Moira rider Gary Jess is remembered twenty years after his tragic death

Jess was having his best ever season in road racing after starting out as a motocross rider following in his father Twynham footsteps. He switched his attentions to road racing in 1999 and won his first road race at his first attempt, the Senior Support race at the Cookstown 100 before going on to easily win that year’s championship. The following year he teamed-up with established road racer Richard Britton in the Schimmel Racing team and quickly showed the knowledgeable road racing enthusiasts he had great potential. His racing progress was curtailed after a serious incident at Kirkistown in July 2000 when he was struck on the chest by another rider’s crashed machine flying through the air. He was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where doctors said he only survived due to his own physical fitness.

After getting back to full fitness his road racing exploits the following year in 2001 were curtailed due to the foot and mouth outbreak at the start of the season and an injury sustained at Cadwell Park in August.

His loyal sponsors remained with him as he set out for a full road racing campaign in 2002 when he hoped to make his TT Mountain Course debut at that years Manx Grand Prix. Thanks to sponsor Ian Glenn originally from Lisburn who moved to London to form his new company Beacon Security, he bought Jess a new R1 Production 1000cc Yamaha (nowadays referred to as a Superstock machine) to use along with his R7 750cc Yamaha superbike. He also had a R6 Supersport Yamaha thanks to another good friend Davy Glover from Dromore, County Down. These three quiet shy lads had similar personalities and quickly formed not only a great sponsor/rider bond, but they all became great friends.

At the very first Irish road race meeting of the season twenty years ago, Jess won the feature Superbike race at the Cookstown 100 meeting, taking the Royal Hotel race victory on his supersport machine. On the same machine he finished fourth in the earlier Regal 600 race and was sixth in the Lamber & Butler Superbike race. It was a great start to his season as Jess was now one of our countries leading road racers in only his third full season of road racing.

A week later Jess finished fourth in the feature Tandragee 100 Superbike race behind Britton, Ryan Farquhar and winner Adrian Archibald. This was only his second race on the bigger R1 Yamaha having finished fiftth in the earlier L&B Superbike race. His third race on this big Yamaha was to give him his first podium finish at the International North West 200 meeting. Although Jess was a privateer rider at the North West 200 he had a great team around him not only with his friends and sponsors Ian Glenn and Davy Glover, but top mechanics in Stephen Fleming and Brian Hull. In his first ever outing at the North West 200 on the big 1000cc machine Jess qualified tenth fastest in the Production class. His first race of the day was the opening Superbike race in which Jess elected to ride his R1 Production Yamaha in the damp conditions and he finished fifth in the race which was won by David Jefferies on his TAS Suzuki.

In the following Supersport race Jess had moved up to third position on the third lap when it was red flagged and on the countback to lap two he was only declared ninth due to his poor start. Next was the five-lap Production race and as Jefferies and New Zealander newcomer Bruce Anstey battled for the lead, Jess held third position fending off Britton, Farquhar, Archibald and John McGuinness. As Anstey took the popular victory from TT lap record holder Jefferies from Yorkshire the shy Moira rider Jess joined them on the podium after securing third place by pulling out five seconds on his pursuers on the last lap. Straight after the podium celebration Jess was back out for the second Supersport race and again was the leading Irishman and top privateer when finishing fourth behind Iain Duffus, McGuinness and winner Ian Lougher. As Jess celebrated his 31st birthday later that evening and with the news that his wife Paula was pregnant with their first child, he could also be very chuffed with that days North West 200 performances with a third, fourth, fifth and ninth place finishes against the V&M Yamaha, Honda Britain, TAS Suzuki, Kawasaki UK and McAdoo Kawasaki riders.

After sitting out the TT he returned to road racing a month later at the Dundrod ‘150’ meeting where he had the honour of starting on pole position for the opening Superbike race due to his championship lead. He finished in fifth position behind Brian Gardiner, Archibald, Britton and winner Lougher. Jess improved to fourth in the second Superbike race which again was won by Lougher on his factory TAS Suzuki. In the Regal 600 Supersport race Jess was fifth behind Darran Lindsay, Archibald, Britton and the unbeatable Lougher that day.

