Victories follow strong TT for Manxman
Manxman Conor Cummins, fresh from a strong showing in the Centenary Isle of Man TT, dominated the latest round of the Duke Road Race Rankings Championship.
Cummins took three victories on his debut at the Bush National Road Races near Dungannon in Northern Ireland. His wins included victory in the feature race.
The victories follow four top eight finishes in the TT, culminating in a fine sixth in the Senior.
In overcast and somewhat damp conditions, the Dungannon and District Motorcycle Club-organised Bush event boasted 11 races around the 3.4-mile road course on Saturday.
In the feature event, the Bush Open Race, it was a three-way battle for all the eight laps as first John Burrows set the pace for three laps before veteran Paul Cranston took the lead for two, with Cummins and Burrows right on his tail.
Cummins passed Cranston as they went across the finishing line on lap seven. He managed to hold off the chasing pair to finish 600th of a second ahead of Cranston, with Burrows third, averaging 82.39mph for the eight laps and setting the fastest lap at 84.48mph.
In the Supersport 600cc race Cummins lead from start to finish to beat Shane Connor and John Burrows, while in the final race of the day, the Non-Championship Open Race, it was again a three-way battle between Burrows, Cranston and Cummins.
Cranston lead at the end of the first of the six laps, but was overtaken by Cummins on the next circuit, setting a new absolute course lap record on his third lap in 2mins 17.537seconds, a speed of 86.581mph, as continued to keep Burrows at bay. Meanwhile Burrows attempted to reel in his close neighbour until he started to lose the chase for runner-up spot, taking third once again.
The 125cc race was a flag-to-flag victory for Nigel Moore over Darren Burns, with the Dunlop brothers Michael and William third and fourth, Mark Young fifth and the ‘elder statesman’ of the 125s Robert Dunlop sixth.
Michael came into the pit area at the end of the opening lap and discovered a loose wire, which he promptly reattached and set off the leading pack. With a superb ride, Michael ploughed his way through the field to finish a magnificent third, setting a new lap record on the final lap at 80.79mph.
The Junior (250cc) race saw victory go to Darren Burns over William Dunlop, with Burrows again claiming third place.
On his Roy Hanna Motors Honda, Burns set a new lap record on his second lap at 83.001mph.
In both the two Support races, sponsored by the Loanends MRRC as part of the Ulster Championship series, Ivan Lintin claimed the win – by just 5/10ths of a second in the Senior (750cc) class and by the merest of margins, 1000th of a second, in the Junior (250/400cc) category.
Man of the Meeting Cummins moves into second place in the Duke Road Race Rankings, just 46 points behind current leader John McGuinness, the 13-times TT winner and outright lap record holder on the Mountain Course, while Guy Martin – who claimed three podiums during the 2007 TT, slips to third and Kiwi Bruce Anstey, the Superstock TT victor, to fourth.
Highest mover, advancing 13 places, is Burns, slotting into ninth overall. Another high mover is Cranston, who climbs 11 positions to take 14th.