Johnston leads Dunlop Masters Superbike - Ray Casey returns from TT to defend Supersport lead

Dunlop Masters Superbike battles continue on Mondello Park National Track

This weekend, June 22nd and 23rd, the Dunlop Masters Superbike Championship battles will continue on Mondello Park's National track layout. The Superbike and Supersport Championship riders will contest three more rounds, as the series moves towards its half way point.

The championship is currently led by Antrim's Luke Johnston whose consistency over the first six races has helped him to move ahead of reigning double champion Richie Ryan. Ryan's winning streak with his Yamaha R1 was interrupted last time out by Brian McCormack and with the longer International Track seemingly suiting those riders using BMW machinery, the Kilkenny man also had to give best to Johnston, who took three runner-up finishes.

Johnston goes into this weekend with a nine point championship lead over Ryan with Waterford's Peter Moloney next up following four podiums with his brand new Suzuki. This weekend a field of fourteen Pro riders will be joined by the faster Cup riders on what will be a very competitive Superbike grid. Leading the Cup standings is four time race winner, Waterford's Joe Grant, who has a twenty six point lead over the only other rider to taste victory this season Kerry's Frank Doherty.

The two Supersport Championship weekends have so far produced two treble winners, with Donegal youngster Caolán Irwin taking the wins in April and Waterford's Brian McCormack taking all three victories in May. On each occasion Corkman Raymond Casey has been their closest challenger, taking five second places, and with his focus no longer on the Isle of Man TT Casey will be looking to up his game this weekend to hang on to his championship lead.

The Supersport Cup has had three different winners and numerous podium finishers so far this season but Michael Owens treble on the International Track last time out has helped him to move into a slight championship lead. With just five points covering the top four, Owens, Ian Prendergast, Darryl Sharkey and Trevor Landers, the top spot of the podium could be anyone's this weekend.

Darryl Sharkey, Mark Culleton and Colin Murphy have been virtually glued together at the front of the Principal Insurance Pre-Injection races all season having taken all but two of the spots on the podium. Sharkey currently leads the way but will all three having won races, the championship is still wide open.

The PCRS Bikesport Twins series is currently led by the latest star from one of Ulster Motorcycle Racing's best known dynasties. Ross Irwin, older brother of British Superbike Championship racers Glenn and Andrew, is in his second season racing and has already found his feet with four wins to lead the Supertwins series from David Halligan.  The Production class has seen some titanic battles between Jason Cash, Jamie Collins and Robert O'Connell and these three sit well clear of the rest at the head of the championship.

The remaining classes racing this weekend will be made up of Classics, who will race on Saturday only, Junior Cup and Junior Supersport (two races Saturday and one Sunday), Sidecars and Classic Superbikes who will run with the Superbike and Supersport 'B' competitors.

Following qualifying for all classes, racing gets underway at 12:30 on Saturday. Sunday's racing begins at 10:40 with the afternoons racing streamed live from 12:40. Tickets for either day are available on-line for the reduced price of €12.50 with a two day ticket costing €20.00. For more information see www.masterssuperbike.ie.

McGlinchey returns to winning ways in British Pirelli National Superstock

The first of two scheduled visits to the Brands Hatch GP circuit this season proved to be an
extremely successful one for Team #109, with 2018 Dickies Junior Supersport champion
Eunan McGlinchey scoring his first Pirelli National Superstock 600 victory onboard the
Kawasaki ZX-6R 636, and Graeme Irwin narrowly missing out on a point scoring finish on
his very first visit to the historic Kent circuit.

The weekend got off to a somewhat shaky start for McGlinchey and the Cork based team.
Struggling for set up throughout the opening two free practice sessions, McGlinchey’s best
finish on Friday was a seventeenth. Into Saturday and more work was done by the team
and the Aghadowey rider, but unfortunately despite their efforts the best they could
manage was a fifth row start for Sundays race, with McGlinchey finishing the session in
fourteenth position following a small crash at Druids around the midway point.
As they arrived at the track on Sunday morning conditions were far from ideal, and a rain
shower just before Superstock 600 warm up meant a further change of settings for the
team. Despite their tough luck, a wet race played into their favour, with McGlinchey’s skill
in the difficult conditions, and a solid wet set up, it wasn’t long before he was making his
way through the field. By the mid way point the twenty-one year old had made his way
from fourteenth on the grid to the lead of the race. As the laps progressed, McGlinchey
and McGreevy were locked in a great battle for the victory. Despite the best efforts of
McGreevy on the Triumph, McGlinchey held on to take a fantastic victory in what were
horrible conditions, and put all the bad luck firmly behind him.
The victory was not only the first of McGlinchey’s career in the Superstock 600 class, but it
was also Team #109’s first victory in the class. The twenty-five points collected saw the
Aghadowey rider leap into second position in the championship standings, seven points off
current series leader, Aaron Clifford.

