Ireland finish 6th in Coupe del'Avenir, Belgium

TEAM IRELAND make a successful trip to the 40^TH edition of the COUPE DEL’AVENIR in Belgium as the Under 21 team finish sixth, while the 85cc team impress and shock the International media by grabbing a hugely impressive fourth overall.

As is now customary, the MCUI sent an Under 21 team to the 40^th edition of the Coupe de l’Avenir in Angreau Belgium, but this year is the first year that an 85cc team joined their elders for the Coupe de 85cc to pit themselves against the best young riders in Europe, many of whom compete regularly in the EMX85 European Championship.

Qualifying went well for the U21 Team, with the weather cold but dry and the track in superb condition, Michael Mallon was 15^th on the VMX KTM, Ed Allingham in 17^th on the Watt/No Fear Kawasaki, and John Meara on his debut in 23^rd on the TMC Honda, all of the lads finding getting a clear lap difficult, and the speed of the Continental riders in the last 5 minutes overwhelming, this left the Team in a respectable 6^th overall for the Sundays three races.

Meara scored well for 19th overall

For the 85cc riders, this was new territory, but all three lads loved the track, and they made their mark quickly, with young Stuart Fee from Dromara, holding fifth for much of the session before dropping to ninth on the Suzuki in the dying minutes of the session, Jason Meara from Loughbrickland on the KTM was 11^th, and Dylan Coffey from Dublin 28^th on his KTM, this left the team sitting fifth in qualifying on their first visit.

Sunday dawned grey and wet as we left the Hotel for the track after a very wet night, warm up went without incident, and all eyes were on the track as the first U21 Heat left the line in front of a large crowd, despite the weather for their 25 minutes plus 2 laps race.

As a fantastic battle raged between Maxime Despreys of France, Brian Bogers of the Netherlands, and Jens Gettman from host Nation Belgium, we were watching our three lads recovering from poor starts, hero of the race was Michael Mahon who brought the smoking VMX KTM over the line in 13^th place, then blowing up as he braked for the paddock turn. Ed Allingham had ridden a superb race, getting as high as eigth before finishing 11^th, and John Meara finishing 17^th after a fall.

Ed Allingham rose to the occasion with 10th overall

The first 85cc race was next, and what a corker for Ireland, Jason Meara running 4^th on the first few laps, with Stuart Fee climbing through the pack to finish 9^th, after a fall on the last lap dropped him from 6^th, a place lower than Jason Meara finished on his debut, Dylan Coffey finished a creditable 23^rd after a troubled run in the wet slippery conditions. This left Team Ireland an incredible 2^nd after one race.

Race two, and Ireland are down to 2 men in the U21 race as no spare bikes were brought along, the pressure was on Ed and John and it showed. In terrible conditions, another terrific race up front between the Belgians, also down to two riders due to injury, French and Dutch, Ed again finished 11^th after running in the top ten for much of the race, and John a fighting 19^th after falling in the deep ruts twice.

Stuart Fee, Jason Meara & Dylan Coffey put Ireland's MX future on the map with 4th

The 85 race 2 was up next, and again, the Irish lads surprised the spectators and competition with their speed and determination, this time Stuart Fee finished 7^th after climbing through the pack again, and Jason nearly joined him but a fall late in the race dropped him to 18^th, one place behind the steady and improving Dylan. This left them in third place after two races.

Race 3 for the U21’s, the rain had stopped, and the lads had a chance of finishing 4^th, maybe even third if things went their way and again, Ed Allingham fought hard for the third 25 minute hat, run earlier than expected after the cancellation of the third sidecar race to preserve the track, and finished a superb 13^th, John Mear unfortunately fell foul of the gremlins and after only a third of the race, stripped the countershaft sprocket, and although tried to continue, he was smart enough to stop on the circuit until the flag fell and nurse the bike over the line to be credited with 22^nd, enough to clinch the team 6^th on the day.

The 85cc team did not fare so well in race 3 compared to the other two, with gate pick decisions making life difficult for the lads, Jason finished 13^th, Stuart 19^th and Dylan 18^th to leave them 4^th on the day, a fantastic performance for their first visit. All three lads found the timetable tough, but found the experience worthwhile, input from Gordon Crockard who was there helping Ed Allingham was also appreciated by the lads.

Overall, the two teams performed well, with riders and mechanics working hard for two days under difficult conditions, including no power washer during the worst of the weather on Sunday.

The 85 riders certainly made names for themselves on the International scene, with journalists from Belgian MX papers interviewing us on who they were, their careers etc.

The Coupe de l’Avenir continues to be the best introduction for MCUI riders to International competition, riding on the continent and working as a Team. This can only help the riders, and the Federtaion for the future, as well as supporting an event which is the best weekends racing, including Grand Prix, on the calendar.

For the record, in the U21’s, Ed finished 10^th overall, John 19^th, and Michael 27^th, in an event won by Maxime Despreys of France, with Brian Bogers second and Cedric Lieber 3^rd, with the team result being France, Belgium and Netherlands on the podium.

In the 85cc class, Stuart finished 9^th, Jason 11^th and Dylan 21^st, in an event won by Nathan Renkens of Belgium, Joel Van Mechelen of Holland and his compatriot Jordi Van Nobelen, with the team result being Holland, Belgium and France.

Podium next year?