McNally takes maiden ISB win in busy weekend of action at Mondello Park

Mondello Park International circuit hosted the latest round of the Irish Superbike championship last weekend.
Ballymena man Trevor Reid on his little 125 Honda at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.Ballymena man Trevor Reid on his little 125 Honda at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.
Ballymena man Trevor Reid on his little 125 Honda at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.

Each class had a race on the Saturday afternoon, and another two on the Sunday.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Meath man Philip McNally was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. That was outlined on Sunday when he grabbed his first ISB race wins.

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In Saturday’s Superbike race, Cody Nally took a hard fought win on a wet treacherous track. Lisburns David Haire was right in Nally’s wheeltracks, while third place was filled by Declan Hoey.

Antrims Jonny Hanna loosens himself up before his race at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.Antrims Jonny Hanna loosens himself up before his race at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.
Antrims Jonny Hanna loosens himself up before his race at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.

Philip McNally took his first ISB race win in Sunday’s opening race. He had to come from behind to pass faster starting Nally and Eddie Comerford. McNally hit the front on the final lap, leaving Nally no time to respond. The winning margin was 7.7 seconds. Comerford again filled third place. The final race of the day was, in truth, a bit dismal, with just 5 finishers.

McNally doubled his total of ISB wins in the final race of the weekend for the big bikes. He had to come from behind yet again, top get by Nally. Eddie Comerford slipped off his bike when well in contention. That left McNally beating Nally and Aaron Ebbitt, a former Supermoto rider.

In the Supersport 600 class David Haire was the man to beat on the Saturday. He rode a controlled race, gradually moving away from second placed Carl Phillips. Mark Conlin finished in a distant third, some 5 seconds behind Phillips. After a few wee tweaks to his bike, Mark Conlin took the win in Sunday’s opening race. He had a great start and despite being hounded all the way by Randalstown man Christian Elkin, kept his nerve to win by .1 of a second. Jamie Patterson finished in third place, over 12 seconds behind.

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The final 600 race gave Carl Phillips a useful start to finish win. He led more or less from the start, and was never under any serious amount of pressure. Lisnaskea rider Aaron Armstrong fought hard to catch the leader, but by the time he had fought his way past Ross Patterson he hadn’t time to make any kind of impression on Phillips. Dundrod’s Robert Kennedy finished in third place, after winning what was a close race for the final podium slot.

Stephen Tobin was the winner of Saturday’s ISAM Cup outing. He was hounded hard by Gary O’Brien, but the Rathkeale rider could not quite manage to get close enough to put any kind of meaningful pass on Tobin. Bray rider Stuart Dwyer was about 5 seconds behind O’Brien. The first attempt at running the race on Sunday was red flagged when Gowran rider Eimear O’Farrell dropped her R6 exiting the first turn. Last news I have is that she has a broken arm.

Gary O’Brien led off the line, chased by John Cobban. At about halfway, Cobban moved ahead, pulling away from second placed Ralph Carty. Stephen Tobin just managed to hold off Gary O’Brien on the run to the line. O’Briwen had a great start in the final race of the weekend for the ISAM riders. Her blasted off the line, moving away from the close race for the final two podium places. John Cobban and Dunleer’s John Ella pulled well away from the rest of the field, with Ella having to give best on this occasion.

Willie Maher had an overdue win in the Classic Superbike race on Saturday. He was never under any serious pressure winning from Barry Gill, on his old RC30. Mike Kenny was the best of the two strokes, finishing in third place.

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There was only a single race for this class on the Sunday. Mike Meskell was the early leader after getting a great start. Mike Kenny soon took over, and shortly after that Barry Gill went ahead. Gill won by less than a second, with Meskell third.

The 125/400 races were also great to watch. Randalstown man Christian Elkin ran out as the winner of the three 125 races. On the Bob Wylie Moto3 machine Elki had no equals.

He took the race on Saturday afternoon, almost 7 seconds ahead of Kyle Cross, with Antrims Matthew Hazlett third. Elkin was in a class of his own in the opening race on Sunday. He streaked ahead right from the start, taking the win by 17 seconds. After taking last year out, Newry’s Karen Hadden finished in second position with Matthew Hazlett third. Elki again hit the front from the lights in the final race. Former MX rider Richard Kerr, his team mate in the Bob Wylie stable, finished second after seeing off a stern challenge from Karen Hadden. Karen slid off unhurt. Matthew Hazlett was again third.

Run concurrently, the SS400 class was dominated by Alvin Griffin, the Wicklow man winning all three contests. In Saturdays race he was some 18 seconds ahead of Gavin PJ Quinn, while James Ging was about 40 seconds back. James Ging was 1.8 seconds off a race win in the opening race on Sunday morning. He simply couldn’t work with the speed of Griffin’s bike. PJ Quinn was third, although he was well back. Griffin disappeared into the distance in the final race of the weekend. PJ Quinn took second with Liam Greene third.

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The 125 Production/ Newcomers races were right out of the top drawer. As is so often the case, it was a couple of kids who provided the main interest. Saturday’s race went to Donegal rider Caolin Irwin. He battled it out elbow to elbow with Aaron Wright. Irwin seemed to be able to make ground on braking, whereas Wright, on a 250 four stroke, had better drive out of the slower corners. Setting the fastest lap of the race, Irwin took his first ever race win on tarmac, finishing .04 ahead. Third place went to Joe Holmes. Young Irwin slipped to third place behind Wright in the next race. Joe Holmes took second place.

Aaron Wright won the final race of the weekend. He and Caolin Irwin were elbow to elbow a few times. Even though he set the fastest lap of the race, Irwin had to settle for second place, just .1 behind. Sam Lyons, son of Classic racer Marty, finished in third place.

As expected, Combers James Conroy was unequalled in the Classic race. On Saturday he finished almost seven seconds ahead of his dad Alex, while Eanie Horan took third on his beautiful sounding Triumph triple.

James also won the second race, finishing almost 12 seconds in front of Tony Willis, with Horan again collecting third place. The final race produced the same result, Conroy junior winning from Willis and Horan.

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Despite the worst the weather could throw at us a very enjoyable weekends racing.

My thanks to the Mondello marshals, for inviting me to a BBQ on Saturday night to celebrate their 21st birthday. I had a great night. They are a great bunch of people, and more like a family than a group of individuals.