Category: Club News

The club held their Annual General Meeting on Monday 17th October 2016 at 8pm in the Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch.

The election of officials was kindly conducted by Mr Jimmy Walker. Our thanks go to Jimmy for conducting the election of officers, smoothly and efficiently.

Back at the helm of the club for another year is Billy McLarnin. Billy has served the club very well over the years and agreed to take position at the top once again. Assisting Billy this year again, is Matthew King as vice-chairman. There are also many people who work in the background within the club, filling other very important roles. These people hold positions like our Club President, Junior Burrows; Club Secretary & Press Officer, Stuart Campbell; Treasurer, George Porter; Assistant Secretary & Child Protection Officer, William Campbell; Chief Flag Officer, Andrew Shields. Back as acting Competition Secretary we have William Campbell and Assistant Competition Secretary; Matthew King. Our MRA Delegates for 2016 season are George Porter, Neil Loughery, Ken Dickson and Adrian Douglas.

The club would not be as successful as it has been without the support from our regular club members and helpers. We are indebted to all those club members who help with the running of events and making the club the strong team that it is. All new and existing members will be made very welcome on the third Monday of the month at the Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch from 8pm for our monthly club meeting.

 

2017 Season Club Membership forms are now available for download under the ‘Club Forms’ section of this website.

By Stuart Campbell

The Mourne Motorcycle Club held its tenth annual charity motocross racing event in 2016, raising £5,000 to be shared between the two charities chosen by the club.

This year the Mourne club raised monies for the Camphill Community Mourne Grange in Kilkeel and the Newcastle Station of the RNLI.

Every year the members of the club have picked charities or charitable causes which have touched or helped the lives of club members, their families, or the local community. The Mourne club has now presented more than £65,000 to twenty different charities and charitable causes since the holding their first charity event in 2007.

Speaking about the Mourne club’s charity work Mourne club Chairman Billy McLarnin said, “After we held our first charity event in 2007, I’m sure people didn’t expect that ten years later the Mourne club would have made this an annual event to continue raising money for charity.

“On behalf of the members of the Mourne club I am delighted to say that in the last ten years we have now helped twenty different charities and charitable causes, presenting more than £65,000 between them.

“Since our first charity event in 2007 we have always tried to choose charities or causes that are close to members of the club, or our local communities. This year we were delighted to raise money for the Camphill Community Mourne Grange and the Newcastle Station of the RNLI.

“It’s great to see the charity event is still a success and I would like to thank everyone who has made it possible again this year, from all of the organisers, the riders who took part, the spectators on the night and everyone who donated.

“Everyone associated with the Mourne club should be proud of what we have achieved so far, but at the same time we all want to keep our annual event going, so we can continue to give something back to the community every year,” he said.

L to R: Billy Shilliday (former Mourne Motorcycle Club Treasurer and father of Louise Shilliday), Junior Burrows (Mourne Motorcycle Club President), Christina Ehrhardt (Mourne Grange volunteer), Louise Shilliday (Mourne Grange resident) and Billy McLarnin (Mourne Motorcycle Club Chairman).

L to R (front row): Patrick Pinkerton (Newcastle RNLI Chair), Billy McLarnin (Mourne Motorcycle Club Chairman), Will Wilson (Newcaste RNLI Station President), Ray Deary (Deputy Launching Authority) and Kingsley Singer (Deputy Launching Authority)

This year breaking from tradition, the club members went out to present the cheques to the two charities at their premises and to see for ourselves the good work that these two organisations carry out. Everyone who was there will agreed the visit to Mourne Grange was somewhat special and one we will all remember for manys a day to come. Some more photos below from that visit:

Charity event history

The idea for a charity event started when Mourne club member Andrew Shields, from Kilkeel, suggested raising funds for the ambulance services that help at the club’s races.

Plans for a fundraising event had begun, but tragic circumstances changed who the club raised money for the first year.

Following the passing of Andrew and Alison Shields youngest son, Kyle, from Sanfilippo Syndrome on October 13, 2006, (five days before his 14th birthday on October 18) the club decided to raise money for Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice in Belfast, which had provided so much care for Kyle during his short life.

Away from the Mourne club, Alison Shields wrote ‘Kyle – A mother’s love in action’, from a diary she had kept during the years of Kyle’s illness, with the proceeds going to Horizon House, Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.

