I’ve just experienced my first taste of Irish road racing, and I’m hooked…..
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the 11th annual Armoy Road Races by the team at Michelin UK. Now, technically this wasn’t my first Irish road race, as I attended Armoy this time last year, but due to the combination of an on track incident and rapidly deteriorating weather we didn’t see a single lap of competitive action. This year, however, proved to be a very different affair.
I’d spent most of the week anxiously watching the weather forecast, and as the days progressed, sunny spells and light showers morphed into a predicted warm, dry day for the Saturday. It was looking promising!
When it comes to road racing, two tyre brands definitely spring to mind – Dunlop and Metzeler. However, one quick walk around the ‘Sunday-car-boot-esque’ paddock shows that Michelin are definitely making in-roads in this market. Davey Todd became the second fastest newcomer in TT history in 2018 on Michelin Power race tyres, and although he’s now left the Cookstown BE setup, his replacement Tom Weeden has stuck with the brand. Other familiar names on the Irish roads scene using Michelin include Ballymoney’s Daryll Tweed and lightweight specialist Stephen Mckeown, and with race dealer McKillop Motorcycles doing a brisk trade there were plenty of other machines visibly sporting a fresh set of Power Cup Evo rubber.
Following the recommendation of John McKillop, himself a former road racer, we opted for the Kennedy’s Corner grandstand for Saturday’s opening contest featuring the Junior Support, Lightweight Supersport and 650cc Twins. Kennedy’s, named after the famous Frank Kennedy of Armoy Armada fame, sits just down from the start/finish line and sees riders take a left-hand bend pretty much flat out as they charge up the hill and out of sight beyond the trees and hedges in the distance.
The experience of watching the first group of riders flying past the grandstand can only be described as exhilarating. On the opening lap one rider was on the grass, and as two competitors went elbow-to-elbow in the distance dust was kicked up from the back wheel as they jockeyed for space. It would only get better as the day progressed and the Supersports and Superbikes came out to play. Similarly, seeing the riders literally at the edge of the tarmac over Dunlop’s leap in the Open race, before thundering blind down the hill that followed towards Ballaney Cross, often trying to push the front wheel back on to the tarmac, was crazy to comprehend!
Just over two weeks on from breaking his pelvis at the Southern 100, Michael Dunlop was back in action at Armoy despite needing his team to lift him up onto the bike. Dunlop stalled on the grid line in Saturday’s Supersport race and pulled in at the end of lap two as Mullingar’s Derek McGee took the win by an impressive margin. On Friday, McGee was pushed all the way to the line by Paul Jordan, who was missing from Saturday’s action due to the re-appearance of a hand problem.
In the Open, Dunlop was clearly a man on a mission, and once he found a way past Derek Sheils he was away, pulling out a 4.4 second lead by the chequered flag. Later that day the Tyco BMW man had just found his way to the front of the ‘Race of Legends’ finale after making his move just beyond Kennedy’s when the red flags came out. Thankfully the incident wasn’t a serious one, and a 5 lap re-started race was a fitting end to a thrilling day, as Dunlop claimed another impressive victory ahead of Derek Sheils despite the Dublin man setting the fastest lap.
There were also wins for Barry Davidson,Andy Farrell and Neil Kernohan, while Dominic Herbertson dominated the Senior Classic.
Much to the delight of everyone at Michelin, newcomer Ryan Fenton of Ballymoney dominated Senior Support Race 2 on the Power Cup Evo to take his maiden road race win. Fenton also took home the cash prize for the fastest lap of the race, and was named the Newcomer of the Meeting after also scoring a podium on the Friday. There was also a trophy for Stephen McKeowen in the Lightweight Supersports.
If you haven’t been to an Irish meeting before, I can assure you there’s nothing like it, so get that ferry booked!
A huge thank you to Natilie and Duncan from Michelin for their hospitality over the weekend, all those involved in making the brilliant Armoy Road Races happen, and to the weather for playing ball this time around.
You can view the full Michelin race range here.