Carrickfergus rider Graeme Irwin had another solid weekend onboard the Team #109
Kawasaki ZX-10RR, constantly improving throughout the course of the three days. Free
practice one say the former British motocross champion finish in twenty-third, before
taking an incredible two seconds off his time later that afternoon, finishing free practice
two in fourteenth.
Following qualifying Irwin lined up in twenty-fourth position on the grid for the first of the
two part split race. As the race progressed Irwin managed to make his way through the
field, crossing the line to take nineteenth position. After refueling in pit-lane and a quick
restart, Irwin soon set back into progressing even further through the pack. Before long
he was once again in line for a points scoring finish, closing in on the top fifteen. However,
an accident at Druids saw Irwin crash out, bringing his race to a premature end.
Sunday saw a huge rain shower in the morning soak the Brands Hatch circuit, and despite
a lack of wet track time, Irwin set about his business in the third race of the weekend.
After a solid performance in what were horrible conditions at the Kent circuit, Irwin
managed to cross the line in a strong eighteenth position onboard the Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
Putting the crash from the race the day before behind him, and closing out the weekend in
strong fashion.

Speaking about the eventful weekend team manager Paul Tobin said; “Eunan arrived at
Brands having never rode the circuit on anything other than his Kawasaki Ninja 400 from
last season, so it was also a learning weekend for him, having to pretty much re-learn the
track on the ZX-6R 636. We struggled a little bit with the set up of the bike throughout
free practice. We had went a certain direction with the bike at Donington Park at the last
round, but this time we went back to a setting we knew worked better for him.
Unfortunately however we weren’t able to run it as we missed morning warm up on
Sunday as it rained just before the session. In what were horrible conditions he rode a
very shrewd race, picking riders off one by one until he had made his way all the way into
the lead. It was Eunan’s first victory in the class, and it was also the teams first victory in
the class also, so we were all absolutely delighted that he managed to wrap that up for us,
and now he sits second in the championship and despite some bad luck at the beginning
of the season, he is right back in the game.”

He continued; “Following on from Graeme’s point scoring result at Donington Park he
moved onto Brands Hatch with a lot of confidence, which was another new track for him.
He only seen it for the first time on Thursday, and with it being a very hard track to learn
he was extremely impressive over the course of the weekend. He just missed out on
points again on Sunday in what were very tricky conditions onboard the Kawasaki ZX-10RR
and I think going into Knockhill his confidence will still be high having been there for a test
a few weeks ago.”

Next for Team #109 is a trip north for the only Scottish round of the season at the famous
Knockhill circuit. The track proved to be a successful stomping ground for the team last
season, with McGlinchey taking a brace of podium finishes in the Dickies Junior Supersport
class. The team will also be back to full strength with Curtis Trimble and James McManus
back in action onboard the Ninja 400 machines.

Team #109 would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support, Liftrite.ie,
Team Green Kawasaki, Kinsale Hotel & Spa, MMD Construction, EMS Copiers, Ohlins
Racing, CMRVC, Glenn Irwin, Fuchs Silkolene, R&G, JOG Tuning, PP Tuning, Arrow
Exhaust, JTec Sports, SBS Brakes, Gorman Crash Repairs, Jim McCann & Sons Family
Butchers, James McCann Photography, Spears Racing, HEL Performance, Unlimited
Industries, Keohane Ready Mix, and Samco Sport.

Photographs courtesy of James McCann | @jmccannphoto | www.jmccannphoto.com

Sheils shines at CC's Unlimited Kells road races - Results and Images

Hugely successful return of Kells Road Races delights riders and spectators.

The return of the Kells Road Races sponsored by CC’s Unlimited was a hit all round yesterday providing some excellent races over the jumps and twists of the Meath track.

