Road Racing

Duke Road Race Rankings

The dates for the 2005 Duke Road Race Rankings Series have been confirmed, with a total of twenty-two rounds, commencing at the Cookstown ‘100’ Road Races on 30th April and concluding at the Gold Cup Meeting at Oliver’s Mount on 17th/18th September.

2003 winner Ryan Farquhar, who successfully retained his title last year, will be out to defend his title on his new sponsors MSS Kawasaki machines, whilst no doubt the inaugural winner Ian Lougher will be aiming to regain the title from his arch-rival, having finished third in 2004.

2005 will be the fourth year of The Duke Road Race Rankings the adjudication panel has decided to keep the format similar to the previous years, with a number of the rounds having their weightings upgraded.

Grading scores are weighted to take into account of the prominence of the meeting, breadth of opposition and circuit length. Thus, a result in the North West ‘200’ would score higher than a similar placing at, for instance, Cookstown. Rankings will be revised after each event.

The rankings include the performances of riders in all classes: Superbike, Supersport (600cc), 250/400cc, 125cc and the Superstock (Production - where held), plus the Feature Race at each event and the opening Support Races in Ireland.

The dates for the 2005 Duke Road Race Rankings Series are as follows:

Round Date Event Club
1 30th April Cookstown ‘100’ Cookstown & DMCC
2 2nd May Spring National Road Races – Oliver’s Mount Auto 66 Club
3 7th May Tandragee ‘100’ North Armagh MCC
4 21st May North West ‘200’ Coleraine & District
5 4th – 10th June TT Races Manx Motor Cycle Club
6 11th June Steam Packet 175th Anniversary Road Races Southern 100 Racing
7 19th June Athea Athea MCC
8 2nd July Skerries Road Races Loughshinny MCC
9 1st – 3rd July Cock o’th North Road Races Auto 66 Club
10 10th July Walderstown Road Races Fore MCC
11 11th – 14th July Southern ‘100’ 50th Anniversary Road Races Southern 100 Racing
12 16th July Jurby South Road Races Andreas RA
12a 23rd & 24th July Aberdare Park Road Races Aberaman MCC
14 24th July Kells Road Races Kells MCC
15 31st July Faugheen Road Races Faugheen 50 SC
16 6th August Mid Antrim ‘150’ Mid Antrim MCC
17 11th August Dundrod ‘150’ Dundrod & DMC MCC
18 13th August Ulster Grand Prix Dundrod & DMC
19 28th August Dundalk Road Races Louth MCC
20 29th August – 2nd September Manx Grand Prix Manx Motor Cycle Club
21 11th September Killalane Road Races Loughshinny MCC
22 17th & 18th September Gold Cup Road Races – Oliver’s Mount Auto 66 Club

John McGuinness broke his Ulster Grand Prix duck on Saturday with a thrilling double victory at the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit. The opening victory came aboard the Honda Racing CBR600 Honda in the first Supersport 600cc race by the slender margin of just 0.106 of a second and he then took a comfortable start to finish win on Roy Hanna’s TSR Honda in the 250cc race. The remainder of the day was blighted by constant rainfall and although he had other finishes of fourth and fifth, a third win looked very much on the cards in the feature Superbike race where he had opened up a lead on the Stobart Honda before the race was stopped.

Wednesday’s opening practice sessions were held in beautiful sunny conditions and John signalled his intentions by setting the pole position time in all four of his classes including a lap of 128.649mph in the Superbike class. However, it was a different story on Thursday with frequent rain showers keeping speeds down. Mindful of Saturday’s feature races, John took it steady in the Dundrod 150 Superbike race, coming home in 7th place with his decision to use a slick rear tyre proving to be the incorrect decision, as it was for countless other riders.

Dark clouds greeted the riders on Saturday morning but conditions were good for the opening Supersport 600cc race and John was embroiled in a tremendous battle with Ian Lougher, Bruce Anstey and Adrian Archibald. The quartet was never more than inches apart but John led for the remaining three laps to claim his first UGP victory in tremendous style. The day got better still with his second victory coming just an hour later in the 250cc race, dedicating his success to a number of great 250cc riders sadly no longer with us.

