With a second place and two wins, Michael Mahon claims overall honours at the penultimate round of the Great Stuff Catering Southern Centre Motocross championship in Birdhill.
Michael Mahon (VMX/No Fear KTM)
Under mild and overcast skies the seventh and penultimate round of the Great Stuff Catering Southern Centre Motocross championship rolled into Birdhill Motoparc near Limerick on Sunday July 17th. Although overhead the unsettled weather threatened rain throughout the day, the action below in the sandy quarry pit was hot and frantic. With time running out and now the end of a long championship chase coming into view, Sunday was make or break time. A time for those heading their respective title campaigns to make clear ground over their rivals and build a comfortable points cushion. On the other hand it was also the final opportunity for some to put their best foot forward and claw back some valuable points to keep their glory hopes alive!
Out front in Grade A it was the duo of Richard Bird and Michael Mahon that set the pace in the opening race. With Bird out front, Mahon latched onto the pace setter and the two distanced themselves from the remainder of the pack. Although only but a few seconds adrift, Mahon was unable to make anymore inroads and had to be content with second as Ross Brown rode his way up to third at the flag. Again the duo of Bird and Mahon gapped the pack early on in moto two. But by mid-distance it was clear Bird had a problem with a rear wheel puncture and as Mahon rode past for the win, Bird slipped back into the clutches of the chasing pack. Ryan Davin was the first to pounce and pushed his way past for second, quickly followed by Stephen Mullay, as Bird struggled home for fourth at the race end. Again bad luck would follow Richard into the final race by crashing hard in the first corner. Unable to make the restart allowed Mahon time to work his way past the fast starting Brown and cruise home for another victory and overall honours. Brown stood tight for second while Mullay’s third in race three gave him second overall on the day. Although hovering just outside the top three all day, it was this consistency that lifted Jim O’Neill to third overall and first in MX2.
Richard Bird had a day of mixed emotions...
A poor start in the opening moto left eventual overall Grade B winner David Russell with a lot of work to do. Gating badly, Russell was buried deep in the pack and found himself having to pick off riders lap by lap as race leader James Doyle set about stretching a lead that he would hold to the flag. With Russell eventually working his way to third behind Jamie O’Keeffe, he would not let the same mistakes happen again during the remainder of the day and ran out front to snatch victory in race two and three. It was Doyle’s strong opening result that helped him to second overall on the day with Ryan Morten in third. Ryan Callaghan was the best of MX1 rounding out the top four.
Ryan Callaghan extended his points lead in Limerick...
In Grade C MX2 Jonathon Doran was the only maximum man of the day racking up three very convincing race wins. Eric Mullen kept him honest in the final race to take home second overall for his efforts while Colin Odlum rounded out the top three.
In Grade C MX1, Chris Lyons appeared to be on course for a hat trick but with less then three laps of his day left to run, drama struck him as he led out front shuttling him down to 12th. This mistake was all it took for Austin Cooney to bag the overall with Andrew McKibben nabbing a surprise third on the day.
Michael Mahon: “Today went really well and everything seemed to fall my way! The first race was good; I got away early on with Richard and we broke away from the field. I was happy not to lose touch with him through the race but I couldn’t up my pace to bridge the gap so I was happy with second. Again we got away together in race two but this time I was focused on not settling into a rhythm and tried to push. I saw he had a problem and managed to make my way past. Once through I pushed hard and got a comfortable lead but with two laps to go, I got a puncture myself but had enough of a lead to ride it home. Agains things went perfect in the final race and I bagged another win. Today was a good confidence builder, I loved the track and felt my speed was strong throughout the day. Now I’m looking forward to the final round of the championship where hopefully I can wrap this title up!”
2nd in race two, Ryan Davin was 10 spokes short of a finish in race three...
With the dust firmly settled in Limerick the final round of the championship moves to Dundalk on September 25th.