Loughside Farm set for explosive racing this week!

Loughside Farm, Islandmagee is set to play host to Round 2 of the Summer Grasstrack Championship on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Following a rather wet first round at Woodburn, the Carrickfergus the club is hoping that the weather has better plans in store for this weeks round! A handful of members of CDMCC have been working throughout the weeks leading up to the event preparing the venue for the event. With the track being ‘power harrowed’ it will make for some fast racing on the new layout of the circuit. The venue boasts great elevated viewing areas for spectators and a section inside the track has been added for those spectators that want to be closer to the racing.

Tuesday evening will be the youth racing with riders ageing from 5yrs to 16yrs competing on machines from 50cc automatics to 250 four stroke bikes. This event is hoping to provide a family atmosphere for any young competitor starting out - maybe their first race, up to the experienced youth riders that having been competition for a number of years. This is a great platform for any new youth rider to build on. There will be no charge for admission on Tuesday and there will be free parking available within the venue.

Wednesday evening will be the turn of the Adults around the Loughside Farm circuit. Again there will be a variety of ages and skill levels catered for throughout the evening. Classes range from Experts - for A & B riders, to Grade C - clubmen riders, to Veterans - over 35’s and finally to Quads.

The Expert racing will be the focus of attention though with some top names set to compete. World Superbike race winner Jonathan Rea from Ballyclare will be trying his luck in the expert class. Jonathan is a former Schoolboy Motocrosser so he knows a thing or two about grasstracks and certainly is no stranger to fast racing! Following his return to motocross at the Woodburn Grasstrack last month, Gordon Crockard will be back with a vengeance to try and improve from the previous grasstrack where he was beaten to the line in the challenging conditions by local man Drew Goudy, who is out again to show his quality around the Islandmagee circuit. Although these guys could be classed as a step above the rest you can’t forget about young Natalie Kane onboard the Bodytech Suzuki - off the back of a podium finish at The Woman’s GP of Sweden and also TSR KTM rider, 18 year-old Michael McCammond who will be competing at the grasstrack for the first time this year after a strong finish at Moneyglass at the weekend.

The scene is set for an evening of quality racing so get yourself down and don’t miss the action. The venue is situated on the lower island road just before the bridge over to Islandmagee and after Pallet Recovery Services. MX direction signs will be posted locally. For anyone who needs other means of transport to the venue, the venue is situated a short walk from Ballycarry train station.

Practice will be at 6pm followed by racing at 6.30pm and will run on until around 9.30pm. Admission on Wednesday evening will be £5 per family, £3 per adult and kids under 14 go free. As mentioned before free parking will be available within the venue and there will be also be on-site catering facilities. For more information on this event see CDMCC’s club website www.carrickfergusmcc.co.uk or e-mail ryan@carrickfergusmcc.co.uk.

Entries for both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings grasstracks are now closed. Late entry fee now applies (£10 extra) if you really want to compete. We need to have entries in on time and this is why this applys. Entry list for Adult event will be up shortly...