It wasn't the best weekend in the world for the Mid-Andrim 150 road race at Clough. It was rainy and cold, but the racers were ready to go out and compete anyway. But when they showed up to the track on Saturday, the circuit was covered in oil.
Race officials, and even racers like Ryan Farquhar and Adrian Archibald, went to work to clean up the track, but officials had to cancel the event.
"We did our best to run the meeting, but in the interests of safety I was not prepared to put riders' lives at risk," said Jack Agnew, the clerk of the course.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that an internal dispute inside the club had caused the cancellation of the event in 2009.
"It would appear that the oil had been deposited on what are virtually our racing lines, so it would appear that whoever did it knew what they were at," Farquhar said. "Accidents and weather can disrupt things and we accept that, but this was something totally different and it's not fair to all those people – riders, organisers, fans – who make the meeting happen."
The BBC reports that Agnew also believes that oil spill was intentional. Agnew says that the spill was "deliberate because of the position it was put on the road - on the very fast bend, on the racing line and the breaking line.
"I believe that whoever did it knew what they were doing."The Mid-Antrim race in 2010 was also disrupted by oil, but last year's race did not have to be cancelled."
Police in the are are currently investigating the incident to see if any foul play really was involved.
