Report and results: Ulster Quad & Sidecar Championship RD3 – Laurelbank

The next stop on the calendar for the third round of the Ulster Quads and Sidecar series was Laurelbank on a glorious hot day with plenty of good racing on show.

In the premier quad class, Mark McLernon is the man to beat this year and he set the pace in qualifying to have first choice gate selection. In the first race he got a good start and was looking comfortable at the front before his seat fell off making it an uncomfortable ride. It was the experienced Justin Reid who took advantage of the situation and passed McLernon to take the win after Dean Dillon started to close down the gap towards the end of the moto. David Cowan was a man on the move as after spinning out on a corner during the opening stages he charged through to third. McLernon had to be content with fourth under the circumstances as he crossed the line ahead of Scottish visitor, Murray Graham.

Normal service was resumed for McLernon in race two as he got out in front and had things under complete control although he had a rear wheel puncture to manage right at the end of the race. Dean Dillon was riding strong in second but didn’t have enough time to close down McLernon but another second spot was a strong race. It was another average start for David Cowan but again he charged his way through to third to edge out race one winner, Justin Reid.

In the last race of the day it was McLernon’s most comfortable win and it give him another overall victory. Dean Dillon has been improving leaps and bounds and can be happy with another second spot – the next target for him will be an overall victory. It was another third for David Cowan over Justin Reid with the latter securing the final step on the podium on the day. Aaron Haslett saved his best for last to come home a find fifth in the final moto of the day.

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In the semi-expert class it was Kyle Orr who had the perfect day winning all three races to grab 75 championship points.

It was almost the perfect day for Dean Young as he won two of the three Clubman races to bring home the overall edging out Andrew Black and Michell Adams who rounded off the podium.

Corey O’Hara (Auto), Adam Gibson (100cc) and Ross Dillon (250cc) all shone in the youth classes to bring home victories at the Laurelbank circuit.

In the Sidecar class Gary Moulds made a return to racing after being out of action with a broken leg and was accompanied by his English passenger, Lewis Gray on their return to racing. In race one, Neil Campbell and Ross Graham took the holeshot while Moulds and Gray put them under pressure but they couldn’t make a pass stick. Campbell and Graham brought home their 120th race win in the series by winning moto one of the day.

Race two was looking similar to the first race but then Campbell and Graham made a mistake by going out wide and colliding with rope. This allowed Moulds and Gray to find away through to take the second race win of the day on their first race appearance this year.

In the last race of the day, Campbell and Graham had their most comfortable victory by winning with a margin of over 22 seconds to take the overall win and bring home their 121st moto win. Moulds and Gray can be happy with the return to racing as they already showed race winning pace and should only get stronger from here as they hope to turn their attentions to World Championship action later in the year.

Jonathan Wilson and Andrew Rowan were the best of the rest as they went 3-3-3 in the moto’s to secure third overall and edged out Emma Moulds and Nikki Adair.

Overall Results

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