Hillsborough's Mark McLernon has ‘we can make it better’ bike ambition for World Championship

McLernon qualified the DV Racing Yamaha fifth for the Kleinhau race and made a great start - third off the gate before spinning out and dropping to fifth, allowing Harry Walker and Patrick Turrini past. A poor start in race two saw him down in 10th but he fought his way into sixth.

“The pace was fast...there wasn’t a big margin between anyone inside the top 10,” said McLernon, who will this weekend tackle the Ulster Championship at Tinkerhill. “The bike was going well but, hopefully, we can make it better before the next round.

"We will cut the frame and try to move a few things, which will hopefully improve handling...there will be a new engine as well for the next round, so we should be closer to the front guys.”

In the Scottish MX2 Championship at Duns, Glenoe’s Glenn McCormick finished second overall behind Charlie Heyman.

He qualified the Chambers KTM second fastest before finishing second in his opening race.

“It was like a sprint race, only lasting 12 minutes,” said McCormick. “We made a few suspension changes prior to the race and, after a good start, I just battled away with Brad Anderson for second.

"I managed to get past him on the final lap. I was happy with that.”

A bad start in race two saw McCormick last away, however, he fought his way through to third by the chequered flag. Race three saw McCormick claim another second place in the Pro MX2.

“I swapped places with Charlie Heyman on the opening laps and held on as long as I could before settling for second,” he said. “I was happy, though, as I had taken two seconds off my lap time from race one.

"It was a good confidence boost for this weekend’s British at Landrake, Devon.”

Loughbrickland rider Jack Meara had a great day, finishing fifth overall on the Moto-Cycle Yamaha, while Omaha’s Lewis Spratt brought the Jet Products Yamaha home eighth overall.

Spratt, however, was the overall winner in the 250 Youth Championship on Saturday.

“It was nice to get back up there and hold the number one plate again,” said Spratt. “I qualified first and in race one I was leading by Turn 2 and able to pull nearly 10 seconds on Malachi Alan by the chequered flag.”

Spratt went on to win race two and, despite a poor start and a crash in race three, he brought it home in second. Ballyclare’s Samuel Logan was sixth.

It was a tough day in the MX1 class for Loughbrickland rider Jason Meara, who finished fifth overall on the Moto-Cycle Yamaha.

In his opening race, a rider came up the inside at Turn 1, ripping the front brake lever off his bike as Meara finished fifth.

A good start saw the Yamaha rider running third in race two and battling for second before a crash dropped him back to third by the flag. A good start in his final race saw Meara up to second before he eventually finished fifth.

“I believe I could have won that race but for the crash,” he said. “Despite clocking the fastest laps of the race, I couldn’t catch the front men...a lot of positives but frustrated with the result.”

Portadown’s Ethan Gawley was the winner of the B/W85 section, while Ross Graham topped the Amateur class.