It was a day of red flags, sunshine and controversy for the North Armagh Motor Cycle and Car Club at Bishopscourt on Saturday for the recent round of the Irish Superbike Championship. The race which should have been the perfect post TT hangover cure for many proved to be a day when it was more than just hot racing and hot weather when tempers began to fray.
The opening race of the day did get off to a good start but it was somewhat ironic when it was this same class were the storm began to brew later in the day. It was the Portadown Locksmiths backed 125GP race that kick started the day in warm sunshine, despite the treats of rain which was closing in, (although it never materialised throughout the entire meeting).
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This opening race saw Ballymoney’s Paul Robinson storm into an early lead ahead of Championship leader Belfast man Mark Lunney, however it wasn’t long before Lunney had pushed past Robinson to take over the lead for just two laps before Robinson retook his lead to rush to victory ahead of Lunney. Leaving Antrim lad Robert English to pick up the final podium placing ahead of Lisburn rider Drew Jamison, who was consistently fourth placed throughout the seven lap race.
That however was to be the last race of the day for the 125 riders, when despite starting the second race, it was later to be abandoned after a number of incidents which started out when the race was red flagged due to a start line incident which saw two riders colliding just off the line, the controversy was to arise when the riders who had been warned that any rider not slowing sufficiently would be excluded, failed to slow sufficiently and therefore the race was red flagged.
On returning to the grid the riders appealed to the Clerk of Course that there was no yellow flag before the incident and that was the reason for failing to slow, however the marshals were adamant that yellow flags were displayed appropriate at the last corner, which is the last marshal’s post before the accident. Therefore all riders were disqualified and a restart of the race was not considered.
An enforced delay then ensued when the second of three ambulances had to leave the circuit to take injured riders to hospital. This meant there was only one available ambulance at the circuit which is insufficient medical coverage for a short circuit event so the Club were forced into a 30 minute delay to racing whilst awaiting the return of at least one of the two ambulances, however this delay was extended not by choice of the Club but by the 125 riders who took the decision to have an impromptu protest on the grid.
Eventually common sense prevailed and all riders and their teams were removed from the area and racing was able to recommence albeit all races having been shortened from their original race distance and minus the 125 race, were Drew Jamison from Lisburn should have felt aggrieved as he was not part of the group of riders involved in the disqualification as he failed to make it back to the pits after he’s bike broke down at the Hairpin in the warm up lap. It did looked like it was a fuel problem but he was able to resolved the issue and return to the pits during the enforced delay.
Before all the controversy however there was a few more races which were also red flagged due to incidents round the track, the first race to be red flagged was the DB Tiles 250cc opening race which saw Championship leader Mark Lunney dominate the restart, taking a start to finish win over the four lap restart, which saw reigning champion Chris McAloran take second place ahead of Paul Robinson with Ronan Shanahan in fourth.
In the second race which was shortened to five laps Lunney was again the man to beat with a start to finish win, eventually ahead of Derek McLaughlin who moved into second place ahead of Thomas Lawlor and David Craig after McAloran was forced out having completed the opening lap in second place. Robinson was also a non finisher this time out.
Jonathon Doran was the double winner in the Clinton Enterprise Classics with Sandy Brown and George Stinson second and third in the first race and swapping places in race two. Meanwhile in the Print It Sidecars it was the outfits of Dylan Lynch with passenger Aaron Galligan and George Kennedy with passenger Colin Smyth who shared the honours with Lynch taking the opening win from Kennedy with Alex Johnston and passenger Paul Carvill third, whilst Lynch and Kennedy swapped places in race two with Johnston again third.
Lee Hill and Emmet O’Grady continued their domination of the Supertwins and Supersport 400 classes respectively that is sponsored by Isaac Agnew Van Centre. Hill took the double win in the Supertwins ahead of Malcolm McKinney both times out with David Craig and Keith Meere sharing the third places, when in race two Craig took third place and on his way there took a new track record for the Supertwins when he did a 1:15.993. O’Grady took the Supersport wins ahead of Michael McKinley and Joseph Loughlin both times out.
Clubman’s rider Glenn Irwin dominated the Around-A-Pound Supersport race, proving that he is a class act. Irwin who was in action at Oulton Park in the Thundersport races were he won the Supersport race last weekend proved that he is a star name for the future, taking two wins in a superb start to finish show of his skills ahead of Jonny Buckley and Kirk Jamison in race one, when Championship leader Mark Lunney who was riding for the IFS team as his own Street Sweep Yamaha is still in the Isle of Man as it took Michael Dunlop to his first TT victory on Wednesday, failed to make it to the finish when the IFS machine broke down, leaving the teenaged Irwin to show the older riders the way home.
In the second race Irwin not only trounced the competition but also took a new Supersport Cup track record putting down a 1:09.922, when he again took a start to finish victory, this time ahead of Dromara’s Alistair Kirk who inherited second place on the Martrain bike when Lunney dropped the IFS machine at Ringawaddy on the last lap, thankfully uninjured. This promoted Jonny Buckley to third with Cork man Declan Swanton taking fourth place.
In the main races of the day the Irish Racer Superbike Championship it was Relentless by TAS, Alastair Seeley the current leader of the British Superstock 1000 Championship leader who in a one of appearance at home was the double victor when he showed the local guys why he is the current leader of the British Championship with two start to finish victories ahead of James Dickson. Although in race one it was Lisburn teenager Davy Haire who was the early challenger to Seeley until lap three when the teenager slipped off his DHRacing 1000cc machine at the bottom of the circuit, luckily without injury, although that accident did break of the footrest and caused some minor damage which was easily repairable for race two.
Haire’s early departure left the door open for Dickson to move up to try to challenge Seeley. But at the chequered linen it was Seeley who took the win ahead of Dickson on the Yamaha, with yet another Clubman making an impression on the Irish Championships when Richard Rea, younger brother of World Superbike Star Jonathon, proved he was a chip of the old block, their father Johnny Senior was also a successful racer and it is no doubt that Richard will also be following in these illustrious footsteps. Rea who was onboard the JAR Honda by Red Distribution delighted the crowd when he took third place whilst he set a new track record for Superbike Cup riders with a time of 1:10.095, less than a second of Seeley’s pace of 1:09.425.
Rea was again on the pace and battling for third behind Seeley and Dickson in race two. The Larne teenager was doing battle with Haire and Mark Johnston, but at the line it was experience that paid off when Johnston took third ahead of the two teenagers with Haire beating off a challenge from Rea to take fourth place with Rea fifth.
The next round of the Irish Racer Superbike Championship and the rest of the Irish Championships will be on Tuesday 14th July at Kirkistown which is a newly scheduled race, full details of which are to follow.
