Nico Mawhinney and Jonny Buckley shared a win apiece in the Superbike class at Tuesday’s Easter Monday Irish championship meeting at Kirkistown.

The pair took advantage of the absence of Saturday’s Enkalon Trophy winner Derek Sheils to secure victory in the feature races, while the level of opposition was eased further after Portadown man Marshall Neill left the Ards Peninsula circuit in Co Down early following a lap one crash in the first Supersport event.

Neill, who also bit the dust on Wilson Craig’s 600cc Honda at Bishopscourt in the Supersport class on Saturday, called it a day after the accident and missed both ISB races after qualifying on pole position on Craig’s CBR1000RR Fireblade.

The experienced British championship regular’s misfortune capped an indifferent weekend for Neill, who finished third overall in the final Enkalon Trophy standings on Saturday at Bishopscourt behind Sheils and Crumlin rider Stephen Thompson.

Castledawson’s Mawhinney gained an impressive victory on his Polaris Racing Suzuki in the opening Irish Superbike race over Buckley by the slender margin of 0.250s, with Thompson claiming the final spot on the rostrum, seven seconds down on the top two.

Wayne Kirwan on the Crossan Motorcycles Yamaha 600 and BMW-mounted Gareth Keys and Gavin Johnston completed the top six after eight laps of the 1.5-mile circuit.

Buckley turned the tables on Mawhinney in the big race of the day to secure the Mayor’s Trophy, taking the top spot on his Ducati Panigale 1199 by 0.017s as the duo were separated by a hair’s breadth at the finish.

Keys finished third, 8.2s in arrears, followed by Peter Drennen (Honda), Kirwan and Damien Byrne (Honda).

Reigning Irish Superbike champion Denver Robb plus Team Rapido Sport Ducati rider Lee Johnston were entered for the event, but neither were in action at the Belfast and District Club’s annual Easter showdown.

Mark Conlin earned a double in the Supersport class, winning the first race – re-started following Neill’s spill on the opening lap of eight – from Alan McClean by 0.434s.

Drew Jamison claimed third ahead of Jonny Harvey, Jason Lynn and Jamie Patterson.

Colin’s advantage after the seven-lap distance in race two was 1.8s over Kirwan, with Patterson third and Jamison fourth.

Korie McGreevy twice had the edge over Nigel Percy in the Moto3 races, taking the chequered flag in the first by 0.277s before completing a brace in the second outing, holding on to win by 0.134s.

Sam Wilson rounded out the podium positions in both races.

Thomas Lawlor won both 250GP races from Mark Hanna, with Stephen McKeown and Steve Clarke taking a victory each in the Pre-Injection class.

Conor O’Neill was a double winner in the Supertwins races, twice defeating Trevor Elliott, while Damian Horan and Brian Heddin won both Irish Superbike Cup and Irish Supersport Cup events respectively.

James Conroy won the first Classic race from Barry Davidson and enjoyed the upper hand in race two over Alex Conroy, with Davidson third on this occasion.

The action now switches to the opening round of the Adelaide Masters Series at Mondello Park in Co Kildare this weekend.

RESULTS:

ISB race 1 – 1 N Mawhinney, 2 J Buckley, 3 S Thompson, 4 W Kirwan, 5 G Keys, 6 G Johnston.

Fastest lap: Mawhinney 94.415mph.

ISB race 2 – 1 J Buckley, 2 N Mawhinney, 3 G Keys, 4 P Drennen, 5 W Kirwan, 6 D Byrne.

Fastest lap: Buckley 94.044mph.

Supersport 1 – M Conlin, 2 A McClean, 3 D Jamison, 4 J Harvey, 5 J Lynn, 6 J Patterson.

Fastest lap: Conlin 93.900mph.

Supersport race 2 – 1 M Conlin, 2 W Kirwan, 3 J Patterson, 4 D Jamison, 5 J Lynn, 6 N Mawhinney.

Fastest lap: Conlin 92.838mph.

Moto3 race 1 – K McGreevy, 2 N Percy, 3 S Wilson. Race 2 – 1 K McGreevy, 2 N Percy, 3 S Wilson.

Supertwins race 1 – C O’Neill, 2 T Elliott, 3 K McGreevy. Race 2 – 1 C O’Neill, 2 T Elliott, 3 A Farrell.




Kyle White
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