Coates in control in both Superbike and Supersport race standings

Early in the morning it looked like racing might be curtailed due to sea mist that drifted in, severely limiting visibility.

Thankfully the mist lifted during the day and we had a very enjoyable days sport, in shirtsleeve weather.

The first Superbike race went to Nikki Coates. He came through, going ahead of Robert English in the closing stages of the race. English, the current Supersport champion, was .1 back at the line, but had a couple of seconds on his IFS team mate, Ryan Rainey. It was Coates and English again in the second race, with Rainey slipping back down the order to finish in 5th place. Randalstown man Gerard Kinghan was right with English at the line, losing out by just .02.

The Supersport 600 class continues to throw up some great dices, and Saturday was no different. Nikki Coates was the top man in both races, winning the opener from Jason Lynn. Coates was a second ahead of a three rider dice for the lower places. Jason Lynn, Christian Elkin and Robert Kennedy were separated by .4 of a second. Randalstown man Elkin finished .8 adrift of Coates in the second race, with Jason Lynn, now sorted out after his heavy fall at Kirkistown last weekend, just .1 back.

Castleblaney’s Joseph Loughlin was in great form in the Supertwins races. In the first one Joe came under pressure from Kia McGreevy, but the Ballynahinch lad just couldn’t answer the speed of Loughlins ER6. Aaron Armstrong finished in third place. Loughlin took another win in race two, this time Armstrong and McGreevy reversing their placings. Run concurrently with the Supertwins, the Production twin races both went to Mark McConville. Better known as Harry, the Drogheda man was more than 2 seconds ahead of Jonny Hamill at the line, while Antrims Matthew Hazlett was third. Hazlett improved in race two, taking second from Hamill by .06 on the run to the line.

Stephen McKeown won the first F1Era race, holding off Chris Campbell by .2 of a second. Clearly not happy with his bike, Mark Murphy finished a distant third. Campbell and McKeown reversed their places in race two, with Murph in third. Run with the F1 lads, Andy McAllister won both the ISB Cup races. Paul Hurley and David McArdle finished in that order twice. Mark Abraham had a brace of wins in the ISS Cup races. The first he blitzed the opposition, winning by nearly 14 seconds. Kevin McGrath and Andrew Irvine had a good battle, with McGrath getting the drop by .4. The second race was equally as drawn out, with Abraham winning from Alan Armstrong and Gary Wright.

The first Pre Injection was a real belter. Dromores Roger Aiken, younger brother of Jonny, came through to take the lead with a couple of laps to go. Try as he might, he just couldn’t shake off Mervyn Griffin, the Southern Centre rider under a second back at the flag. Kevin Dempsey finished third, but was far from out of touch. Griffin and Aiken reversed their position in the second outing, with almost the same time difference between them at the finish. Dempsey again took a third place.

Randalstown man Christian Elkin, quite simply, had no real opposition in the Moto3/GP125 races. In the first he finished over 16 seconds ahead of Paul Robinson. Robinson, in turn was well ahead of Melissa Kennedy. Elki took the second race, finishing almost half a lap ahead of Melissa Kennedy, while Jordan McCord was right with Millie. Run with the Moto3 race, the SS400 first outing was won by Martin Whearty. The Meath man was chased hard by Eoin Collins, who just failed by under a second to draw level. Sam Lyons was third.