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| Mike Hailwood
Foundation
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A handful of Irish riders were on the Isle of Man just
over a week ago for a quick look over the mountain Circuit in readiness for the
MGP. The trip was organised in conjunction with the Mike Hailwood Foundation,
which works tirelessly to promote the TT Races and attract new riding talent to
the meeting. Last year Gary Dynes brought over a party of riders and one of his
sponsors, Ivan Rainey, brought the riders over last weekend with tuition given
by former MGP Newcomers winner Norman Gordon. Davy Morgan, who finished second
in the 2000 Newcomers race assisted Norman; Davy intends to enter the Junior
& Lightweight races this year.
A good prospect for this years
Newcomers is Barry Davidson who is riding for the Royal Hotel, Cookstown, and
will enter the Newcomers & 250 races. Barry was one of the main men in last
years support classes in Ireland. Another newcomer, Nigel Moore, has
considerable racing experience and at one time consistently beat Jeremy
McWilliams on the short circuits.
An English rider, Mark Castle also
joined the group; Mark has recently purchased Martin Sharpe’s MGP winning
machine and he intends to compete in the Steam Packet Races & MGP.
Mark’s main championship is the New Era, however the Irish riders have
convinced him that he would gain considerable experience if he rode in a couple
of road races in Northern Ireland. Kevin Quirk of the Mike Hailwood Foundation
said of Mark: “When we last spoke to Mark, he confirmed that a couple of
Irish events are a possibility, so we’re waiting to see what he decides to
do.” Unfortunately rising star Gary Jess, who was scheduled to catch a
later flight, missed the visit due to travel problems. Kevin Quirk commented:
“We believe that if Gary is fully fit he has the potential to achieve a
couple of wins at the MGP this year, and we are arranging for him to visit the
island in March 2001.
Jon Speller , New Era Open Champion, visited the
Isle of Man in December 2000 and he is due to return in March with a few other
riders from the New Era Club. Davy Wood is also arranging to bring over a party
of experienced riders, including Richard Britton, John Donnan and Adrian
Archibald, together with a group of newcomers. Asked about the tremendous work
done by the Mike Hailwood Foundation during the year, Kevin explained:
“The Mike Hailwood Foundation generates it's income from renting out the
Hailwood centre to Vagabonds Rugby Club, and also make a modest profit from
selling drinks and sweets etc during TT race period.
All income is used
to finance these visits and every year we offer scholarships to various riders
who have made their debut in the MGP races. The scholarships cover the cost of
entries in the following year’s races: for MGP 2001, we are assisting Davy
Morgan, Seamus Greene and Martin Finnegan.” Kevin went on: “We
approached the race organisers for assistance as our budget is limited, whilst
we have expanded from bringing over one party to financing three or four
parties each year. We were pleased to get support from the Manx Motor Cycle
Club, however we still await a response from the TT organisers .
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Preparing for the 2001 Manx Grand Prix. Last year's Newcomers 250
class winner, Davy Morgan, is pictured (far left) with regular podium man
Norman Gordon (third left), trip organiser Ivan Rainey (front), plus newcomers
Nigel Moore, Mark Castle and Barry Davidson.
Also pictured are Niki
Earnshaw, Kevin Quirk and Adrian Earnshaw (rear centre) of the Mike Hailwood
Foundation, who helped fund the trip, plus chief Travelling Marshal Des Evans
(far right). The photo was taken on the steps to the Mike Hailwood Riders
Centre at the rear of the TT Grandstand, which doubles up as the Vagabonds RUFC
clubhouse
(Photo: Ron Clarke – Manx Racing Photography)
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