RACE REPORT 15TH APRIL 2012 DOON
ROUND 2 RETINK IRISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
On a cold bright day at Doon, a big entry enjoyed a great days racing across all grades. In the Premier MX1 & MX2 races, run concurrently, Gordon Crockard on his No Fear/Norman Watt Kawasaki 450f and Graeme Irwin on his Samsung Yamaha 250f had three wins out of three, but that only tells half the story.
On the weekend of the centenary of one Titanic story, the two stars had their own ‘Titanic’ battle in the second two races for the ‘overall on the day.
Race two was a long battle with Crockard leading and being chased by his young rival. Irwin made an ’ambitious’ move which paid off on the last lap and beat Crockard by the slimmest margin.
Race three started with Gary Gibson leading for almost a third of the race on his Tyco By TAS Suzuki 450. However, after half distance the old dog and the pup of Irish Motocross were past and bar to bar once again. This time experience triumphed over youth and Crockard ran out a worthy winner, and the handshake afterwards showed a mutual respect between the two stars.
Behind this, there were numerous battles through the pack, notably amongst the MX2 boys. John Meara on his TMC Honda, and Michael McCammond on his JAR Honda renewed their Under 21 rivalry and set a hot pace, and youngster Glenn McCormick showed he is coming to terms with his Agnew Recovery/Norman Watt Kawasaki 250f.
Wayne Garrett is improving every race on the JAR Honda 450f and Gary Gibson is showing very impressive form on the Tyco Suzuki 450f, as is Michael Mahon, reigning Irish MX2 Champion, on his switch to the MX1 class on the Vigors KTM 350f.
John Meara (TMC Honda) pushed hard for second overall in MX2
Semi Expert MX2 was the realm of the teenager with Connor Campbell on the Monster Energy Cosworth Yamaha claiming two wins and a second while Jordan McClelland showed much improved form on the Samsung Yamaha Race three belonged to 15-year old Dromara schoolboy, Stuart Fee on his Fee Engineering KTM 125 as he beat the mixed MX1/MX2 field to win the race overall.
Semi Expert MX1 was dominated by Stewartsown youngster, Donal Teague on his Kawasaki 450f, with Clifford Wilson, Chris Lynd, Chris Lappin and Darren Bradford making up the chasing pack.
Clubmans MX1 also produced a triple winner in Laurelvales Gareth Mulligan, riding Matthew Sintons Suzuki 250. Michael McGrath and Moira’s Jordan Blakely rounded out the podium .
Clubman MX2 again produced a triple winner, with Loughbricklands Andrew Blakely dominating the class Behind him Alexander Ellison, Kristofer Rea, Stephen Gill and Keith Redmond chased hard all day.
A great days racing in all classes in cold, bright weather on an excellent track.
Results: Premier MX1 Race 1: 1. Gordon Crockard, 2. Gary Gibson, 3. Richard Bird, 4.Wayne Garrett, 5. Stephen Mulally, 6. Michael Mahon Race 2: Crockard, 2. Garrett, 3. Mahon, 4. Gibson, 5. Aaron Beausang, 6. Mulally. Race 3: 1. Crockard, 2. Gibson, 3. Garrett, 4. Mahon, 5. Beausang, 6. Mulally. Premier MX2 Race 1: Graeme Irwin, 2. Stuart Edmonds, 3. Michael McCammond, 4. John Meara, 5. Glenn McCormick, 6. Jim O’Neill Race 2: 1. Irwin, 2.Meara, 3. McCammond, 4. Jamie Kelly, 6.Ryan Adair Race 3: 1. Irwin, 2.Edmonds, 3. Meara, 4. McCammond, 5. William Donnelly, 6. Glenn McCormick Semi Expert MX1 Race 1: Donal Teague, 2. Chris Lappin, 3. Darren Bradford, 4. Gareth Hickey, 5. Chris Lynd, 6. Sean Woods Race 2: 1. Teague, 2. Lynd, 3. Clifford Wilson, 4. Lappin, 5. Bradford, 6. Dylan Nally Race 3: 1. Teague, 2. Wilson, 3. Bradford, 4. Lynd, 5. Sean Woods, 6. Ray Brownlie. Semi Expert MX2 Race 1: 1. Conor Campbell, 2. Jordan McClelland, 3. Stuart Fee, 4. Keith Finnamore, 5. Stephen Kelly, 6. Ian Jones Race 2: 1. Campbell, 2. McClelland, 3. Ryan Morten, 4. Jones, 5. Fee, 6. Finnamore Race 3: 1. Fee, 2. Campbell, 3. Morten, 4. McClelland, 5. Finnamore, 6. Jones Clubman MX1 Race 1: 1. Gareth Mulligan, 2. Michael McGrath, 3. Graham Ross, 4. Paul Atkinson, 5. Jordan Blakely, 6. Andrew McKibben Race2: 1. Mulligan,2. McGrath, 3. Blakely, 4. Atkinson, 5. McKibben, 6. David Malcolmson Race 3: 1. Mulligan, 2.Blakely, 3. McGrath, 4. Atkinson, 5. Ross, 6. Stephen Poots. Clubman MX2 Race 1: 1. Andrew Blakely, 2. Alexander Ellison, 3. Jonathan Merriman, 4. Don Murray, 5. Kristofer Rea, 6. Brain McCarthy Race 2: 1. Blakely, 2. McCarthy, 3. Murray, 4. Merriman, 5. Stephen White, 6. Rea Race 3: 1. Blakely, Stephen Gill, 3. Rea, 4. Keith Redmond, 5. Murray, 6. Merriman
Words: Malcolm Beattie
Images: Alan Gardner