Flatout Racing

Report: Robert Lynn
Photographer: Joesph McGrath

Stuart Edmonds, 2009 Mx1 and Mx2 Carville Irish Motocross Champion

The maths were simple. Entering the final round of the Irish MX1 championship at Dundalk Motopark, TSR KTM mounted Wayne Garrett needed to win both motos to stand a chance of retaining his title. The rest would be left to faith. Electraction TM mounted Stuart Edmonds held a mere 12-point advantage over Garrett in the chase for the title. If Wayne won, Stuart could settle for no less than third. The only unknown factor in the equation was that of overseas rider Ashley Greedy. With outright speed capable of matching the championship protagonists would he upset the apple cart and snatch a win?

As the 15-second board rose for the start of the opening MX1 moto, all eyes were transfixed upon the blue TM of Edmonds and the orange KTM of Garrett’s. It was Garrett who got the jump and left the starting gate like a bat out of hell to round the first corner at the front of the pack. Staying out of trouble he pulled clear from the chasing pack that was lead by Kawasaki mounted Gary Gibson to take the race win. Buried in the midpack, Edmonds put in a brave first lap and worked his way to 3rd. A costly stall dropped him down to 6th and Greedy inherited 3rd. By mid distance Edmonds had found his way back to 4th but with Garrett out front, 4th wouldn’t do. Digging deep he slowly inched his way to Greedy’s rear mudguard and with two laps to go, the crowd could feel a overtake was imminent. Sizing him up, Stuart went for the pass and made it stick and held on to take 3rd at the chequered flag. He had done enough.

Jim O’Neill who won the B mx2 championship

Entering the final moto of the year, Edmonds lead had shrunk to 7-points and it seemed like Garrett had momentum on his side. The championship had come down to the wire and neither side could afford a slip up. It was title time. Greedy shot out front to hold the early advantage, just in front of Gibson, while Garrett and Edmonds were stationed in 3rd and 4th respectively. All Stuart needed to do was hang on to Wayne’s shirttails, while Wayne needed distance between the two. In an instant, Edmonds single handily offered Garrett the title when he crashed hard off a jump dropping down to 7th. With Wayne up to 2nd and Stuart in the dirt, he was the champion elect. The apple cart had fallen all by itself. Unfortunately for Wayne but luckily for Stuart, the race had only reached half distance, time was still on his side and Lady Luck was on his graphics. Mounting a charge he worked his way to 6th, then 5th before taking 4th off Ross Brown on the final corner of the final lap. With Wayne 2nd had he done enough? It was clear the TSR KTM rider wasn’t content in 2nd he needed the win now more than ever. By winning the race the duo would draw level on overall points but on the count back the championship would be his. Showing a wheel at every given opportunity the crucial pass wouldn’t stick and he crossed the line dejectedly less than a second behind Greedy and with Edmonds narrowly beating Brown by one second, that was all it took for Stuart Edmonds to become the 2009 Carville MX1 Irish champion.

2009 Carville Irish Motocross Champions

MX1: Stuart Edmonds

MX2: Stuart Edmonds

Grade B

MX1: David Ferguson

MX2: Jim O’Neill

Grade C

MX1: Ryan McKeown

MX2: Steven May

Story:James McCarthy
Photos: Jayo Fleming

It was the final round of the youth Irish championship 2009 in Gormanston, all last winter’s hard work, training commitments and years racing were down to this. Over the year some amazing races were seen and lots will be remembered and talked about in the future and Saturday provided a lot of these. It was going to be a tense day for all and it began with were it last left off, full of action.

