Retro Rewind: Young Portadown prospect Wayne Hamilton had potential to reach the very top

The 20-year-old from Annaghmore marked himself out as a star of the future as he soared through the ranks after taking his first steps into road racing in 2009.

However, Hamilton really made people sit up and take notice when he battled with Supertwin king Ryan Farquhar in the class at the Ulster Grand Prix.

He was declared the winner of the Supertwins race at the Dundrod 150 from Farquhar after the race was red-flagged following a crash, with the result declared based on positions at the end of the second lap.

The scene was set for another duel between the pair in the main Supertwins race at the Ulster Grand Prix proper and it didn’t disappoint as the pair broke away from the field and engaged in a pulsating dice for the lead.

But Hamilton’s race was brought to an abrupt end on the third lap when he crashed out at Quarry Bends, handing victory on a plate to Farquhar.

The young prospect escaped with a bruised arm and was cleared to make his debut at the Manx Grand Prix on the Isle of Man a few weeks later.

There, he made a dream start as he won the opening Newcomers race to continue his rich vein of from.

However, Hamilton was later tragically killed in a crash at the 13th Milestone on the third lap of the Junior Manx Grand Prix. He had been holding third place at the time on his Yamaha R6.

The young Co Armagh man was competing at the event with a view to progressing the Isle of Man TT races in 2012.

There was controversy before the start of the Junior race on that fateful day over nine years ago, with a number of riders expressing their concern that the conditions were unsuitable for racing, with rain and breezy conditions forming their basis of their opposition to the organisers’ decision to run the event.

On the opening lap, several competitors pulled out because they felt conditions were too dangerous, including Skerries rider Michael Sweeney, who won the corresponding race in 201 and was one of the big favourites.

Roslea’s Andrew Brady won the race after four laps of the 37.73-mile course, with Isle of Man competitor Paul Smyth second and Dromore’s Stephen McKnight third.

But the event was tinged with sadness as another up-and-coming young star lost his life too soon.

Before Hamilton set off for the Isle of Man that year and immediately after his head-turning performances at Dundrod, I caught up with him for a chat about his hopes for the future.

He said: “A lot of people had said to me that I should have raced at the Manx last year but I didn’t want to rush into it and just decided I’d go over and learn the track.

“I’m meeting with Brian Reid and he’s going to show me around, so there’s no better man. Everything is fine after the crash at the Ulster Grand Prix and I’m looking forward to my debut at the Manx Grand Prix.

“I had no major injuries, I just had a bruised arm.”

Reflecting on his UGP crash, Hamilton said he was bitterly disappointed after missing out on the opportunity to give Farquhar another run for his money on the big Dundrod stage.

“Myself and Ryan were riding a lot faster than the 250cc riders at Dundrod and we caught them up,” he said.

“I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but Ryan got around the outside of them and I went to go up the inside, but I had the door closed on me and that was it.

“I had to grab the brakes otherwise I’d have been into the guy in front of me and there’d have been more than one of us down.

“It was a good race and I was enjoying it. I was really looking forward to it all week and it was disappointing for me, I was gutted to crash.

“I was comfortable enough sitting behind Ryan and watching what he was doing and how fast he was going,” Hamilton added.

“I was planning on making a move on the last lap and I’d a few places lined up where I was going to try and get past him.

“But unfortunately it never panned out that way.”

He made amends in the Supersport class as he took a superb seventh place ahead of Farquhar and behind TT king John McGuinness.

Looking towards the future, Hamilton said: “Hopefully next year I’ll be able to get over to the TT if we can get some funding gathered up and I’ll do the national roads again.”

Sadly, he never got the chance, but there is no doubt Wayne Hamilton was a rider with the potential to have made it to the very top.