Derek Sheils was the man on fire taking 2 Superbike wins but, Paul Jordan wasn’t far behind with a Supersport win and 2^nd in the Grand Final.

The Dubliner took the win in the Open race from Michael Sweeney and 3^rd place Thomas Maxwell. In the Grand Final, Maxwell was also 3^rd upping his game on the ZX10r.

Derek Sheils was also leading the Supersport race before retiring and Paul Jordan stormed off to win from Michael Sweeney who had his new MJR Racing R6 on show. Darryl Tweed was very impressive in the race and finished 3^rd.

In the Moto3 race, Gary Dunlop was victorious despite the best efforts of Melissa Kennedy and a strong challenge from Samuel Grief. Kevin Fitzpatrick won the 125 class from Wayne Kennedy and Sean Leonard in 3^rd.

The Senior Support race in memory of Alan Bonner was won by Andy McAllister. Tommy Henry rode well to finish 2^nd and Dermot Cleary was 3^rd.

In Junior Support, Eoin O’Siochru was on top form and was first home. Kevin Baker didn’t make it easy and pushed hard to 2^nd as Vinny Brennan was a close 3^rd.

A large field of Classic bikes formed the grid yesterday in all classes. Richard Ford won the 1000cc race beating Ian Thompson who was 2^nd and Trevor Stewart 3^rd. Ed Manly was successful in the 500cc race from Barry Davidson and Freddie Stewart 3^rd. Manly also won the 350 race, 1^st home ahead of Ian Thompson and 3^rd place Ken Parkes. Brian Mateer lifted the 250 trophy from Richard Ford and Philip Shaw.

Darryl Anderson won the 250-400cc Championship race after and close battle with Gareth Keys and Stephen Morrison in a restarted race following a non-racing related incident.

The Supertwin grid was also well represented and Skerries rider Andy Farrell was first home. Fighting off the advances of Kevin Baker and Vinny Brennan  who would complete the podium.

Words and images (c) Andy Quinn

POSITIVE END TO 2019 ISLE OF MAN TT AS DEREK SHEILS CLAIMS 13thPLACE IN BLUE RIBAND SENIOR RACE FOR BURROWS ENGINEERING/RK RACING TEAM

 

The Burrows Engineering/RK Racing team ended a challenging Isle of Man TT with a positive result in the blue riband Senior race, with Derek Sheils bringing the Suzuki GSX-R1000 home in 13^th place.

Derek lapped at 127.56mph as he battled on throughout the gruelling six-lap finale even though he was struggling with sickness. He had a DNF in the Superstock race, but the Dublin rider followed up his 11^th place in the opening Supersport race with 12^th position in race two on his Yamaha R6.

Tom Weeden began to get to grips with the Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the Senior after missing out on much-needed track time due to poor weather throughout TT fortnight. The Kent man finished 26^th and lapped at 122.89mph, while Weeden finished 24^th in the second Supersport race on the Burrows Engineering/RK Racing Yamaha R6, lapping at 119.10mph.

With the first two major international road races over, the team’s next outing will be at the Skerries 100 Irish National meeting in County Dublin next month (July 6-7).

Team Principal – John Burrows:

“It was a positive end to the 2019 Isle of Man TT for the team, with Derek finishing in 13^th place in the Senior. However, we also had mixed feelings because there is no doubt Derek had the pace to go much faster and finish higher up the leaderboard, but he was feeling sick after eating something that disagreed with him. He was vomiting and Derek just wasn’t himself, but he battle through the race and to finish 13^th under the circumstances was a decent result for the team, and once again he was the first Suzuki rider home. Derek also finished 11^th and 12^th on his own Yamaha in the Supersport races but sadly he had a DNF on our bike in the Superstock race, when it seems to have broken a valve on the final lap at Ballacraine.

“Like everyone, we were up against it with the weather at the TT and a lack of track time, but we overcame a few issues with the GSX-R1000 Superbike and were feeling confident on Friday morning. Dunlop changed the profile of their front tyre this year and we were struggling to find our way with it a bit. You only get once chance at the TT, so it was unfortunate that Derek wasn’t just feeling 100 per-cent.

“Tom didn’t get many laps done to be fair and to lap at almost 123mph in the Senior is probably what I thought would be possible for him. Prior to the TT, I had expected that he could lap at 125mph and I do think he would have done that with more time under his belt. Tom was using Michelin rubber and he was very pleased with the feedback from the tyres.