They all travelled down to north Dublin for the Skerries road races where Jess was a class act especially in that days Supersport race. In the seven-lap restart there would be no catching Jess after starting in pole position taking his first Irish Championship Supersport victory over Farquhar, Britton, Archibald, Martin Finnegan and Lindsay. With the same 600 Yamaha he finished fourth in that day’s Grand Final race behind Britton, Archibald and winner Farquhar.

Jess then travelled over to England for the Oliver’s Mount meeting in Scarborough where he won both the Production races and the second Supersport race from an unknown rider called Guy Martin. In the feature two-leg Cock o’ the North races Jess finished third overall to Dean Ashton and winner Lougher. In what was to be his last ever appearance at Oliver’s Mount that July, Jess won three races with two other podium finishes and I have no doubt he would have won that years Gold Cup race later that year in September.

For the following weekend Jess travelled to Wales for the Aberdare Park meeting with his R6 Yamaha and fended off Lougher’s TAS Suzuki to win both Supersport races. In the first leg of the feature Welsh Open Jess finished 3rd behind the more nibble 250 Hondas of Chris Palmer and Lougher. In the second leg Jess took the victory but with Lougher finishing second he was declared the overall winner. Again, at his last appearance at the Welsh meeting Jess was in master form winning three of his four races that weekend.

It was a brilliant month of July for Jess 20-years ago as he won six of his seven Supersport races against top road racers like Lougher, Britton, Archibald, Farquhar, Lindsay and Jason Griffiths. In the feature races that month he finished second in the Aberdare Park Welsh Open, third in the Oliver’s Mount Cock o’ the North and fourth in the Skerries Grand Final.

August 2002 started with the Mid Antrim 150 meeting where Jess finished second to Lindsay in the Regal 600 race after smashing the lap record but was later excluded because there were extra cuts found on his rear tyre which were added for the damp conditions. With the same 600 Yamaha he finished third in the Grand Final after finishing fifth in the earlier L&B Superbike race.

A week later it over the border for the North Monaghan road races where again he finished third in the Grand Final on his 600 Yamaha behind the bigger machines of Farquhar and winner Archibald. He pushed Farquhar hard for his victory in the Supersport race but finished ahead of Britton, Archibald and John Donnan.

Three days later he was back at the Dundrod circuit for that years Ulster Grand Prix meeting, and he qualified second fastest for both international Supersport races behind Duffus but ahead of Lougher, Archibald, Farquhar, Britton, Griffiths, Adrian McFarland, Lindsay and Jefferies. Jess had also qualified second fastest for both the Production 600 class and the Supersport 400 class. He was eleventh fastest for the two Superbike races after setting his fastest Dundrod circuit lap of 121.618mph on his 750 Yamaha. After two hard fought second places to Farquhar (Supersport 400) and Lindsay (Production 600), Jess wanted to sit out his third race (superbike) to rest himself for the later Supersport race which he was confident of winning. After discussions with the race organisers, Jess agreed to line-up on the grid, then complete the opening lap before retiring to the pits at the end of the opening lap. After the start Jess was approaching Cochranstown corner with only one rider behind him in the first group on that opening lap when he had to take avoiding action when a rider in front of him moved across his line. Trying to avoid the other rider Jess struck a concrete fence post receiving serious head injuries and died instantaneously at the scene. Jess was to have travelled to the Isle of Man the following morning where he would be making his TT Mountain Course debut starting at number 1 in the Newcomers race.

Many people felt that Gary Jess had not reached his peak in road racing and would have been a future Ulster GP, North West 200 and TT winner with a strongly rumoured place within the TAS Suzuki team for 2003.

He knew TAS Suzuki team manager Phillip Neill from his motocross days and his sponsor Ian Glenn of Beacon Security later became one of the teams’ main sponsors and Jess’ engine builder Stephen Fleming also joined the TAS Suzuki team after that fateful day 20-years ago.

Anstey, Archibald, Farquhar and Martin whom Jess had beaten that year would later join the TAS team after 2002 enjoying many international successes at the TT, North West 200 and Ulster GP. We cannot change the history books but for those brief three years racing on the roads Gary Jess made his mark that is still remembered 20-years on.