Hamilton man of meeting at Bush - local rider Hanna injured in crash

Ballyclare’s Jamie Hamilton was declared the Man of the Meeting at the Bush road races last Saturday.
Mark Hanna prepares for practice on Friday night. INBT 27- ROY ADAMS 3.Mark Hanna prepares for practice on Friday night. INBT 27- ROY ADAMS 3.
Mark Hanna prepares for practice on Friday night. INBT 27- ROY ADAMS 3.

Sadly the meeting ended with one of our most promising local riders, Mark Hanna, in hospital with serious injuries after a pile up on the opening lap of the Supersport 600 race.

The latest news I have on him is that he has a broken leg, pelvis and other injuries. Thankfully none of them are life threatening, although he is quite ill at the minute. Hopefully he will be out of hospital sooner rather than later. Get well soon Mark.

Next up was the Supertwins event. Jamie Hamilton started his day as he meant to go on, winning by almost 22 seconds. Behind the Ballyclare man competition was tense. Mark Hanna, Gareth Keys, Conor Behan and Dan Kneen were all in the mix at various times. As Hamilton pulled away, Behan consolidated his second place, while lower down the order Kneen was moving into third place and chasing hard. At the finish Behan took second, just .2 of a second ahead of Manxman Kneen. Hamilton clipped over one and a half seconds off Ryan Farquhars lap record in this race. Our only local finisher was Mark Hanna. The Antrim rider took a great fourth place with a fastest lap of 83.7mph.

The next race on the cards was the Junior Classic. Glarryford’s man Barry Davidsons run of 11 straight race wins came to an end, when a 10p bolt sheared off. Barry led right from the start, and had opened up a seemingly unassailable lead. Slow starting Nigel Moore broke the lap record and had moved past Herbie Ronan into second place. It seemed, however, that the local man had it covered, till a gear linkage broke, causing him to ride the final lap stuck in gear. Moore took the race win by 14.7 seconds. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Herbie Ronan pipped Barry over the line by .043 of a second. In third place, Barry was our only local rider, with a fastest lap of just over 73mph.

The Supersport 600 race was red flagged on the opening lap, due to a pile up that left Mark Hanna in hospital. After a lengthy clear up Clerk of the Course John McClure altered the race programme to move the Junior Support race forward. Right from the start this was only about two riders. Ballymena man Neil Kernohan and William Hara. Hara led with Kernohan never more than a second behind. Neil tried a few times to go into the lead but just failed, eventually finishing in second place, just 1.4 seconds back. Neil Kernohan was the only local rider in this trace. On his way to runner up he lapped at 79.8mph.

The Superbikes were next on track. Riding for John Burrows team, Braddan man Dan Kneen was expected to be the only one to provide any serious opposition to Jamie Hamilton. Hamilton had other ideas though, and streaked away, winning from start to finish. At the end Kneen was almost 23 seconds off the pace. Michael Sweeney got the better of Davy Morgan in their own private race for the final podium place. The Skerries man pipped Morgan by .4 of a second. We had a couple of local riders in this race. The best of them was Randalstowns Stephen McIlvenna. Finishing in 8th position, Jack lapped at 82.824mph. In eleventh place, Kells man Dennis Booth has a fastest lap of 80.992mph.

The Senior Support race gave Neil Kernohan a brilliant win. He led from start to finish, and despite being pushed all the way by Dunsaughlin man Neil Lyons, Neil held on to win by 1.8 seconds. The top two had pulled away from Thomas Maxwell. Neil Kernohan was our only local rider, setting the fastest lap of the race at 83,228mph.

The Grand Final went to Jamie Hamilton. The Ballyclare man was pushed hard by Dan Kneen, with Hamilton being forced onto lap record pace to stay ahead. At the finish there was only .1 of a second between the top two. Davy Morgan finished in a lonely third place. Jack McIlvenna was our only local representative here. He had a fastest lap of 83.385mph, on his way to a very creditable 6th place.

Seamus Elliott was the early leader in the Junior/SS400 event. When Michael Sweeney got ahead, the Ballymoney rider simply had no answer. Sweeney finished 11.2 seconds ahead of Elliott, who was even further ahead of Neil Kernohan. Neil was our only local rider. On his way to third place he had a fastest lap of 81.554mph. Run concurrently, the SS400 race was won by Scottish rider Vic Allan. A faller in practice, Allan had to come from behind to beat Paul Maguire. The Kesh man was never very far away, but at the line just 1.5 seconds back. The top two had pulled well away from Brian Loughlin. Better known as Barney, Loughlin was almost 30 seconds behind the leaders, but also well ahead of the rest of the field. We had no local riders in the SS400 race.

Following the earlier red flag, the Supersport 600 race was re run later in the day. Again Jamie Hamilton was in lap record breaking form. He moved well away from Dan Kneen, who simply had no answer to the pace that Hamilton was setting. At the line there was 22.5 seconds separating the top two, while Michael Sweeney was a similar distance behind in third position. Our two local finishers were, as they have been quite often recently, locked together. This time it was Jack McIlvenna who just managed to get the better of Dennis Booth. Jack took 9th place on the road, lapping at 83.4mph. Den was right on his back wheel at the finish, with a fastest lap of 84mph. The final race of the day was the Senior Classic. Gary Jamison was the early leader but when Robert McCrum got up to speed he simply cleared off into the distance. Bert won by 9.6 seconds. Allan Brew, from Ramsey, finished in second place. The top two had moved well away from Marty Lyons in third. Again, we had no local interest in this race.

FESTIVAL OF MOTORSPORT.

On the weekend that was allocated for the Mid Antrim 150, Friday and Saturday, August 1 and 2, the club are staging a Festival of Motorsport in Broughshane village.

The displays will include bikes, cars, lorries and tractors, and will also feature the Trialstar team, who will give a display of trials riding. On Friday the action will start at 7pm, until 10pm, while on the Saturday it’s a 10am start through till 5pm. Further details can be had on the club website.

SKERRIES THIS WEEKEND.

This weekend sees the Skerries road races taking place. Skerries is unique in that it’s the only road race that runs on a Friday and Saturday in Southern Ireland. Roads close on Friday for practice at 2pm with plans to reopen at 9.30pm. On Saturday it’s an earlier start, with roads shut at 9am instead of the usual 10am. It’s hoped that they will reopen before 6.30pm.

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