“The next meeting for the team will be the Skerries 100 next month. We have decided to give Kells and Enniskillen a miss, which will ease the burden on us a bit as a team.”

Derek Sheils:

“It was a tough TT for both the organisers and competitors alike. We had very limited track time during practice to get the new bikes working, but it was the same for everyone. My annual bad luck at the TT continued with a dose of food poisoning on the Wednesday of race week, which meant in the races on Thursday and Friday I was really unwell and getting sick as I raced. My lap times fluctuated throughout as a result because my concentration was slipping at times.

“The Superstock bike blew an engine but all in all, I was happy to come across the line in 13^th in the Senior considering I really struggled and was vomiting on laps three and four. I was pleasantly surprised with my pace on the 600 and to finish 11^th and 12^th was great as it’s not usually my strongest class.”

Tom Weeden:

“I was happy enough under circumstances with how the TT went this year. We had new bikes and badly need more track time to get dialled in. Prior the Superstock race, I had only done two laps on the 1000cc Suzuki, so I went into the race blind. I really enjoyed the six laps in the Senior and the team had the bike there or thereabouts for the race. It felt good and for the first time it really began to feel like my bike.

“I lapped just shy of 123mph and I’d hoped for more than that to be honest, but the weather just really left us on the back foot and at one stage we were sat around for four days doing nothing. It was my first time running slick tyres on a Superbike in the Senior and the Michelin tyres were really impressive. We’ve a bit of a break now before our next race so it’s back down to earth with a bump after the TT.”

Pictures courtesy of:

Pacemaker Press (Derek Sheils).

Baylon McCaughey (Tom Weeden).

Positive weekend for Irwin brothers at Donington Park

Rhys and Caolán Irwin from Kilmacrennan, County Donegal, both took very positive results away from the third round of the British Superbike Championship at Donington Park on Saturday and Sunday last (May 25th & 26th), as they both achieved their best results of the season.

Younger brother Rhys put in his best British Talent Cup performance so far, to take fourth place in Saturday's race one, having battled in the lead group throughout the race. Racing in Superstock 600 Caolán overcame handling problems in qualifying and a mechanical issue in Sunday's race, to pick up sixth place.

Qualifying went well for Rhys as he grabbed fifth on the grid, just a tenth of a second off a front row start. In Saturday's opening race he then got away with the leaders and was in the thick of the action throughout, moving himself into third with six of the twenty four laps left to run. Just as the Kilmacrennan based youngster was about to make his move to the front he was pushed wide by a rival and dropped back to seventh with just three laps to go. An excellent recovery over the remaining laps saw him retake fourth place by the flag to remain third in the championship.

For Sunday's second race Rhys once again started fifth, but was immediately in trouble as he finished the first lap in tenth place. By the end of lap two he was twelfth and by the mid point of the race was really struggling as his lap times were more than four seconds off the fastest. As the riders headed onto the final lap Rhys was in danger of dropping out of the points completely, as he sat fourteenth, but a last lap incident for the race leaders moved him up to tenth place at the flag, allowing him to rescue fourth in the championship standings. After the race it was discovered that a major problem with Rhys's front tyre had been at the root of his difficulties and that he had performed remarkably under the circumstances.

While Rhys had two races over the weekend, older brother Caolán would race on Sunday only. Handling difficulties in practice, as the team continue to to get to grips with his Clean Rubber and Oasis Bar backed Kawasaki, left him in a disappointing thirteenth after practice. Changes for qualifying helped him to jump up to seventh place and further changes to the bike overnight saw an improvement to third in the warm up session giving the team confidence for the race.

A steady start to Sunday's race put Caolán in eight place at the end of lap one, but he then began a series of very fast and consistent laps which saw him close the gap to the leaders, while gradually moving up to fifth. In the closing stages, while still in touch with the lead group, Caolán was reeling in the fourth placed rider when an issue developed with his steering damper. Unable to maintain his pace the Donegal native somehow managed to hold on for sixth place, and his first points of the season.

Speaking after the race the two Irwin Racing riders had mixed feelings about the weekend. “It was a tough weekend” said Rhys after race two. “Going from almost winning Saturday's race to fading away on Sunday was tough to take but I had to keep my head down and make the best of the situation. In the end Saturday's fourth place, and sticking with the bike on Sunday despite the difficulties, has kept me in the championship hunt and I will use the disappointment of Sunday's race to fire me up for the next one, at Snetterton in July.”

