Waking up to the sun and a filled paddock on a Saturday morning definitely lifts everyone’s spirits. Clunty Mx Track was host to Round 6 of our club Championship on 6th July and with it being a new track everyone was keen to get the racing underway and get a feel for the track. The viewing point at the top of the track was perfect and meant that we didn’t miss out on any racing.
First up to race was the Autos. Young Ryan Jackson got the holeshot but it was Kyle Graham who took the early lead – his steady riding paid off and he passed the chequered flag with a 5.6 second lead on Nathan Austin followed by Alekss Lopatins 12 second later. Race 2 James McCann showed great determination and shot out in the lead and took the win with 6.6 seconds to spare. It was a close call for second position between Jackson and Graham who battled it out the whole race but it was Jackson who took second position with 1m 0.5s gap and Graham third. Nathan Austin wasn’t letting the chance of a win in race three go past and he battled it out with James McCann for top position but unfortunately a slip off in the last corner of the race knocked him back to fourth position meaning McCann took the win, Kyle Graham took second and Alekss Lopatins third. Overall results for the day were 1st James McCann, 2nd Kyle Graham, 3rd Alekss Lopatins and 4th Nathan Austin.
In the 65s Lewis McMurtry was on fire and in race 1 took the win by a massive 27 seconds and a best lap time by four seconds. Second over the line was Lee Austin followed by Lewis Andrews three seconds later. Again, in race 2 Lewis McMurtry was out in front with a comfortable lead of 16.5 seconds on Scott Nesbitt who was closely followed by Lewis Andrews. Race 3 got underway and it was another win for McMurtry but this time young Aiden Cultra who showed great determination is all three races finally got the results he had been waiting on and took 2nd closely followed by Lewis Andrews who had a very steady days riding giving him three great results. The overall results for the day were Lewis McMurtry 1st, Aiden Cultra 2nd, Lewis Andrews 3rd and Scott Nesbitt 4th.
The SW & BW’s were flying but it was Ryan Lowes who stood out in the SW taking the win in race 1 by a massive 53 seconds, second over the line was James McAdoo followed by Ryan Cope 27 seconds later. In the BW it was Tony McCann who passed the chequered flag first closely followed by Brett Kelly and then 29 seconds later Jack Bailie rounded out the top three. Again, in race 2 Ryan Lowes took the lead early on and passed the chequered flag with 47.6 seconds to spare. James McAdoo took a very comfortable second and Ronan Cope third. This time for the BW it was Brett Kelly out in front taking the win, Jack Bailie second and Tony McCann third. Race 3 for the SW ended with a great three wins for Ryan Lowes again with a massive 1:06.6 second lead on James McAdoo followed by Ronan Cope. Brett Kelly was out in front for the BW in the last race but not without a bit pressure from Tony McCann who just lost out on second position by 1.8 seconds, third over the line was Jack Bailie to finish a great days racing. Overall results for the SW were 1st Ryan Lowes, 2nd James McAdoo, 3rd Ronan Cope and 4th Cameron Hanlon. BW results were: Brett Kelly 1st, Tony McCann 2nd, Jack Bailie 3rd and Callum Clint 4thoverall.
Race 1 and 2 of the Seniors was dominated by Nathan Green who took a very comfortable lead in both races followed by Eoin Duffy in the two races. Green had best lap times in both races, but Duffy was only two seconds off Green’s best laps. Third over the line in race one was Harrison Andrews who rode a great race and deserved his position. In race 2 it was Steven Bailie who took third position by a very comfortable 1:06 seconds. Race 3 the battle was on between Eoin Duffy and Steven Bailie but it was Duffy who passed the chequered flag first with only 2.6 seconds to spare, second was Steven Bailie and third was Harrison Andrews. Top four overall results for the day were 1st Nathan Green, 2nd Eoin Duffy, 3rd Steven Bailie and 4th Harrison Andrews.
As always, the Grade C’s have the biggest line up and some great battles were had. It was Ryan McCart who was out in front in race 1, closely followed by Gav Lowes leaving only a 4.4 seconds gap between him and McCart and David Humphreys passed the chequered flag 12 seconds later giving him third position. Race 2 Cori Dillon took the best lap time and also the win, followed 14 seconds later by Taylor Dillon and Jordan McMullan took third rounding out the top three. This time it was Jordan McMullan who showed great determination which paid off after a great battle with Taylor Dillon – he took the win by a minute 0.7 seconds. Followed by Cori Dillon 38.8 seconds later for third position.
Race 1 in Grade B was dominated by Freddy Kinnersley. Hot on his heels was David Kane who passed the chequered flag only 3.7 seconds later and Matthew Bruce took third position. David Kane took a very comfortable win followed by Kinnersley for second and third for Peter Kerr. David Kane was definitely out for the win passing the chequered flag with a massive 24 seconds lead on second position Matthew Bruce and again Peter Kerr rounded out the day with third position.
In A2 the race was on between Nathan Green, Tony Colgan and Gary Andrews. Gary Andrews took the win in race 1 but unfortunately both Green and Colgan had a DNF. Race 2 Nathan Green meant business after his DNF in race 1. He passed the chequered flag with a massive 36 second lead on Gary Andrews and third over the line was Tony Colgan. Andrews was determined not to let Green away with an easy win. Green just pipped Andrews to the post with only six seconds to spare and another third position for Colgan.
Last but not least the battle in A1 was on between Lindsay Newell and Stephen Kelly. Race 1 Newell took the win by 21 seconds but in race 2 Kelly wasn’t making it easy for him and with only a 0.3 second gap it was virtually a photo finish, but it was Newell who got the win. Race 3 was another great battle but it was Newell again who just passed the chequered flag first giving him a clean sweep of wins.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Keith for all the effort and work he put into preparing the track for our race and watering the track on the day to make sure we had an enjoyable and safe days riding. It’s safe to say we all had a brilliant days racing and it was great to try out a new track. Thank you to all our riders and spectators who joined us on Saturday for Round 6 of the Club Championship. We had a great day and hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. It was lovely to see the sun shining and the viewing area full. Without you all there would be no racing, so thank you. Thank you to our flag marshals who give us their time week in week out – we cannot express enough how grateful we are to each one of you. Thank you to our medical team who provide us with a first-class service every week in all weather conditions. Thankfully we had a brilliant days racing with no injuries, so we all went home very happy!
Words by Kathy Graham
Pics by Ian Cairns
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