Des-aster!
Published: 17th October 2006
Author: Words by Stevie Mills Photo by Anthony O'Sutton
There were long faces among when Team Ireland got the boot from the MXdN - but, according to our man in the Emerald Isle, the disappointment was short-lived!
Team Ireland's MX des Nations challenge ended in the third corner of heat one when GC was used as a runway by an over-enthusiastic foreign pilot - the Wulfsport Honda rider was unable to continue and became a spectator for the remainder of the weekend.
Martin and Philip were also having a day to forget as the Yamaha rider collected a footpeg in his exhaust and Phil's loose sparkplug cap made the run up to the big jumps interesting to say the least. Many hundreds of Irish fans made the trip across the channel to cheer on Team Ireland and the fact that the boys did not get to ride the support class on the Sunday cast a shadow over the ethos of the des Nations.
In typical Irish form, the disqualification of Team Ireland lead to mass disappointment - which lasted about two minutes, then it was back to the bar, dancing naked on top of the JCBs in the infield and other such customary Irish traditions.
On a more serious note, one of our own was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Saturday night and remains in hospital at the time of writing. All from DBR and the motocross fraternity wish to offer our prayers and support to young Stuart and his family during this difficult time.
One thing that has been on the lips of everyone who either attended or watched the des Nations on TV is just how or where Ireland would host such a mammoth event. Desertmartin is one of the finest circuits in Europe - of that there is no question - but the infrastructure that's needed to cope with an influx of some 30,000 visitors is quite something else.
Imagine this! A purpose-built circuit for the 2008 des Nations with a full week's entertainment from concerts and other sporting events to keep the mass influx of visitors occupied. Properly marketed this could be the greatest 'Come visit Ireland' tourist opportunity.
Still on the subject of the des Nations, the supermoto version was hosted at Bishops Court in September and the Irish team finished a fine fifth overall. Sadly, in contrast to the vast crowd at the UK event, the attendance level left the organisers disappointed.
As discussed last month, the game of musical saddles is in full swing with the main focus being on GC and Martin Barr. Gordy has a couple of interesting offers to consider and will make a decision shortly while Martin is more than happy to continue in the Steve Dixon stable and a move to the MX2 class should see Martin return to form if they can agree terms.
Okay, time for some conformation of 'bums on bikes'! Robert Hamilton will move to full-time British championship racing with the signing of a deal with Yamaha's Emberson Racing team. Under the guidance of the softly-spoken Roy Emberson (yeah, right) and spanner supremo Mike Forster, Robert will have the best opportunity possible to further his career. A special thanks to Barry Millar from Millar's Chip Shops for helping make this possible.
Tommy Merton is excited about returning to the top of his game in 2007 and a big thanks goes to Jeff and Jackie Rainey along with Mark from Holeshot for their support. This successful partnership will continue in 2007 aboard Honda machinery.
Moto-One/Intouch KTM's Wayne Garrett will partner multi Irish/Ulster champ Phil McCullough as the team move to the British championship arena. Word has it that the team are currently talking to a number of riders to join Wayne in the MX2 Maxxis series.
GOMX365 will make their rider and sponsor line-up announcement in next month's DBR but it's anticipated that Mike Sinton will sign up for his fifth season with the team. Continuing to nurture new talent, the colourful GOMX stable will include support riders in both Semi Expert and Grade C classes.
Paddock whispers now! Adam Lyons may return to the fray next season and a challenge for the Ulster MX2 crown is the hot rumour while machinery would be yellow in colour. Adam has confirmed his entry for the forthcoming Events 22 spectacular at the Belfast Odyssey Arena on November 24/25.
Along with GC and Martin Barr, Phil McC will join Adam as they prepare to pit their talent against the rest of the world. The Events 22 hotline has been ringing throughout the wee small hours as riders from all corners of the globe are keen to race in the Belfast event. It's testimony to the prestige generated throughout the industry that riders of the calibre of Mike Brown, JSR, Jacob Saylor and many other internationally acclaimed SX stars have already signed up to race.
DBR will give you the final line-up and news on the celebrity minibike racers who will tackle the SX circuit on Monstermotos (has Sutty been practising)? And speaking of competition minibikes, the dates of the DIRTWORX winter minibike series are now available on at www.ulstermotocross.com
Finally this month, congratulations to Philip McCullough! At the time of writing Phil has won the Irish MX1, MX2 and Ulster MX1 titles with two rounds of the Ulster MX2 series still to run. It really doesn't get much better for the big man!