2013 Irish BMX National Series – Round 6

 

 

Ratoath BMX are tight with the weather gods! Yet again the heavy rain that plagued us all week stopped for just long enough to run the 6th round of the Irish BMX National Series, the sun even made an appearance.

 

99 riders in total got on the gate in pursuit of adrenaline overload and some national points.

 

The big story of the day was Matthew Malone joining the Superclass ranks and beating most of them in the moto’s. His first ever race in the class was a win, impressive! Hopefully more of the young shreeders follow his lead. The Superclass final was won by Aussi import Ben Schultz on the last straight from Lar Massey with Eamonn Wyer in third. It was Ben’s third National appearance this year and his first win. Expect more! Aaron Steacy and John Ward were no shows while Ilmars Virsis had a bad day at the office, he spent most of it on the ground, which leaves the battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th in the table very tight indeed, either Cian Deegan or Dara Burke could still sneak in there.

 

 

In the 30+ Men, Ian Callaghan added another win, edging ever closer to the title. If he does win it in October will he be able to hold the trophy, the plate and that cup of tea at the same time? What happen to Rod ‘I will jump anything’ Hughes in the final? He was flying all day and looked like a safe bet but it was ECR’s Geoff Lynch who took the second spot with Paul Moore rounding out the top three. This groups close racing certainly makes it one of the most interesting for the spectators. Hopefully it pretty much stays intact for 2014.

 

 

Katie O’Neill has yet to drop points in the Ladies category. We should just print her name on the number 1 plate now! Alison Murphy and Alex Malone and going to have to resort to training to bridge the gap.

 

 

With Aaron Steacy MIA it was up to his younger sisters to represent the family. Abby kept up her flawless form taking another first in the 8-10 girls and Chloe also took the top spot in the under 7 girls. Shauna Byrne and Skyla Nally are also in the hunt not too far behind Chloe. Abby will have to keep one eye Jade Gaffney and Shauna Rowe.

 

The 16-29 men was again combined with the 15 boys, Aaron Edwards took this one again for the perfect streak with Patrick Bradley in second. Brian Gillen got in on the action too to claim the third podium spot. Jake Lynch who recently showed just how fast he can be had to watch from the sidelines with his injured shoulder.

 

The 14 boys was taken by an on-form Eoin Corrigan with Sam Murphy in second. It looks like that the number one plate is going to come down to a battle between these two with only 10 points separating them. Hopefully it won’t be long before they follow Matthew up to Superclass. Adam Fynes earned his first podium place and then proceeded to knock himself out in a crash after the race. Last we heard was he’s fine but can’t remember much of the day, he’s going to have the get another podium next time out to rectify that.

 

 

With Adam Davis still out of action with a broken collar bone, the 13’s boys was a battle between Aaron McNally, Leon Curley and Jason Rowe, finishing in that order. Leon moves into the overall first place but it’s all very close there. In fact dropping one round means Aaron would be slightly ahead.

 

 

The 10’s and 11 boys where combined due to low numbers but it was still Morgan Kearney who took the win in a tight final. Jack Larkin took second after looking the favourite in the moto’s with a clean sweep. Ross Callaghan had to settle for a third on the day, a position he’s not used too but he still tops the table.

 

 

The real star of the day was Niall Davis in the 9’s, he just keeps getting quicker and quicker. He was winning by almost a straight all day. Lee O’Sullivan, always in the mix, was second, with Ryan Quinn taking third. The number one plate is still very much up for grabs in this one, the last two Nationals will be pivotal.

 

 

Corry Waller won again in the combined  7 – 8 boys. A full house for him so far. Ruben Smith was the only rider close. Reuben Byrne took the third.

 

The 6 and under boys was dominated by James Wood with Dylan Hahne-Moore taking second. Alex Waller had his first National podium in third.

 

 

 

The National standings are updated HERE

 

 

On the Team front it was back to business for CAAM Racing, after a slight hiccup last month they were back to maximum points this time leaving clear daylight between themselves and Principal Stay Strong in second. The big movers in the table where Ratoath locals the Moto Maniacs. Some great results this time out propelling them from fifth all the way to a potential podium place in third. Unit 8 Haro are not that far behind in forth.

 

Callaghan Racing are also up a place to fifth at the expense of Area 57 – Profile Racing who are down to sixth from forth, falling victim to team riders not making an appearance. The rest of the table has more or less remained unchanged except for Congress BMX Racing, BMX Bandits (also down 2 riders) and Kings-N-Leon all swapping places.

 

While first and second are almost sewn up in the Team League the battle for the last podium spot is going to get interesting in the coming months.

 

The Team Table can be seen HERE

 

 

Stephen Kane of Oilte Photography was out documenting all the action again, you can see all his shots HERE.

 

AC Photography were back too. See Anthony Connor’s images HERE and HERE.

 

Eugene Jackson was also out with his camera, catch his photo’s HERE.

 

Corey Waller also has a lot of images up on his Facebook page HERE.

 

There were a few other’s out at the track with impressive looking camera’s but as of yet they haven’t unveiled their images, as they appear we will add the links.

 

A huge amount of effort goes into these races, not only on the day but weeks in advance.The next time your out at Ratoath BMX or DCBMX please remember the work that the people running these venues do for You and Your Sport!

 

 

Some of the action was caught by Brian Gillen in the video below

 

 

 

 

 

The next National is back out at Ratoath on September 15th. Lots of time to make up positions, very little is already decided.

 

You can see all the future races HERE.