Two Poles and a Podium at Kells
Dean Harrison returned to Ireland to make his debut at the popular Kells Road races in the familiar Yellow Colours of JML / McKinstry racing, and what a debut it was.
Harrison, the Son of Sidecar TT podium Man Conrad, quickly aquainted himself with the short, fast Crosakiels circuit to top the qualifying leaderboard in both the Junior support (McKinstry racing Kawasaki ER6) and Senior support classes (JML / McKinstry racing Yamaha R6) in warm sunny conditions.
Race day dawned dull and by the time the Junior support Race was called to the grid the Rain was already falling. Undeterred Harrison got the holeshot on the McKinstry racing Kawasaki ER6 and opened up an early lead, but an overshoot a few laps from the end of the Race gifted the win to David Yeomans on the faster GP250 Honda.
Still it was another very encouraging weekend for the small Team and showed yet again that Harrison has a great future in the sport. The Team's next race meeting is this weekend at Aberdare Park.
Lap record at Bush
With Josh Trigwell departing the McKinstry racing Team shortly after the Cookstown (Billy and his sponsors wish Josh all the best for the future) a new rider was required for the remainder of the Irish Road racing season starting with the Bush road races. The new rider was Dean Harrison and what an impact this lad made.
Harrison riding the McKinstry / JML Yamaha R6 qualified 5th quickest for the Senior Support championship race during Friday evening qualifying with a time of 2:27.801. Harrison then bettered that time on race day recording a fastest lap of 2:25.053 to finish 5th.
In qualification for the Junior support race, Harrison this time mounted on the McKinstry racing Kawasaki ER6 was 9th quickest with a time of 2:36.937. Then in the race held in warm sunny conditions Harrison set the fastest lap of the race, a new lap record of 2:27.141 on his way to a podium position.
Trigwell strong at Cookstown
Josh Trigwell's next appearance for the McKinstry racing Team was his debut Irish national Road Race at Cookstown on the Orritor circuit. With just five laps of a newcomers session to become aquainted with the circuit (and Irish Road Racing) it was always going to be tough.
In the Junior Support 'B' Race Trigwell on the McKinstry Racing Kawasaki 650 took the race win and also had the bonus of the fastest lap of the race.
In the Senior Support 'A' Race Trigwell riding the JML / McKinstry R6 Yamaha started in the second wave of racers and came through the field to finish an excellent 5th place. Trigwell's best qualifying lap was 1:36.983 and he upped this in the race to 1:34.486 as he became more familiar with the circuit.
In the points at Kirkistown
The McKinstry racing Team's next event was the second round of the Irish Championships at Kirkistown on Easter Monday. Again the morning track sessions started in cold and wet conditions and Josh's best lap in free practice saw him record a time of 1:05.694 on the JML / McKinstry racing R6 Yamaha.
On to qualifying for the races on an almost completely dry circuit and Josh showed just how quickly he learns new circuits by improving his lap time to 1:03.195 placing him 22nd on the grid for the two races.
Josh again improved his lap time in the opening supersport race of the day held in dry and sunny but very cold conditions to record a best time of 1:02.732 on his way to a 24th placed finish.
For the second Supersport race of the day a very strong, gusting wind was making conditions very tricky but Josh showed his talent by again bettering his personal best lap time getting it down to 1:01.720 on his way to 15th place and a solitary championship point.
It is early days yet in the season but Josh has already shown his potential to do well, with his main focus being to aim for road race success in the Irish road race support championships where he will gain valuable experience for tackling the Manx grand prix in September with the ultimate goal of racing at the Isle of Man TT in future seasons.
Trigwell debuts for McKinstry racing
Antipodean Josh Trigwell and his race bike arrived in Northern Ireland in late March and his first on-track action was scheduled for Monday the 29th of March at Kirkistown, but a veritable monsoon descended upon the County Down race circuit curtailing all on-track activities.
This meant that Josh's first Irish track action in earnest was the free practice session on Good Friday at Bishopscourt on the morning of the opening round of the 2010 Irish Superbike championships. Ironically this too was held in the wet after very heavy overnight rain. But Josh quickly got down to the business of trying to learn a new circuit in temperatures very alien to him and he ended up 8th quickest in his group with a time of 1:22.84 on the JML / McKinstry racing R6 Yamaha.
This was followed by the actual qualifying session for the Supersport 600 races and Josh knocked a further two seconds of his lap time recording a fastest lap of 1:20.425 which saw him a lowly 31st on the grid when the qualification times from both groups were combined.
Struggling to adapt to a new circuit and the Cold climate Josh took the decision to not venture out on track during the races, bringing a premature end to the Team's activities for the opening round of the Championship.
Russell wins Senior Manx GP
Mike Russell who was part of McKinstry racing for the 2008 season of Irish road racing had his biggest success to-date in September when he won the Senior Manx Grand Prix. Mike said "Without a doubt the help from McKinstry racing was invaluable in my success here at the Manx".
Clubmans GP125 Newcomers update
The 2008 Clubmans GP125 Newcomers Championship has concluded for another year and the two riders assisted throughout the season by McKinstry racing enjoyed great success. Scott Wilson from Bangor won the Championship and had nine race victories and Newry girl Karen Hadden finished in fifth place overall.
