| It was the long trek to
the Walderstown "Race of the South"
Road Races next on the calendar and Davy
and the team were hoping to continue the
run of finishing races. With the Strangford
Holiday Park/Leisure Services Suzuki,
CSC Branson Yamaha and Davy Morgan #71
Road Racing Supporters Club 250cc Honda
packed in another busy weekend was anticipated. |
pic : Joe Connolly |
| Practice was a bit of a disaster
with problems with two of the three bikes
making it just a little frustrating. The
Open Class was first and the Strangford
Holiday Park/Leisure Services Suzuki although
quick enough the clutch was slipping especially
high up resulting in a dissappointing eighth
place qualifying. There was more problems
with the re-built 250cc Honda when it seized
solid at the start of the second lap and
that meant Davy was the last qualifier in
the class. Fortunately the afternoon was
saved by the CSC Branson R6 Yamaha as the
stormed to second successive front row start
in the Supersport Class. So it was going
to be a busy evening to get bikes ready
for race day. |
Race Day was to be an evetful
one with close racing, incidents and oil
leaks. It started with the Open Championship
Race and with the clutch problems in practice
the start would be from the front of the
B Group. There was a bit of a messy start
as one rider pulled off late and the B
Group was delayed before going off, although
Davy was still first away and quickly
gapped the guys behind. With the delyaed
start he could not see the guys in front
even on the long straight and found it
difficult to get his pace. He did however
still make some ground to eventually finish
in fifth place, well in to the A Group
on corrected time.
The 250cc Race was next and Davy took
it steady off the start, but it did not
last long when half way round the opening
lap early leader Kennedy went down with
Burns and Dunlop in front of Davy getting
caught up with him and his machine, then
Robinson and Donnelly behind Davy also
coming down in the aftermath. Fortunately
Davy was able to pick his way through
the bikes and riders in the road although
it did mean taking to the grass. The race
was understandly red flagged, but then
surprisingly not re-run later in the day.
The best result of the day came in the
Supersport Race on the CSC Branson R6
Yamaha. With the evnts of the 250 Race
still fresh in the mind he got off the
line slow and found himself back in seventh
early on. After a couple of laps Davy
got his race face back on and quickly
picked his way through to fourth and on
to the tail of Sweeney with two laps remaining.
With a lap to go he did get to third briefly,
but Sweeney got the drive and put him
back to fourth, although he did have another
go at the final corner, but had to settle
for fourth by a fraction of a second in
a hard fought battle.
The Grand Final turned out a non-event
when an oil leak on the opening lap resulted
in retirement and that was the day over. |
pic : Joe Connolly |
| A frustrated Davy spoke
later, "That was a difficult
weekend and just a little frustrating.
Practice was a mixed bag with issues on
the Suzuki and Honda resulting is worse
than expected qualifying positions. The
first Open Race should have been restarted
as it was a bit messy and with the B Group
start being delayed it meant i could not
see the guys in front and it was difficult
to get the pace right although i still
made in roads to the A Group on corrected
time and claimed another top six."
"The 250 Race was eventful,
we had to rebuild the engine after practice
so it was going to be a bit of fingers
crossed anyway, but what happened on the
opening lap you can not prepare for and
it did fry my head a bit. I have no idea
how i did not go down with the other five
guys as at one stage i was braking on
the grass and thinking this is going to
hurt. Fortunately i would like to think
my experience and a bit of luck helped
me pick my through the mayhem and i wish
all the guys a speedy recovery. Although
i was a bit annoyed that the race was
not run later in the day as there was
time."
"The 600 race was shortly afterwards
and i have to say it took me a few laps
to get my head off the 250 events and
on to my racing again, but when i did
i quickly made my way through the riders
in front and had a great scrap with Michael
(Sweeney) for third place. If the race
had been full distance with a little more
time i was confident i could have claimed
another podium for Steve (Caffyn). The
bike is going well after our TT issues
and i am pleased that we are at last getting
some decent results on it."
"The Grand Final was really
frustrating and short lived with a retirement
on the opening lap due to an oil leak
as i was looking to better my earlier
result on Trevor's (Matthewson) Suzuki.
My foot slipped of the peg and i looked
down and saw the oil on my boot so i pulled
off immediately for my own and the other
riders safety. Its now a quick turnaround
and off to the Southern 100 were i hope
we can get some more finishes on all three
bikes."
|