Irish Clubmans Championship (ROUNDS 7 AND 8)
6th June Kirkistown

Gavin Johnston* and Billy Byrne took double wins in the Senior and Supersport
classes respectively with Jason Cash winning the coveted
Presidents Cup Handicap race.

The blue skies we enjoyed at Easter were swapped for all day grey with rain and wind but nonetheless it did not dampen the spirits for a fine display of excellent racing. The Club was honoured to have the Newtownards Mayor, councillor Jim Fletcher in attendance who kindly got proceedings underway by starting the first race just after 12:30pm.

Note to all competitors - Please e-mail me for copy of larger format photograph.
(have photos of most competitors not included below)

Results:
Detailed results (supplied by Richard Agnew & Team in .pdf format) can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Bridgestone SuperSport (Races 1 & 7)

125 Aprilia / 125 GP Newcomers (Races 3 & 8)

Pre 97 (Races 3 & 10)

Bridgestone Senior (Races 4 & 11)

Classic (Races 5 & 12)

Non Qualifier races 6 & 13

Presidents Cup (Race 14)

Racing:

Bridgestone Supersport 600 Race 1 &7
With the top 3 men in the sub 1:03 minutes per lap the pace was excellent despite the track conditions. Billy Byrne(199) taking 1st place and Andrew Graham (127) taking 2nd in both races. Alan Graham (111) took third place in race 1 with Chris Thompson getting into third place on race 2.

125 Aprilia / 125 GP Newcomers Races 2 & 8
The 125 competitors provided great racing in less than favourable conditions - Josh Cunningham (71) succeded in breaking away from the pack in both races and winning by around 13 seconds from Mark Conlin (11) in race 1 and about 10 seconds from Steven Hadden (65)in Race 2.

Pre 97 Races 3 & 10
With the top three or four Pre 97 machines lapping at only 3 or 4 seconds less than the Senior and Supersport times this class provides very exciting racing. In the opening race Kevin Greaney (27) got a good win ahead of Craig Ringland (76) and Alan Kenny (2) but unfortnately he failed to finish in race 2. That allowed Peter Drennan (188) came through to take the win in race 2 with Craig (76) and Alan (2) repeating their 2nd and 3rd places from race 1.

Bridgestone Senior - 1010cc Races 4 & 11
Gavin Johnston* (121) and Jason Cash (33) enjoyed good scraps in both races with Gavin getting the double win. Again the conditions were very poor at times, the guys will be putting this down to good experience rather than the hot pace of sub 1 minute laps we usually enjoy. In both races the top 5 places were repeated with Paul Dorman (177), Conor Totten* (3) and Stephane Onckel (17) taking 3rd, 4th and 5th places.

Classic Races 5 & 12
Great racing provided by each of the classis classes. John Scott (11), Scott Thompson (88) and Alec Conroy (56) taking the honors in race 1. In race 2 young James Conroy (3) took a great win John Scott 2nd and Alex Conroy getting 3rd place on the road. Scott Thompson went out on lap 6 with an electrical fault.





Presidents Cup Handicap Race 14
A total of 16 competitors took place in the President's Cup handicap event. This provided a very exciting race and the closest finish of the day with Jason Cash (33) winning with a margin of just .0001 of a second over Andrew Murphy (127).

Photos below show Jason(33) exiting the hairpin and the Pat Bradley team - Back row (L to R) Paul Bradley, Jason Cash and Pat Bradley and front row (L to R) Pat's sons John, Gareth and Patrick.

And the winners are !
Anyone looking for copies (in larger format) please email me.

01

Marshals Draw
The club held the traditional lunchtime draw for Marshals and Medics with the following names being drawn by Mayor, Alderman Jim Fletcher and ISB Competitor Matthew Percy.
Marshals:
1st Grahan Farr £30
2nd Clare Maercer £20
3rd Tomm Best £10

Medics:
1st S Millican £30
2nd Philip Brook £20
3rd George Ferguson £10

Club Message from Clerk of Course - Richard Nesbitt.
Big thanks to everyone for attending this Clubmans Championship race. He hope you have enjoyed your day and look forward to meeting up again at our next Clubmans races on 5th September.

Report & Photos
by Steve Freeburn on behalf of B&D