SEAFORDE Motoparc saw a day of determined racing and three riders each taking a hattrick of wins on Saturday, July 13.
The Mourne Motorcycle Club held the fourth round of the 2018 Ulster Open Motocross Championship on Saturday and as it was the second round to be held at the County Down track this year, the riders raced the opposite direction from normal on the day.
The first class on the line was the combined Experts and Semi Experts MX2 class, with Glenoe man Glenn McCormick and Loughbrickland’s Jason Meara leading the way all day. McCormick and Meara led off the line in race one and after one lap they were already charging away from the pack. After 11 laps McCormick took the win ahead of Meara. Kilkeel rider Rhys Graham was the top Grade B rider home, ahead of second placed Nathan Green, from Seaforde, as every other Grade B rider finished at least one lap down from the leaders. In race two McCormick got the holeshot again, with Meara close behind as five riders fell in the first corner. McCormick held the lead throughout the race, but Meara was closer and challenging until a rear wheel puncture two laps from the flag left him to limp home in second position 40 seconds behind the leader. Yet again Graham was the top Grade B finisher, while Green finished in tenth position after being caught up in the first corner crash and then dropping his bike in the first corner of his second lap. McCormick holeshot again in race three ahead of Meara and Green, until lap four, when a bad landing after a jump caused Green to drop back. McCormick took his third win, three seconds ahead of Meara, while Graham won his third race of the day, as Green limped home in 13th position in the Grade B class.
The next class on the line was the Experts and Semi Experts MX1 class and in race one Loughbrickland man John Meara got the holeshot, ahead of Portavogie’s Robert Hamilton and Lisburn’s Richard Bird. Bird moved into second on lap three, but after 11 laps Meara took the chequered flag four seconds ahead of Bird and Hamilton in third position. Downpatrick rider Jonny Presho was the top Grade B finisher, ahead second placed Chris Bell, from Ballynahinch. Meara got the holeshot again in race two and led unchallenged to take his second win, as Bird came home in second after a poor start, ahead of Hamilton in third. Presho came from the back of the pack to take fourth position, behind third placed Bell and the Grade B winner Ashley Allerton. Meara led off the line again in race three, ahead of Hamilton and Bird, before Bird moved into second position on lap two. Meara won his third race on the day ahead of Bird and Hamilton, as Presho was the top Grade B finisher, with Bell coming home in third position.
The Grade C MX2 class was next to the line, with three different winners on the day. In race one Scott Bailey took the chequered flag, ahead of Robert Hunt in second, Donegal man Ivan Kerr in third and Newcastle’s Daniel McFerran in fourth position. In race two Bailey was away at the front again, followed by Kerr and Hunt, who was challenging the front two until his race ended with two laps to go. Bailey led until the last lap, when Kerr moved into the lead to take his first ever Ulster Championship race win ahead of Bailey and McFerran in fourth position. The final race was won by Hunt, as Bailey came home in third, Kerr was in fourth and McFerran came home in 27th position.
The final racing of the day came from the Grade C MX1 class with Comber man Jordan Wade leading the way all day. Wade took the holeshot in the three races and led home to take the three wins. Derry man Calvin McCorkell took three second placed finishes, Ballykinlar’s Fintan Fallon finished third, fourth and bike trouble ended race three after three laps and Ciaran Boyle earned a fourth and two third placed finishes on the day.
Race Report by Stuart Campbell
Images by Ian Cairns
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