Jason Meara's treble delight at home Ulster date in Loughbrickland
Jason Meara was unbeaten at round two of the Ulster Motocross Championship across home track Loughbrickland.
He qualified the Moto-Cycle GasGas on pole and claimed a treble.
“The only thing I need to work on is my starts,” said Meara. “I have been starting on the mesh now for so long, I struggle off the dirt.”
Meara was still able to end the opening lap inside the top four in all his races.
“I made the passes fairly quickly, especially in the first and third races, went on to set my own pace, open a gap and manage the race,” he said.
In race two, he stalled the bike going on to the second lap and Niall Cregan on the MX2 opened up a gap at the front.
“I just let the race come to me,” he said. “And, once I got the board telling me it was half-distance, I put the hammer down and caught him in a lap, passed him and won comfortably in the end.”
Ballyclare’s Martin Barr brought the Apico Honda home in second place overall.
“I made good starts," said Barr. “Had a bit of fun, came home in one piece and enjoyed myself.”
Seaforde’s Nathan Green, on the GO MX Yamaha, completed the podium.
In the MX2 class, Lennox Dickinson claimed the overall thanks to a win and two seconds from the Meara brothers, Cailum and Jack.
David Anderson was the MX1 Semi-Expert overall winner, while Ross Mackin won the MX2 class.
With three wins, Andrew Boyd won the MX1 Clubman class, while Ned McFarland, Paul Gray and Alex Jellie all had wins in the MX2 class. However, Jamie Patton was the overall winner with two seconds and a third.
Cole McCullough was back in EMX 125 Championship action over Easter in Frauenfeld, Switzerland for round five of the series.
Free practice and qualifying saw the Ulster teenager finishing third fastest.
A poor start in race one meant that the 555 Fantic Dream Team rider did not get away with the leading group.
By lap three, he had moved inside the top 15 before another rider collided with him, dropping him back to 35th.
The local rider's never-give-up attitude saw him set the fastest laps of the race as he charged his way back to ninth at the finish.
McCullough spent a few hours on his rest day testing a brand-new clutch mechanism, which had just become available to the team the previous morning.
And the extra test time proved invaluable for the second moto.
By the halfway stage, he was on track for a top five and narrowly missed out on a podium, crossing fourth.
“I was happy with my performances,” said McCullough. “Ninth and fourth was not too bad, considering this has been my worst track on the calendar over the past few years.
"We made a big step forward with my starts, which has been something I have been struggling with for far too long.”
Local sidecar crews were in action at round one of the British Championship near Liverpool.
Top Ulster finisher was Lisburn’s Neil Campbell and passenger Paul Horton in fourth. Andy and Adam McKibbin were ninth overall thanks to two top-11 finishes.