|
| 2001 Sunflower Trophy Report and Results |
Four out of Five for Nutt!
Despite the absence of many cross channel
visitors and a long, dis-jointed meeting mainly due to the
changeable weather we had a successful and competitive
Sunflower Trophy meeting. It was Marty Nutt who stole the show
and proved himself to be one of the best Irish Circuit Riders
of his generation when he won four races from five starts. He
was probably only denied a clean sweep of victories by the
changeable weather, when he pulled in prematurely when a short
rain shower dampened the circuit at the beginning of the final
open race |
GP 250cc - Race 1
The day started with the 250 Grand Prix machines, it was
nice to see a field of sixteen riders rather than the usual
half dozen (long may this continue). Paul Scullion led them
off the line but by the chicane on lap one he was passed by
Hilton Hincks, Ian Lougher and Paul Robinson. These three
began to pull away from the pack and just as it was beginning
to get interesting as the three was split by only ½ second the
first shower of the day came on and as Lougher went sideways
coming out of the hairpin the three riders put their hands up
and brought the race to a halt. Initially the organisers
declared the race null and void, but as they were running out
of time to re-schedule it were changed to a result after four
laps. This gave Hincks the victory, Lougher second and
Robinson third.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Hilton Hincks
|
Powersport Honda
|
|
2 |
Ian
Lougher |
Honda |
|
3 |
Paul Robinson
|
Sandown Honda
|
|
4 |
Paul Scullion
|
Honda |
|
5 |
Mark Lunney
|
EMS Honda
|
|
6 |
Davy Morgan
|
Crossgar Poultry
Honda | |
Sidecar - Race 1
The next race was the sidecar, Ken Napton and Dylon Lynch
set the early pace as they pulled away from the field, but
both ran into mechanical trouble. This allowed the slow
starting Charlie O'Neill to close and win, Scobbie Killough to
come through to take second and Napton held onto third as
Lynch was forced to retire.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Charlie P'Neill
& Brian Butler |
1100 Kawasaki
|
|
2 |
Scobbie Killough
& Paddy Marley |
1100 Suzuki
|
|
3 |
Ken Napton &
Stuart Kelly |
1100 Suzuki
| |
Regal 600cc - Race 1
The penultimate round of the Regal 600 Championship saw
Marty Nutt's first victory of the day, however he was hard
pushed by the chasing pack comprising Ryan Rainey, Richard
Britton, Davy Morgan and John Donnan. As Britton closed in on
Nutt at the end of lap six the rain came on again. There was
total confusion among the riders due to the Clerk of Course
announcement before the race that he was the only one allowed
to stop a race, some riders stopped, some riders toured and
others raced on. Hilton Hincks led Davy Morgan when the red
flag eventually came out on lap eight. However common sense
eventually prevailed and it was run as a two-part race with
the positions at the end of lap five the first part result.
