Bring It On!

Published: 20th January 2007

Author: Words by Stevie Mills Photo by Sutty

The '06 season's only just ended and already our man in the Emerald Isle is eagerly anticipating another year of racing...

By the time you get your paws on this month's DBR you may well have noticed that our beloved motocross racing season is indeed fast approaching - although those who were unable to contain their excitement rode in the Mourne club's enduro just outside Newcastle.

A fantastic day's fun was had by everyone who braved both the weather and the natural terrain which included bogland and mountain trails that most goats would have struggled with. Man of the meeting was Philip McLoughlin who took the overall win from enduro expert Adrian Lappin while Stephen Russell rewarded himself with the third place medal.

Okay, time for a few 2007 bits and pieces... Gordon Crockard is just about to press the GO button on his preparations to fly the PAR Homes banner in British and world championships. Barty Marr has been working on his tan and surfing skills having resigned for Bike it/Dixon Yamaha, packed his bags, boarded the 'Freedom Bird' and jetted off to California to prepare for his British and GP campaigns. "Oh, if only," sighed Stevie as the wind and rain battered against his small office window (sorry, lost the plot there for a moment)...

On the national circuit the final chimes of musical saddles are just about over which leaves the bums on seats scenario looking something like this... Defending their Irish and Ulster titles in 2007, the Moto One/Intouch team will see Wayne Garrett take the lead role while teenage pilot Graeme Irwin joins the orange brigade. Young Irwin is no stranger to top-flight competition and has been riding at British championship level throughout his short but well documented career.

RBR Racing will again run multi ex-Ulster champ Tommy 'The Tiger' Merton. Despite several rumours of colour change, Tommy will race Honda 450/250 machinery.

Team GOMX will run Honda/Silkolene/Durographix.com on machinery supplied by Russell's and CCM Motorcycles. The triple Irish MX1 trophy winners are motivated to recapture the national crown in '07. New signing to partner Mike Sinton is southern centre ace Ross Brown who will concentrate on the MX2 series.

Ex GP star Laurence Spence will have his hands full for this coming season with teenagers Luke Wilde and Daniel Matheson flying the LS-Racing colours in MX2. Support will also be forthcoming for Stephen Lewis, Chris Ross and small wheel 85 rider Jonathan O'Neil.

The younger of the Garrett brothers, Jason, has penned a deal that will see him turn orange and join Andrew O' Brien and Davy Gorman under the AJ Plumbing big rig. Jason - who won a MX2 Irish championship race at Dundalk last season - has been training hard in preparation for his title challenge with his new team.

Fifth place in the Irish MX1 championship, capped with a personal best result of second place at Dundalk Motopark, helped young Darren Leonard come under the notice of Hilda from TMC Motox. Darren will ride Honda 250 machinery and wear Sinisalo products for the Naas-based internet motocross company.

One of the questions on people's lips this time of year is 'will there be a GP in Ireland?' - well, one answer to that is 'where would we run one if we had one?' Would it be worth considering putting Ireland forward for a round of the up-and-coming European championship? The gig would not cost a quarter of the money to run, the attendance figures would be the same and some local riders may just show off their talent in a realistic series.

Ireland's only indoor practice facility is pretty busy in these long winter evenings as many title hopefuls are starting to get back into shape for the season ahead. The Dirtworx winter mini SX series is in full swing and the competitiveness is starting to take this new extreme sport to the next level. Factory heads, pimped up suspension and extra grunt seem to be the order of the day.

Maxmx.co.uk/Monstermoto rider James McFerran has been pretty much unbeatable during the first three rounds with the O'Show in his tracks. And world downhill mountain bike ace Ben Reid is on the pace but has suffered from bad starts and the odd trip over the bars.

Well done to Peter and Fiona Bridgestone who, with the help of a dedicated team including Leslie Moore, raised over £3000 for the benefit of Clarke Clinic (children's ward in the Royal Victoria Hospital) and the MCUI Medical teams. Dr Fred McSorley was the man on the microphone and provided humour throughout the night's entertainment.

From a tug of war to laps of the Dromore Rugby Club pitch, teams from all disciplines of motorcycling were equally competitive. At the final count it was the road racers lead by Wosley Coulter from Colin Perry's trialsmen with Crockard's Commandos filling the third place slot.

See you all in the gym?