The Mourne club’s first charity event was held on May 22, 2007, and they have been helped every year by Ballynahinch Lions and Keith Cullen of Country Fried Chicken, Ballynahinch, who has supplied trophies for the race winners.

The charities and causes that have benefitted from the Mourne club’s charity events so far have been:

* 2007 – Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice, Belfast.

* 2008 – Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

* 2009 – Tiny Life and Autism Northern Ireland.

* 2010 – Montalto Medical Centre and Friends of Cancer Centre.

* 2011 – The British Red Cross and St. Johns Ambulance.

* 2012 – Cash for kids and The Reece Burrows Cerebral Palsy Fund.

* 2013 – The Lucy Parke Appeal and Grove House, Ballynahinch.

* 2014 – The Ballynahinch Branch of Cancer Research and the Mitre Trust Spinal Injuries Unit, Musgrave Park Hospital.

* 2015 – Macmillan Nurses and Help for Emma.

* 2016 – Camphill Community Mourne Grange and the Newcastle Station of the RNLI.

By Malcolm Beattie

The Ulster Quad & Sidecarcross Championships arrive at the super fast Seaforde circuit for round 5 of the Ulster Quad & Sidecarcross Championships promoted by the Mourne Motorcycle Club.

The Ballymac Hotels/Southern Quad Centre/Gilchrist Haulage/Lloyd Acoustics Ulster Premier Quad are the fastest vehicles round Seaforde, and last years visit produced high speed close racing.

Comber veteran Justin Reid on his JustWin Racing Can Amasaki leads the Championship chase after 4 rounds of 6  by three points over reigning Ulster Champ Banbridge man David on his Cowan Transport Yamaha, while third 13 points behind the two experienced veterans is Hillsborough youngster and reigning British Under 21 Champion Mark McLernon on his Walsh Honda machine, some dnf’s costing the youngster valuable points.

Only 7 points behind McLernon is in form Leon Rodgers on his Kawasaki, the Navan man is super fast on hard pack, and could be a race winner on Saturday, and when comeback man Terence Mackin, Newtownards youngster Blake McCormick and the experience Richard Carey are also in the mix, close racing is guaranteed .

The Clubmans Class is led by Scottish rider Lorne Sinclair leading Saintfield teenager Ben Colhoun by a huge 62 points, Ben Carey from Carryduff has climbed to fourth behind,  Jonathan Wilson, and Michael Boyle in hot pursuit only 4 points adrift.

In the LPL Supplements Sidecarcross Class, reigning Champion Lisburn man Neil Campbell with English passenger Greg Parmenter are unbeaten so far, but Lisburn crew Gary Moulds & Alan Gardner are second but nearly 58 points adrift, but the two Moulds & Gardner Racing crew are pushing the Champions every week, surely a win cannot be far away? Third, is Emma Moulds & Niki Adair only 14 points behind younger brother Gary, while fourth place is being fought over by Leslie McCarthy & Scott Bell with Dave McCourt &  Andy McKibben only 6 points behind.

With team selection for the Sidecarcross & Quadcross of Nations coming up this month, all the competitors will be hoping to put on a good show to impress the Motocross Commission.

In the Junior Quad Championships, the 250cc Class continues to be a close fight between Dean Young and Curtis Sizer with Jack Young and Adam Sizer joining in.

The 110cc Class is an even tighter tussle between Ross Dillon, Mark Mulholland, Jordan Wright and Andrew Black, with Charlie Williams and Chloe Gibson chasing hard.

The 50cc Class is a close tussle with Luke Dillon and Travis Toye the front runners with Adam Gibson and Jackson Kinghan closing in.

 

Racing starts at 11.00 with three races per class, track is signposted off main Belfast to Newcastle Road entry is £5.00 with under 14’s going free, come along for a great days family entertainment.

 

EVENT CANCELLED (see below)

For 2016, the club is trying something new for the annual race at Leitrim Motocross Track. We are holding the event on a Saturday afternoon with signing-on from 11am, practice at 12noon and racing from 1pm onwards. There will be classes for Grade A, Grade B, Grade C and Evos as usual.

We hope that changing to a Saturday afternoon will help to boost numbers at this event. Riders always talk about how they enjoy racing at Leitrim, so it would be great to see a good crowd there to support this event.

Competitors entry fee is £25 + an additional £3 each for all competitors and spectators to be paid at the gate.