A championship over view!
• The morning started with the automatics for their final qualifying session of the Irish championship. With Robert Mcilroy entering only needing 10points from the day. Lee coffee is his closest rival in the championship. Having started the day ahead Mcilroy was feeling better than every with confidence of been over a second faster than any other rider in his class in qualifying.
• The 65cc was to be the best racing all day as the championship was down to the line. Aaron Piper local Dublin rider entered the day with a mere 6 point lead over championship contender David Gavin jnr. Over the course of the year both riders provided unmissable action. They were so close you could of flipped a coin, and it was agreed by all that no matter who won the championship, it would be a great achievement to either of the riders as the pace they carried were quick enough to run with the top 6’s of the small wheeled 85’s.
• The small wheeled 85 championship had already been deiced from the previous round and the provisional winner is Jason Meara. Jason decided to sit out the day and watch the action as well as cheering on his younger brother Calum in the 65’s. However there were still other spots to be decided.
• The big wheel 85s was another race to watch for the day as upcoming youth Jordan Keogh had his sights set on the Irish champion title. And from the start Keogh took 1st place in qualifying from Luke Featherstone and 2nd place championship rival Glenn McCormick. Keogh seemed a step ahead however posting fastest lap by 1.7secs
• Again the 125/250f class had been combined for the day as the entries were down. The 125 class championship had also been won before entering the final round by John meara. John has done exceptionally well winning the 125 class this year having only moved up from the b/ws, in which he also won the irish championship last year. John also decided to sit out the day and watch his fellow competitors’ battle it out for the remaining spots. In the 250 class Christy Hartnett entering the day in first ahead of Ryan Davin. Both were able to win the championship but who would it be?

Autos

RACE 1: Lee coffee took charge from the drop of the gates taking the holeshot and never looking back. Lee put his head down and went on to win the race by 2 seconds from Connor Finlay who put up a good battle and took second place. Jaime Blackwood had a quiet race finishing where he began in 3rd spot.
Race 2: This time championship leader Robert Mcilroy took charge of the race and went on to victory from Coffey and Finlay who once again had a close fought battle as seen in race one.
Race 3: Again Mcilroy won with Lee Coffey in 2nd. This time Jack Galvin got 3rd coming in ahead to his older brother David Galvin jnr. Mcilroy’s 2 wins resulted in him winning the 50cc Irish championship.

65cc

Race 1: It was the 1st race of the day for the 65cc class and it brought all riders and spectators to the side of the track to watch the battle commence between piper and Galvin. Piper who need at least one win and two seconds for the championship took lead of the race from the start. But Galvin wasn’t backing down as he gained and gained from behind. The race brought everyone to watch as it gave what was expected a fantastic race. The final corner on the final lap it came down to as piper merely held on to the win from Galvin by just .502 of a second. With his win in the bag Piper only needed two second places now but as motorsport goes it just isn’t that easy. Josh Beausang had a steady race after having a problem with his clutch but held on to 3rd.
Race 2: This time Galvin began the way he needed to taking charge of the race and putting his head down. But Piper wasn’t as lucky as he fell in the first corner and had a lot of ground to make up as he was dead last. With sheer guts and pure determination he worked his way up to 3rd place behind Josh Beausang. The championship was now down to 4 points going in to the last race.
Race 3: For a championship to go to the final round to be decided is exceptional but for it to go to the final race of that final round shows the determination and never give up attitude of both riders. At a young age their dreams of been Irish champion were down to this, this final race, do or die for Galvin! 15…….5……..GO! They were off. Piper taking the lead from Galvin began to slowly make fractions of time on him. But Galvin couldn’t have that, as he pushed through the pain barrior to get to the number one spot, he was handed gift off a lifetime. Piper dropped the bike in a tight left hander and rejoined in 2nd place. Galvin now could do no more than steady up and hope for the best. He held his head and took the win like he needed but where was piper? Where had he finished? As Galvin waited impatiently piper appeared over the final jump in 2nd position after taking the wise decision and backing off the pace to finish the race. Piper had done what he needed and crossed the line in 2nd place taking the championship with sheer delighted by just one single point. In this case I believe not only was Aaron a deserving champion but for the effort put in by both riders. Rider’s family, supporters and friends they can both hold their head high and be their own true champion in their own respective case. Even with the shear disappointment of the narrow loss, Galvin, at only a young age of 10 took it like a true sportsman and waited to congratulate Aaron on what can only be described as an incredible championship. Well done both of ye!

