Doubles were the order at the opening round of the 2009 Irish Clubmans Championships at Bishopscourt in Co-Down yesterday, where the stars of tomorrow put on and produced a fascinating display in near perfect conditions in the MCRRCI/Killinchy Clubs meeting, which going by the days results, beckons favourably for the remainder of the season.
125GP Newcomers
15-year-old Josh Cunningham produce a dazzling double in the GP125 class, with Cunningham making hard work of it in race two.
In race one, Cunningham had a 25-second winning margin over Portadown's Phillip Murphy and Newry's Steven Hadden, but in race two Cunningham has just two one-hundredths of a second to spare over runner up Belfast rider Alan Whitley and Murphy.
APRILIA RS125
Ballymena rider Luke Johnston took the opening win in the Aprilia 125 class when he had almost two seconds in hand over Limerick rider Darragh Murphy, and Eglinton's Conor Parkhill.
Murphy turned the tables in race two, but only just, when he got the better of Johnston by just 0.11 seconds with Parkhill taking another third place finish.
PRE-97
Three riders dominated proceedings in the Pre-97 class with Belfast's Johnny McCay coming out tops on his 600 Honda with a brace of wins. In race one McKay took a five second win over Magheras Ryan McKeown, with Navan's Peter Drennan third, three one-hundredths behind McKeown.
SUPERSPORT 600
Islandmagee rider Dean Cassells stole the show in the two Supersport 600 races with two very convincing wins. In race one, Cassells had a eight-second winning margin over Ballymoneys Reuben McPhee and Dublins Billy Bryne.
Cassells then repeated his first race win in race two with another eight-second margin, this time over Bryne, with Limericks Andrew Murphy third. A notable non starter in this class was one of the pre race favourites Glenn Irwin from Carrickfergus who failed to qualify after sustaining a puncture on the first lap of timed practice.
BRIDGESTONE TYRES 1010CC
The name Shaun Anderson in one to watch out for after the Banbridge rider scored double success in the 1010cc races. In a tight run affair in race one, Anderson just got the better of Belfast's Gavin Johnston on the last lap to take the flag 1.2 seconds ahead. Dublin's Jason Cash on the PB Racing Suzuki took third, and then went one better in race two to finish second to Anderson, five seconds adrift. Gavin Johnston took third a further eight seconds behind Cash.
NATIONAL 1010CC
Dungannon's Ryan Farquhar took the opening National race on his KMR Superstock Kawasaki but was pushed hard all the way by second place rider, Ballygowan's Michael Pearson on the GSMCC 600 Honda. This pair had a twelve second finishing advantage over third place finisher Andrew Brady from Roslea.
Pearson then dominated the second National race with a nine-second winning margin over Brady with Islandmagee's Mark Cassells third.
CLASSIC RACES
Combers Alex Conroy on a 500 Honda took a brace of wins in the Classic races when he twice beat Carryduff's John Scott on his Rob North Triumph, with Belfasts Jonathon Doran taking a couple of third place finishes on his 350 Honda.
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