William is Maine man for 2010

KILREA road racer William Davison has been announced as the Maine Club's rider for the 2010 season.

On the lookout for a rider for the new year, the locally based band of enthusiasts spoke to William, who has had his own 600 Honda revamped, and painted in the distinctive orange, blue and white of the club. He will also ride the Farlough Suzuki for Randalstown man Wilson Lynn.

A steady year last year saw William finish the season as runner up to Benny Smith in the Irish Senior Support series, on his 600 Honda, and on his little 400 Honda, he took fourth place in the Junior series.

With this in mind, the Maine Club approached the Kilrea man, knowing that their last year's rider, Kenny Robinson, had decided to retire.

"Kenny rode our bike at the start, when the club was formed in 2004, and then after he had his accident at work, we had men like Michael Dunlop, Alastair Seeley, Barry Davidson, and a few others on the bike.

"Kenny came back last year, but after a big crash at Mondello, his licence was revoked, and he has decided that he will call it time.

"We are very pleased to have had Kenny on our bike, and are very grateful for the amount of work he put into the team. We wish him good health in his retirement," said Ronnie Montgomery, a spokesman for the Maine Club.

William told me: "I was a bit surprised when the boys out of the Maine Club contacted me.

"We sat down and had a chat about what I was planning for 2010, and at the end of it all they asked me if I would be interested in running my own bike with their help. I will have my own 600, which has been worked at a bit from last year, as well as Wilson's big bike.

"I'm not too sure at the minute about the Manx, but if it's not this year, then definitely next. Road racing is coming under a bit of pressure at the minute, but we can just play it by ear.

"I'm very lucky, not only to have the Maine Club, but also Wilson Lynn at the Farlough Garage with me. I just hope I can do justice to them putting their faith in me."

The first outing for William on the Maine-backed Honda will be at the test day at Bishopscourt on March 6, and hopefully he will have the Farlough Suzuki sorted out by then.

SHANE CUP TRIAL

The off-road section of the Mid Antrim club have announced details of their Shane Cup Trial, the first event that the club have organised this year.

The Irish Championship event will be held in Parkmore Forest, Glenariff, this Saturday, February 27, starting at 11am.

According to the club, Clerk of the Course Willie Dickey will be marking out sections that will be in keeping with the Irish championship status of the event, but at the same time, taking into account that most people ride trials for a bit of fun, will not be bike breakers. There has been a lot of talk lately about the severity of some sections, and with this in mind, the Mid Antrim club will be marking out their course.

The event will be the first round of the Michelin/Mid Antrim Clubs Trials series, details of which we mentioned in these notes last week.

The awards will be presented in the Glensway Tavern, Martinstown straight after the event, and the Mid Antrim club would like to thank Colm McGlade for the use of his premises.

I have also been asked to thank DARD, for the use of the land that the trial will take in. It's always a good event, taking in a number of sections in the rivers that flow through Parkmore Forest.

SUPERMOTO AWARDS NIGHT

My thanks to the Supermoto Club for the invitation to their awards presentation last Saturday night.

It was great to meet up with the Supermoto riders and their teams away from the track, and both my daughter and I spend a very enjoyable evening with riders and organisers.

I met quite a few of the riders and with a full series of Summer events planned, I will be making a point of attending a few more of them over the coming year. There are not so many riders competing in Supermoto, but they are every bit as fanatical as any of the road racers or short circuit riders. Again, our thanks to the club.

MCUI TRAINING SCHOOL

Despite quite heavy snow on Saturday night, Kirkistown was clear of the dreaded white stuff on Sunday, as the final MCUI Training School took to the track. According to Ivan Davidson, MCUI Registrar, there were 65 riders under instruction, when the school got under way.

As usual, I tried to get a chat to any local riders who were there, and I met up with a few of them. I was unable to attend the first school at the beginning of the month, but I met up with William Scott from Ballymena, who put me in tow with Kirk Dickey from Ahoghill and Mark Featherstone from Ballymena.

Both were riding well, and on a track that took very few prisoners both ended the day having got steadily faster.

I also met up with Ballymena's Sam Wilson, who will ride in the GP125 Newcomers class. He's a former MX rider, and I have a feeling that we will see and hear a lot more of him.

He was very neat, tidy and very fast for a lad who has limited experience of tarmac racing. Watch for the name.

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