HILLSBOROUGH & DISTRICT MOTORCYCLE CLUB LTD 2014 SUNFLOWER TROPHY MOTOCYCLE RACES Friday 24th & Saturday 25th October - Bishopscourt Racing Circuit SPONSORS APPRECIATION EVENING & PRESS RELEASE It is a great pleasure for me as Race Secretary of the Hillsborough & District Motor Cycle Club to give you details of the races and entries for this year’s event. Entries are still being received for the meeting so any additional information including sponsors and competitor updates will be included in future press releases. In 2012 the Sunflower Trophy Races did not take place mainly due to the fact we attempted to run the event mid-season of the BSB championship and the anticipated quality of entry nominally associated with the meeting did not materialise. The club made the difficult decision to forsake the 2012 event and concentrate on 2013 with a return to the traditional date after the BSB Championship climax. With Motorcycle Racing still struggling on the backlash of one of the worst recessions of recent times 2013 entries far surpassed the clubs expectations with over 200 entries on the day. This laid the foundation for the successful return of this popular event. Promoting the Sunflower, we aim to give our local talented competitors a chance to show their ability against the stars of the British Championships. As the season ends the club strives to achieve a top class field but we have to wait to see if teams are still intact and willing to travel to our shores. This year we are extremely proud of both the quality and quantity of riders entered for this the final round of the Irish Championships. The Sunflower Trophy Race is the feature event of the meeting and it is made up of 15 seeded riders with the fastest 26 from Supersport and Superbike qualifying on Friday making up a field of 36. We are indebted to Jim Finlay for sponsoring the Sunflower for the 38th year. Thank you Jim. A highly successful Irish and Ulster Short Circuit Championship season sees its final 2 rounds at the Bishopscourt circuit and the Hillsborough Club will have a full programme of events where a fair few classes have top 3 positions yet to be decided. There are 3 races planned immediately after the timed practice sessions on Friday and these classes will also have a race on Saturday. The Down District Council Supersport Cup and Superbike Cup races see the Clubman type racers do battle. Those quick enough in the Cup races will be upgraded into the feature Supersport and Superbike events. Production 125 / 250 and Moto 3 Newcomers are events for mostly our younger competitors so watch out for a star of the future. The Pre Injection class is mainly for the grass roots competitor and the 250GP class gives the 2 stroke machines a run out The Grab A Cabbie Lightweight Race sees the Moto 3 class run concurrently with the Supersport 400 class and we would expect to see the Moto 3 Champion Christian Elkin being challenged by young guns Richard Kerr and Kyle Cross alongside Red Bull Rookie Caolin Irwin from Donegal. The entry in the Supersport 400 is very healthy with all the top Irish competitors likely to be on the grid but with Alvin Griffin having won the Irish Championship, there is a tight battle for second place with only 5 points separating Stephen Shortt, Peter Fletcher and James Ging. The ever-flamboyant figure of Czech Republic rider Michal Dukopil, on the RT&E Kawasaki, will also want to make his mark in this class. Schimmel Distribution are sponsoring the Supertwin / Production Twin Race which as always provides close racing. Irish Championship leader Philip McNally has it all but secured, but be assured that his title rival Korie McGreevy will not give in until the flag drops. With Michal Dukopil entered in this race along with Jamie Hamilton there should be no shortage of excitement. Glenn Irwin and Nico Mawhinney will also come under starters orders in this race but also watch out for young Bradley Perie from Cumbria who has done so well in the Thundersport series. The Whitemountain Landrover Centre and D.B.Tiles Supersport Races could turn out to be the races of the day with top BSB contenders Gearlink Kawasaki’s Glenn Irwin, team mate Luke Hedger and Mar-Train’s Alastair Seeley continuing their season long battle. Throw into the mix local riders Nikki Coates, Jamie Hamilton on the Wilson Craig Honda and Carl Philips, who has already lifted the Adelaide Masters and Irish Supersport titles, it really is a hard one to call. Series regulars Robert Kennedy, Jamie Patterson and Christian Elkin are equally in the running so spectators can expect a high speed dual among all these contenders. The promoting club are extremely pleased to report that top Cross Channel BSB competitors Sam Coventry, Danny Webb and local rider young Karl Corbett have confirmed their entries. The Superbike Class will see Mar Train’s Dean Harrison out on the Yamaha and Jamie Patterson on the Bathams BMW. Regular supporters of the Sunflower, Gearlink Kawasaki will have Ben Wilson showing his exciting riding style and he will be joined on the grid by Tsingtao Racing’s newly crowned BSB Superstock Champion Danny Buchan. Danny’s teammate Gary Mason will also travel over to compete. Local team owner Mark Webster of MWR Kawasaki has given Carl Philips a provisional Superbike ride. His teammate will be James Egan from South Africa. BSB star Sam Coventry is an late entry on a Superbike in this class. Last year’s Irish Superbike Champion Nico Mawhinney has made a successful move to the British Thundersport Class this year and he will compete on the Seadrift Offshore Racing Kawasaki. The Hillsborough club are delighted to announce that Milwaukee Yamaha will have local rising star Andy Reid out for the first time on a Superbike, and I am sure he will be in the mix for top honours. Always a regular competitor both here and at BSB in the Superstock 1000 class, the ever popular local man Marshal Neil will unfortunately not compete this year. After a crash at the last round of the Adelaide Masters he will not be fit to compete. The Hillsborough Club wish him a speedy recovery. AJ Plumbing and new sponsor this year Belfast Honda sponsor the Superbike races. The Hillsborough Club are very grateful for their support. We must congratulate Scobby Killough for again getting a strong entry for the ever-popular Sidecar class. With Tim Reeves and Sean Hegarty coming to the starting grid we are sure to witness a classic 3 wheel spectacle. Our thanks also go out to Ironside Trophies and Wash & Dash for supporting this very popular class this year. The Parade Lap guys get a run out on Friday and Saturday and Adrian Craig looks after the entries for this event sponsored by Norman Watt Motorcycles. One of the highlights will be Con Law out on Steve Hislops RC30. Together with Ray McCullough on a TZ350 Yamaha, Geoff McMullan on an RG500 Suzuki and Adrian out on his own TZ750 Yamaha there is plenty of history on show in this class. A total grid of over thirty bikes proves that this is still a very popular part of the Sunflower. There will also be a special appearance in the form of 10 year old John Campbell from Lisburn. John has just won the 2014 World Mini Moto Championship and adds his name to a list of winners which include Mark Marquez and Valentino Rossi. He is definitely one to watch for the future and he will ride his world championship wining 50cc Conti Mini Moto in the parade lap. As previously stated entries are still being received and I would appeal to competitors to make the effort to get their entries in. Entry forms are available at all the motorcycle web sites or the Sunflower Trophy Facebook site where up to date information and chat is available. Telephone myself at 07812204382 if you need any more information. Just to remind you that Qualification gets underway with timed practice on Friday morning at 09.00 and warm up on Saturday at 09.00. The gates at Bishopscourt circuit will open at 1pm on Thursday 23rd and there will be scrutineering and signing on for competitors available from then. Scrutineering on Friday starts at 7.30am. Entry for spectators is £20 for the weekend or £15 for Saturday race day. Entry includes an official souvenir programme. Finally could I thank sponsors, officials, competitors, press and spectators for their support of the Sunflower Trophy Races. Derek McWhirter ( Race Secretary )
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:21:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015