The first Thundersprint was held at Hoghton Tower, near Blackburn, and then it moved to Wigan, Southport, Manchester and eventually Northwich, Cheshire as it grew in size.
[3] According to a report commissioned by Cheshire West and Chester Council, the Thundersprint attracted 145,000 visitors and brought £7.3 million into the local economy.
[4] These figures made the Thundersprint one of the largest motorcycling events in the world in terms of attendance and of significant economic importance to the area.
[6] The Northwich time trials took place in a small town centre car park, so the scope of the racing was somewhat limited.
[9][10] In 2015, the Mellings announced that " this iconic event will not take place in 2015", adding that "in the final analysis, we are a two person business and we can’t continue to risk what we have built up over the last seventeen years on the bet that we will have good weather in 2015".
The event is a regularity trial where riders declare a target speed and then ride for 20 minutes plus two laps in an attempt to achieve it.