McCormick has a ball in front of packed house at Odyssey

Glenn McCormick flies to second place in rookies' final

In front of two packed houses, East Antrim teenager Glenn McCormick scored two second places in the 10-lap ‘Rookie’ races, while the ‘pro’ honours were shared between Steven Clarke and Fabien Izoird.

It was a tired but delighted Glenn who spoke to the Times after his race on the Saturday night in front of over 5,000 bike fans.

“It was brilliant racing in front of so many people all cheering me on. On Friday night I made a bad start and thankfully a few guys went down and, with the leader well away, I just held on for second place. It was alright for the first night.

“Tonight I got a good start but I got held up in the traffic in the opening laps. When I got into second, I started catching the leader but it was a case of too little, too late. With the new bike and in the first race of my season I will take that any day.

“It is a good start to the season and I suppose I will have to come back and do it all again and get on the top step next time. I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this possible.”

Frenchman Fabien Izoird on LPE Racing Kawasaki returned on Saturday night determined to improve on his Friday night third, after claiming a maximum four points in the Head-to-Head races. He blazed to victory in the Main Event to move into the series lead by a single point over Steven Clarke riding the Dyer & Butler KTM.

The race looked to go all the way to the line with Izoird closing on the leader Clarke’s back wheel with two laps to go.

On the penultimate lap, the pair clashed on the approach to the last left-hander and it was Clarke who ended up in the bales, leaving the frenchman the easy task of cruising to the finish.

Friday night’s winner, Clarke still managed to gather himself up to finish second.

Local favourite Gordon Crockard had the crowd on their feet as he won the last chance qualifier to make the main event.

Unfortunately in the final he had to settle for 12th.

The good news is that the organisers have confirmed the event will return to the Odyssey in 2015.