Tragedy mars Kirkistown meeting

Sam had earlier finished in 9th place in the first Clubmans race. He died after a coming together with another rider, when braking for the hairpin, in the early laps of the Clubmans race two.

In the GP125 races, the Impressive Automatics team of Christopher and Robert English were back to full strength, after Robert passed a medical on his injured finger in the morning.

Right from the start, the eldest of the English brothers, Chris, blasted away from the line, closely followed by Nigel Percy on the Millar Racing Honda. More then once during the race Percy showed English his wheel, but eventually the pressure paid off for the Randalstown rider and he moved ahead of the Ahoghill lad.

These two, along with Andrew Pollock, moved away from the rest of the field. The race was stopped as the leaders started lap 8, when Newry's Karen Hadden dropped her little Honda at the hairpin. Karen had been having her best race to date, running in 7th place.

The result was taken at the end of the 7th lap, when Percy was .3 of a second ahead of English, with Armagh's Andrew Pollock third, a further half second back.

In the second race, which ran its full distance, Chris English again made a fast start, pushed hard by Nigel Percy. Percy went ahead a couple of times, but with about 3 laps to go, English slipped by, and moved away to take his first race win, by 1.3 seconds.

Paul Robinson took second from Andrew Pollock, while Nigel Percy finished in 4th place, at the tail end of a group that were separated by just .3 of a second.

After the race, Paul English, team owner for the Impressive Automatics/English Brothers team said: "Thats a monkey off Chris' back. He's always been behind Robert, and now he knows that he can run with the fastest of them.

"It was nerve wrecking for us to watch. Robert done a great job, too. He was 5th and 6th in the two races, which for his comeback ride, are two good results. I'm over the moon for both of them. Robert is very pleased for Chris, but he doesn't say much."

Another local lad who took a race win, his second in two visits to the Co. Down track, was Antrim's Mark Hanna. On dad Roys TSR 250 Honda, Mark had a great race with Denver Robb. Denver fought hard, but at the line was 2 seconds adrift of the Antrim lad.

Thomas Lawlor, who had terrible problems with his Honda during practice, had fitted new cylinders and pistons. He eventually finished third, albeit, well behind Ballymena man Robb.

Mark Hanna made a great start in the second race, but slowed dramatically after a couple of laps. He speeded up again, but by then had been passed by Denver and by David Craig, who now does much of his racing across the water. At the line Robb took the win, with Mark taking second, .4 back. David Craig finished in third, a further .4 back.

After the race Mark said: "I broke the subframe right off about lap three. I was holding the tank on with my knees and the seat on with my left leg. I couldn't get my knee down anywhere. The bike was falling to bits round me. I was going to stop, but I decided to ride on,” he laughed.

Run concurrently, the first SS400 race went to Carl Phillips. He beat Castleblaney lad Joseph Loughlin by 7.7 seconds, with Ryan Maher third. Joe took the win in race two, hitting the front early on, and moving away from Maher. The winning margin was 21.4 seconds. Wayne Hall, better known as Scoops, was a distant third.

Ryan Farquhar took a double in the Supertwins class, and just for good measure, clipped a second off Lee Hills class record. In the first race, Farquhar moved away, by virtue of his new lap record, leaving Antrim's Mark Glasgow and Malcolm McKinney to battle out the lower podium places. Glasgow got the better of it by .5 of a second in the first race, with McKinney third.

There was more of the same in the second outing, with Farquhar pulling away to win by almost 6 seconds. Again, Glasgow got the better of McKinney for second and third places.

Current Supersport 600 champion Glenn Irwin took a double in the 600 class. There

were two fantastic races in this class.

In the first, Irwin pipped Dunadry's Jonny Buckley by 1.3 seconds, while Michael Dunlop, who was taking part in the meeting to sort bikes out for the North West, finished a distant third.

The second race was awesome. Irwin, Buckley and Dunlop were wheel to wheel for much of the race, For a while it looked like Buckley was going to be able to grab the win. Irwin eventually took it, only .1 between him and Buckley at the line. Michael Dunlop was third, just over a second back.

Michael Dunlop sprung a bit of a surprise on the top ISB riders when he took a race win in the first Superbike race. Not only did Michael win, but shaved .2 of a second of Alistair Seeley's lap record. The new record is now 55.7 seconds. Dunlop had a gap of 1.8 seconds to Michael Pearson, while Marshal Neill, touted as a potential winner during the week, finished almost 5 seconds back of Pearson.

Jonathan McKelvey ran out as the winner of the only race that went the distance for Clubmen. He had a useful lead for a while, but towards the finish Sean O'Neill began to reel McKelvey in. There was .3 between them at the finish, with former Clubmans 125GP champion, Drew Jamison, taking third on his R6.

Ards man George Kennedy/Colin Smyth won a good sidecar race on their ART Suzuki. They were pushed all the way by Alex Johnston/Paul Carvill. In truth, these were the only two outfits capable of taking the win, as Kyle Young/Clive Morris were almost 16 seconds back in third place.

As soon as the accident occurred in the second Clubmans race, the red flags went out, and both riders were attended to by the MCUI Medical Team. Unfortunately, Sam died instantly from his injuries, while the other involved suffered a suspected broken arm.

Racing was immediately abandoned by Clerk of the Course Sam McMinn.

SAM MARTIN - AN APPRECIATION

The truth of the matter is, that I didn't really know Sam Martin as much as I would liked to have.

I met him a few years ago when he acted as mechanic for James Redpath. Sam always told me that he fancied having a go at racing, but never had the time nor the money to start.

I was surprised when I went to the MCUI Race School at the start of this year, when I saw him appear with a beautifully turned out Suzuki.

“Im not getting any younger, and if I don't do it now, I never will. I'll likely regret it if I never try. Get a couple of photos of me, because the bike mightn't be like that too long!” he laughed.

Sam was no novice on a motorcycle. He had been a lifelong bike fan, and had ridden road bikes for many years. He was very experienced, both as a rider and mechanic, and was often seen out on his bike around his home in Carrickfergus. He had acted as mechanic for James Redpath on short circuits and then on roads, gaining knowledge that made him a valuable member of James' team.

I had a chat to him on Saturday morning, and he was enjoying his racing. He told me that he was learning all the time, and that every race was a fantastic experience for him. Sadly, that has all been taken away from him, as he has from his family.

An unmarried man, Sam was 37, and lived with his Mother and Grandmother.

Speaking on Sunday evening to Sam's longtime friend Charlie Young, I thought it was a lovely gesture that both Charlie and James Redpath went to the funeral parlour on their bikes, to escort Sam home for the final time.

Charlie has also asked me to say that it would be greatly appreciated by the family that if anyone would like to attend the funeral on bikes, please feel free to do so. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the daily papers, as, with Monday being a Bank Holiday, arrangements are yet to be finalised.

I can do nothing but send my sympathies to his family circle, tell them that although I hadnt known Sam for very long, I will never forget Him. I am proud to have been able to call him a friend. God Bless.

THIS WEEKEND

This Saturday, the Clubmen return to Kirkistown, and I must confess, that after the events of last weekend, I will be able to do nothing but think of Sam Martin. I'm pretty sure that he would have wanted us to get on with it, though, so even though it will be difficult, we should do just that.

Timed practice will get under way at 9am, with racing from about 12.30pm.