Manders Cup Trial
The Dublin & District Motorcycle Club held the annual Manders Cup Trial at Ballyreagh Wood in Glencree on Sunday. It was also round seven of the MCI southern centre championship with an entry of 61 riders including another great turnout of 23 youth riders. The weather stayed dry but it was cold with a dampness in the air, making it a tough day for the hardy observers. The sections which were already slippy, would remain that way with no sunshine to help dry them out. This gave the riders added headaches as the day went on. The more the grip that went the more marks lost over each lap.
The top four elite riders were out for this round and it was close between all four over the first tag. Leading after the first tag was Sean Doyle from his brother Cillian by 6 marks. Scott Callaghan lay in third four marks futher back with Adam Harris in fourth 3 marks behind him. On the second tag however Sean Doyle upped his game and pulled clear dropping less marks with than his first tag with an 18 giving him an overall score of 40 and the win. Callaghan though also had a much better second tag with a 22, 5 marks clear of Cillian Doyle to take second place splitting the brothers. Harris didn’t improve his score and finished in fourth. The win for Doyle today makes it three in a row for the man from Bray.
In the Expert class once again Paul McLoughlin rode superbly to make it two in a row. It was close between him and runner up Alex Guthrie who was ahead by 2 marks after the first tag, but a much better second tag for McLoughlin gave him a comfortable win by 11 marks. Andrew McCrory came home in third.
The Semi-Expert class saw another family battle between cousins Mark and Philip Harris. Once again mark took the win with a better second tag but it was level pegging after the first both finishing on 12 marks each. Gary wall came home in third with Craig Doyle in fourth and Brian McLoughlin in fifth.
The popular Clubman class saw Warren Hendy take the win ahead of Mattie Griffen with Brian Dempsey in third. It was another close battle between the top three after the first tag with 6 mark covering them all. As the day went on though Hendy had a better time dropping only 2 marks more than his first tag while the men behind dropped a lot more marks on their second tag, giving him a comfortable win in the end. Griffen held on though by 5 mark to hold second from Dempsey.
The Sportsman class provided the closet finish of the day with only 1 mark between the first two! Michael McDonnell’s one mark advantage after the first tag was enough to take the win over Oliver Boland, as both finished level on 5 marks each on their second tag. Mark Scott finished third in another tight finish of 1 mark ahead of Tim O’Neill in fourth with Chirs Hampshire in fifth.
The first of the Youth class riders saw Glen Walshe take the win ahead of Philip Brannigan with Maciej Dwornik in third. In Youth C+ Shane Heaney won comfortably ahead of Harry Schmelter who had a good scrap all day with Bill Guiry in Third. Adding to the family honors in Youth C was Lucy Heaney who took the win ahead of Ollie Smyth and Shane Scanlon. Shane’s brother Aaron went better by taking Youth D ahead of Eli Tolan and Jack Cregg who were once again this year split by 1 mark! The final Youth class which is Youth E saw Ewan Bublis take another win ahead of sisters Eimear and Meabh Molloy, Eimear taking second and Meabh third. Elsie Lawless came home in fourth and Henry Doyle in fifth.
The club would like to thank the course markers and stewards of the day and Joanne and Barry Lawless and other parents for looking after the Mini event. ALso to the observers Pawel, Ed, Vinnie, Brendan, Jamie, Darell, Eamon, Luke, Brian and Zsè.
With the current insurance cover ending at the end of this month the MCUI are currently in talks for further cover for 2025 and the next event in the calendar is subject to this. Hopefully this will be sorted and the championship and the sport can continue on as planned.
Click below for the provisional results from the Manders Cup Trial
