Joy, then pain, for Man of Meeting Hamilton at Skerries

But the day didn’t end up with him going to collect his prize, as would be normal. It ended with Jamie in Beaumont Hospital after a crash on the final lap of the last race of the day.

It seems that both he and Dan Kneen went for the same bit of road. While Kneen stayed on, Jamie fell and has broken his pelvis, cracked a rib and dislocated a shoulder, an injury that was fixed at the circuit by the doctors on site. He also has cuts and bruises. His injuries will rule him out of this weeks Southern 100.

In the opening event, the Senior Support, Ballymena’s Neil Kernohan was the first lap leader.

On the second lap, however, Thomas Maxwell from Mullingar moved ahead with Neil Lyons coming through to second. Lyons soon took over at the front, but with a couple of laps to go, the red flags went out as Maxwell slid off, suffering a suspected broken ankle, as he tried to take the lead.

It gave Lyons what I understand is his first ever road race win, finishing over 9 seconds ahead of Noel Carroll. English man Steven Proctor was third, and right on the rear wheel of Carroll.

Neil Kernohan was our only local rider. He crossed the finish line in fifth position. The results don’t give his fastest lap speed.

The next race was the Open championship. I moved up to Baldongen, about a mile after the start for the rest of the days racing. On the first lap Manxman Dan Kneen had a slender lead, followed by Jamie Hamilton, Derek Sheils and Michael Sweeney. Making a welcome return to racing, just 4 weeks after breaking his leg at the TT, William Dunlop was well back, but retired at about half distance. Hamilton hit the front on the third circuit, with Micko Sweeney and Derek Sheils chasing hard. Sheils nipped under Sweeney and into second place at Baldongen, holding on till the finish. Hamilton won, by 1.4 seconds. In second, Sheils was .6 ahead of Sweeney. Kells man Dennis Booth was our only local entrant. He finished in 15th place.

Just before the next race, the Junior Classic, the heavens opened, leaving the track awash. Despite that, the bikes were called and the race began. Barry Davidson was the early leader. It wasn’t long till Nigel Moore recovered his start and took over. The Dungannon man moved away from Barry, till at the finish he was 17.4 seconds ahead. In his first Skerries meeting, Richard Lamborne finished third.

Alan Jackson was the early leader in the 250 class, but before long Phil Shaw got his head down. He beat Jackson back to second place by nearly 10 seconds. Gary Hutton was the third 250, on Sam Dempsters beautiful sounding little Honda. After the race,

Next up, on quickly drying roads, was the 250/400 race. With many of the riders opting for full wets, tyre wear was always going to be an issue, especially in the latter stages of the race. Michael Sweeney and Seamus Elliott were the two front runners, with John Ella and Tommy Henry right behind. Henry overshot at Baldongen, letting Neil Kernohan into fourth. Sweeneys tortured front tyre finally let go and he fell. It handed a win to Seamus Elliott, with Droghedas Ella taking runner up, over 7 seconds back. Neil Kernohan finished in third place.

Skerries man David Howard was the popular winner in the SS400 class. He led right from the start, and although he was chased hard by Mark Sheils, the Duleek man couldn’t get close enough to launch any kind of attack. Scottish visitor Vic Allan finished a distant third.

The eagerly awaited Supersport 600 race was next. Now on completely dry roads, Jamie Hamilton was the early leader. One of his main rivals, Dan Kneen overshooting from second place at Baldongen on the first lap, returning just about last. Kneen fought his way back to 9th place.

It looked like Hamilton was going to take another race win, but all the time William Dunlop was making ground. With a couple of laps to go, the Ballymoney rider slipped into the lead, and setting the fastest lap of the race, took a win by 6.3 seconds.

One of Southern Irelands new up and coming lads, Derek McGee finished in second place, under four seconds ahead of Jamie Hamilton. Dennis Booth was our only local rider, in 14th place.

It was a fantastic return to racing for Dunlop, just 4 weeks after he broke his leg in the Isle of Man. I think William Dunlop broke the lap record, but I’m not quite sure. The race programme doesn’t give the records and the results don’t mention the old record either.

The first attempt at running the 125 race was red flagged when Warren Reeve fell. He was challenging William Cowden for third place when his little Honda broke a crank, sending him down the road at about 100mph. Although well bruised and battered, Warren was fine. On the restart, it was Seamus Elliott, on his Moto450 bike, who made the break. The low down power of the 4 stroke suited the narrow roads and tight hairpin of the Skerries track. Elliott was able to break away from Nigel Moore, with the Dungannon man finishing 3.5 seconds back. Sam Dunlop took a lonely third place. Again, we had no locals here.

Jamie Hamilton carried on his winning streak in the Supertwins race. In truth, there was nobody in the same league, as he hit the front from the start. He opened up a gap steadily with Conor Behan second. Lapping nearly 2 seconds a lap faster than anybody else, Hamilton was 13 seconds ahead of Behan at the line, while Michael Dokoupil, better known as Indi, brought the local team of Rathkenny Track and Enduro’s machine home in third place. We had no local riders in this race.

The Senior Classic race was next. In truth, it was a bit of a bore. Robert McCrum, the only 1000cc bike, obviously took the race win. Davy Hastings, who was allowed a run out after having bike problems in practice, was the only 350 bike, while Ed Manly won the 500cc class. He finished 1.4 ahead of Gary Jamison. Alan Jackson was third.

There was a Skerries winner, the second one of the day, in the Junior Support race. Derek Costello hit the front right from the start and stayed there. Sean Connolly tried hard, but could not quite get on terms with the local man, who held on to win by 2.5 seconds. Noely Bertram was third, although never in any serious contention. Again, no local riders took part here.

There were a few riders who didn’t qualify for the main races of the day, and the club added a race for them just before the Grand Final. This was won, in fine style, by Tramore man martin Currams. He was never seriously pressed, holding on to win by 5.7 seconds. There was a good race for the lower leaderboard positions. Derek Scuffil pulled through to finish second, passing road race newcomer Alan Johnston and Sid Adair.

The Grand Final was next. It was an elbow to elbow affair, with Dan Kneen and Jamie Hamilton edging away from Micko Sweeney.

As I mentioned earlier, Hamilton fell at the final chicane, giving the win to Kneen. Micko was second, 3.2 seconds back, while Jamies misfortune promoted Derek Sheils to the final step of the podium.

A well run meeting, that had very few negative points.

My personal thanks to Sharon Comiskey, who dealt with the Press/Media. Nothing was too much trouble for her, and the club worked hard to ensure the meeting went without hitch. Well done to all concerned. I’m looking forward to Loughshinney already.

WALDERSTOWN THIS WEEKEND

Yet another road race this weekend, when the ‘circus’ moves to Walderstown, in Co. Westmeath.

This will be the 14th running of the Race of the South at Walderstown.

Previously, a great wee track that took riders into Fore village was used. I remember racing there myself on both solo and sidecar.

The atmosphere was always fantastic, with spectators at the pub practically within touching distance of the competitors as they exited the village. Sadly, for one reason or another, that’s all gone now.

The new circuit is, however, becoming as popular, with both riders and spectators enjoying some great racing there since 2000.

Roads close this Saturday at 12.30pm for practice, while on Sunday the roads close at 11am, and then straight into racing. I’m hoping to be there, and if so, will have a full report and photos next week.