Trophy Celebrations as the 2011 G&G Ross Irish Motocross Championship Awards Presentation Takes Place
The cream of Ireland’s top motocross riders gathered for the 2011 G&G Ross Irish Motocross Championship presentation at the City West Hotel in Dublin on January 15th. With awards for both the adult and youth Irish championship also running in conjunction with the 2011 Great Stuff Catering Southern Centre Motocross Championship presentation, it would be a busy evening for MC on the night Noel O’Leary. Offering a helping hand, Tyco by TAS Suzuki’s latest signing Stuart Edmonds was also in attendance to present the trophies to the youth riders.
In 2011, reigning Irish MX1 motocross champion, Tommy Merton – Norman Watt Kawasaki, made a successful defence to his championship. Facing stiff competition throughout the eight-round championship, it would take Merton until the final round of the season to clinch the title. Pushing him throughout the season, Richard Bird would eventually have to settle for second. After missing the opening round due to injury, Robert Hamilton recovered well to end his season in third overall.
In MX2, Michael Mahon – VMX KTM fended off all challenges to clinch his very first Irish motocross championship. In what was a thrilling nail-biter of a finish to the season, Mahon would beat the hard charging John Meara by four points. Also injured in pre-season, Meara’s championship momentum grew during the second half of 2011 – however racking up a total of seven wins in the final nine race of the year was not enough to beat Mahon. Finishing behind the duo in third overall, Jim O’Neill recorded his best season to date.
David Dickson – MX1 and Ryan Glover – MX2 were the 2011 Irish Grade B champions while Martin Portis – MX1 and Andrew McKee – MX2 wrapped up their respective championship in Grade C. In the 2011 Irish youth motocross championship drew McCreanor (Autos), Calum Meara (Juniors), Aaron Piper (Small Wheel 85), Jason Meara (Big Wheel 85), Glenn McCormick (125 2-Stroke) and Shane Mulligan (250 4-stroke) all rose to the top of their class to become Irish champions.
With the 2012 season now quickly closing in, the joint awards presentation capped off a memorable end to an incredible season of racing.
2011 Irish Motocross Champions Grade A MX1: 1. Tommy Merton, 2. Richard Bird, 3. Robert Hamilton Grade A MX2: 1. Michael Mahon, 2. John Meara, 3. Jim O’Neill Grade B MX1: 1. David Dickson, 2. Shaun Turkington, 3. Frazer Young Grade B MX2: 1. Ryan Glover, 2. David Russell, 3. Andrew Gill Grade C MX1: 1. Martin Portis, 2. Chris Lappin, 3. Chris Lynd Grade C MX2: 1. Andrew McKee, 2. Jordan Wade, 3. Andrew Kidd Automatics: 1. Drew McCreanor, 2. Aaron Gray, 3. Joshua Mackrel Juniors: 1. Calum Meara, 2. Adam Dunn, 3. David Robson Small Wheel 85: 1. Aaron Piper, 2. Josh Beausang, 3. David Galvin Jnr Big Wheel 85: 1. Jason Meara, 2. Dylan Coffey, 3. Stuart Fee 125 2-Stroke: 1. Glenn McCormick, 2. Jody Hurley, Stephen McCormack 250 4-Stroke: 1. Shane Mulligan, 2. Jamie Kelly, 3. Luke Fetherston Full Photo Gallery to Follow