Caolán Irwin said of his weekend. “While I was a bit deflated when I reached the end of the race, looking back on it now its been a great weekend as we have made so much progress with the bike. The R4R Team were brilliant and they listened to me when I said something was not right. Together we got to the bottom of it and I had great pace by the time we came to the race. Despite my mechanical issue we've now got points on the board and a good base setting to go to Brands Hatch with.”

The Irwin brothers will be back in action at Brands Hatch in two weeks time with Rhys returning to the Moto3 Standard Class and Caolán continuing in Superstock 600.

Mondello welcomes IMC round

Saturday 30^th March was a day of firsts as Mondello Park welcomed The Irish Minibike Championship. The IMC 2019 Championship opened with a BAM as the ‘BamBamers’ took to the iconic circuit for their maiden race. The Honda VW & Audi Bitz Sponsored BamBam Class, geared towards young competitors (6-10yrs) competing on 90cc 4stroke machines, is yet another massive forward thinking move by the club in their drive to introduce the island of Ireland (north and south) to the fun and exhilarating sport of Minibike Racing. The Honda VW & Audi BITZ BamBam grid exceeded all expectations. When the chequered flag dropped they all returned to the paddock seemingly 2ft taller. Many of the young cubs took to the grid for the first time ever and yet - you would have been hard pressed to single them out. The pool of talent was clearly visible to all. The ‘BamBamers’ left us all in no doubt that the prospect for the development of talented youngsters on these shores is nothing less than inspiring.

It was Ballyclare’s 7yr old Buster Sherman-Boyd on board his Temple Tree Services 10TEN 90R machine that claimed the rights to the top step following wins in all 3 races. Race 1 saw Matt Davidson take the second spot from Lewis Mullen, followed by Alfie Greer, Tommy Ferris, Ryan Nolan and Matthew Curry respectfully. Race 2 saw a switch in positions between Mullen and Davidson, both sons of successful Road Racing Champions (Barry Davidson and Adrian Mullen) with Mullen gaining the advantage. Race 3 was a carbon copy throughout the field with exception to Aflie Greer who unfortunately was unable to take up his place on the grid. Buster Sherman-Boyd took the overall win, with Lewis Mullen 2nd and Matt Davidson in 3rd. Well done to all the boys’ – history makers before they hit double digits!

The Temple Tree Services Junior Pro Class was dominated by Fionn Stephens on board his Bikeworld Ireland machine. Fresh from his pre season testing in Spain Fionn was producing impressive lap times that would see him challenge some of the Senior Competitors on board their Stock 140cc machines. Ruben Sherman-Boyd took the first runner-up spot and Leon Scott was 3rd overall following a DNF for Freddie Cooke in Race 3. Leon and Freddie had a fantastic race long battle in Race 2 with less than a second between them as they crossed the line. The increased grid included entries from Leigha-Jane Browne and Paige Mullen and the girls proved they mean business improving on their lap times with each session. Another young competitor showing promise was Clonsilla’s Sean Dagger who managed to improve by a massive 18 seconds between Race 1 and 2. An impressive achievement by any standards.

In the BMW Autoparts Junior Gearbox 125cc Class it was Kai Craig who took the chequered flag from Isaac Mark in all 3 runs, Race 2 coming down to the wire with only 0.5 sec separating them. Matt Davidson completed his run finishing 3^rd overall following a DNF by Fionn Stephens in Race 1. Newcomers Cody Miskelly, Aimee Browne, Joe Harding, Minibike Returnee Darragh O’Mahony and Mini-Moto Competitor Freddie Cooke battled further down the field. Lewis Mullen, transitioning from MX, did well to stay within the mix onboard his 90cc machine and didn’t let the reduction in power hold him back.

The BMW Autoparts Junior Gearbox 140cc Class produced fast laps from all the boys which again, would see them in the mix with the big kids. Alexander Rowan claimed victory in all races on his 65cc KTM, albeit by the slightest of margins in Race 1 from Ruben Sherman-Boyd. The friendship and respect between the boys was evident as they fist bumped their way to the paddock. Robert Ronan stayed on the pace pushing his SB Pitbikes 140cc machine to the limits and managed to pip Sherman-Boyd to the post in a last corner dash to the line in the final race. Overall results see Rowan topping the leader board with Sheramn-Boyd and Ronan in 2^nd and 3^rd respectfully.