The feature Superbike race got underway in dry conditions and John had just opened up a one second lead when the red flag came out on the fourth lap. The circuit was soaked for the second part of the race with conditions treacherous and, try as he might, John couldn’t stay in contention eventually finishing in fifth place when the times for the two legs were combined. The roads were still very damp for the second Supersport 600cc race and just when it looked like he would claim another podium finish, Australian Cameron Donald relegated him to fourth on the final lap. A misfire on the Stobart Honda meant a second lap retirement in the final Superbike race, bringing his day to a premature end.

After what was had been a mixed day John commented: “I’m obviously delighted to have taken my first victories at the Ulster but I’m disappointed with the way things turned out on the Superbike. The Stobart Honda was brilliant in the dry and I felt confident that I could take the win but when the rain fell I didn’t have the confidence to push as hard as some of the other boys so I feel like I’ve let people down. I proved what I could do in the dry in the 600cc race when there was pressure on throughout and it was fantastic racing.”

“Dundrod is a brilliant circuit but when it rains it’s really tough and I didn’t want to do anything silly. I’d just opened up a bit of a gap in the main Superbike race when the rain began to fall and there was nothing I could do in the second leg – the other riders were just that bit faster and braver than me and I have to take my hat off to them. The 250cc race was a brilliant race which brought back a lot of fond memories for me and I had a smile on my face all the way round. Everyone in the team worked really hard and I was honoured to ride Rikki McCready’s bike and dedicate the win to him. All the top 250cc riders like Joey, Gary Dynes, Gavin Lee and Owen McNally helped make the class what it is so it was a real pleasure.”

John’s next outing sees him return to the British Superbike Championship this weekend at Silverstone, where he will make his debut in the series for the Vitrans Honda team.

Ulster Grand Prix Superbike Race 1
1 I Lougher, 120.671 mph, total time 25.38.364
2 B Anstey, 120.554, 25.39.850
3 R Farquhar, 119.415, 25.54,547

Superbike 2
1 I Lougher, 119.003, 26.03.583
2 G Martin, 118.907, 26.04.850
3 R Britton, 118.882, 26.05.176

Supersport 1
1 J McGuinness, 122.759, 25.15.744
2 A Archibald, 122.751, 25.15.850
3 B Anstey, 122.268, 25.21.838

Supersport 2
1 R Farquhar, 114.864, 23.07.966
2 M Finnegan, 114.467, 23.12.781
3 C Donald, 114.106, 23.17.191

Superstock
1 I Lougher, 124.028, 25.03.757
2 A Archibald, 122.982, 25.16.546
3 G Martin, 122.966, 25.16.742

250cc
1 J McGuinness, 115.563, 22.59.574
2 W Dunlop, 114.741, 23.09.455
3 N Rank, 114.645, 23.10.624

Ian Lougher: “As you can imagine, I’m absolutely thrilled to have come away from the Ulster Grand Prix with three wins! The Team DMRR Honda Racing and the Blackhorse Finance-supported Fireblades are fantastic machines. I’m glad that I was able to utilise their capabilities to best effect when it mattered most.

“It was another hectic event with five races in a day and I’d like to thank the team for their support. After success in the Superstock class at the North West 200 and Supersport TT, I am delighted to have added my Ulster GP Superstock and Superbike victories to my achievements in 2005. It means a lot to add my name to the famous Honda riders, who have won here in the past.”

Britton, 34, who was married with a five-year-old son, was one of the top road racers of his generation, winning at national races throughout Ireland.

He was a double Irish and Ulster road race champion and won one international race, the Production event at the 2000 North West 200.

He also won the Regal 600cc series on four occasions and was a podium finisher at both the Isle of Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix.

Eyewitness reports suggest that Britton's bike seized on the first lap of the race and it is believed he was killed instantly at the scene of the accident.

Born in England, Britton moved to Northern Ireland as a child and began his racing career at Aghadowey in 1991.

Although generally regarded as a road racer, he also enjoyed short circuit racing and listed Bishopscourt and the North West 200 as his favourite tracks.

He enjoyed mixed fortunes in 2005 and parted company with the DMRR Honda team in July, signing for the Vitrans Honda team for the Ulster Grand Prix.

Britton previously raced for Schimmel Racing and then enjoyed a long-term association with Garvagh businessman PJ O'Kane.

The Ballybunion races were being staged for the first time.

