RECORDS FALL AT SOUTHERN
Dean Harrison did the Supersport double on his Silicone Kawasaki ZX-6R, but it was Michael Dunlop who set a new lap record on his MD Racing Yamaha R6 at 111.335mph. James Cowton split the pair in the first race on his McAdoo Kawasaki and finished third in the second encounter. Harrison revealed how he managed to get his machine bang on the pace: “We made the rear suspension slightly softer and changed the gearing between the first and second race. I knew my braking points and I reckoned if anyone tried to outbrake me they would run on.” Dunlop played his part in a couple of great races, but just couldn’t quite match Harrison’s pace. Dunlop said: “We were good on the fast bits but the Kawasaki just had more drive out of the slower corners so that is something we will have to take a look at before the Ulster Grand Prix.” In the smaller-capacity classes Ivan Lintin scored a double on the Dafabet Devitt’s Kawasaki ER6 in the 250cc/650cc race as James Cowton (McAdoo Kawasaki) finished runner-up and Rob Hodson took third in both races. In the second race just 0.065sec separated Lintin and Cowton with Cowton setting a new lap record at 104.6mph. Ballymoney’s Darryl Tweed (Kawasaki) claimed two 400cc race wins, despite clouting the wall at Church Bends in the second race! The sidecar races ended in bitter controversy when the Klaffi Honda outfit of Tim Reeves and Mark Wilkes and the IEG Honda machine driven by the Birchall brothers, Ben and Tom, were involved in a huge, high speed collision.
‘The sidecar races ended in controversy after a huge collision’
Reeves ended up upside down on the final lap of the championship race. He claimed he had been rammed by the Birchalls while they hit back, saying that the former world champion had closed the door after they went for a gap. The stewards disqualified both teams, handing victory to John Holden and Lee Cain. In the first sidecar race, Reeves and Wilkes set a new lap record at 100.751mph before breaking down on the penultimate lap and handed the Birchalls victory.