'I made no mistakes and brought it home for my first pro podium', says a delighted Jason Meara
Loughbrickland’s Jason Meara was delighted with his performance at Landrake for round three of the Fastest 40 MX Championship, which saw him claim his maiden professional podium.
“It was one of those days when I had a good feeling as soon as I got on the track. I was up there in free practice and in timed practice I was second fastest, only two seconds off pole man Conrad Mewes, which is a big step forward,” said the Moto-Cycle GasGas rider.
In his opening race he made a terrible start but ran around the outside of the pack and made some good passes, ending the opening lap in third and was chasing down Taylor Hammal for second before crashing.
He commented: “It was a silly mistake, however I got back up in fifth and came back to fourth. I tried to make third on the last lap but went down again and just brought it home fourth."
Race two saw Meara make a better start, holding fifth by the end of lap one and battling for third, with John Adamson and Jamie Carpenter. Adamson stalled the Lexa MX Racing Husqvarna, leaving Meara fourth and chasing down Carpenter for third.
“I just couldn’t make the pass and with two laps to go I knew I had done enough to make the podium. I made no mistakes and brought it home for my first pro podium. I was happy," he beamed.
Ballyclare’s Martin Barr had a frustrating day. He qualified third fastest on the Apico Honda: “I was happy with that as Landrake wouldn’t be one of my favourite tracks," he stated.
In his opening race, he locked handlebars with team-mate Tom Grimshaw at the start and nearly ran off the track in the incident. He was outside the top fifteen at the end of the lap but charged through to fifth, passing Grimshaw on the final lap.
“It was a long race as track conditions meant there was only one racing line, making it really difficult to pass” explained Barr.
In race two, he didn’t get a great start and had to come through the pack to finish sixth for sixth overall.
He added: “I’m up to third in the championship which is good but I’m glad it’s over and I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks off before the British Championship round at Blaxhall."
Hillsborough’s Mark McLernon was in action at round three of the European Quad Championship in the Czech Republic.
At the hard pack Kramolin MX Track, heavy rain wiped out Saturday’s qualifying. McLernon ended up third fastest in Sunday’s qualifying and in his opening race ran second for the first twenty minutes before dropping to fifth by the flag.
In race two, he was battling for the lead before his Yamaha blew an engine. “It was a disappointing end to the meeting but it was definitely my best race so far. I had the fastest lap of the race and it’s good to know that I have the speed to run at the front," he explained.
McLernon holds fourth in the championship as it moves on to Poland on June 15 and 16.
Omagh’s Lewis Spratt claimed six wins at round two of the Irish MX Championship at Pin Tavern, Letterkenny.
He raced in the Adult B class on Saturday and despite his three wins the teenager wasn’t happy.
“I felt that my riding and lap times were not where they should have been. Sunday was a different story and everything went better," he continued.
"The track was quite sketchy and hard to ride as there wasn’t much grip but I moved from second to lead the championship with the three wins."
In the other classes, Ollie Herron won the B/W85 while Daniel Devine was the S/W85 winner. Mason Sheils won the cadets, Caleb Ross the juniors and Jake Sayers the automatics.