Motorbikes

Richard Petrie
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Pacemaker

Michael Dunlop heads the entry for this weekend's Mid Antrim 150 road races over the Clough circuit in county Antrim.

The 36-time Isle of Man TT winner will be making his first appearance at the event since 2009 and has entered a variety of classes, including the Open events, the Supersport and the Moto3 categories.

Among his opposition will be Manx rider Marcus Simpson, Kevin Keyes from the Republic of Ireland and Ballymena's Neil Kernohan, with Michael Sweeney also scheduled to compete.

Non-championship races for Senior Support and Supersport competitors are scheduled to take place on Friday evening after the completion of practice and qualifying. Roads will close from 08:00 BST on Friday.

That will be followed by a 10-race programme on Saturday, with roads closing from 07:00.

Thirty nine newcomers are set to take part, with the meeting also facilitating sidecar parade laps, which will include multiple Isle of Man TT winners Ryan and Callum Crowe.

Solo parade laps will also take place in memory of renowned racers Neil Robinson and Gene McDonnell, who both died in racing incidents 40 years ago.

The Mid Antrim is returning to the road racing calendar after last being staged successfully in 2016.

Subsequently a number of setbacks, including financial difficulties, led to it disappearing from the sport's annual roster.

The most recent attempt to revive the meeting in September 2022 had to be abandoned after sabotage because oil, glass and nails were deposited in parts of the circuit the night before the main Saturday race day.

It was the second time the Mid Antrim race day had to be cancelled because of oil and other substances being deposited on the track, with a similar scenario having unfolded in 2011.

"We want to thank the residents around the course who have all been very supportive of us for this year's meeting," said clerk of the course Kitty Harland.

Image source, Pacemaker

Seven-time North West 200 winner Richard Cooper and Manx rider Nathan Harrison are notable debutants for the Armoy road races which will take place on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 July.

Cooper has won five Supertwins races and two Supersport events in racking up a total of 17 podiums at the North West.

The 43-year-old Nottingham rider is also a four-time British champion and will compete as part of the BPE by Russell Racing team at this weekend's meeting.

Harrison joins fellow leading Isle of Man riders Conor Cummins, Marcus Simpson and Joe Yeardsley on the entry list.

Republic of Ireland competitor Mike Browne will aim for more success after securing a four-timer 12 months ago over the three-mile circuit, including taking the honours in the feature 'Race of Legends'.

Michael Sweeney from Skerries will also be expected to be well to the fore on his fleet of machinery, as will Mullingar's Derek McGee, who turns out for the Burrows/RK Engineering team in the Supersport and Open classes.

Paul Jordan will be another leading contender with the Jackson Racing team, last year's man-of-the-meeting having been a double winner in the Supertwin category at the recent Southern 100 on the Isle of Man.

Dominic Herbertson and Sam West are also among the strong entry announced by the organising club.

Roads close at 10:00 BST on Friday for qualifying and first racing, and at 09:00 BST on Saturday for the main day of racing.

Image source, Pacemaker

Michael Dunlop raced to a hat-trick of wins at the Walderstown road races as the event returned to the Irish national calendar for the first time since 2022.

The Ballymoney rider won the Open race, the Supersport outing and the Grand Final in Athlone to complete his treble.

The 36-time Isle of Man TT winner also sealed three wins on the last staging of the meeting four years ago.

Dunlop, riding his MD Racing BMW, got the better of pole sitter Michael Sweeney to take the Open race honours, with Mullingar competitor Derek McGee completing the rostrum places on his Burrows Engineering/RK Racing BMW.

Dunlop bossed the Supersport event to take the chequered flag from Kevin Keyes and Skerries rider Sweeney.

The 37-year-old grabbed his third win of the day in the Grand Final, taking victory by a margin of 1.2 seconds from Sweeney on an MJR BMW, with Keyes making up the podium positions, and McGee fourth.

Sweeney racked up his 50th Irish national road racing success by winning the Supertwins race.

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Northern Ireland rider David Allingham extended his lead at the top of the British Superstock Championship by winning Sunday's Superstock race at Brands Hatch.

The SMS/Nicholl Oils BMW rider claimed his sixth victory in seven races this season after completing a perfect weekend, having also won Saturday's opening race.

The 31-year-old held off Luke Mossey by 0.226 seconds, while Lewis Rollo completed the podium, 0.492 seconds adrift of the winner.