SW 85cc

Race1: The small wheel 85 class began their first race on a slowly improving track. James Mackrel took the lead and put a strong 7secs between him and cork rider Jody Hurley. Hurley going for 2nd overall in the championship took a good second place to close rival Stuart Simpson.
Race 2: Hurley this time proved the top man after working his up from 3rd to 1st in 7 laps to win the race by four seconds and improve his chances of 2nd overall in the championship, to top qualifier Dylan Coffee. Coffee seemed to be enjoying the track today as he was the only rider capable of matching Hurley’s pace throughout the race. Simpson finished 3rd a further 15secs behind coffee.
Race 3: Mackrel again took charge of the final race from Hurley who stayed strong and remained within a biting distance of mackerel at all times. Coffee took 3rd ahead of Simpson again, who would have to settle for 3rd overall in the championship behind cork based Jody Hurley and winner Jason Meara.

BW 85cc

Race 1: Keogh entered the race from pole position but soon struck trouble. He fell at the begging of the race and as he steadily climbed his way back up the pack to 6th spot more trouble hit him. His transponder failed, although he was visibly still out there and working his way up the pack without the transponder it’s no good. Keoghs efforts were finished as he was rewarded with a dnf as of this problem. As much as they tried and wanted to help him they were rule bound and could not do anything about it. McCormick took the win as he needed from Mark Carvill and James doyle.
Race 2: this time Keogh remained drama free except for the fact McCormick wasn’t letting him have it easy. Over the course of the 18min race the two battled side by side, but Keogh remained victorious taking the win by only .6 of a sec to McCormick who couldn’t be faulted for his efforts. Doyle again followed home in 3rd spot.
Race 3: Keogh again in form took charge of the lead from lap 2 followed by McCormick and raced an unmistakable race to take the win and the Big Wheel Irish championship title from McCormick. Jamie Kelly wrapped up the podium position in 3rd.

125 2t/250 4t

Race 1: as the class was mixed it gave the quickest riders of the youths a chance to match the pace of the others. The main attraction of race 1 was the 250fs as Beausang took a pass on Davin for 1st that proved to be bravery. Beausang made a hard charge down the inside of a left hander and never backed off leaving Davin one option shut off. Davin however was not giving in and wouldn’t back down but ended up leaving himself nowhere to go as he went out over the berm and dismounted his bike. Beausang continued to take the win by over 16 seconds to Christy Hartnett who only needed to take it easy to secure his title. Davin regained his machine and put in a good effort to get up to 5th place. The 125 class was won by James white who like Beausang, was a step above the rest of the competition taking the win from Cox followed by Jones.
Race 2: Race two proved to be much the same as one but without the drama, Beausang took the win gain followed by Davin this time and Lyons back from injury. White also remained untouchable once again proving too good for his competition won from 2nd place Cox and Jones again took 3rd.
Race 3: Beausang having not followed the championship was in it just for the race and out leaded the rest of the pack taking the win from Hartnett who had done enough to secure his first Irish championship title. Northern rider Ryan Adair followed home in third. With White going for a perfect day he secured 3 from 3 wins from Cox who placed second. Jones had secured 3rd overall in the championship so opted out of the last race to hand 3rd place over to Jonathan Thomas.

I would also like to congratulate all of the championship winners on the success over the year!
Championship overall’s (provisional only)
Automatics: 1st Robert Mcilroy
2nd Lee Coffey
3rd Jaime Blackwood
65cc:1st Aaron Piper
2nd David Galvin Jnr
3rd David Sorenson
85sw:1st Jason Meara
2nd Jody Hurley
3rd Stuart Simpson
85bw:1st Jordan Keogh
2nd Glenn McCormick
3rd James Doyle
125 2t:1st John Meara
2nd James White
3rd Ian Jones
250f:1st Christy Hartnett
2nd Ryan Davin
3rd Ryan Adair
All Photos of the above event are available to buy off Jayo Fleming along with many others from the year please support his excellent photography, Contact him @ fmxphotography@gmail.com. I also write reports and am available for pr for clubs or other events. I also have a wide range of photos from the adult Irish this year, contact me @ macarthy71@yahoo.ie