Eccles claims double at annual Ulster event

Eccles claims double at annual Ulster event

8 May 2013

MAY Day might mean a public holiday to most people, but to County Down motocross fans it means an annual motocross championship event held by the Mourne Motorcycle Club.

This year the Mourne club held the second round of the Ulster Open Championship at Seaforde MotoPark, which has been the event venue for the last decade.

With the track in perfect condition and weather to make all spectators happy to have the day off work, the Clubman MX2 class was first to the line with Boardmills’ Chris Eccles and Downpatrick rider Alexander Ellison fighting for top points.

In their first race, Eccles took the holeshot and never looked back leading all the way to take the chequered flag, while Ellison got away in sixth.

He made his way up to third position before a front wheel puncture left him to come home in eighth.

In their second race both men started well catching the leader before the race had to be red flagged due to an injured rider on the track and the race was won by Chris Simms, with Ellison in third and Eccles taking fourth.

In their final race Eccles led from the start to the flag once again, with Ellison leaving the line at the front of the pack only to fall on lap one and back to 40th position, but he fought back to finish in 11th position at the flag.

Next on the line was the Clubman MX1 class with Moira man Jordan Blakely winning two races, along with a second-placed finish in race two which was won by William Barr, followed home by Temple rider Andrew McKibbin in 4th, 4th and 5th, Downpatrick’s Michael Galloway in 8th, 5th and 11th, Boardmills’ Aaron Jordan in 10th, 10th and seventh, and Ballynahinch’s Terry McCann came home in 15th, 17th and 18th positions.

In the Semi Experts MX1 and MX2 class the man to catch was Greyabbey MX2 rider Luke Smith who won all three races with Loughbrickland’s Clifford Bailey taking two fifths and a 10th, Downpatrick’s Christopher Orr took 22nd, 14th and seventh, while his brother Richard came home in 24th in race one and he had to pull out of races two and three at the halfway points.

The Experts class was last to the line and their first race ended as quickly as it started, when Comber’s Jason Garrett was knocked out after he fell in the first corner, but he recovered and was able to walk off the track to watch his brother Wayne race.

When the race was restarted Ballygowan’s Gary Gibson took the holeshot and led the race until the end of the seventh lap when Lisburn’s Richard Bird moved into the lead and didn’t look back, winning all three races on the day in the MX 1class.

In race one he was followed home by Gibson in second, Portavogie’s Robert Hamilton in third, Comber’s Wayne Garrett in fourth, Newtownards’ Tommy Merton in sixth and Loughbrickland’s John Meara in seventh.

First lap accidents in race two left Gibson and Garrett to fight through the pack, as Hamilton took second, Meara was third, Merton was fourth Gibson made his way back to take sixth and Garrett came home in 18th. In their final race Gibson came second, Merton third, Hamilton fourth, Meara fifth and Garrett sixth.

In the same race the top Expert MX2 finisher was Glenn McCormick who took two firsts and a second in his class, with Loughbrickland rider Jason Meara winning the final race after two second placed finishes.