Adam McLean closes gap in IRRC Supersport title bid after double at Chimay

The Tobermore rider missed the Armoy meeting to honour his commitments to Dutch team Performance Racing Achterhoek.

McLean was in dominant form on the PRA Yamaha R6 and won the first race from championship leader Marek Cerveny (Triumph) by over 10 seconds before increasing his winning margin to 15 seconds in the second race.

The Ulsterman has now slashed Cerveny’s gap in the title race to 13 points with two rounds remaining at Horice in the Czech Republic in August and Frohburg in Germany in September.

McLean missed the opening round of the championship at Hengelo in May because of a date clash with the North West 200 but has made rapid progress in his maiden season in the European-based road racing series.

England’s Gary Johnson twice finished in fourth over the weekend.

Meanwhile, McLean will return to the Manx Grand Prix next month, when he is set to ride for Flitwick Motorcycles alongside Manxman Joe Yeardsley and Lancelot Unissart in three classes.

McLean and Yeardsley – last year’s Senior MGP winner – will line up on 500cc Royal Enfield machines in the Classic Senior race.

McLean finished fifth in last year’s race, when he was only 12 seconds down on multiple winner John McGuinness after four laps of the Mountain Course, lapping at 109.584mph.

McLean will join Unissart in the re-introduced Classic Junior race, when he will ride a 350cc Honda.

The Northern Ireland rider is also entered in the Classic Superbike race on the hub-centre GTS1000 Yamaha, which was ridden to sixth place in the 1995 Formula One TT by Flitwick Motorcycles owner Steve Linsdell.

Ireland’s Mike Browne is another leading name bidding for more wins at the Manx GP, where he will ride the Key Racing Ducati 916 in the Classic Superbike race.

Dean Harrison rode the machine last year and lapped at 124.767mph before he was forced to retire on the second lap at Brandywell.

Browne will also bid to win the Lightweight race for a third time on the Laycock Racing TZ250 Yamaha, when he is partnered in the team by veteran Ian Lougher.