This was Nutt, Britton, Rainey and Morgan. In the second part
Nutt ran away from the field to take victory, Rainey forced
his way through to second and Britton third as he struggled to
get on the pace as he had in the first part.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Marty Nutt
|
Schimmel Suzuki
|
|
2 |
Ryan Rainey
|
A&N Honda
|
|
3 |
Richard Britton
|
PJ O'Kane
Yamaha |
|
4 |
David Morgan
|
Crossgar Poultry
Yamaha |
|
5 |
John Donnan
|
JD's Yamaha
|
|
6 |
Adrian Archibald
|
Red Bull
Honda | |
Aprilia 250cc - Race
1
The first Aprilia Challenge race had normal service resumed
as Marshall Neill took yet another victory. He had to work
hard for it as both Matt Niland and Geoff Swann led at various
stages. In the end they just couldn't get to the line before
the dominant Marshall. Niland was second and Swann Third.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Marshall Neill
|
Aprilia |
|
2 |
Matt Niland
|
Aprilia |
|
3 |
Geoff Swann
|
Aprilia |
|
4 |
Derek McLaughlin
|
Aprilia |
|
5 |
Gary Walker
|
Aprilia |
|
6 |
John
McAndrew |
Aprilia | |
Lambert & Butler - Race
1
The first Lambert & Butler Open race was a Marty Nutt
benefit; he led from start to finish with only Ian Lougher
giving any sort of chase on the TAS Suzuki. Nutt looked
excellent as he pulled away from the pack to take a
comfortable second win, with Lougher a lonely second and
Britton third despite the late attentions of Archibald and
Courtney who had worked their way through from poor starts.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Marty Nutt
|
MBS Suzuki
|
|
2 |
Ian Lougher
|
TAS Suzuki
|
|
3 |
Richard Britton
|
PJ O'Kane
Yamaha |
|
4 |
Adrian Archibald
|
Red Bull
Honda |
|
5 |
James Courtney
|
IFS Ducati
|
|
6 |
Jamie Patterson
|
Dowd Suzuki
| |
Superkings 125cc - Race
1
In the Superkings 125 all the attention was on John Laverty
who needed to make up 34 points on his brother Michael to take
the title (Michael decided that riding in England was more
important). He eventually made up twenty-five of these in the
first race but not before a four way wheel to wheel dice with
Mark Lunney, Paul Robinson and Davy Lemon. It was real close
action and it was Lunney and Robinson who swapped the lead
during the opening laps. Robinson having the better off it
round the top of the circuit, but Lunney superb at the
hairpin. Laverty eventually forced his way to the front with
the fastest lap of the race on lap nine, he held on from
Lunney second and Robinson third.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
John
Laverty |
Millar/Classic
Glass Honda |
|
2 |
Mark Lunney
|
EMS Honda
|
|
3 |
Paul Robinson
|
Connolly
Transport Honda |
|
4 |
David Lemon
|
Low Cost
Honda |
|
5 |
Eugene Laverty
|
McKinstry Skip
Hire Honda |
|
6 |
Andrew Boyd
|
Village Carpets
Honda | |
Sunflower Trophy Feature Race
The feature race of the day saw Marty Nutt complete his hat
trick; again he led from start to finish with only Lougher
getting close. Nutt was determined to get his name on the
prestigious trophy and when Lougher closed Nutt put in a
quicker lap to open the gap again. They finished this way with
Britton again third with Archibald and Courtney on his shirt
tails. Pole man Jamie Patterson completed the top six with
another good ride.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Marty Nutt
|
MBS Suzuki
|
|
2 |
Ian Lougher
|
TAS Suzuki
|
|
3 |
Richard Britton
|
PJ O'Kane
Yamaha |
|
4 |
Adrian Archibald
|
Red Bull
Honda |
|
5 |
Jamie Patterson
|
Dowd Suzuki
|
|
6 |
James Courtney
|
IFS Ducati
|
|
7 |
Ryan Farquhar
|
McAdoo Yamaha
|
|
8 |
John Donnan
|
Tillistons
Yamaha |
|
9 |
Bruce Anstey
|
CR Yamaha
|
|
10 |
Rodney McCurdy
|
PJ O'Kane
Yamah | |
Superkings 125cc - Race
2
The final round of the Superkings 125 was next and John
Laverty needed a top six finish to clinch the very important
Imperial Tobacco Title. This he did finishing third behind
winner Paul Robinson, his first of the year and Davy Lemon
second in a two-part race again interrupted by rain. The first
part was another dogfight with the same culprits as race one
plus up and coming riders Brian McFeeley, Eugene Laverty and
William Dunlop. It finished Lunney, Robinson, J.Laverty,