Entries are now available here on our website (click below), paper download and in most motocross shops. Get them in quick to secure your entry at this great venue

Directions to this event can be viewed on our events page, please click here

Entries are available by clicking here

 

Unfortunately due to very low entries (six in total as of last night) we have been forced to cancel Saturday’s Afternoon Motocross at Leitrim MX track… The club does not take this decision lightly but we cannot take the chance to run events and very few riders turn up to support it.

Anyone who did enter will have their entry refunded in due course.

Charitable motocross in Ballynahinch by Stuart Campbell

The Mourne Motorcycle Club held their latest charity grasstrack racing event at Millbridge, Ballynahinch, last Wednesday.
This year eight classes of competitors had three short six lap races, as monies were collected for Camphill Grange House in Kilkeel and the RNLI Lifeboats Newcastle Station.
In the Grade C green class Hillsborough’s Richard Greer won overall with three race wins. Comber man David McKnight finished second with a third and two second place finishes, as Crossgar’s Stephen Gill had to settle for fifth overall with a second, then he led race two until a fall on the fourth lap left him to come home in 16th and a fifth place finish in race three.
Annacloy man Matthew King led the Grade C blue class off the line in two races, taking three sixth place finishes, as Newtownards man Ricky Suitor won the overall with two wins and a third. Saintfield’s John Martin finished second overall with a seventh in race one, followed by first and second place finishes in the next two races.
In the Grade C red class Saintfield’s Jack Smyth led two races from start to finish, as he enjoyed three race wins and Downpatrick man Darren McMullan finished second overall with three second place finishes.
Diane Hillis, from Newry, led from the start to take the chequered flag in the first Quad Grade B race, followed by a third place finish in race two. Hollis missed out on a top three finish overall after stalling on the starting straight of race three and finishing in sixth position, as Killyleagh’s Colin Lindsay finished in third overall with sixth, first and third place finishes.
In the Sidecars class Lisburn brother and sister Gary and Emma Moulds fought for the overall win in the class. Gary, with Lisburn man Roy Beattie as passenger, won all three races, as Emma, with Randalstown’s Nicky Adair as passenger, finished second overall with third, second and a fifth place finish.
Loughbrickland man Jason Meara was the overall winner in the Evo class, with a fifth place finish in race one followed by two race wins. Killinchy’s William Burgess won race one, then came home in fifth and second position to take second overall and Johnathan McBride, from Killinchy, had two thirds and a second place finish to take third overall.
Mayobridge man Sean Goss won overall in the Quad Grade A class with a first, second and fourth place finish, while Loughbrickland man Johnny McKnight finished third overall after two fifth placed finishes and a win in the third race three. The only other race winner in the class was Saintfield’s Ben Colhoun who had mixed fortunes on the night finishing sixth in race one, leading race two from the start to take the win and then finishing in seventh position in the third race.
Stephen Kelly, from Spa, won the combined Grade A and B class overall with two race wins and a second, as Downpatrick’s Mark Galloway was second with first second and third place finishes and Loughbrickland’s Jason Meara earned third with a second and two third place finishes. The top Grade B finisher was Kilkeel man Christopher Cully who came home in eighth, 13th and ninth positions and Ballynahinch man Jonathan O’Neill was third overall with an eleventh and two tenth place finishes.

The Mourne Motorcycle Club will hold their tenth annual charity grasstrack racing event at Millbridge, Ballynahinch, on Wednesday, June 22.

Each year the club picks two charities that have touched the lives of club members, their families, or the community and this has led to it presenting more than £60,000 to seventeen different charities and charitable causes since 2007.

This year the club has decided to raise monies for Camphill Grange House, to which a club member’s family has close ties, and RNLI Lifeboats Newcastle Station, which is an invaluable asset to our local community that we are pleased to be supporting.

Speaking ahead of the latest charity event Mourne club assistant Chairman Matthew King said, “to have presented more than £60,000 to charitable causes in the last nine years is something that everyone in the Mourne club can certainly be proud of.

“It wouldn’t be possible without the club members and friends of the club who make it happen, the competitors who take part and of course the generosity of the local community who have helped us to support so many worthwhile causes so far.

“This year we are supporting another two fantastic local causes and hopefully we will have another busy night, raising monies for Camphill Grange House and the RNLI Lifeboats Newcastle Station,” he said.

This year the evening of racing will start at 6pm with solo motorbikes, sidecars, classic bikes and quads all competing in different classes.

