Bree - No longer the best kept secret in the South

October 06

The final round of the Zeal Optics NPS took place at a new venue for 06 in Bree, Co.Wexford, run by Bobby St Ledger and Shane Murphy. After the teething problems the lads had with the Whitehorse NPS, this event was a resounding success and is a credit to both of them.

The appeal of a new track and uplifts for both days wasn’t enough to entice some of the Northern lads, lazy gits, when you consider we had a Scottish contingent over to shake up the ladies category in the form of Wendy Chambell, Lesley Wood and Margaret Turner. It was an added bonus to see Tally up and about again, even though he was only acting as personal mechanic to the girls for the weekend.

Now as I mentioned before, this was a new track, and one that didn’t disappoint. A mixture of wide open flat-out sections with kickers, berms, step-downs and a road gap, I was glad I had borrowed Ricky McKillen’s Sunday for the weekend to experience it firsthand.

From the star ramp it was a sprint with a small kicker before the first left hand berm, another sprint and over a small tabletop and into the woods towards a northshoe style step-down into a left hand berm. Out of here and it was on to an off camber sprint which weaved through the trees and through a rock garden, this was followed by a left/right combination that led over some nasty roots before hitting a kicker into the chute that led down to a nice left hand berm at mach velocity. From here there was a step-down followed by a right hander with another step-down into the woods for some tight singletrack littered with roots and rocks, a right hander followed by a short straight led into a left hand berm that had many riders drifting off the track on the exit. This was followed by a step-up/hip style tabletop into more tight singletrack and down towards the next tight right-hander, make it through here and you were into more tight, rooty singletrack with a left/right combination over even more roots. A short straight led to a sharp left-hander over, you guessed it, more roots and into a steep chute that led down to the road gap. After some airtime you were into the final section of the track, a step-down into a left hand berm followed by a sprint over a few small kickers and into the last left hand berm before crossing the finish line. Man this track was fun to ride, a perfect end to the season and one I will be looking forward to returning to next year.

In total we had 104 riders signed on to race, what follows is an account of how the weekend unfolded.

U14

Robbie Reid (Bikecology) took the win with his time of 02.08.976, Gavin Carroll took second to finish on 02.10.601, third place went to Marc Potts (Bikecology) with his time of 02.12.813, fourth place went to Taryan Lewis who finished on 02.15.123, and fifth place went to Kyle Rimmer with his time of 02.15.392.

U16

Once again Ewan Doherty (BreteEze/Fitness) took the win onboard his new 224 to post a time of 01.48.317. Colin Franklin (EpicDH) took second with his time of 01.50.155, just edging out Jason Murphy (KillarneyDH) who finished on the same second with his time of 01.50.263 to take third. Fourth place went to Mathew Coulter who finished on 01.52.937, and fifth place went to Erwin Buick who finished on 01.57.020.

Vets

David MacManus (021Racing) took first place with his time of 02.07.015, Carl Young took second onboard his recently acquired MSC to post a time of 02.13.393 leaving Dave O’Toole to take third with his time of 02.27.040.

Super Vets

We only had one super vet this weekend in the form of Tom Clogher (TC Racing) who made his comeback to racing after missing a few rounds due to a minor heart attack, Tom ripped up the track on his hardtail and finished with a time of 03.22.355, its good to have you back Tom, you have been sorely missed.

Ladies

Now this was a new experience, we had been graced with the presence of 3 young Scottish ladies who had made the journey for this race, and by all accounts they thoroughly enjoyed it and promised to be back next year, im going to hold you to that ladies! It was certainly worth the trip for Wendy Chambell who took the win with her time of 02.30.545. Second place went to Michele Macartney (CRC) with her time of 02.43.314, third place went to Scottish lassie Lesley Wood who finished on 02.51.551, Aoife O’Donoghue (TC Racing) took fourth with her time of 02.54.054, Shreks Missus (Margaret Turner) rounded off the podium with her time of 03.34.289.

Senior

Sean Murphy (021Racing) took the win with his time of 01.53.254, second place went to Ciaran Steger Hoey (PLUSH) with his second run time of 01.54.295, Keelim Ryan took third with his time of 01.56.654, fourth place went to track builder and event organiser Bobby St Ledger who finished on 01.58.059, (sorry for distracting you with my flash on your first run Bobby) and fifth place went to Ben Mullen who finished on 01.58.527.

Masters

In the absence of Joe Ward (PLUSH) and Mark Dickson (PLUSH), Ian McIntyre (PLUSH) decided to take it easy as there was no obvious competition, unfortunately Ian took it too easy and was beaten to the win by Marcus McKay (Bikeology) who took his first ever NPS win to finish on 02.03.941. Big Mac had to settle for second place with his time of 02.04.044, third place went to Denis O’Shea to take his first NPS podium with his time of 02.10.186, fourth place went to Stewart Carr (EpicDH) with his time of 02.11.925, and fifth place went to Justin Murphy who finished on 02.15.788.

Junior

Dan Wolfe secured another win with his time of 01.46.950, second place went to Paul Cummins onboard his new Trek Session10 to post a time of 01.48.301, Gareth McKee took third to finish on 01.50.442, Karl O’Sullivan took fourth with his time of 01.58.042, and fifth place went to Stephen Gormley who finished on 01.58.163.

Elite

It was a Wolfe brothers double this weekend with Gerard taking the win to post the fastest time of the day finishing on 01.44.852. Darren Quille took second with his time of 01.45.882, the charismatic Wallace Irwin took third to finish on 01.46.946, Andy Smith (TC Racing) made his return to racing to take fourth with his time of 01.48.007, and fifth place went to Chris Kilmurray (Ancilloti) with his time of 01.49.071.

So for the last time this year its time to bestow thanks upon our series sponsor, Zeal Optics for supporting us and for providing prizes for the winner of each category. Thanks also goes to Bobby St Ledger and Shane Murphy for putting on a blinding event to wrap up the season, cheers guys. Thanks also goes to all who helped out over the weekend by marshalling, you know who you are.

With the racing concluded it was onto the all to familiar podiums and prize giving, which was followed by a farewell to all the riders who we only get to see at the races. This season has been a resounding success, we have had a great turnout at each round, and even managed to entice a few Scottish riders to come over and participate. I would like to thank Clive Forth, Wendy Chambell, Lesley Wood, Margaret Turner and Tally for making the effort to come over and support our series, hopefully next time you will have your bike with you Tally!

So for the last time this year it’s over and out, and I will catch up with you all at the winter league at the start of next year, bring it on!