Weather puts the brakes on latest round of ISB series at Kirkistown

Mark Glasgow fights to keep his front wheel on the track at Mondello. Picture: Roy Adams.

Days of almost tropical heat were a memory as rain started to fall at 7am at the circuit.

Despite the marshals and race organisers’ best efforts the rain continued and Clerk of the Course John McAlister was forced to make the heart breaking decision that the meeting could not be allowed to go ahead for safety reasons.

In a statement issued on Facebook, John McAllister said: “Saturday didn’t turn out the way we wanted. From 7am the rain was relentless, causing severe standing water round most of the course.

“It was so bad that there was nowhere to clear the water to as the surrounding grass was also waterlogged. About 9.30am weather reports gave a window in the weather about 11am, when we hoped to be able to run practice and racing.

“Unfortunately that changed by 10.30am and after a meeting with event stewards I was forced to abandon the meeting.

“It’s heartbreaking for the club and riders, many of whom travelled from all over Ireland as well as England and Scotland. I want to thank everybody who supported us today.”

Personally I can remember a couple of meetings at Kirkistown that have fallen victim to flooding over the past few years. There was even one that was run on a smaller circuit, bringing the bikes through the paddock. Obviously that was not feasible at the weekend.

The Belfast and District club have another meeting at Kirkistown on the 6th September, when hopefully the weather will be kinder to them.

MICHELIN MID ANTRIM TRIALS

Last Saturday the Mid Antrim club ran their Summer Trial at Ballynulto. My thanks to Laura Dickey for the results.

Portadown’s Jonny Lunney ran out as the winner overall, dropping 24 marks. Stuart McClurg was second on 45 and Robert McCrory third going down 83. In the B Grade, former Irish and Ulster title holder Phillip Hanlon had, by his standards, a poor opening lap, dropping 7 marks. The rest of the trial he lost just a single mark, to win on 8.

Michael Davidson finished as his closest rival on 40 while Ashley Turner was third on 64. The C Grade was a bit closer. Three riders ended the day dropping a single mark. I’m not quite sure how they work out winner in this case, as all three had 39 cleans as well. Steven Cromie, Andrew McCrory and Michelle Hanlon all ended their day on 1. Michelle is the niece of Phillip Hanlon, Grade B winner.

Mark Scott and Alistair Galloway tied for the Grade D win, both keeping a clean sheet throughout the event, while third position went to Jody Patterson, on a single dab.

In the Youth divisions, the A win went to Josh Hanlon, Phillips son. He lost 16, while B Grade winner George Taylor went down 4. Jay Pyper won the C Grade on a single mark.

ADELAIDE MONDELLO MASTERS

This weekend sees the next round of the highly popular Adelaide Insurance backed Mondello Masters series.

As yet I have no information from the organisers - that usually arrives midweek - but I can tell you that in case you can’t travel to Mondello, the days races are being screened live on www.mondello.tv

Coverage will begin at 10.20am, with the first of Sunday’s races. There are normally a set of races after practice on Saturday as well.

The usual programme for the weekend is practice on Saturday, with a single race per class on Saturday afternoon. Warm up on Sunday, with racing starting about 10.20am.

A quick look at the Mondello website shows me that Cody Nally tops the Superbike table on 70 points, 9 ahead of Derek Sheils. Antrim’s Mark Glasgow is third on 39. Raymond Casey leads the SBK Cup chase on 75 points. In the Supersport 600 class, Carl Phillips, on 47 points, leads the championship. Alan McClean is second on 42 and Richard Glasgow third on 37. Kevin Keyes leads the Supersport Cup title chase with 70 points.

Michael Weldon is the top Pre Injection rider, with 75 points while the Supertwins are headed by Dave Butler on 75. Run concurrently with the Supertwins, the Production twin championship is topped by James Chawke, also on 75 points. Andrew Whearty leads the Supersport 400 class, also on 75 points, while Stoneyford veteran Scobby Killough/Brian Butler head the sidecar championship. Ronan Shanahan has kept a clean sheet in the GP250 class.

I will have full results and photos after the races in next week’s Times.