2012 Round 2 – Irish National BMX Race Series

National  Two was back at the Cherry Orchard indoor track on March 11th 2012.

 

 

 

 

So where do we stand after the first two nationals?

 

Well, two kids with a bright future in the 5 – 6 Boys are Reece Donohoe (6) and Corey Waller (5) both quicker than their ages or experience in the sport would suggest and both teaching their fathers a thing or two about riding bikes. Worth keeping a eye on. Reece won N1 but missed N2 leaving Corey to clean up and take top spot. Charlie Jackson is sitting in second overall  at this point.  Cal Gilmer is in the thick of it too.

 

Moving up to the 8 year old boys we have Matthew Fitzgibbon leading with two wins, Lee O’Sullivan and Thomas Duffy are close behind at this early stage but there is plenty of time for the rest to reel them in.

 

Morgan Kearney has stormed out in front in the 9 year old boys, he’s a machine! Cian O’ Sullivan is in second and Emmet Murphy third.

 

The 10 year old Boys group is one of the largest fields we have. Ross Callaghan is in charge so far with two wins closely followed by Aaron Kelly and Daniel Barker in joint second.

 

Jumping up a level to the 12 year old Boys are Aaron McNally and Adam Davis both from Ratoath BMX Club swapping firsts and seconds, after two rounds they are locked together on the same points.  Emmet Callaghan has taken two thirds. This one is going to get interesting as it develops.

 

In the 13 year old Boys we have Matthew Malone out in front after a win and a second. Eoin Corrigan has jumped into second place over all after an impressive win at N2. David Dorney is not far behind the two leaders. Two consistent thirds leaves Sam Murphy sitting in forth, a descendent of the 80’s BMX Murphy Clan, we’re still waiting for his father to join the rebellion.

 

 

 

Aaron Edwards is a potential future talent, he’s currently sitting first in the 14 year olds with two wins. Jake Lynch has finally put some brakes back on his bike and they don’t seem to be slowing him down, he’s in second. In third we have another Callaghan, this time it’s Thomas.

 

15 – 16 Boys is a real close one with the three main contenders separated by a whisker. John Ward took the first one but was injured for the second leaving Killian Callaghan to mop it up. Ryan Waters had two bad looking crashes at N2 but is still sitting second overall. If all three make it to N3 in one piece it’s going to be real interesting. Shaun Palmer missed N1 but with a second in N2 is in with a shout.

 

The girls numbers are slowly starting to increase, these are always interesting classes for us as this is where we had most success internationally back in the day.

 

In the 9 -10 Girls group Abby  Steacy is showing some natural ability. Ciara McDonald and Bronte Collins are second and third respectively.

 

Girls 11 – 12 leader Katie O’ Neill looks to be in total control here, good things to come from her in the future, second place Kelsey Duffy and third place Ciara Williams will be gunning for her next time out.

 

Alison Murphy, still in her factory Raleigh gear from the 80’s is joint top in the ladies category with MTB convert Sylvia Gallagher. Kayleigh Gibbons who got third in N1 was missing second time out but will hopefully be back. The big story here is Katie O’ Neill from the 11 – 12 girls racing up a level and pulling off an impressive win in N2 leaving her third overall.

 

 

And finally, the 16+ male category is an interesting one to say the least. It’s the largest group with 37 riders so far. It’s made up of 80’s riders reliving their youth, still talented but not quite as quick, some  XC and DH mountain bikers, lots of talent there, some trails and park riders and even a few new riders to the sport but leading the pack at this early stage is street riding convert Alex Holiday who’s slowly starting to look like a proper racer. Shane Jessup is looking real smooth in second. Paul Cummins is in third overall with a third in N1 and fourth in N2, Lar Massey back after a near fatal case of man flu stole Paul’s third in N2 securing a sixth in the tables.  Dara Burke is sitting in fourth place with Eamonn Wyer still in the hunt in fifth.

 

 

 

All the action images from Round 2 of the 2012 National BMX Race Series can be found HERE and HERE. Thanks again to Stephen Kane for the excellent images.