Carrick Grasstrack series resumes back at Dalway’s Bawn As we are all enjoying the first spell of summer weather, the Carrickfergus Club will be hoping that it will hold out until Wednesday (30th May) where the 2012 Watt Motorcycles Grasstrack Championship will resume back at the Dalway’s Bawn circuit in Carrickfergus.
The opening round was staged a few Saturday’s ago and it turned to be a very successful start to the series under the sun where over 170 competitors took part on the newly re-jigged track layout. As has been the case the past few years the series moves from an all-day event at Round One to an evening event from the second round onwards where the close racing will resume.
Richard Bird currently leads the way in the Expert class, holding a three point advantage over Larne’s Tommy Merton with Richard Watt who is a further six points back in third. Unfortunately due to other commitments Merton will not be in attendance at round two but third place man Richard Watt will be hoping to pass a late fitness test after taking a knock to his knee at Tinker Hill on Saturday.
Just six points separate Andrew McLarnin, Niall McAuley and William Logan in fourth to sixth position so not only will they trying to break away from the others this week, they will be looking to capitalize on any absence’s there may be at the same time.
Ballyclare man Paul Atkinson has taken his 350 KTM to the top of the leader board in the Clubman MX1 Championship and he will be aiming for a repeat performance on Wednesday to extend his five-point lead over Alan Saunders. Graeme Jellie in third has had to reluctantly withdraw his entry for round two after picking up a hand injury at the weekend, which opens the door for Iain Dobie to break into the top three championship positions. Stephen Poots took one race win last time out so he could be one to watch in this class also.
Ian Dunlop will make the trip from Broughshane to defend his thirteen-point lead at the helm of the Clubman MX2 class following a good start to his 2012 campaign. Derek White from just down the road in Larne will be hoping he can grab another win or two on his Merc-Worx KTM as he attempts to impact the number one spot.
Suitor Bros KTM rider Niall McAuley will be pushing for a podium in Dalways' Bawn
It was three wins from three starts for Richard Watt in his debut season in the Veterans class, but as already mentioned, he may not take his place on the start line if his fitness doesn’t improve before the gate drops. Michael and Stephen McBride are separated by one championship point in the final podium positions so it is very much the case of a round two battle resuming for these guys. Michael Gibson was a winner at Dalway’s Bawn back at the start of 2011 and will be looking for a bit more luck this time out to improve on his fifth position in the series.
Richard Toye is the main man when it comes to Dalway’s Bawn, having impressively won five quad races consecutively over 2011/12 seasons at his favoured venue, but he was piped the post in the last race of the day back at the start of May by Geoff Ingram Jnr. Richard sits with a small three point lead over Ingram in the championship so it’ll be interesting to see if Ingram can turn the one win into two or three this time out. Third place man Stephen Toye on board his Hutchinson Engineering 450 Yamaha will have his work cut out to stay in front of Gareth Graham in the series with Gareth breathing down his neck at present just the one point back in fourth.
Wednesday (30th May) will see another action packed meeting run by the Carrickfergus Club with a fifteen race programme squeezed into three evening hours, take place at the circuit situated on the Dalway’s Bawn Road, Carrickfergus. Practice is scheduled to begin at 6pm with racing starting at 6.30pm approximately.
Adult spectator admission is priced at just £5 with children under 16 years of age being admitted free. Free parking will be available in the venue and spectators should be made aware that parking on the roadside is prohibited.
Entries for the Youth grasstrack on Tuesday 29th and the Adult grasstrack on Wednesday 30th are still available in the motocross shops and also on the club website. Entries will also be available on the night too but only while there are spaces left in the classes as no non-qualifier races will be scheduled.
For more information on the upcoming events you can visit the Carrickfergus Club website at www.carrickfergusmcc.co.uk, or alternatively you can find them at facebook.com/carrickfergusmcc or on Twitter, @carrickmcc.
Words and Images by – Ryan Denney