Enjoyable day as ISB Ulster season gets underway

Early morning rain cleared during the day and the cold biting wind eased, and although it was still bitterly cold we had a very enjoyable day’s racing.

The day also saw the return to racing of Ryan Farquhar who fielded a 4 man team in the Supertwin class.

The opening Superbike event of the day brought the name of Philip McNally to a few people’s attention. Philip has been there or there abouts for a few years now, but really showed what he’s made of at the Co. Down track last weekend.

He chased early leader Cody Nally hard, slipping into the lead after a couple of laps. It wasn’t long, however, till Marshal Neill took over at the front, just edging out to win by 1.6 seconds. McNally finished in second place, some 5 seconds ahead of David Haire.

Cody Nally also led the second SBK race, but this time from start to finish. Marshal Neill recovered from a slow start, edging ever closer to Nally. On the final bend Neill tried to go around the outside of Nally, hitting a damp patch and spinning the back wheel. He just lost drive, allowing Cody to take a close, .077 seconds, of a race win. Lisburn’s David Haire was third, over 6 seconds adrift.

Haire had no equals in the Supersport 600 class, however. In the first race he was chased hard by Keith Amor, another man returning to racing after a short retirement. Amors challenge was short lived though.

Antrim’s Mark Hanna slipped ahead of the Scot, who eventually finished in 7th place. The local rider failed to reel Haire in, however, and the Lisburn man won by 7.7 seconds. Mark Conlin got the better of a four way dice for the final podium place. Conlin improved in the second race, chasing David Haire across the line, and just losing out by .05 of a second. Carl Phillips was a fighting third place, having to work hard to hold off Jason Lynn.

The opening Supertwins race gave a 1-2-3 to Ryan Farquhars KMR team. Jeremy McWilliams and Farquhar fought it out for the entire distance, dropping Keith Amor off the pace in the process. Setting the fastest lap of the race, Farquhar took the win by .8 of a second, while Amor was third, well back.

There was more of the same in the second race, but this time the race win went to McWilliams. Keith Amor pipped team boss Farquhar by .4 of a second, to take second, after Ryan lost the front end of his bike and had to take to the grass on the last lap. Run concurrently with the Supertwins, the two Stocktwin races were won by Daniel Annett and James Chawke. In the first race Chawke was only .1 behind Annett at the line with Kia McGreevy third, while the Co. Limerick rider won by 1.5 seconds. McGreevy was just over a second ahead of Annett.

Chris Campbell had a double in the Superbike and Supersport Cup races. In the first he was chased hard by Cathal Berrill, the top two pulling away from third finisher David Howard. Campbell was hard on the heels of Banbridge man Greg Wilson in the second race. As the two passed a touring rider Campbell nipped past Wilson into the lead, holding on to win by a second. Cathal Berrill was third again.

Better known as a road racer, Ballymoney man Aaron Boyd had a comfortable win in the Supersport Cup race. He finished over 5 seconds ahead of Mark Linton, while Stephen Farrell, on the ex Jason Lynn Suzuki, took third. Mark Linton won the second race, while Des Makessy improved on his first race sixth place to take runner up. Stephen Farrell was third place in a dead heat with Aaron Boyd.

The first of the Pre Injection/250GP races had to be restarted after Brian Mateer slid off at the Chicane. He wasn’t too seriously hurt, but was lying in a dangerous place. Mervyn Griffin was the early leader in the restart, but he was soon passed by John Horgan. Horgan, from Cork, pulled away to win comfortably. Andrew Brady dropped Griffin to third place in the closing stages of the race.

Brady and Griffin fought tooth and nail in the second race, where former Manx Grand Prix winner Brady took the win by less than a tenth of a second. Horgan finished in third place, some 4.7 seconds back. Both 250GP races produced the same results, with Thomas Lawlor beating Ronan Shanahan and Michael McKerr.

The first 125GP/Moto3 race gave a hard fought win to Randalstown’s Christian Elkin. He was chased hard by Antrim lad Matthew Hazlett, who, at the finish, was just .6 short of his first ever race win. Richard Kerr, a former schoolboy MX rider, finished third.

Elkin completed his double in the second race, this time Toomebridge rider Padraig Graham providing the closest opposition. The younger of the Graham brothers, Cahal, finished in third place.

Run concurrently, both SS400 races were won by Seamus Elliott, on his 450 Yamaha. Stephen Shortt took second place, well ahead of Parkgate man Peter Fletcher. Shortt pushed Elliott harder in race two, but had to give best to the Ballymoney man. Alvin Griffin was third, well behind Shortt.

The Production 125/250 races gave us some great down field dices. The first race went to Jay McCrum, who was mounted on one of the lovely little 250 Kawasaki four stroke machines. Similarly mounted, Aaron Wright was little over a second back, while another former schoolboy MX rider, Caolin Irwin finished third. Aaron Wright took a hard earned win in the second race, just nipping across the line .1 ahead of Jay McCrum. The official results give Caolin Irwin as third place, but speaking to his Mum Louise after the race, officials had let the race run an extra lap. Caolin had taken third place on the extra lap, so apparently Shane Sweeney finished in third place.

ADELAIDE MASTERS

This coming weekend sees the Adelaide Insurance Services Mondello Masters series click into gear, when the first three races are held at the Co. Kildare circuit.

There’s no doubt now that it’s the championship that the riders want to win. TV exposure ensures that riders and their sponsors are given maximum coverage, and at the end of the day thats why people and businesses sponsor racing. This year the TV coverage will be live and will cover all classes.

This will be the fourth season of the Adelaide backing of the championship, which this year will have many previous winners trying to get their hands on the silverware.

In the Supersport 600 races Carl Phillips, David Haire, Richie Ryan, local lads Luke Johnston and Dean McMaster, who will line out on the Italian MV Agusta, will come up against any one of a dozen other competitors capable of winning races.

The first of the weekend’s races will take place on Saturday afternoon, according to the provisional race programme, getting under way at 2.30pm. Practice will be from 9am.

On Sunday there will be a warm up period for each class, with races starting at about 10.40am. Check out the Masters website, www.adelaidemasters.ie There can be had all the details of riders and how to view the live TV coverage during the day.

LOANENDS CHAMPIONSHIP

The Loanends/Enkalon Support Championship organisers have sent me a few details of the 2014 series.

The championship gets underway with the Cookstown 100 at the end of April. It is open to Ulster Centre licence holders only and points will be awarded for both the Junior and Senior classes in all the Ulster road race rounds. The points from both classes will be combined to give the final positions. The award night will, as usual, be in October.

My thanks to Lyla Johnston for her hard work in keeping me up to date now and during the race season.