William Dunlop suffered at the hands of the Gremlins again in the two stroke classes at the Tandragee 100 on Saturday, when two potential podiums were lost to machine failure in both the 125 and 250cc races.
In the opening 125cc Race, Dunlop's PJ Flynn Honda expired at the end of lap two while leading, and in the 250cc race a possible podium was thwarted after mechanical problems forced Dunlop to back off and settle for a points scoring fifth place.
Later in the day, a solid run on the CD Racing Yamahas saw William take a third place in the Tandragee 100 Superbike race, fourth in the Open Race, and fifth in the Supersport 600 race.
"I'm just glad to get away from that place. It would not be my favourite circuit by a long shot, although my brother Michael does not seem to have a problem with it after he took a hat trick of race wins, which for the Dunlop name was brilliant," said Dunlop.
"In the 125 race, Michael and I got away well and I took the lead, but on lap two the bike started to cut out and stall, so I pulled her in on lap three. It appears that leaking water was dripping onto the battery, and was cutting her out, but that's racing.
"The 250 did not go all that well in practise, and we went ahead with her in the race. I got a bad start, and was keeping up with the front runners and was sure that I could catch them. About half distance she started to misfire a bit, and I knew that I had to score points so just nursed her home in fifth place.
I was a bit disgruntled, but would rather these things happen now before the North West in two weeks time. I had better luck in the Superbike and 600 races, and I had said to my self that we would not push to hard today and just take the racing as getting mileage on the new bikes.
"I finished third in the Tandragee 100 race which was brilliant, as I did not expect to be any further up than about sixth place. The 600 is going really well and we got a steady fifth place on her. With a bit of time now and a few wee parts to fit to the bikes over the next 10 days or so, we should be in good shape to have a serious crack at the North West 200."