McFeeley. In the second part in the trickiest conditions of
the day Robinson had the biggest win of the day from William
Dunlop and Lemon. Overall this gave Dunlop his best national
finish of the season, fourth.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Paul Robinson
|
Connolly
Transport Honda |
|
2 |
David Lemon
|
Low Cost
Honda |
|
3 |
John Laverty
|
Millar/Classic
Glass Honda |
|
4 |
William Dunlop
|
Honda |
|
5 |
Mark
Lunney |
EMS Honda
|
|
6 |
Eugene Laverty
|
McKinstry Skip
Hire Honda | |
Regal 600cc - Race 2
The final round of the Regal championship gave Nutt his
fourth victory of the day and another start to finish one at
that. Adrain Archibald hounded Ryan Rainey the whole way until
the final corner when Archibald forced his way through to get
that second place with Rainey third. Davy Morgan was fourth
and Richard Britton settled for a safe fifth and retention of
his Regal Championship.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Marty Nutt
|
Schimmel Suzuki
|
|
2 |
Adrian Archibald
|
Red Bull
Honda |
|
3 |
Ryan Rainey
|
A&N Honda
|
|
4 |
David Morgan
|
Crossgar Poultry
Yamaha |
|
5 |
Richard Britton
|
PJ O'Kane
Yamaha |
|
6 |
Ryan
Farquhar |
McAdoo Kawasaki
| |
GP 250cc - Race 2
The second 250 Grand Prix gave Hilton Hincks his double
with Robinson and Lougher swapping their positions of race
one. Hincks had a more comfortable victory than race one but
Robinson and Lougher fought tooth and nail right to the flag.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Hilton Hincks
|
Powersport Honda
|
|
2 |
Paul Robinson
|
Sandown Honda
|
|
3 |
Ian Lougher
|
Honda |
|
4 |
Andrew Boyd
|
Village Carpets
Honda |
|
5 |
Paul Scullion
|
Honda |
|
6 |
Mark Lunney
|
EMS Honda
| |
Sidecar - Race 2
Ken Napton again led off the second sidecar; he again
struck mechanical problems which left Charlie O'Neill to take
an easy victory, Scobbie Killough again second and Andy Brown
third.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Charlie O'Neill
& Butler |
1100 Kawasaki
|
|
2 |
Scobbie Killough
& Paddy Marley |
1100 Suzuki
|
|
3 |
Andy Brown &
John Dowling |
600 Honda
| |
Lambert & Butler - Race
2
With the Lambert & Butler championship already sown up
Adrain Archibald was looking to finish the season with a
victory in the final round. This looked possible when pre-race
favourite Marty Nutt toured in on lap two when the rain began
to fall; it had been declared a wet race by the organisers
when they saw the sky. As the race continued Richard Britton
took up the challenge closely followed by Jamie Patterson and
Archibald a distant third. The rain lasted one lap and the
track was dry within three, Patterson forced his way to the
front and looked set for his first win of the season. This was
not the hard charging Archibald's thinking, he had passed
Britton and was closing on Patterson. He eventually caught and
passed him on the penultimate lap at the hairpin. Patterson
was right up his exhaust as they headed for the hairpin for
the final time. Patterson tried to force his way pass, clipped
Archibald and went down. Archibald ran wide and the on-looking
Britton didn't think twice about taking his opportunity to
take the victory, Archibald got himself turned around to
finish second with a shaking head and Courtney third.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Richard Britton
|
PJ O'Kane
Yamaha |
|
2 |
Adrian Archibald
|
Red Bull
Honda |
|
3 |
James Courtney
|
IFS Ducati
|
|
4 |
Bruce Anstey
|
CR Yamaha
|
|
5 |
Ian Lougher
|
TAS Suzuki
|
|
6 |
Hilton Hincks
|
Powersport 250
Honda | |
Aprilia 250cc - Race
2
The final race of the day was the Aprilia challenge and
with only two rounds left after today Marshall Neill put one
hand on the trophy with another victory and nearest
championship challenger Geoff Swann only fourth. Matt Niland
took second in the race with John McAndrew staying on this
time to claim the final podium place.
|
Position |
Rider |
Machine |
|
1 |
Marshall Neill
|
Aprilia |
|
2 |
Matt Niland
|
Aprilia |
|
3 |
John
McAndrew |
Aprilia |
|
4 |
Geoff Swann
|
Aprilia |
|
5 |
Gary Walker
|
Aprilia |
|
6 |
Derek McLaughlin
|
Aprilia | |
|