Lap records tumble on exciting day at Bishopscourt

A sundrenched crowd watched some first class racing at the Temple club’s short circuit at Bishopscourt last weekend, and with decent weather, a couple of lap records thrown in to boot.
Adam O'Boyle on the Rathkenny Track and Enduro Kawasaki. Picture: Roy Adams.Adam O'Boyle on the Rathkenny Track and Enduro Kawasaki. Picture: Roy Adams.
Adam O'Boyle on the Rathkenny Track and Enduro Kawasaki. Picture: Roy Adams.

In the opening Superbike race, Lisburns David Haire was just too good. He took a race win, finishing 2.8 seconds ahead of Cody Nally. Nally, from Athlone, has dropped back to ISB from BSB, just held off a determined push by Denver Robb, the former Ballymena man who now lives in Randalstown.

Denver slipped into second with three bends to go, but going into the penultimate corner, Nally dived round the outside, holding on to register a second place, by just .03 of a second. In the second race Nally made a move more or less form the start. He hung on to win by 1.8 seconds, leaving Haire to take second place, ahead of Nico Mawhinney.

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David Haire also took 2 race wins in the Supersport class. In the first it was a near heartstopper, with Haire, Mark Conlin, Jamie Patterson and former title holder Alistair Kirk swapping places corner by corner. Conlin was the early leader, with Haire recovering from a slow start to take the lead near the end. Antrim’s Jamie Patterson finished in second place, right on Haire’s rear wheel, while Kirk was .7 back.

Haire shot off the line in race 2, pushed hard by Jamie Patterson. The Antrim man was pushing for the lead until he slowed, dropping back to eventually be credited with a finish in 24th place. That gave David Haire a bit of space, and he won from Mark Conlin by 3.8 seconds, while Jason Lynn finished in third place, a couple of seconds back.

Philip Crosbie took two race wins in the Supersport and Superbike Cup, basically, Senior Clubmans. In the first outing he was pushed hard by John Shearer, but the Eglinton man couldn’t get his BMW quite on terms with the Dundalk rider. Mark Murphy finished in third place, although well back behind the top two. In race two it was again Crosbie who took the win, but this time he was forced on by Paul Swords. Swords managed to get away from a great dice involving 5 riders for third place, eventually John Shearer took the position.

The Supertwin/Production twin events were also both really good races. In the first, Ballynahinch lad Korie McGreevy headed Ballymoneys Trevor Elliott across the line, with 3.2 seconds separating them. Daryl Duffy was third, right on the rear wheel of Elliott. Dave Butler won the Production Twin race, finishing .5 ahead of Daniel Annett, who set a new lap record. Race two gave another Supertwins win to Korie McGreevy, with Drew Jamison finishing in second place, just a couple of bike lengths ahead of Daryl Duffy. Daniel Annett again broke the Production Twins lap record in a vain attempt at trying to catch winner Dave Butler.

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Gareth George took the opening Pre Injection race. It was a hard fought race, with George managing to hold off some stern opposition from Stephen McKeown and John Horgan. At the finish the winning margin was .1 of a second, while a further .3 separated second and third. John Horgan took the lead in the second race right from the lights. He was hounded all the way by Stephen McKeown, while Gareth George just didn’t seem to be able to get on terms with the first two.

Run concurrently with the Pre Injection races, Ronan Shanahan won both 250GP races. In the first he beat Michael McKerr and John McAllister, while in the second Ballymena’s Neil Kernahan and McAllister completed the podium.

Stephen McKeown and Mark Murphy were the two main men in the Forgotten Era F1/FE350 races. McKeown, from Maghera, won both races with Murphy finishing in second place both times. Chris Campbell had a brace of thirds. Special mention to Rathkenny Track and Enduro’s Adam O’Boyle. He was the fourth F1 rider across the line in both races on a bike that was only built mid week and had no testing at all.

Mark McClenaghan ran out as winner in both the FE350 races. In the first he was just 1.4 seconds ahead of Ross Crymble, with Stephen McClenaghan, Mark’s brother, in third place. Mark and Ross were the only two finishers in the second race, where the heat took its toll on the bikes.

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Conor Parkhill, who was T boned on Bob Wylies Triumph in practice and didn’t get to race the bike, took a win in the opening 125/Moto3 race. He had to work hard to hold off Randalstowns Nigel Percy, the local rider finishing just 1.1 seconds adrift of the Eglinton lad. Korie McGreevy finished in third place, only .7 behind Percy. Parkhill broke the old track record here, clipping .2 of a second of Adam McLeans fastest time, set last year on the same bike. The second race was shaping up to be one of the best of the day. Percy, Parkhill and McGreevy were wheel to wheel.

Percy’s bike shed its chain on the final bend of the second lap, gifting the win to Parkhill. He still pulled out to finish 7.5 seconds in front of McGreevy, while Cahal Graham from Toomebridge improved on his 5th place in the opening race, to take third.

Run concurrently with the 125/Moto3’s Alvin Griffin won both the SS400 races. In the first he was .6 ahead of Eoghan Delaney, while in his first race since breaking his wrist, Gavin Quinn, better known as PJ, was third. Alvin Griffin again took the win from Eoghan Delaney in the second race. This time it was slightly more comfortable, the difference being 6.2 seconds. Stephen Shortt finished in third place.

The 125 Production/Newcomers races also provided great sport. With his experience across the water starting to tell, Aaron Clifford had no equals. He won both races easily, upping Kevin Keyes lap record in the first one.

ARMOY THIS WEEKEND

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The Armoy road race, one of the newest races on the calendar, has confirmed that not only has it been able to announce full grids in most classes, but it has been in the position of having to turn riders away who wanted to race.

Bill Kennedy, Clerk of the Course for the meeting said: “We are really blown away by the numbers who wanted to enter, right across all the classes. Sadly, we have had to turn riders away. If we’d known we were going to have these numbers we could have looked at having A and B races - Something we could maybe look at for next year.”

One of the big talking points is the entry of Jeremy McWilliams. After a successful career in GP’s Jeremy entered the North West, taking a race win in his second visit there. He is bound to draw a crowd. Roads close on Friday for practice at 2.30pm opening again before 9.30. On Saturday they close at 10am, and will open before 7.30pm. As usual, I will have a full report and pictures next week in the Times.

MID-ANTRIM 150

Watch out next week as well for the start of the Times’ coverage of the Mid Antrim 150, the biggest sporting event in the Borough.