The MiniGP Class whilst low on entries produced tight battles between the competitors. Christopher McCallion claimed victory in both Race 1 and 2 but the tables turned in Race 3 after a late departure of the line put him to the back of the pack and saw Richard McFarland claim the victory. Overall results for the class see McCallion leading after Round 1 with Richard McFarland 2nd, newcomer Paul Harding in 3^rd and David Sherman 4th.

The bold decision to lower the minimum age limit in the Hillhead Sheds VETS Class saw a substantial increase in the grid size, much to the pleasure of its competitors. Each race produced race long battles throughout the 19 strong field proving that the Irish Minibike Championship has something to offer all ability and aspiration levels. Fastest lap in the class was achieved by Graham Ronan in Race 1 with a lap time of 1:06.627. Race 1 saw a retirement from Nigel Robinson after 1 lap and with less than 3 secs between the leading pack of four, Patrick Dagger, Graham Ronan, Kelan Smith and Kevin Newman the action was thrilling from start to end with Dagger crossing the line first. Dagger would not be so fortunate in his remaining races of the day having to push his bike across the line in Race 2 and a DNF following a serious fall in Race 3. Robinson returned to the grid in Race 2 & 3 following the good will of friend Alan Craig who offered up his machine and claimed victory in both. It wasn’t enough however to claim the overall win as newcomer Kevin Newman, onboard his 10TEN 140R, had amassed enough points to take his place on the top step. Kelan Smith secured 3^rd Overall.

The AJM Car Sales Senior Open produced the fastest lap of the day with newcomer James Thompson producing a lap time of 1:02.34 in his race long battle with Short Circuit veteran, Nigel Robinson. Thompson and Robinson pulled a gap on the other competitors in all three sessions and pushed each other relentlessly throughout. Thompson the victor in all but respectful of his fellow competitor after crossing the line, not once returning to the paddock without first acknowledging Robinsons grit with a gracious fist bump. Mark Featherstone finished 3^rd overall following 3 consecutive 3^rd place finishes.

In the IMC Senior Stock Class it was once again James Thompson who took the flag in both Race 1 & 2 from NW200 Competitor Kenny Robinson. Race 3 saw Robinson fight back and lead from the start to the end, Thompson finishing 0.4sec behind. Consistent riding from Chris Moody earned him 3^rd Overall.

The Senior Stock Group 2 Class consisted of a substantial grid of 22 machines and made for an impressive start. Race 1 produced an epic performance from Craig Scollan in which he motored through the pack from the back of the grid to secure a win by a staggering 5 secs. This earned him both the win and the GCM&E Star Rider award which entitles him to free entry at the following event. Michael Thompson managed to chase him down in Race 2 while Ritchie Butler achieved his first podium finish. Thompson and Scollan were equal on points going into Race 3 however due to time constraints the race was not able to take place. The overall win was therefore awarded to Thompson.

The RST Moto BAM award recipient was newcomer Ryan Nolan. Ryan showed great progression and attitude throughout the day in what was his first experience of racing. Ryan received a fabulous set of RST Knee Sliders which he will take great pride in wearing down before the season is out.

History has been made.

We now look forward to promoting The Irish Minibike Championship at the 2019 Mondello Masters Show which takes place on Sunday 7^th April.

Round 2 moves to Kirkistown Motor Racing Circuit on 13^th April and Online Entry is now open.

Michelle-Sherman-Boyd

Podiums and points aplenty for Team 109 Donington outing

As the Bennetts British Superbike championship made its first of two visits to the East
Midlands circuit of Donington Park, Team #109 were back to a full stable of bikes for the
event, with the Dickies Junior Supersport riders Curtis Trimble and James McManus back in
attendance alongside their teammates in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 & 1000
classes, Eunan McGlinchey and Graeme Irwin.

Following his first podium finish in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class last time out at
Oulton Park, 2018 Junior Supersport champion McGlinchey was keen to continue his run of
form and claim more valuable championship points in the competitive series. His weekend
got off to a solid start on Friday, with an eleventh position finish in the opening free
practice session, before improving to fifth in free practice two later that afternoon.

