Hat-trick for Jason Meara

Loughbrickland’s Jason Meara raced the Phoenix Tools Apico Kawasaki to three convincing victories at round two of the MRA Ulster experts MX1championship at the fast Seaforde MX track run by the Mourne MCC.
Jason Meara overall winner of the experts MX1 class and Richard Bird do battle in race two at SeafordeJason Meara overall winner of the experts MX1 class and Richard Bird do battle in race two at Seaforde
Jason Meara overall winner of the experts MX1 class and Richard Bird do battle in race two at Seaforde

Meara was fastest in qualifying and in his opening race caught and passed Luke Smith after a couple laps to win by nearly ten seconds at the flag.

Newtownards rider Smith on the Norman Watt motorcycles Kawasaki held off Richard Bird on the Allmoto Yamaha for second with Jordan McCaw fourth on the Suitor Autofix KTM.

It was Bird who holeshotted race two and kept Meara at bay until the halfway point of the race. Meara dived down the inside at the right hander after the start/finish and crossed the line three seconds clear of the Lisburn rider with Jordan McCaw a second down in third.

Bird made another flier in race three but Meara passed him on the opening lap to claim his treble well clear of the Lisburn rider with Luke Smith third. McCaw crashed out injuring his wrist but remounted to finish eleventh.

“I only managed one clear lap in qualifying but still made pole over a second clear of the field, so I was happy about that,” said Meara.

“In race one I made a decent start but took time to settle. When I hit the front I was able to check out.

“Again in race two I wasn’t comfortable on the bike and was fighting with the track.

“I left my breaking late to get past Bird for the lead. I got past ‘Dickie’ (Bird) on the first lap of race three and got my head down.

“It was the best race of the day for me.

“My shoulder is good now and I’m riding pain free so I can’t wait for Canada Heights MX Nationals in a couple of weeks.”

Richard Bird added: “It was all about the starts and I holeshotted race two and three but Jason was riding really well.

“The track was real slippery and I tucked the front a few times but I’m happy with second overall.”

Third place rider Luke Smith said: “I made good starts in race one and three but not in the second race. I’m still recovering from my shoulder injury and getting a lot of arm pump in the races so all things considered it was a decent day.”

It was a special day for seven-year-old Jake Rea, the eldest son of six time world superbike champion Jonathan Rea. Jake finished 12th overall in the youth auto class, following in his father’s footsteps.

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