Eglinton rider Allingham heads the standings on 170 points, with Mossey his nearest challenger on 146.

Two other Northern Ireland riders, Scott Swann and Simon Reid, sit fifth and sixth respectively in the championship.

Meanwhile defending British Superbike champion Kyle Ryde took two wins over the course of the weekend in the feature class, with Scott Redding winning race three.

Ryde was second behind his rival in the third race, with Redding having taken runner-up spot in the previous two events.

Max Cook was third in all three outings.

Glenn Irwin was seventh in Saturday's opener and followed that up with eighth and fifth positions in the subsequent two races.

Ryde leads the championship on 252 points, ahead of Redding on 233.

Oli Bayliss was a double winner in the Supersports, with Jack Kennedy second on both occasions.

Luke Stapleford, riding for the Northern Ireland-based Scars Racing Ducati team, enjoys a healthy 30-point advantage over Ben Currie in the series standings.

Jack Burrows secured two third places in the Moto 4 British Cup and lies third in the championship.

Nikki Coates won the main BMW F 900 R Cup race and is eight points ahead of his nearest rival after the Brands Hatch round.

Richard Petrie
BBC Sport NI Journalist

Image source, Pacemaker

Northern Ireland rider David Allingham claimed his fifth win of the season in the National Superstock 1000cc season by taking victory in the opening race of the weekend in the class at Brands Hatch on Saturday.

The SMS/Nicholl Oils BMW rider from Eglinton had two tenths of a second to spare over runner-up, Milenco by Padgett's Honda's Luke Mossey at the chequered flag.

Lewis Rollo completed the rostrum places, with another Northern Ireland rider, Scott Swann, fourth. Simon Reid was ninth.

Allingham leads the series from nearest challenger Mossey.

Meanwhile in the feature British Superbike class, Glenn Irwin bounced back from his crash in the previous round at Snetterton to take seventh place in the first race of the weekend, which was red-flagged.

The Carrickfergus man had suffered hip and neck injuries in a four-rider crash in the opening race two weeks ago.

Defending champion Kyle Ryde extended his advantage over Scott Redding at the top of the championship standings to 19 points by taking victory ahead of Redding and Max Cook in race one.

Northern Ireland's Eugene McManus crashed heavily at Paddock Hill Bend.

He was assessed and stabilised at the circuit by the BSB medical team before being transferred to hospital for further assessment and investigation.

McManus is suspected to have sustained fractures to his right shoulder blade (scapula), right arm, and left leg.

Dubliner Jack Kennedy was runner-up in the Supersport sprint race behind Oli Bayliss, with Ben Currie third and Lee Johnston 10th.

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Thirteen-time winner Michael Dunlop headlines the entry for this weekend's Tandragee 100 road race.

Dunlop set a new course lap record last year at an average lap speed of 111.584 as he achieved a big bike double on his first appearance at the race since 2013.

Earlier this month he extended his record number of wins at the Isle of Man TT to 36.

Republic of Ireland riders Mike Browne and Michael Sweeney are also high-profile additions to the line-up.

Sweeney prepares to compete at the 5.3-mile circuit on the back of achieving a treble of victories at the Kells road races last weekend.

Browne put together a series of impressive results at the Isle of Man TT, including a runner-up finish in the Sportbike class.

Browne edged out his compatriot by half a second in a thrilling four-lap Supersport race at Tandragee last year and competes in partnership with BPE by Russell Racing.

Among the other leading competitors are Manx riders Conor Cummins and Marcus Simpson, last year's man-of-the-meeting Shaun Anderson, Neil Kernohan, Franco Bourne, Joey Thompson and Barry Furber.

Cummins participated in the event for the first time in 18 years 12 months ago, securing a podium in the Open race and fourth position in the feature race of the meeting.

A total of 150 competitors will take part in races for Superbikes, Supersports, Supertwins, Lightweight Supersport/250 GP, Moto3/125, Senior and Junior Support, Classic Superbike and Supersport and classic races, plus the Tandragee 100 finale.

Roads close on Friday at 11:00 BST, with practicing starting at 11:30 and roads opening at 21:00.

On Saturday, roads are scheduled to close at 09:30, with the first race due off at 10:00 and roads reopening by 19:00.

Image source, Pacemaker

Northern Ireland riders Scott Swann and David Allingham both claimed wins at the latest round of the National Superstock 1000cc series at Knockhill at the weekend.