'08 Manx Grand Prix
The 2008 Manx Grand Prix proved to be a very successful event for the McKinstry racing team with all riders coming home with replicas and a lot more road race experience under their belts.
Newcomers 'A'
McKinstry racing's best result of the Manx Grand Prix fortnight came in the Newcomers 'A' race when Ivan Lintin finished in an excellent 2nd position onboard a 2007 Suzuki GSXR750 lapping at an average speed of 103.14mph
Lightweight Manx
Ivan Lintin rode the 2006 McKinstry Racing Yamaha TZ250 in the Lightweight race with an average lap speed of 96.53mph to finish in 6th place.
Junior Manx
In the Junior Manx Grand Prix Mike Russell riding a McKinstry racing 600cc Suzuki GSXR finished the race in 7th position with an average speed of 110.90mph ahead of seasoned road racers such as Wayne Kirwan and Stephen McIlvenna. Next best of the McKinstry racing stable of riders was Jules Croft on a Yamaha R6 in 11th position with an average speed of 110.56 mph with Ivan Lintin the third McKinstry rider finishing 13th on a Suzuki GSXR600 with an average speed of 110.03mph. All three McKinstry racing riders were awarded with TT replica trophies for their achievements.
Senior Manx
In the Senior Manx Grand Prix Mike Russell riding a McKinstry racing 2007 Suzuki GSXR750 lapped at an average speed of 116.49mph to finish in seventh place. His team mate Jules Croft racing a 2005 Suzuki GSXR750 lapped at an average speed of 115.87mph to finish in 9th. Both McKinstry racing riders were awarded with TT replica trophies for their achievements.
'08 Athea Road Races
The Athea road races saw another successful days racing for the McKinstry racing team.
Ivan Lintin broke the old circuit lap record on his way to a superb podium finish on the McKinstry racing TZ250 Yamaha. Who said the big fireman couldn't ride a 250? Ivan also had a 10th in the Superbike race on the Barron Transport Suzuki.
In the 750 support championship Mike 'Jack' Russell finished fourth with Jules Croft not far behind in 6th, then in the non-championship support race Jack Russell took the win with Jules improving to 5th.
'08 Bush Road Races
McKinstry racing's riders all had two races at a weather curtailed Bush Road races near Dungannon. In the Junior support race Mike Russell got the spectators tongues wagging as he rode a naked, flat barred, Kawasaki ER6 to a brilliant second place finish on his debut. Jules Croft also had a run out in this race on the little JML/McKinstry racing Kawasaki ZXR400 and finished a fine 5th.
The same pairing were also out in the Senior support championship race with Jules taking the final podium spot in 3rd whilst Mike finished 8th.
Ivan Lintin also had two races finishing 6th in the GP250 race on the McKinstry racing Yamaha, the first Yamaha finisher in the race. Ivan also had a fine 10th place finish on the Barron Transport superbike in the non-championship Open race.
Clubmans GP125 Newcomers update
McKinstry racing are assisting two young riders in the Irish Clubmans short circuit championships by preparing their RS125 Honda race bikes and giving them advice where needed. The two riders are Scott Wilson and Karen Hadden. At the most recent clubmans championship at Mondello Park on the 15th of June Scott took two wins from two starts to extend his championship lead. Karen continues to show signs of improvement and took a podium in the opening race but unfortunately slid out of third in the second race whilst closing down the second placed rider.
'08 Cookstown 100
Team McKinstry racing's road race season got underway at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough a week previous but that was just a warm up for the serious competition of chasing championships at home in Ireland. The Cookstown 100 is the annual season opener and qualifying some some pretty horrendous weather conditions. However the sun came out for race day itself and all of the team's riders did the team proud with their results in all their races.
Despite winning the 2007 junior support championship and finishing runner-up in the senior support championship, Ivan Lintin was a debutant to the Orritor circuit this year for his first season racing outside the support classes. Ivan riding the Barron Transport Suzuki took a few laps in the Senior non-qualifiers race to weigh up leader Paul Lennon before passing him and then go on to win the race comfortably. Earlier in the day Ivan had an even better result when he finished 5th on the McKinstry racing TZ250 Yamaha.
Mike Russell making his Irish Road Race debut in the support championships warmed up with a solid 11th place finish in the Junior Support 'A' class on the McKinstry racing JML 400cc Kawasaki racing against the more powerful 650cc Suzuki twins.
Mike was out again later in the day in the Senior support 'B' class on the McKinstry racing Suzuki GSXR750 and he had a start to finish win.
In the 750 Support 'A' championship race Jules Croft demonstrated his pedigree by riding to fourth despite starting in the second wave of riders.
Scarborough Spring Cup
McKinstry racing team riders Ivan Lintin, Mike Russell and Jules Croft all made an appearance at Scarborough for the Ian Watson Spring Cup and each rider got some strong finishes for the team in all their races, the highlight being win for Ivan Lintin in the 600 B final, first leg.
Jules Croft showed that he can be a force to be reckoned with this season in the Irish road race support championship when he beat the 2007 Irish road race support champion in the 600B final to finish fourth, one place behind Lintin, with team mate Mike Russell in sixth.
Pre season
After a successful 2007 season Billy has been busy over the winter months recruiting the right riders to bring even more success to the team in the year ahead, whilst also prepping all the race bikes ready for another assault on the Irish road race championships.