Ulster
Supermoto Championship Round 1 Race Report
N.Ireland Supermoto Championship Series Class of
2011
Sunday 10th
April 2011
On a warm, sunny
Sunday morning, the first round of the Ulster Supermoto
Championship took place at the newly developed Nutt’s Corner
Kart Track. With a good turn out of competitors and spectators
alike it was set to be a great days racing.
Supermoto quads
took to the track first with Cathal McCartan out to defend his
2010 title. Taking an early lead in the first race he pushed on
to take the chequered flag with a comfortable lead. In race two
Terence Mackin grabbed the holeshot and led before McCartan
passed him on lap three and battled the whole way to the finish
line with only 0.395 seconds
separating them. In the final quad race Mackin once again took
the lead off the start line but McCartan made a daring move at
the end of the opening lap down the inside into turn one to take
the lead. He charged on to take his third race win and maximum
championship points. McCartan reflects, ‘I’m happy that I’ve got
a good start to retaining the title for 2011, but there is a
long way to go before it’s over. I’d just like to thank my
sponsors Spy optics and Termon Fuels for their support this
season.’ There was also some very close racing throughout the
day between Emma Mackin, Niall O’Hanlon, Gary Cuddy and Colin
Forsythe all fighting for the final spot on the podium.
On to the solo
clubman class, where new faces would appear at the front as the
top six from 2010 moved up to the prestige class. Race one saw
Andy Forsberg set the pace with Neil Donnan hot on his heels for
the duration of the race, only to beat him by 4 tenths of a
second. Pole man Lee Walker upped his game for races two and
three winning both with a comfortable margin over second place
finishers, newcomer Kelan Smith and Stephen Browne respectively.
Walker
now leads the championship over Browne, with Donnan and Forsberg
tied for third.
David Farmer was
out to defend his 2010 championship title in the prestige class.
With his main rival from last season now working abroad it
looked to be undoubted that he would
not come away with anything less than three race wins. Gary
Donohue fought strongly in the early stages of the races until
Farmer was able to open up a comfortable gap by the end of each
race. Farmer says, ‘I had a very enjoyable day today and things
couldn’t have gone any better. I would like to thank xcellance
flooring ltd, Dungannon for their continued support for 2011.’
Gareth Knox, last year’s clubman champion, has made a good start
to his prestige class career with two third place finishes and
is now a close fourth overall. Farmer now has a nine point lead
over Donohue going into round two which takes place at the
redeveloped Nutt’s Corner Market Track on 15th May.
If the first
round is anything to go by it is going to be a great season of
racing in all classes! Supermoto NI would like to thank all that
attended and look forward to seeing you at the next round. For
more information go to
www.supermotoni.com
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