Swann won Saturday's opening race on his Honda, ahead of Luke Mossey and BMW-mounted Allingham.

Sunday's race two saw Allingham emerge the victor, with Mossey again runner-up and Swann completing the podium places on that occasion.

After the third round of races, Allingham leads the series standings on 95 points, followed by Mossey on 82 and Swann third with 65.

Meanwhile Glenn Irwin was unable to repeat his podium finish on Saturday in Sunday's races but he did pick up some further points to add to his season total when he took sixth in the third race of the weekend in Scotland.

Race two saw defending champion Kyle Ryde take victory from Brad Ray and Scott Redding, while PBM Ducati rider Redding took the chequered flag in race three, ahead of Ray and Ryde.

Ryde heads the championship standings on 154 points, followed by Redding on 133. Glenn Irwin sits eighth on 61.

The next round of races will be at Snetterton from 3-5 July.

Meanwhile Michael Sweeney won the Grand Final at the Kells road races in county Meath as part of a hat-trick of victories at the meeting.

Manx rider Marcus Simpson was second in the feature event, with Kevin Keyes third.

Skerries man Sweeney also won the Open race and the Supertwins outing.

Keyes edged out Sweeney in a thrilling finish to the Supersport event.

Stephen Watson
BBC Sport NI lead presenter

Phillip McCallen's record at the Isle of Man TT places him among the most successful road racers of all time.

Yet his career is equally defined by the scale of the injuries he survived - and the determination with which he returned to racing despite them.

Speaking to the BBC Bikes podcast at this year's TT, the 62-year-old reflected on a decade at the top of the sport in which he claimed 11 victories at the event while overcoming a catalogue of serious injuries.

He won four races in a week at the 1996 TT and holds the record for the number of individual race wins in a day at both the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix, with five at each.

Over the course of his career, McCallen suffered three fractured skulls, repeated shoulder breaks, a shoulder blade torn from his back, a broken back, a damaged pelvis, broken legs, broken arms, and severe injuries to both feet.

"There's very little I didn't break," he says. "I've been beaten to bits at times, but I always believed I'd be back on a bike," said McCallen.

One of the most serious incidents came at the Temple 100 in 1990. A heavy crash left McCallen unconscious, haemorrhaging behind the face and temporarily blind.

"My eyes filled with blood from the inside," he recalls.

"I couldn't see at all - nothing. Then bit by bit, the sight came back."

His face swelled dramatically due to internal bleeding, but he returned to racing as soon as doctors allowed. "I never thought, 'that's me finished.' Not once."

At the 1997 TT, McCallen was involved in one of the most dramatic crashes of his career. Battling five times world champion Joey Dunlop in the 250 race, he approached Quarry Bends at around 150mph when the bike tucked at high speed.

He slid across tarmac, kerbs, and grass, suffering deep friction burns as his leathers tore open.

"I could hear the crowd as I slid," he says. "You're calculating everything - what you might hit, where you might end up. The brain works faster than any computer."

His shoulder and arm were severely damaged, and he was left "very badly beaten up," as he puts it.

Despite this, McCallen passed a medical assessment two days later, completing press ups with one arm, and went on to finish second in Wednesday's 600 race before winning both Friday events including the blue riband Senior TT.

"I just needed 24 hours hidden away to repair the body," he says. "Sports people know how to fix themselves when they have to."

His injuries extended far beyond the Mountain TT Course. At Daytona in 1992, a front tyre failure at top speed ripped his shoulder blade from his back.

"The tyre exploded and cut the brake pipes clean off. I had no brakes at all. I hit the barrier and that was the shoulder blade gone."

At the Ulster Grand Prix, McCallen landed on a rock during a crash, splitting the same shoulder blade into three pieces. At the North West 200, he seriously damaged his foot as he slid along the road after a crash. "That was the end of my North West that year," he continued. "I'd ripped the side clean out of the foot."

McCallen believes the drive to return was rooted in instinct rather than bravado. "You don't think about stopping," he explains. "You think about how to get fit enough to race again. That is just the mindset."

Despite the severity of his injuries, he insists he never believed the sport would claim his life.

"I genuinely never once thought I would die racing."

Looking back, McCallen says the risks were outweighed by the rewards. "People would give their right arm to stand on that TT podium once. I was fortunate enough to stand 11 times."