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Ice racing season cancelled

"Too many unknowns" related to evolving COVID-19 situation to go forward with plans for limited season, club says.
Ice racing 3
The Thunder Bay Autosport Club has announced the cancellation of its 2021 season. (Ian Kaufman, tbnewswatch.com/FILE)

THUNDER BAY – Ice racing enthusiasts are hitting pause on the decades-long tradition in 2021, with plans for a limited season of automotive racing cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Thunder Bay Autosport Club announced earlier this week that the races usually held on the ice of Mission Bay, just south of Mission Island, would not go forward this year.

“With the ongoing lockdown and COVID-19 situation evolving, the board has voted and made the difficult decision to cancel the limited fun series we were hoping to run this season,” the club stated via social media. “Please know that we did not take this decision lightly, and have made every attempt to be able to hold a limited series.”

The district has seen the number of actives cases remain stubbornly high for weeks, remaining above 100 on all but one day since Jan. 21.

New cases have been driven in large part by major outbreaks at local correctional facilities.

The trends are worrying enough that the district is set to move only to the Red-Control zone in Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework Tuesday, when health units emerge from a province-wide lockdown.

The situation ultimately left “too many unknowns” to proceed with events over its short winter racing season, the club said.

The club waits until ice is at least a foot thick before kicking off the season, which typically lasts into March.

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