 

 

Entries for this event are now available, online and via download form for posting… Get them in quick to avoid disappointment as this event is always mega popular and attract riders from near and far.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

 

A good insight into this years event and a recap of the nine years past by Stuart Campbell…

In 2015 the club continued its successful charity work, raising £6,500 at its ninth annual charity grasstrack event.

Each year the club picks two charities that have touched the lives of club members, their families, or the community and this has led to it presenting more than £60,000 to seventeen different charities and charitable causes since 2007.

Now in our tenth year, the club has decided to raise monies for Camphill Grange House, to which a club member’s family has close ties, and RNLI Lifeboats Newcastle Station, which is an invaluable asset to our local community that we are pleased to be supporting.

Speaking after the event in 2015 Mourne club Chairman Billy McLarnin said, “Once again this is an amazing amount of money for any sports club to raise, especially for what might be considered a smaller sport like motocross.”

Each year we try to choose local charities or causes that are close to the club. We were delighted to help Macmillan Nurses who do so much to help people at their time of need and Emma Hamilton, whose father Nigel is a well-known club member.

“I know that everyone in the club is proud of what we have achieved in the last nine years and we hope to continue fundraising and giving something back to the community every year,” he said.

 

History…

The idea for a charity event started when Mourne club member Andrew Shields, from Kilkeel, suggested raising funds for the ambulance services that help at the club’s races.

Plans for a fundraising event had begun, but tragic circumstances changed who the club raised money for the first year.

Following the passing of Andrew and Alison Shields youngest son, Kyle, from Sanfilippo Syndrome on October 13, 2006, (five days before his 14th birthday on October 18) the club decided to raise money for Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice in Belfast, which had provided so much care for Kyle during his short life.

Away from the Mourne club, Alison Shields wrote ‘Kyle – A mother’s love in action’, from a diary she had kept during the years of Kyle’s illness, with the proceeds going to Horizon House, Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.

The Mourne club’s first charity event was held on May 22, 2007, and they have been helped every year by Ballynahinch Lions and Keith Cullen of Country Fried Chicken, Ballynahinch, who has supplied trophies for the race winners.

The charities and causes that have benefitted from the Mourne club’s charity events so far have been:

* 2007 – Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice, Belfast.

* 2008 – Northern Ireland Kidney Research Fund and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

* 2009 – Tiny Life and Autism Northern Ireland.

* 2010 – Montalto Medical Centre and Friends of Cancer Centre.

* 2011 – The British Red Cross and St. Johns Ambulance.

* 2012 – Cash for kids and The Reece Burrows Cerebral Palsy Fund.

* 2013 – The Lucy Parke Appeal and Grove House, Ballynahinch.

* 2014 – The Ballynahinch Branch of Cancer Research and the Mitre Trust Spinal Injuries Unit, Musgrave Park Hospital.

* 2015 – Macmillan Nurses and Help for Emma. Twin sisters Emma and Katie Hamilton, from Kilmore, were born on March 4, 2014, at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. Emma was not discharged for nine months as she was born with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS). CCHS is a rare genetic condition where the brain does not tell the lungs to breathe during sleep, although it can also occur with some individuals when they are awake. Now Emma depends on a ventilator for her breathing and she is continuously monitored to ensure her oxygen and carbon dioxide levels are maintained at a safe level.

 

Entries for this event are now available, online and via download form for posting… Get them in quick to avoid disappointment as this event is always mega popular and attracts from near and far.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

The club is holding the first Grasstrack of 2016 in just under two weeks time at Seaforde Moto Parc. This will be a good old fashioned grasstrack with three laps of practice followed by short sharp races for each class. Open to Grade A, Grade B and Grade C solos, Evos and Sidecars. There will be a minimum of three races per class for everyone with the possibility of a fourth block of races if time permits. This is a non-transponder event, therefore everyone is welcome.

This event will be incorporating a Sidecar ‘try-out’ day for anyone who wishes to give sidecar racing a go. We will be setting up a separate track for this bit to allow this to run alongside the grasstrack racing.

Prize money will be paid for the top three riders overall on the days racing.

Online entry is now active; and preferred where possible. Paper download form is also available if required. We have kept the entry fee at £20 for solos or £30 for sidecars, this is for pre-entry only. An additional £5 will be charged for entries on the day.

Get your entries in online today for a great days racing!

 

Due to an oversight on the clubs behalf, we will be unable to offer a class for Quads on Saturday. We apologise for this issue and will refund anyone who has entered over the coming days. Please spread the word around!