Brian Bell Memorial date

The warm weather favoured the event and there are few better places to spend a warm June evening than in County Down’s rolling Drumlins watching some of Northern Ireland’s elite motocross riders take to the track to enjoy, engage and entertain.

A fleet of motorbikes were unloaded from trailers and vans into the paddock as riders suited up and headed out for practice, many straight from a days work, looking forward to a competitive evening on the track.

The first races were well underway by early evening as spectators arrived in number, filing into the fields, stopping only to greet friends or grab a burger before taking up prime viewing trackside, all set to enjoy some fast paced motocross racing action. They were not to be disappointed with adrenalin fuelled competition, big air jumps and fast chicane action from the get go.

In Class C race one Joel Donnan proved to be the stand out leader with Comber’s Gary Jackson and No.559 Andrew Agnew chasing him down. Race 2 saw shifts within the front runners throughout the racing Andrew Agnew shot to the front of the pack ultimately leaving the Lisburn rider taking the overall win. No.700 Joel Donnan came in a very competitive 2nd overall with Comber’s Gary Jackson finishing up in a respectable 3rd place.

Group B races saw an outstanding overall win for Ahoghill’s Trevor Calderwood with 47 points to Dundonald rider Graham Ross’s 32. Luke Simpson had led the 1st race and Declan Murray held onto 3rd but overall it was Brian Bell, nephew to the late Brian Bell who took 3rd place, with Darragh Cross man Declan Murray finishing in 4th.

The Class A’s qualifiers put Niall Cregan at the front with Seaforde’s Nathan Green in 2nd and Glenn McCormick 3rd. However the first race saw Larne man Glenn McCormick take the win from Donaghcloney’s Niall Cregan who had led in the qualifiers. Comber rider Tommy Merton finished a close 3rd, with No.41 Nathan Green taking 4th. Dromore man Ryan Adair was hot on their heels in 5th.

The Evo/Twinshock qualifier races suggested Ben Kennedy, Adam Donnelly and Scott Hamilton would be serious contenders with David Russell never overlooked as a genuine competitor. In race one it was indeed Saintfield’s Kennedy who beat Ballygowan’s Adam Donnelly, with almost a second between their best times in the race. Moira rider Scott Hamilton came in a very close third place with David Russell in 4th.

Unfortunately the long summer evening was not long enough for racing to resume after an on track incident during the 2nd Class B race, by the time it had been resolved too much light had been lost to continue racing safely. As the Brian Bell Memorial race was unable to run on June 11 the Temple Club have decided to run a Brian Bell Memorial race at the start of the evening on July 16 for those 1st round qualifiers in attendance and another at the end of the round 2 evening, meaning in total there will be prize money of £1500 up for grabs on July 16.

Round 2 of the Brian Bell Memorial races on Wednesday, July 16, at Millers Oils MX Park, Laurelbank is an evening you won't want to miss. Huge thanks to the Bell family for all their support and participation in the event. Thank you as always to those amazing stewards, marshals, and all race officials, club members, medical staff, Roy Neill, and the timekeepers, plus everyone in attendance that allows these races to run. We appreciate everyone involved and the combined effort that makes these great evenings of motocross racing possible.

The Temple Motorcycle Club look forward to another fantastic evening of racing and hope you can join us, whether it be on your bike or behind the chestnut fencing. We’ll see you at Laurelbank.

Practice commences at 5.30pm, First race 6.15pm. Race Entry of £35. Online Entry available now at www.templemotorcycleclub.com.

Admission fee of £5 at the gate; under 16’ free.

Millers Oils MX Park Laurelbank, Laurelbank Rd, Saintfield BT247LT.