Neil Campbell and Craig Parmentor take sidecarcross treble at Tandragee

Defending Ulster Champions Neil Campbell and Craig Parmentor were unbeatable at the penultimate round of the Ulster and Irish sidecarcross championship at Tandragee at the weekend.
Neil Campbell and Craig Parmenter had a clean sweep at Tandragee.Neil Campbell and Craig Parmenter had a clean sweep at Tandragee.
Neil Campbell and Craig Parmenter had a clean sweep at Tandragee.

Campbell and Parmentor took maximum points thanks to a comfortable treble over great rival and championship leader Gary Moulds with passenger Alan Gardner.

It was certainly an eventful day for Lisburn rider Moulds, who spent most of Saturday night in Antrim Hospital A&E after a massive crash in race two when he clipped the rear wheel of Campbell as they rushed towards turn one from the start. The incident also claimed Jonathan Wilson and Louise Houston but thankfully no one was seriously injured. In fact a badly shaken Moulds gathered himself together and limped round for an important eighth place and valuable championship points.

Before all the drama of race two race one looked set for another ding bong battle as the two title rivals charged up the hill together, but Moulds overshot the top corner and Campbell cruised to victory while Moulds had to work for the runners up spot.

Race three again looked set for a great race with a battered and bruised Moulds hounding Campbell in the early stages, but his outfit took a dislike to right handers cutting out every time he approached one, which left him struggling to hold onto third behind an on-form Dean Faulkner and Gordie Ringland who claimed their first podium of the season.

“It was a fairly steady day with no pressure after qualifying first,” said overall winner Neil Campbell. “We went on to win all three races quite comfortably. I have to say a big congratulations to Dean and Gordie on their first podium of the season.”

“It was a frustrating day,” said Moulds. “We had bike problems in race three with the engine cutting out then the crash in race two. Despite the pain we gathered it all together and managed to finish eighth and eventually take second overall. Thankfully I have no broken bones from the crash just a bit battered and bruised.”

There was some fantastic racing in the Gilchrist Plant Hire Premier Quad class but in the end it was ex British Champion Mark McLernon who steered his Wray Engineering Walsh Honda to the overall win. Race one saw the return of Saintfield’s Dean Colhoun and in is his first race for over two years he led a train of five quads to win. In a race with less than a second separating the top five, Leon Rodgers held off a frustrated McLernon for runner up with Michael McAneney completing the top four after a charge through the pack.

Race two saw Colhoun again lead the way, until his gearbox cried enough halfway through, which left McAneney leading a bickering pair of Rodgers and McLernon swapping places until McLernon pipped the Meath man for second, while Justin Reid came from behind to nearly surprise the leading trio by the end. The final race was a pedestrian affair by comparison with McLernon at last getting out of the gate and leading from gate to flag from Rodgers, Reid and rising star Moira teenager Dean Dillon.

The GMG Contracts Clubman’s Quad produced raft of non-finishes, disqualifications and crashes to create a mixed-up day, with Noel Bradley picking up the overall. Teenager Jack Young was a close second with Stephen Mulholland third.

In the J&L Race Prep/Lloyd Acoustics Youth Quad Classes, the 250 Class winner was Omagh 16-year-old Jamie Quinn with an impressive treble over Stewart McMullen who had his worst day at the office yet with a crash in race 1, a near off in race 2 and a seizure in race three ruining his day, but he is odds on to still claim the Championship with one round left.

The 110 Class had Luke Dillon from Moira and Andrew Black fighting it out for the overall with newbie Travis Toye third. The 50cc Automatic Class produced another treble with a dominant day for young Blake Orr with a second overall for Adrian McVey third.

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