Ballymoney rider William Dunlop rounded of last weekends Mid Antrim 150 Road Races with yet another win on the PJ Flynn 250 Honda, before the talented young Co-Antrim rider took a runner up place to Irish Road Race kingpin Ryan Farquhar in the Supersport 600 race which was cut short due to an incident involving Williams younger brother Michael.
A fifth place finish in the Grand Final feature race saw Dunlop on the CD Racing Yamaha establish himself a a serious contender, when the tracks are dry on the big bikes, with William looking forward to just that, come this weekend, at the first running of the Armoy Road Races also in Co-Antrim.
"It's been a strange day to tell you the truth. As you know, I do not like riding these machines on wet roads, and at one point on Saturday morning, I had made my mind up to go home," said Dunlop.
"In the end, I decided to stay on, and I went out in the warm up lap for the Senior Open Race and it was just about as dodgy as I have ever seen conditions at a road race. Parts of the track were dry, parts were wet, and parts where soaking, so it was a lottery with tyres. In the end I decided myself not to race in that race and left the grid.
"The Supersport 600 race conditions were not much better, but we got away and into the race. I was lyng in third place behind Ryan Farquhar and Michael (Dunlop) and we were just about to start our second lap when Michael crashed out in front of me.
"The race was stopped and I was glad to see Michael getting to his feet, it was a very fast crash and one that could have been a lot worse. On the re-start Ryan got away again and that was about it as the race was only three laps, so I settled into a safe second place and stayed there until the flag.
"The 250cc race was a bit of a gamble on a drying track so I went for a cut slick in the rear, and it paid off as I took my sixth 250cc win on the trot from Barry Davidson and Michael Dunlop.
"The Grand Final was a bit of a what might have been as I started the race on a worn rear tyre which had not been warmed with the tyre warmers, so it took me about three laps to get heat into it. When it started to work, it worked well and I managed to take fifth place on Chris Dowds Yamaha. The PJ Flynn 125 Honda only lasted one lap as she seized on lap two, so that's the Championship away to Michael for another year.
"This weekend, it's the Armoy races and that is one meeting that I am really looking forward to. It seems that everyone is going to watch, even the old grannies will be out to see the races which will be great for the village and the sport in general. After that, its the Ulster Grand Prix, so if things keep going the way they are, I will be happy enough."
