Mark McLernon on top yet again

McLernon, who will race in his first AMA pro race in the USA at the Red Bud motocross race track, Buchanan, Michigan at the end of July was unstoppable on the Quad Bikes’R’us Yamaha at the Londonderry track.

The Hillsborough rider was happy with his days work.

“I didn’t think I would have got back into the championship lead before the final round,” said McLernon.

“It was hard work but well worth the effort. In race one on Saturday a fuel pipe burst at the halfway stage of the race but thankfully it made it to the finish. Three from three is a good day.”

Moria’s Dean Dillon rode the Walsh Honda instead of the Yamaha at Robinson’s and finished second overall.

In his opening race he felt he had made a good start off the gate but found himself in third at turn1.

“We had an electrical fault with the Yamaha all week,” he explained.

“I made a good pass on Justin Reid and tried to push Mark as much as I could. I got close but just couldn’t make the pass and settled for second.”

An engine issue in race two prevented Dillon from challenging McLernon for the win.

He said:“On the fourth lap the engine tightened and lost 40% of its power. I nursed it home for another second.

“We had no spare engine and thanks to Kevin Meenagh, who loaned me his bike, I managed another second place.

“Fair play to Mark for coming back to lead the championship. The last round will be good fun.”

Kyle Murphy claimed third overall from Justin Reid.

A win in race one and two second place finishes was enough to give Banbridge rider Josh McKnight the overall and the semi-expert Ulster championship.

Lisburn’s Neil Campbell and Ross Graham have one hand on the sidecar Ulster sidecar championship after claiming the overall at Robinson’s with two wins and a second place behind Gary Moulds and Paul Horton.

In an eventful opening race Campbell and Moulds were wheel to wheel on lap four when they came caught up in a separate crash at the top of the track.

Campbell just got through but Moulds and Horton were thrown out of the outfit resulting in Moulds sustaining a shoulder injury.

He did manage to race on, limping home fourth behind Andy and Adam McKibbin and Jonathan Wilson and Andrew Rowan.

Just over a second separated Campbell and Moulds in race two.

McKibbin was having a great day and holeshotted race three, before Moulds hit the front before the end of the lap. At the flag it was Moulds ahead of Campbell with McKibbin third.

“I just put my head down and went for it,” said Moulds.

Campbell added: “We had a good day with two wins and a second for the overall. Now we focus on this weekends British at Wakes Colne.”

Stephen Kelly claimed the clubman overall with the championship going to the final round with Dean Young leading on 387 from Mitchell Adams 348 and Kelly on 338.

Banbridge rider Jamie Cowan was crowned Y1 champion.

Rory Farren was the Y2 overall winner and leads the championship going into the final round.

Travis Toye won the Y3 class. but he has work to do in the championship as he trails Jack Minish by 52 points with one round to go. Luke Dillon is only eight points behind the leader.

Ballyclare’s Martin Barr claimed his best overall of the season finishing sixth in the MX1 Revo British championship and winning the experts cup in the intense heat at FatCat moto park, Doncaster.

Barr qualified eighth fastest despite a crash on his fast lap. In his opening race he made a good start and was up to fourth before Shaun Simpson got past at the halfway stage. Race two saw the Apico Husqvarna rider finish 8th.

Barr said: “I lost a few places after banging bars on the opening lap of race two but I was happy with sixth overall. All things considered it wasn’t a bad day.”

Glenoe’s Glenn McCormick claimed 11th overall on the Chambers Husqvarna. McCormick was seventh fastest in qualifying and in his opening race finished 14th.

He said: “A rider came across me and I crashed on lap one but a couple of laps later I had a massive crash at a jump. I was lucky to get away with it.”

He was behind both Martin Barr and Brad Todd in race two but the pain from the earlier accident and the heat took its toll and he settled for 10th by the chequered flag.

Castlederg’s Cole McCullough raced the Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee to a brilliant second overall in the 125 class after finishing 5-2-2-3 in his four races. It moves the 13 year-old into second in the championship.

He said: “It was a good weekend coming away with P2 overall but I made races one and four tough for myself crashing in the first corner in race one and went down while lying second on the final lap in race four, dropping me to third.”

Ballyclare’s Charley Irwin stretched his lead in the Scottish youth rookies championship after three wins at the penultimate round at Doune. The Discount Beds Honda rider was third fastest in qualifying but in his three races no-one got close to the local teenager.

He heads to the final round at Clayshant 13th/14th August with a healthy 51 point advantage.

“I really enjoyed the Doune track and I can’t ask for any more than to come away with the overall,” smiled Irwin.