Martin Barr makes winning return from injury in penultimate round of Bridgestone British Masters

The Apico Husqvarna rider has been fighting his way back to fitness after a massive crash and serious injury back in May at Blaxhall brought his season to an unexpected halt.

Through grit and determination, the local rider has managed to regain his fitness and Sunday was the perfect platform to get back to the top step of the podium.

He qualified second fastest behind Brad Todd in the Pro MX1 class. In the opening race he finished second to Honda rider Todd.

Race two saw Barr take an immediate lead off the start gate before dropping to second. Tom Grimshaw took over at the front on lap three but Barr fought back four laps later to go on to victory and the overall, ahead of Todd with Grimshaw completing the rostrum.

“Over the last couple of weeks things have been clicking together and I made a last minute decision to race at Hawkstown,” he said. “I’m getting a bit of confidence built back up again running into the final few races of the year.

“It’s also good to be back fit and ready for the MXoN in October, the seventeenth of my career.”

In the MX2 class, Glenoe’s Glenn McCormick finished eleventh overall after a tenth in race one and eleventh in race two.

“I struggled in race one but in the second race after a few changes to the bike it was better, however I still could only manage eleventh,” said the Chambers Husqvarna rider. “It was not a good day at the office but at least it was more bike time leading towards the MXoN.”

Omagh’s Lewis Spratt had a tough time at Hawkstone on the McCullaghs Centra/Todds Leap KTM in the B/W85 class.

A late arrival due to boat delays with the bad weather meant he just made the line for practice.

Unfortunately the bike suffered a gear box issue and with no spare bike they were heading home before another competitor loaned them a spare engine.

Despite no practice he made race one, running mid pack, before a crash dropped him to last. He fought back to seventh.

In race two he was lying third before making a mistake and dropping to fifth. In his final two races on Sunday he finished fifth and went one better in his final race for fourth and fourth overall.

Ethan Gawley, recovering from a broken arm which sidelined the Portadown school boy for eight weeks, qualified seventh in the 65 class and finished his two Saturday races sixth and ninth.

On Sunday he brought the Derryhale haulage/AK motorcycles/fluid plumbing KTM home in sixth and eighth for sixth overall.

Castlederg teenager Cole McCullough made his debut in the EMX 250 class at Arnhem in the Netherlands last weekend bringing the Milwaukee KTM home seventeenth in both his races.

McCullough, who only turned fifteen in June, was the youngest rider on the start gate and to score eight championship points at a first attempt was a great performance.

“We had a weekend off and decided to get a late entry for the 250 class,” he said. “I wanted to gain some experience racing at that level and even if I qualified it would have been great.

"I was delighted to score points.”