Richard Bird tops perch after Desertmartin win

Lisburn’s Richard Bird who now leads the Irish MX1 championship by six points with one round to go, after a faultless performance at Desertmartin where he took three wins from three starts on the Five5Motorsorts KTM.
Lisburn's Richard Bird leads the Irish MX1 Championship after Desertmartin.Lisburn's Richard Bird leads the Irish MX1 Championship after Desertmartin.
Lisburn's Richard Bird leads the Irish MX1 Championship after Desertmartin.

The reigning champion was back to his best at Desertmartin.

In the opening race he was second to John Meara in the first lap before the Loughbrickland rider crashed the Watt Motorcycles Kawasaki leaving Bird to comfortably take the win with Meara second and Jordan McCaw third.

Race two again saw the Lisburn rider take the win 12 seconds clear of Meara who again bit the dust. Ballymoney rider Jordan McCaw, on the Carmichael’s KTM, had a spectacular crash on the opening lap, resulting in a trip to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder.

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“I was just off the back of Dickie (Bird) and John (Meara) when I crashed,” he said. “I was on the pace and feeling good but that’s how it goes some times. I’m leading the Southern Masters Cup at the minute and the next round is this weekend so I hope to be fit enough to race at it.”

Race three saw Meara lead for the opening three laps before both he and Bird had a coming together at the last corner leaving Meara to reflect on a day that could have been so much better and Bird to complete a fantastic treble. He said: “I can’t complain about that, three out of three and top of the championship. It took long enough to get my first home win and everyone was keeping asking when it was going to happen. Now I have three.

“The track was rough but very fast. In the last race John and me had a coming together at the last corner and he went down and I went on to win the race to complete a fantastic day. After last weekends MX Nationals at Canada Heights when I went 1-5-1-2 to now lie second in the series with four races to go it’s been not a bad few days of motocross for me.”

It was a different story from John Meara. “I tasted plenty of Desertmartin sand today crashing four times over the meeting,” he said.

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“It was an ok day as far as I was concerned but I can’t enjoy finishing second. I’m only six points behind in the championship going into the last round at Doon and it’s my type of track. It will be winner takes all on the day and I’m looking forward to it.”

In the MX2 premier class young Dubliner Jake Sheridan on the R&R Plant Service KTM was unstoppable as he rattled off three outstanding wins. Sheridan was never headed in any of his races as he demolished the opposition and now has a 46-point lead in the series over David Galvin.

Connor Mullan was in great form in the MX2 Experts winning all three races on the Hitachi KTM while Colin Gordon was dominant in the Clubmans MX1 class. Eoin Duffy took the overall clubman’s MX2 despite a poor start in race three that saw him having to come through from last to finish fifth after winning the opening two races.

Newtownabbey rider Jay McCrum had a brilliant day at the Paul Spratt Memorial and GR7 meeting at Tandragee Motocross Park winning the Paul Spratt Memorial trophy with a perfect three wins from three starts on the day. The 21-year-old was the fastest in qualifying and went on to taking three convincing victories in the MX1 class, on the fonacab Kawasaki KX450. 

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Jay said: “I needed to win the first two races which secured the overall result. This allowed me to really to push in race three with no pressure. I felt really comfortable and as was able to set the fastest lap of the day. I have enjoyed a good run recently finishing ninth at the recent British MX Nationals at Canada Heights and hopefully the relentless training programme is starting to pay off.”

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