Dunlop in unstoppable form at Walderstown meeting

In the first race of the day, the Irish championship Open event, he was never headed has he won by .6 of a second. Derek McGeewas still in touch with William, but just seemed to be unable to get on terms with Dunlops Milwaukee Yamaha. He was just over half a second adrift at the flag. Derek Sheils finished in third place, less than half a second back from McGee.

William also took a record breaking win in the Grand Final, passing early leader Derek Sheils to open up a 1.8 second gap at the finish. Michael Pearson just managed to hold off a hard charging Derek McGee on the final run to the line.

McGee wasn’t to be denied in the 600 race, registering a start to finish win. He was hounded every inch of the way by Jamie Hamilton, but the Ballyclare rider just didn’t seem to be able to make any kind of meaningful passing move. William Dunlop finished third, still in touch with the leaders.

Hamilton, riding one of Ryan Farquhar’s KMR prepared ER6’s had a fairly handy win in the Supertwins race. Hamilton was 7.4 seconds ahead of a close fought race involving Antrims Mark Hanna and Michael Sweeney from Skerries. Hanna held sway for most of the race, but towards the end the local rider just dropped back, finishing 2.5 seconds back in third place.

Riding brother Michaels TSR250 Honda, William Dunlop took a hard fought win in the 250GP race. He finished .3 ahead of Michael Sweeny, the Skerries man on the Honda run by John Burrows. Drogheda man John Ella was a distant third.

Qualifying in pole position, Antrim’s Mark Hanna was pipped by .4 of a second on the final run to the line in the Senior Support race. Shane Egan took the win, after recovering from a slow start to move through. Hanna had been the leader right from the first lap, but was pressed by Thomas Maxwell. Maxwell slipped off, restarting to finish in a recorded 7th place. Gavin Lupton, riding for the locally based S&D Racing team was third.

Ballymoney rider Seamus Elliott won the re run of the ill fated 125 race. The first attempt to run the race was stopped in the early stages due to the accident that we were later to learn had claimed the life of Lisburn’s Bruce Moulds, Elliott won by almost 6 seconds with Ballymena’s Sam Wilson taking runner up ahead of Sean O’Neill.

The Junior Classic race gave Glarryford’s Barry Davidson a start to finish win. Barry was pressed hard in the first few laps by Sean Leonard, but towards the finish the local rider made his break, finishing over 4 seconds ahead. Allan Brew was a distant third.

BRUCE MOULDS

Sadly as I write this, news has reached me that Hillsborough rider Bruce Moulds has succumbed to injuries received in the 125 race. It was his first visit to the Walderstown track.

After starting in the 125 at Clubmans, Bruce was involved in some great races in one of the hardest fought classes. A couple of seasons ago he bought a Triumph to race in the Supersport class. It seemed to suit him and decent results soon followed including, this year, a second at Cookstown and a third at Tandragee. He had another podium at Skerries just a week ago and after that sat at the top of the Irish championship. My sympathies go out to his family.

DRAW FOR PICTURE

Tickets are on sale, priced at £1, for a photo montage of Joey Dunlop. The draw will take place at the Ulster Grand Prix, on the 17th August and all proceeds will go towards the Mid Antrim 150 meeting. Anyone who is interested is asked to contact Adrian at Fluorescents Plus, Wakehurst Industrial Estate in Ballymena.