CROFT Circuit has vowed to get back on the British Superbike Championship map within 12 months, after the shock news that the track will not feature next year.

Series promoters, MSVR, announced its calendar for the 2012 MCE Insurance-sponsored championship yesterday and it came as a surprise to many that Croft was not among the circuits to be visited.

The three-day event is one of the North-East’s top sporting attractions and regularly draws tens of thousands of motorsport fans to the venue outside Darlington.

This year’s title was won by a local team, Guisboroughbased Swan Yamaha lifting the trophy, with Tommy Hill the victorious rider.

It was thought by some that the inclusion of the Dutch circuit, Assen, next year might have been the reason for Croft’s omission, but though circuit bosses have yet to confirm the finer details, BSB series director Stuart Higgs said the decision was made in the North-East and had more to do with the after-effects of a long-running High Court case.

In January 2009, Croft Promosport, the circuit’s tenant, was ordered to pay damages and legal costs to three neighbours because the enjoyment of their homes had been affected by “loud, intrusive and repetitive noise”.

The ruling also restricted the number of annual noisy days – when the circuit can run cars and bikes with unmuffled exhausts – to 40.

Higgs said it was this and not any decision on MSVR’s part that led to yesterday’s announcement.

“We offered a round to Croft as part of the normal course of events back in September,” he told The Northern Echo.

“The operators said things were very difficult for them, as has been well-documented.

They’re operating under very tough operating arrangements which are probably the most stringent in the UK.

“With only 40 commercial days, they have had to make a commercial decision and maximise the use of those days on a risk-free basis.

“BSB would account for three days and is quite a big financial outlay, meaning they are hugely reliant on revenue on the day and need a good crowd and good weather, etc.

“We’re in the business of operating circuits as well, and with only 40 days use a year, they’re very, very tough, if not impossible, conditions to work with.”

Higgs said Croft had provided a good venue for the championship since 2004 and a round could return if conditions for the track improved.

Last night, a spokesman for Croft Circuit said they hoped that this would be the case.

Although unable to expand on the matter, he said: “It is not a long-term decision. It has not been possible to run the British Superbikes in 2012, but we appreciate it is a prestigious event and we will be looking to bring it back in 2013.”

That will be some comfort to bike fans who yesterday expressed their dismay at the cancellation.

“It is a huge kick in the teeth for motorsports fans in the North-East at not having a BSB round up here,” said one. “The knock-on effect of this will also be lost revenue, not just from the circuit, but local businesses.

“Hugely disappointing, and now I can’t see BSB ever coming back to the North-East, which is a shame.”

Another fan wrote: “All downhill from here on in. Very disappointing.”

Another said the decision would mean extensive travelling if he was to see a round of the BSB championship.

“Fairly annoyed with this decision. As a local to Teesside, I now must travel to the likes of Cadwell, Oulton or Donington for a ‘local’ round of BSB,” he said.