Double for proud family man Martin Barr

It was a special day for the Ballyclare rider as his twins, Martin jnr. and Lydia, born last October, were there to watch their dad race for the first time and they saw him claim two wins on day one followed by a fifth and seventh on Sunday.

The Delkevic racing by BRT Kawasaki rider now leads the Michelin Pro MX1 championship.

“It was good to get back because watching from the sidelines is no fun,” said Barr.

“It was nice not to have the big hitters there on Saturday and get a couple of wins under my belt.

“Unfortunately in race one I had a problem with my goggles on lap two and had to throw them off to bring it home in fifth.

“Again I made a great start in race two but not being race fit I hit a brick wall and at the flag had to be content with seventh, for second overall.

“All things considered I’m really happy and with the whole family there it was nice to make the podium.”

Stuart Edmonds and Glenn McCormick were two of our MX1 riders competing in both the MXGB at Foxhill and MX Nationals at Hawkstone over the weekend.

Edmonds on the Apico Husqvarna had a seventh and 11th in the MXGB followed by a 10th and 11th at Hawkstone.

“I couldn’t get into a good rhythm the whole weekend,” said Edmonds.

“I was fourth in race one at Foxhill then made a lot of mistakes before finishing seventh. In race two my hand came off the handlebar and I ran into another rider, crashed twice before stalling the bike while in tenth before crossing the line in 11th.

“I struggled with the bike in race one at Hawkstone only to find out after the race that the shock was blown. A suspension change for race two and I was coming through the pack when I lost my goggles and got a stone in my eye. I finished 11th but I know I can do so much better.”

For McCormick it was a good weekend with the Glenoe rider claiming his first ever top-ten British championship finish, 10th in race two, after a 14th in race one. At Hawkstone the following day he brought the Chambers 450 Husqvarna home eighth in race one and 10th in race two.

“Pretty good weekend,” he said. “I was delighted to score my first top ten in the British championship. Unfortunately in race one at Foxhill I tucked the front and went down but I pushed hard to get back to 14th at the flag. I’m 12th in the championship so I can’t complain.”

Jason Meara returned to action at Hawkstone. Still suffering from a shoulder injury, the Loughbrickland Phoenix Tools Apico Kawasaki rider claimed two top-six finishes on Saturday.

A few too many mistakes on Sunday saw him down the finishing order.

“Extremely tough, sums up my weekend,” he said.

“My speed was good most of the weekend but too many mistakes really hindered any kind of result, but I am on the way back up and ready to have a strong result at Canada heights in just over a month’s time.”

Lisburn’s Richard Bird was third overall in the Expert MX1 class on the Allmoto Yamaha while Jack Moore was the best local in the Expert MX2 in fifth overall. Paul Atkinson was fourth overall in the Amateur MX1 with Aaron Gardiner fifth in the Amateur MX2.

Despite missing Saturday’s racing at Hawkstone Park, 12-year-old Cole McCullough still leads the SW85 MX Nationals championship, with two wins on Sunday. On Saturday he was racing at Foxhill in the British youth championship where he took two top-five finishes.

Lewis Spratt finished third overall in the class at Hawkstone while Jack Meara claimed fifth overall in the BW85 class.