Wayne Garrett fends off Gordon Crockard for the Carrick Supercross win

Garrett Hangs Tough for the Super Final Win

Normally home to the Carrick Rangers FC, the Taylors Avenue stadium came alive to the sound of engines as the Carrickfergus MCC hosted a one-off race on Friday June 3rd. With all eyes focused on the main event of the night, the crowd stood on their feet for 20-laps as TSR/Moto One KTM’s Wayne Garrett rode to victory. With the feature race mixing the best of the Under 19 final and the Expert Open final together it was Under 19 contender Adam Clifford that rocketed out of the starting gates to grab an initial but brief holeshot as he out braked himself kart wheeling off track. Robert Hamilton -the lone two-stroke entrant- gladly inherited the lead as Jack Burnell, Garrett and Gordon Crockard stayed in toe. Crockard faired out worse from the drop of the gate and was busy working through the field as Garrett worked his way past Hamilton and into the lead. As Garrett began to eek out a slender advantage over Burnell who was holding onto a steady second, Crockard had now made his way up to the trio by half-distance with his sights set on catching Garrett. As the laps ticked down, Crockard found his way past Burnell who was nursing a damaged radiator from an opening lap collision. But Garrett had Crockard covered, cleverly working the back-markers to his advantage and punched the air with delight as he took the chequered flag and the main event win.

Crockard spent the entire 20-lap final chasing down Garrett but came up a wheel short at the flag

Tommy Merton almost bagged the Expert Open final until washing out with a few laps to go. He remounted to end the race 2nd.

Karl Thompson won the Clubman Head to Head

Although Garrett’s victory in the Super Final was the main feature of the evening, the Carrick club laid on a full programme of events; Under 19 finals, Clubman MX2 and MX1 finals along with the Expert Open final. However it was the Head to Head finals that brought out the closest action of the day as the top four in the Clubman and Expert battled it out for the pot of cash. With two riders squaring up for a a two lap dash, it was Karl Thompson that eventually worked his way through to the Clubman final and earned himself £50 for his efforts. Making it through to the Expert final was Garrett and Burnell with Garrett gaining the early advantage until Jack punted Wayne into the dirt as the duo began to start the final lap. That taste of dirt clearly fired up Wayne and he attacked straight back bridging the gap back to Jack. With the crowd again on their feet they sensed that Wayne was setting up for a pay-back move. With two corners to go, Wayne pushed in hard on Burnell trying to show a wheel but wasn’t close enough. Much to his relief, Burnell escaped and grabbed the pot of cash.

Wayne Garrett

Wayne Garrett “I knew coming into the Super Final, I need to get a clean start and try to control the race out front. Thankfully I got a good jump off the line and soon got out in front. As the laps ticked off I felt strong enough to win but Gordon was closing the gap to me and at times the back-markers were hard to find a way past. With a lap to go, I knew it was going to be close and at times I could see his mudguard closing in. I just tried to stay focused on what I was doing, guard the lines and thankfully held on for the win. It was a fantastic event the Carrickfergus club put on a suberb event. This venue was a perfect size for a race like this so to win the main event was the best ending to a perfect night!”