Posted by Cleggy on Jul 11, 2010 in
Bike Racing
The scheduled Saturday practice session for the 2010 Walderstown Road races was pretty much wiped out due to persistent heavy Rain, thankfully I had not planned on attending practice and by the time Sunday morning dawned the Sky was already looking much clearer.
The old pensioner (Derek Wilson) was again my travelling companion which meant that I’d have to buy my own food or starve as Derek is a Scots Man and they don’t like putting their hands in their pockets too often. We travelled down together with me doing the driving and approximately Two hours later arrived at our destination to be met with a Dry circuit, and clear skies. We made the same journey last year but unfortunately Andrew Neill was to lose his life in a crash and we soon had to return home, but there was no repeat this year (just one Red flag incident) with some great racing.
With Ryan Farquhar away competing at Scarborough (and dominating proceedings) the opportunity was there for someone else to grab a few wins and a slice of the healthy prize fund. The start / finish section of the circuit is the widest section of road and it needs to be with a mass start where a bunch of bikes all have to brake extremely hard at the first road end for the first corner. Here in the images John Burrows machine has the back-end stepping out under braking.
The Supersport race was led from the start by William Dunlop on the CD Racing R6 Yamaha and it looked like he would never be headed.
But half way through the race his brother Michael started to come on strong and was soon right on his back wheel. With a lap to go Michael made his move passing William in mid-air over the jump and managing to get the bike down, and slowed for the peel in point to the next left hander before going on to take the win.
The next event for me is the Irish Superbikes at Kirkistown on Tuesday and then off to Kells for more road racing at the weekend.
Tags: CD Racing, Irish Superbikes, John Burrows, Kells, Kirkistown, Ryan Farquhar, Scarborough, Supersport, Walderstown, William Dunlop
Posted by Cleggy on Apr 25, 2010 in
Bike Racing
Yesterday saw the first national Irish Road Race of the 2010 Championship Season held on the Orritor circuit just outside Cookstown in County Tyrone.
On such a short race circuit its very difficult to produce images that are different, you tend to end up repeating shots from previous seasons. This year though the impact from the knee-jerk reactions to the Coroner’s report from the John Donnan case has seen numerous extra restrictions put in place (in the name of safety) further hampering the job of the Photographer’s who do excellent work promoting the sport far and wide all season long.
The ‘togs’ must be an easy target, because on the day I spotted Marshal’s photographing the races (not permitted in their rules) and I even spotted an MCUI member (not holding any official role on the day) walking out on to a live circuit instead of waiting for the travelling Marshal’s to come round declaring the track safe to walk on. There was an even more serious H&S matter involving a padlock and chain on the paddock gate!
Rather than restricting the genuine Photographers (who by and large are well behaved) movements on Race day, would it not be better to reduce their numbers? Anyway thats my wee rant out of the way for this weekend haha.
All around the World the Two stroke racing Motorcycle is on the wane due to emmissions laws, running costs etc etc but in Ireland there are still die-hard Two stroke fans. In this image below Davy Morgan is in the thick of the action during the ‘Two Fifty’ race in a battle for third position.
Davy Morgan Honda RS250 at Cookstown
The 250 race was comfortably won by William Dunlop with his brother Michael finishing second.
William Dunlop Honda RS250 at Cookstown
Andy Farrell was having his first race on his new Yamaha R1 and rode it in typical ‘Farrelly‘ style.
Andy Farrell at Cookstown on a Yamaha R1
But the weekend’s racing was dominated by one man, Ryan Farquhar. Ryan Farquhar has started the 2010 racing season in the same fashion as how he finished the 2009 season, dominating race meetings, racking up wins, shattering lap records, continuing to work hard preparing behind the scenes allowing him to put in the best performances he can when he takes to the track.
Last weekend at the Scarborough Spring Cup Ryan scored eight wins from eight starts and this weekend at Cookstown he scored Five wins from Five starts (In Irish Road racing any individual competitor can only compete in a maximum of Five races in any One Day, again in the name of Health and Safety).
Ryan Farquhar won Five races at the 2010 Cookstown 100
Tags: Andy Farrell, Cookstown, County Tyrone, Davy Morgan, Irish Road Race, John Donnan, Orritor circuit, Ryan Farquhar, Scarborough, William Dunlop