Jonny makes his Mark at Bush races

Riding an ER6 Kawasaki, backed by Electricity Network Solutions, Jonny took a more or less start to finish win in the Junior Support race.

That's not say he had it easy, though, as he was pushed hard by Scot Craig Shirlaw and Darren Hughes, who was riding an ER6 raced last year by Ryan Farquhar.

Shirlaw's challenge evaporated with just over 2 laps to go, when he retired, leaving Hughes to move to within a few yards of the local man. At Bush Corner on the last lap, Hughes ran slightly wide, giving the local man just enough of a breather, to take his first win, watched by proud dad John, and the rest of the team. Hughes came back to within .3 of a second at the line, but it was not enough, and Mark took the win.

Dean Harrison set the fastest lap of the race, but still finished 13 seconds off the pace in third place.

Randalstown rider Mark Waddell was the only other local finisher. He took 21st place, with a quickest lap of 75.994mph.

The Supertwins race kicked the 10 race programme into life. Due to his ongoing dispute with the MCUI, Ryan Farquhar decided that he would sit the meeting out. John Burrows took the race win, albeit, a hollow one, due to the fact that Farquhar was absent.

Burrows, to my mind, got his win that bit easier when William Davison retired with a couple of laps to go. His ER6 suffered a dead battery. Davison was moving right on terms with Burrows, and I reckon would have been with the Dungannon man by the time the race finished.

Circuit newcomer, Czech Republic rider Michal Dokoupil, better known as Indi, came home in second place, comfortably ahead of Derek Sheils.

Ballymena man Jonny Mark was the best local rider in this race. He took 5th place, having a fastest lap of 79.743mph. Galgorm's Darren Gilpin was the only other local finisher. he was 12th, having a quickest lap of 77.160mph.

The second race of the day was the 250/350 Classic. Mark McGaw looked like he was going to take a win here. He hadnt reckoned on the finishing speed of Thomas Hogg, and the Leonard Honda.

On the last lap, Thomas caught and passed the Scottish man, beating him to the line by under a second. Tim Stephenson finished in third place, but was not too far off the pace.

Coincidentally, the race winner collected the Ian Leonard Memorial Trophy. It was presented to the Dungannon club by George and Doris Leonard, who own the bike that Thomas used to take the race win. If you want a bit more coincidence, the only two other winners of the trophy, in 08 and 09, were Adrian McFarland and Nigel Moore, both past riders of the same bike, although they didn''t use it to win the trophy. Thats bound to be useful in a pub quiz!

In the 250 class, Ballymena man Barry Davidson ran out as the comfortable winner. He was almost a full minute ahead of Philip Shaw.

William Dunlop, riding for Randalstown man Chris Dowd, was a comfortable winner of the Supersport 600 race. He finished over 15 seconds ahead of Michael Pearson, with Johnny Burrows close behind. Jonny Mark was the best of the local men, finishing in 14th place on his Honda. He had a fastest lap of 82.232mph.

Robert Gordon, from Portglenone, was 22nd, with a fastest lap of 80.1376mph, while Dennis Booth, on his comeback ride after a really nasty crash at last year's Ulster Grand Prix, was 25th and had a quickest lap of 78.705mph. Randalstown's Jack McIlvenna was listed as a retirement, stopping on the last lap on the Moira clubs R6.

I have already told you about the next race, race 4, which went to Jonny Mark.

The next outing was the Open race. After early leader Michael Pearson dropped off the pace he gradually slipped back to finish fourth, complaining of arm pump. It left Davy Morgan to take a long overdue road race win, finishing just 1.2 ahead of Michael Dunlop. Dunlop, on an R6 as opposed to the bigger bikes of his opponents, set the new record here, and was some 3 seconds ahead of John Burrows at the end.

Jack McIlvenna sorted out the gremlins that caused his retirement in the earlier 600 race, bringing the Yamaha across the line in 12th place, with a fastest lap of 85.024mph. Den Booth was 23rd, and had a quickest lap of 80.197mph.

Our only other local man was Kells' Corran Smyth. He pulled in at the end of the fourth lap, also suffering with arm pump. Corran told me afterwards: "I was well in touch with Den (Booth) and a couple of other guys. I got that I wasn't able to feel the throttle, and then it started to slip in my hand. I couldn't hold it open, so I just pulled in. It was getting dangerous."

Gilford's Stephen Larkin had a good win in the Senior Support race. He finished 4.8 seconds ahead his near neighbour, Shaun Anderson, from Banbridge. Craig Shirlaw took third place. Jonny Mark was fourth, getting the better of Dean Harrison by almost a second. Jonny's quickest lap was 82.255mph. Our only other local rider was Robert Gordon. Rab was 8th, with a fastest lap of 81.848mph.

The Grand Final was the next race on the programme. With a new lap record, it went to the CD Racing R6 ridden by William Dunlop. Dunlop finished 2.7 ahead of John Burrows, while Michael Pearson was third. Jack McIlvenna was the only local man to take part, finishing in 12th position. He had a fastest lap of 85.711mph.

The William Dunlop show carried on into the 250/400 Junior race, where, with yet another new lap record, Dunlop took the race win from Wayne Hamilton. Davy Morgan was well back in third place. Barry Davidson, on the CB Honda took 7th place, with a quickest lap of 83,567mph. Mark Waddell was a retirement.

In truth, the Senior Classic race was a bit of a bore. It quickly developed into a procession, which gave a win to Robert McCrum. Neil McWhirter was second and Manxman Allan Brew third, almost a full minute adrift.

The final race of the day was the 125GP/Moto450 event. With the only 450, that of Trevor Ferguson, being let away some 30 seconds ahead of the leading 125GP riders, we all watched with interest to see how long it would take for the quick men to go ahead on the road. The answer was not too long. By the time the leaders had returned to the start finish, Ferguson had already been passed by most of them.

William Dunlop destroyed yet another lap record, winning by 1.4 seconds from Dungannon man Nigel Moore. Moore, who had led away from the line, was pushed hard by Paul Robinson, but the Ballymoney man could do nothing that would get him ahead of Moore.

The only local representitive was Jeff Shaw. The Cloughmills man, who was refused his race licence at the start of the season due to a back injury, has finally passed the medical. With his first race of the year being at the Bush, he was to end the day disappointed when a battery went flat on his little Logan Honda. Jeff retired on the sixth lap of eight.

A well organised meeting, that was fired through with no delay between races. Unfortunately race fans, and ultimately the paying public were denied the chance to see Ryan Farquhar racing, due to the dispute that is ongoing between the Killyman rider and the MCUI. Hopefully, it can be sorted out before any more of the sport's credibility is lost.