Tonight’s town centre races were dry!
And thanks to a generous grant from Ards and North Down Council we were able to get the town centre roads closed for a great program of 8 races, and a fun event for the kids.
First up was the crowd’s favourite – the kids’ fun event over two laps
There was some fancy racing machinery on display
Ruby Curry in Ards CC colours
First across the line
The Mayor starts the combined Under 8, Under 10 and under 12 race.
Under 8 results
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Jack Corey | Apollo Cycling Team |
| 2 | Noah Finnegan | Square Wheels |
| 3 | Sarah McKeegan | Team Madigan CC |
The under 10s on the start line
Under 10 results
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Lewis Bell | Shelbourne/Orchard CC |
| 2 | Thomas Crymble | Apollo Cycling Team |
| 3 | Dominic Briggs | Ards CC |
| 4 | Ruby Curry | Ards CC |
| 5 | Fiadh Craig | VC Glendale |
| 6 | Rory McCullough | Unattached |
Under 12 results
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | William Sunderland | Lisburn BMX |
| 2 | Sophie Rankin | Titanic Quarter CC |
| 3 | John Morrow | East Antrim CC |
| 4 | Amelia Finnegan | Square Wheels |
| 5 | Zara Taylor | Unattached |
Start of the under 14 race
U14
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Eoin Davis | Bohermeen CC |
| 2 | Aoife Craig | VC Glendale |
| 3 | Corran McCourt | VC Glendale |
| 4 | Olly Millar | Square Wheels |
| 5 | Sean Heverin | All Human/Velorevolution RT |
Start of the under 16 race
U16
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Curtis McKee | Spellman Dublin Port |
| 2 | Jan Prell | VC Glendale |
| 3 | Elliott McKeegan | Team Madigan CC |
| 4 | Riley Smith | Banbridge CC |
| 5 | Emer Heverin | All Human/Velorevolution RT |
| 6 | Luca Murray | VC Glendale |
| 7 | Holly McCaffrey | Longcourt Hotel NCW Whlrs. |
Next up was a new race for riders with a limited competition licence. It looked a wee bit like a North Down club run at times, but Ricky Topping (KIllinchy CC) kept his powder dry before racing clear on the last lap to take the win. A late entry was our club chairman Dean Bradley who just missed out on a podium by the width of a tyre.
Club Race
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Richard Topping | Killinchy CC |
| 2 | Peter Hanley | North Down CC |
| 3 | Adrian Moore | North Down CC |
| 4 | Dean Bradley | Ards CC |
| 5 | Robert McGarry | North Down CC |
| 6 | Owen Byrne | North Down CC |
Next up was the A4 race over 15 laps
Michael Martin (Banbridge CC) got away early on and slowly extended his lead to take a well deserved win.
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Michael Martin | Banbridge CC |
| 2 | Keith Hooks | North Down CC |
| 3 | Alex Bell | North Down CC |
| 4 | Ryan Calvert | Killinchy CC |
| 5 | James Brewer | Titanic Quarter CC |
| 6 | Ben Morrow | East Antrim CC |
| 7 | Kevin Briggs | Ards CC |
| 8 | Stephen Dickson | Killinchy CC |
The A1/2/3/Junior race start
The best race of the night was undoubtedly the final A1/A2/A3/Junior race. Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing), last year’s winner Lindsay Watson and his brother Aaron Watson (both Powerhouse Sport) got away from the start. After a couple of laps, Aaron was distanced and fell back to the bunch, but the other two powered on to eventually lap the rest of the field on Lap 17. The bunch let them through (did they have a choice?), and they quickly opened the gap again. In the closing laps Dean Harvey dropped Lindsay, and caught and passed the bunch for a second time to take a very impressive win. Lindsay took a very solid second, and Daniel Todd (Dromore CC) escaped the bunch on the final lap to take third. Stuart Miller, Ian Carson and Ben Healey all rode strongly for Ards CC in a tough race, with Ian taking the first Ards prize.
| Name | Club | |
| 1 | Dean Harvey | Trinity Racing |
| 2 | Lindsay Watson | Powerhouse Sport |
| 3 | Daniel Todd | Dromore CC |
| 4 | Stephen Hanna | Spellman-Dublin Port |
| 5 | Marc Allen | AHC Racing |
| 6 | Mark McGrady | Crossgar CC |
| 7 | Aaron Watson | Powerhouse Sport |
| 8 | Kirk Sloan | North Down CC |
| 9 | Paul Smith | Banbridge CC |
| 10 | Callum McCaffrey | SAXUN-EXTRUSAX-PRIMOTI |
Thanks to all those who put in so much work to make this event a success –
- Our sponsor – Ards and North Down Borough Council. Hopefully we can continue to work together to push the Active Travel agenda.
- St John Ambulance. Thankfully they had a quiet night.
Is this a map of the marshalling points or secret training for our next Trail Quest..?
- All our marshals, judges, sign-on crew, prize giving team. It was great to see so many folk helping out. You were brilliant!
- The commissaires.
- The Belgian Project – Dany for commentary and David for finish photos.
- The road closure team
- All the riders and spectators who supported the event.
Check out our Facebook pages (link under Forum above) for more photos and comments.
If you enjoyed the cycling tonight, please join us for another Ards CC promotion over the summer – there is a full list of our events here. Next up is a change of pace, with a Trail Quest (orienteering by bike) on Tuesday 25th June – all welcome!