In qualifying on Saturday afternoon, the Aghadowey rider narrowly missed out on a front
row start, finishing the session in fourth position overall, which saw him start Sundays sole
Superstock 600 race from the outside of the second row. As the race began, McGlinchey
got off to a great start, making his way into second position following the opening number
of laps. A huge moment on the exit of the final chicane on lap five saw him fall back off
the leading pack. Following a good battle with Caolan Irwin in the remaining laps, the
twenty-one year old managed to hold off the Irishman’s attack to bring the Team #109
Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 home in fifth position.

Graeme Irwin once again continued to improve in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000
class onboard the Kawasaki ZX-10RR, following on from his strong result at Oulton Park.
The former British motocross champion got his weekend off to a solid start in the opening
free practice session, narrowly missing out on a top twenty finish, taking twenty-first in
the standings. The second free practice session of the day saw Irwin take over half a
second off his best time from the earlier free practice one session, setting him up for
qualifying the following day. Irwin managed to put the Team #109 Kawasaki in twentyfourth
position on the grid for the first part of the two part race to be held that afternoon.

After making his way into the top twenty during the race, Irwin ran on at the final chicane
which put him back into twenty-eighth for the start of race two, immediately following the
checkered flag of race one. As the laps ticked past Irwin put in another great effort on the
ZX-10RR to break into the top twenty for the first time this season.

The next day in the tricky conditions at the East Midlands track, the Carrickfergus rider
scored his best finish to date in the British championship, and with it, his first points in the
Superstock 1000 class. Having started the race from twenty-first position, Irwin managed
to pick his way through the field as the laps ticked by to take a great fifteenth place finish,
his best result do date in the extremely competitive series.

The Dickies Junior Supersport class proved to be a mixed bag for the two Team #109
riders, with Curtis Trimble having his best result to date, and James McManus having a
difficult weekend onboard the Kawasaki Ninja 400. Free practice on Friday evening saw
Trimble finish just outside the top fifteenth, claiming sixteenth position in the overall
standings. McManus unfortunately suffered a crash having completed just three laps,
which put him on the back foot for qualifying the next day.

Qualifying on Saturday evening saw Trimble improve his position from what he achieved
on Friday evening, finishing in tenth place, and qualifying on the front of the fourth row
for Sundays opening race. Having only had three laps in practice on Friday evening,
qualifying was essentially McManus’ first session of the weekend, and he finished in thirtyeighth
position.

The opening race on Sunday morning was in tricky conditions, and following a run off the
track early on, Trimble put in a great effort to make up the lost time and pick his way
through the field during the twelve lap race. Before he began the final lap, he managed to
take third position from Kade Verwey and hold the position on the final lap of the race to
cross the line and take his maiden British championship podium finish. Unfortunately
McManus was unable to make it for the opening race of the weekend, but was in action in
the second, along with his teammate Trimble.

Following a huge rain shower after the Superbike race, the conditions remained difficult
throughout the day, and indeed for the final Junior Supersport race. Trimble backed up his
podium in the opening race by scoring a top ten finish in the second race of the day,
crossing the line in eighth position and scoring more solid championship points. McManus
put in a strong effort in the race, and managed to progress from his starting position of
fortieth by eleven positions, taking twenty-ninth place finish to end what was a difficult
weekend for the Randalstown rider.

Next up for Team #109 will be the first of two visits this season to the Brands Hatch GP
circuit in three weeks time, and just like at Oulton Park at the beginning of the month, it
will be a two bike garage for the Cork based outfit, with the Junior Supersport class not in
attendance. It will once again be Eunan McGlinchey and Graeme Irwin flying the flag for
the Kawasaki team in the two Pirelli National Superstock classes at the infamous Kent
circuit.

Team #109 would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support, Liftrite.ie,
Team Green Kawasaki, Kinsale Hotel & Spa, MMD Construction, EMS Copiers, Ohlins
Racing, CMRVC, Glenn Irwin, Fuchs Silkolene, R&G, JOG Tuning, PP Tuning, Arrow
Exhaust, JTec Sports, SBS Brakes, Gorman Crash Repairs, Jim McCann & Sons Family
Butchers, James McCann Photography, Spears Racing, HEL Performance, Unlimited
Industries, and Samco Sport.

Photographs courtesy of James McCann | @jmccannphoto | www.jmccannphoto.com
ENDS