Dunlops dominate on home track at Armoy

Practice had to be curtailed on Friday night, following thunder and lightning and heavy rain left the circuit in too dangerous a condition to use. Come Saturday morning and they completed practice and had the first race on the grid and under way at 11.45am.

The opening race of the day, the 125/Moto3 was led on the opening lap by Sam Dunlop, but it wasn’t long before circuit newcomer Christian Elkin took over. Riding Bob Wylies Moto3 bike, as a preparation for the Ulster Grand Prix, the former British championship winner, who now lives near Randalstown, went ahead, opening up a gap steadily till he finished almost 9 seconds clear of Sam Dunlop, on the first GP125, at the line. Starting in the second wave, Ballymena’s Sam Wilson was credited with 3rd place on corrected time, and was just .3 adrift of Dunlop at the finish.

On the fifth lap of seven, Elkin upped the lap record, set on the same bike last year by Barry Davidson, by almost 8.5 seconds. The only other local rider to take part in this race was Mark McNeilly, from Cullybackey. He was taking part in his first race since Armoy last year, when he ended up in hospital with a broken wrist. Riding his own 125 Honda in the Rathkenny Track and Enduro colours, Mark finished 11th, lapping at 77.5mph.

The Junior Support race was next on the card, and was one of the best races of the day. Riding for Ryan Farquhar’s KMR team, Connor Behan was the first lap leader, closely followed by local man Mark Hanna, Shane Egan and Gavin Lupton, the Englishman now riding for the S&D Racing team, based in Ballymena. On the second circuit Hanna took over, as both he and Behan swapped the lead repeatedly. On the penultimate lap Hanna upped the lap record again, taking 3.2 seconds off the old time and managing to hold on to take a .1 of a second win over the Northwich man. In the mid part of the race the top two had broken away from the dice for the final podium slot, involving Egan and Lupton. Shane Egan eventually finished in third place, edging away from Luppy on the final couple of laps.

Neil Kernohan from Ballymena, in his first road race, brought his R6 across the line in 6th place, but dropped back to 7th after Wayne Hall was moved up on corrected time. Nutts Corner man Bryan Harding finished in 22nd place on his little 250GP bike. In the Supersport 600 race Guy Martin made a great start, and held a slender lead at the end of the opening lap. That didn’t last long, however, and by the end of the second circuit William Dunlop had taken over. Martin simply hadn’t the pace to run with the Dunlop lads, and while William took the race win, .6 ahead of younger brother Michael, it was Michael who set the lap record, clipping 1.5 seconds off his best time from 2 years ago. Martin slipped back and ended his race nearly 11 seconds adrift on the leaders. Sam Wilson took 11th place on an R6, having a fastest lap of 98.169mph. Dennis Booth, from Kells, was 19th with a quickest lap of 92.693mph and Stephen McIlvenna from Randalstown was 20th, lapping at 95.101mph.

Glarryford man Barry Davidson was never under any real pressure in the Junior Classic race. Barry hit the front on the opening lap, and after that the result was never in any kind of doubt, as the local man lapped just under lap record pace, winning by 7.5 seconds. Donabate man Sean Leonard was a steady third place, while Kevin Strowger, winner of the 250 category, was promoted to third on corrected time after starting in the C Group. Barry Davidsons quickest lap was 80.120mph.

The first outing for the Superbikes was next. Guy Martin was the early leader, but it wasn’t long till Michael Dunlop made his move, breaking his own absolute track record in the process. Shaving .8 of a second off his quickest time from last year, Michael went ahead of Martin and the Kirmington man had no reply, eventually dropping back and finishing 5.5 seconds back. Riding a Kawasaki for Randalstown man Chris Dowd, Derek Sheils was third, and at that, was not too far away from Martin either.

Stephen McIlvenna was the better of the two local riders in the race. He finished in 20th place, setting a fastest lap of 94.434mph, while Dennis Booth took 21st place with a quickest circuit of 92.925mph.

The Senior Classic race was next. Right from the start of this one, there was no one in the same league as Robert McCrum, who won by 19.3 seconds, breaking Richard Ford’s lap record to boot. Richard Ford finished as runner up, about 10 seconds ahead of JohnScott, who had to fend off a last lap challenge by Mark McGaw.

Sam Wilson was the early leader of the 250 race, chased by William Dunlop, on brother Michaels Honda. By the end of the second lap, William had slipped into the lead, which he never lost again. The elder Dunlop took the race win, his second of the day, by 2.4 seconds, with Sam Wilson doing well to hold off a challenge by Michael Sweeney in the closing stages.

The best of the local riders was Sam Wilson, who had a fastest lap of 95.364mph. Nutts Corner man Bryan Harding finished in 9th place, lapping at 84.380mph, while just two places back, with a fastest lap of 83.706mph, was Randalstown’s Mark Waddell.

Skerries man Andy Farrell won the 400 race, but was pushed hard all the way by Gavin Lupton. Seamus Elliott won a poorly supported Moto450 race, finishing almost a minute ahead of Darren Gilpin. Dave Walsh was third.

The Senior Support was, yet again, one of the best races of the afternoon, with the top four riders all breaking the old lap record. On the opening lap, one of Ryan Farquhars protégés, Connor Behan held a slender lead, chased hard by Shane Egan, Mark Hanna, Gavin Lupton, Brendan Merrigan and James Kelly. At the flag it was Behan who knocked 2.5 seconds off Alan Bonners 2010 lap record, taking the race win, by just .047 of a second. The only other local rider was Ballymena’s Neil Kernohan, who lapped at a very creditable 91.530mph on his way to 7th place.

Jeremy McWilliams chipped away at Jamie Hamilton’s lead, and by the time they started the final lap was right on his rear wheel. Despite taking .8 of a second off Hamilton’s lap record, McWilliams just couldn’t manage to get his nose ahead of Hamilton, and at the line was .082 back in second place.

The final race of the day was the Race of Legends. On the top of his game, Michael Dunlop simply wasn’t going to be beaten. He hit the front, eventually taking the flag 7.1 seconds ahead of brother William and Derek Sheils a similar distance back in third.