Noel Johnston, clerk of the course at the Ulster Grand Prix described Britton as "one of the characters of the paddock who always had a smile on his face, and had the talent to match his attitude."  

PJ O'Kane sponsored Britton for several seasons and said that he had been left "devastated" by the rider's death.

"The only place you should race motorbikes is on a circuit," said the Garvagh businessman. "These courses should not be raced on at all. The sooner that they ban road racing the better."

Enniskillen rider Britton died after crashing in the 250cc race at Sunday's inaugural Ballybunion road races. Eyewitness reports said that Britton's bike had seized on the first lap of the race and it is believed he died instantly after coming off his machine.

O'Kane said that the mounting tally of road racing deaths was not acceptable. "In a recent meeting in the Isle of Man, there were six deaths in one week and I don't think it was even reported in Northern Ireland."

However, the Garvagh man acknowledged that, despite the huge risks involved, the sport is likely to continue.  "The riders want to do it. Darran Lindsay has been hurt more times than enough but still comes back and races. "It's just in the blood and it will probably go on no matter what anybody says."

O'Kane described Britton as a "role model for any young fellow in any sport".  "His family loved him so much and I don't know how they are going to cope. "He was a real family man. He loved his wee boy and his wife and father and mother."

I never had the privilege of regarding Richard Britton as a friend, but I knew him well, for many years, in a professional capacity. I knew what a talented rider he was. What a fun loving man he was. How much he treasured his wife, Maria, their son Loris, his parents, his friends, and his racing contemporaries.

When I received that dreadful phone call on Sunday to tell me of his death, there was a moment of disbelief. When the circumstances of his accident became more apparent, that disbelief intensified into an almost tangible anger.

How could such a talented and accomplished motor cycle racer – who three years ago became the fastest Irishman ever to lap the 37.73-miles Isle of Man TT circuit at an amazing 124.29mph, and last month clocked a 123.20 mph lap at the Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod – lose his life in a comparatively ‘low speed’ crash in an unknown racing backwood such as Ballybunnion, in the first race ever over a two miles circuit in County Kerry?

Apparently the engine of Sandy McCutcheon’s 250cc Sandown Racing Honda seized, as Richard was returning to the paddock to retire. Perhaps, with his hand raised to warn following competitors that he was ‘touring’, he had no time to grab the clutch lever and prevent disaster. The tragic outcome was that Richard was flung headlong into a concrete pillar and died instantly.

English born Richard was brought up in Enniskillen and made his initial, and virtually unheralded, racing impact, when he won the Irish Supersport 400 Clubman’s Championship.

He graduated to road racing and for the best part of ten years became one of the select band of road racing heroes, carving out an illustrious reputation and amassing a legion of fans along the way, due his ever smiling attitude and always approachable demeanour.

Although, in recent years, his reputation was that of a ‘genuine between the hedges’ road racer, Richard was no mean short circuit racer, as testified by his four Regal 600 Championship triumphs in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002. To conquer those titles meant performing to the highest level in both disciplines of the sport.

He was also twice Irish Supersport 600 road race champion, most recently in 2003.

Although his only international road race win came in the Production 1000cc race at the 2000 North West 200, Richard was a frequent top six and podium finisher at the ‘big three’ international road race – North Wrest 200, Isle of Man TT and Ulster Grand Prix – and he had also competed at the Macau Grand Prix, and at the Daytona 200 in Florida.

In 2002, Richard became the fastest Irish rider to lap the 37.73 miles Isle of Man TT circuit, at 124.29mph, en route to fifth place in the blue riband Senior race. Shortly afterwards, he lapped at over 127mph, and achieved two third places in the Superbike races at Dundrod, in the Ulster Grand Prix.

Richard won the Junior Newcomers Manx Grand Prix in 1997, and also finished eighth in the Senior MGP, before he switched to the TT the following year, but he missed most of the 1999 season, after badly breaking an arm in a crash at the Cookstown 100 road races.

A coveted TT win eluded him, nevertheless, he finished in the top six in no less than 12 TT races and mounted the podium twice, after finishing third in the Lightweight 400 race in 2002, and runner-up in the same class the following year.

Richard began this season with Keady-based Team DMRR Honda Racing, as teammate to Dromara-based Welshman Ian Lougher, in a Honda UK-backed outfit.