Irish road racing.
“While I have had the good fortune to witness and record road racing all over the world, it has always been the smaller Irish national events closest to home that have retained the greatest fascination,” Mr Davison said.
The tradition of motorcycle road racing is, he says, a uniquely Irish phenomenon, one that has honed the skills of a number of native racers who have gone on to become world champions.
With more than 100 colour images, including photos of the Dunlop family, Guy Martin and other high profile racers, this is an essential record of a compelling sport.
From Clonakilty to Cookstown, to the marquee events of the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix and across a rich calendar of national meetings, Irish roads have produced some of the sport’s greatest races and riders.
It was on the public roads, transformed each summer into racing circuits, that riders like Michael Dunlop and his uncle, Joey, would hone the racing skills and become the most successful road racers of all time.
Unlike the professionally funded circuits of MotoGP and the World Superbike paddock, Irish road racing remains a grassroots endeavour, run by volunteers and staged in villages and towns where everyday life pauses for speed.
Davison is the joint owner of the photographic agency Pacemaker Press, and he works for a wide range of international publications. A contributor to the documentary films Closer to the Edge and Road, this is his 10th book on road racing.
As a photographer who first discovered the sport as a boy in 1974, Davison has spent a lifetime documenting its beauty and danger. The images in these pages (captured over the past two decades), are a stirring tribute to the people, places and spirit of Irish road racing.
“Punching well above their weight in terms of impact and legacy, these grassroot events epitomise the true nature of the sport in places where rural byways are transformed into race tracks over a summer weekend,” said Davison, adding that the images in the book are “a very personal experience of Irish national road racing”.
The book is published in hardback by The Merrion Press, and costs €24.99.
INSURANCE
Motorcycling Ireland have announced that the insurance premium for 2027 has been cut by some €150,000 compared to the 2026 figure.
They say the savings will go directly back to the clubs, riders and disciplines.
Motorcycling Ireland say the result comes from continued hard work, careful monitoring of insurance matters and ongoing engagement with existing insurers, following a positive 2026 season.