Glenn McCormick races to double at Tandragee MX Park

The first round of the Beyond Signage LTD MCCNI championship took place at Tandragee MX Park but was halted prematurely after two sets of races.
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Despite the best efforts of the club who watered the track the previous night and again on race day, it still dried out so much that it became an unrideable dust bowl.

The leading rider hadn’t too many problems but any competitor in the chasing pack was struggling with visibility issues.

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With rider’s safety paramount, the club opted to bring the event to an early end.

Glenn McCormick took two wins at Tandragee on the Chambers 450 HusqvarnaGlenn McCormick took two wins at Tandragee on the Chambers 450 Husqvarna
Glenn McCormick took two wins at Tandragee on the Chambers 450 Husqvarna

Top local British motocross competitor Glenn McCormick took the opportunity to race at home on the Chambers 450 Husqvarna and came away with two wins from two starts at Tandragee.

“My starts in England haven’t been good this year so it was a great chance to work on them and by the end of the day they were so much better,” he said.

“It was unfortunate that the club, who had worked so hard on the track in the build up to Saturday’s meeting, couldn’t run all three races. It was frustrating for everyone but rider safety must come first.”

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Reflecting on his performance, McCormick added: “In both my races I had comfortable wins. Race one I made a good start to finish ahead of Ben Kennedy and in the second Jay McCrum kept me honest at the start, but I managed to pull about 10 seconds by the flag. I’m happy.”

McCormick returns to action this weekend at round four of the British championship at Foxhill on Saturday, before heading to Hawkstone Park on Sunday for round two of the MX Nationals.

Loughbrickland’s Jason Meara returns from a shoulder injury to race the Phoenix Tools Apico 450 Kawasaki at this weekend’s MX Nationals at Hawkstone.

“I’m still sore but you have to push on in this sport,” he said.

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In the senior class at Tandragee, Ballyclare’s Charley Irwin was in top form on the Discount Beds 125 Yamaha, claiming the overall victory after finishing first in race one.

Despite machine issues in race two the 14 year-old still finished in second place behind Reece Ross from Newtownards.

Ross, who had won all three races at Tinkerhill the previous week, finished second on his 250 Yamaha in race one with Randalstown’s Tony McCann third in both motos on his 250 Husqvarna.

“I hole-shotted race one and by the flag had about three seconds to spare over Reece,” said Irwin.

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“In my second race Reece beat me into Turn 1, then I couldn’t change gear as my Yamaha’s gearbox got jammed in third gear.”

Marc McLernon extended his lead in the Nora Pro MX Quad championship to 13 points over Harry Walker, claiming the overall victory in round five at a scorching hot Cusses Gorse with two wins on the Quadbikes R Us Yamaha.

It was a gate to flag victory for the Hillsborough rider in race one as he finished nearly nine seconds clear of 20-year-old Welsh rider Dafydd Davies and Englishman Harry Walker, with Moria’s Dean Dillon finishing seventh.

Race two was closer with reigning champion McLernon again making a great start off the gate to bring the Yamaha home just over two seconds clear of Davies with Walker again third. Dean Dillon, who lies fourth in the series, was eighth in race two.

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The third set of races were abandoned after the organisers lost so much time earlier in the day due to parking issues at the track.

“It was really hot conditions at Cusses Gorse with the temperature hitting 30 degrees, so in one way I didn’t mind not having three races,” said McLernon.

“I led race one start to finish and took the lead going into the second corner in race two, and that was that.

“I was happy enough with two wins and extending my lead in the championship.

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“Job done and now I’m focused on the British championship at FatCats in two weeks’ time.”

It was a different story from Dean Dillon, who was disappointed with his day.

“I struggled all day and just couldn’t get on the pace. Personally I felt the track was dangerous,” he said.

“There was serious dust during the races and to be honest it was difficult to see at times. It was one to forget as far as I was concerned.

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“I have been racing constantly for the past two months and I am going to enjoy the break this weekend, recharge my batteries and be ready for the British in a couple of weeks’ time.”

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