Enkalon Trophy winner Ryan Gibson 'wanted to stuff it to self-proclaimed big teams'

The Banbridge man finished second behind young gun Jonny Campbell in the first leg, who was over seven seconds clear on his Magic Bullet Yamaha R1 on a fine spring day at the Co Down track.

However, Gibson took the lead in the second Enkalon race and pulled an advantage of four seconds when Campbell developed an issue with his brake lever.

The 19-year-old dropped from second to fourth before fighting his way past Dominic Herbertson (Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW) and Michael Sweeney (MJR BMW).

Campbell closed the deficit to eventual winner Gibson, but the Lisburn lad had to settle for the runner-up spot at the flag, 1.8s adrift.

Gibson claimed the Enkalon spoils based on his win in the second leg on his BMW S1000RR, joining illustrious past winners including Ray McCullough, Gary Cowan, Robert Dunlop, Johnny Rea, Alan Irwin, and Phillip McCallen.

“It’s definitely good to get this and I’ve been looking forward to this year because I’ve finally got a bike that I’ve gelled with,” said Gibson.

“There’s all this talk of these self-proclaimed big teams and I wanted to stuff it to them and I got my chance!

“I’ve got a BMW S100RR this year and it’s a 2019 bike, but it suits me. I’m that bit older now and if I feel comfortable I’ll push.

“I struggled the last couple of years on the Kawasaki ZX-10 and I won the Supertwin championship a few years ago on the wee Aprilia, but the BMW suits me because I’m not that tall and I feel comfortable on it.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of the year and I’ll be at the North West 200 on the bike as well, so I want to go and enjoy myself,” he added.

“I have to thank all my family and friends because without them I just couldn’t do it.”

Former British Supersport and Superstock race winner Andy Reid was ruled out of the event following a crash in qualifying.

The 30-year-old escaped injury but his J McC Roofing Racing Kawasaki was wrecked in the fifth-gear spill.

McAdoo Kawasaki’s Korie McGreevy was third in the opening Superbike race behind Campbell and Gibson, with Ross Irwin (Magic Bullet Honda) and Michael Sweeney (MJR BMW) completing the top six.

Skerries man Sweeney is making his comeback following a serious accident at the North West 200 almost a year ago.

Englishman Herbertson claimed third in the second encounter ahead of Sweeney.

Rossi Dobson impressed on his Superbike debut as he won both Cup races on the Tower Services Suzuki.

Campbell now leads the Ulster Superbike championship after the first two rounds by 12 points from Gibson.

Ballynahinch rider McGreevy won both Supertwin races after twice passing Christian Elkin late on to grab maximum points on the McAdoo Kawasaki.

McGreevy was celebrating a treble after also winning the opening Supersport race on Saturday after a last-lap pass on Mike Browne (BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha), with surprise entrant Michael Dunlop a close third on his new MD Racing Triumph 765.

Dunlop won the second Supersport race, stretching clear at the front to win comfortably in the end from Jonny Campbell by 5.6s, who made a late pass on McGreevy to snatch the runner-up spot.

Graham McAleese, Alexander Rowan, and Ruben Sherman-Boyd were double winners in the Lightweight Supersport, Moto3 and Supersport 300 races respectively, while Isaac Mark won both MotoOne races from Fionn Stephens.