2017 Armoy Road Races – Race of Legends : Special Awards 2017

Full list of awards and their recipients from the 2017 Armoy Road Racing Event :

Armoy Special Awards 2017 :Armoy Motorcycle Road Racing Club

Man of the Meeting :

  • Sponsored by PMA Contracts
  • Derek McGee

Support Man of the Meeting :

  • Wayne Hamilton Memorial Trophy
  • Joseph Loughlin

Saltire Shield :

  • First placed 400cc Supersport in Junior Support
  • Tam Nicholl

Darren Murphy Memorial Cup :

  • Highest placed newcomer in Junior Support
  • Joseph Loughlin

Robbo’s Cup :

  • Fastest 2-stroke lap in lightweight 125cc
  • Adam McLean

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2017 Armoy ‘Race of Legends’ : Full Results & Timings

The 2017 Armoy Road Races took place on 28th – 29th July 2017.  Here are the full race results and timings for each race :

2017 Armoy Road Races
2017 Armoy Road Races

As a quick note Michael Dunlop took the feature race – ‘The Race of Legends’ in outstanding style by over 12 seconds – his seventh in a row at Armoy!  As I said, ‘outstanding.’

Michael Dunlop at the 2017 Armoy Road Races - Taking his seventh 'Race of Legends' in a row!
Michael Dunlop at the 2017 Armoy Road Races – Taking his seventh ‘Race of Legends’ in a row!

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Honda Confirm Cause of McGuiness 2017 North West 200 Crash

The 2017 North West 200 was the start of the end for Honda’s Road Racing Season this year.

Things hadn’t got off to a great start anyway even after the announcement of what has to be described as a dream team of John MCGuinness and Guy Martin.  Guy crashed out of Tandragee and had a mediocre Cookstown event, however whether Honda wanted to admit it or not there was clearly an issue come the North West.

Every road racing fan knows John McGuinness just doesn’t fall off and it didn’t take long until the rumours started flowing that there was an issue with the bike and something to do with the throttle and that is what had thrown John off the bike.

Now two and a half months later, those rumours have been confirmed.

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Has Guy Martin Quit Road Racing? The Full Story…So Far…

Guy Martin looking focused on the 2017 Honda Fireblade - Practice Session 30th May 2017 - Isle of Man TT Races
Guy Martin looking focused on the 2017 Honda Fireblade – Practice Session 30th May 2017 – Isle of Man TT Races

The internet has went crazy today reporting on Guy Martin retiring from Road Racing.  As a Guy Martin fan, that is of course devastating news, and I honestly believe that most pure fans of road racing will also agree that Guy was / is good for the sport and its profile.  However following an ‘exclusive interview’ with MCN it looks like his road racing days are over…

With huge publicity surrounding the partnership of John McGuiness and Guy Martin on the new Honda FireBlade things looked perfect for the 2017 season.

Then it all started to unwind.  A poor Tandragee 100 started the season with Guy crashing out on his first lap, followed by an uneventful Cookstown 100 and North West 200 (at the same time as losing team mate John McGuinness to a horrific crash) which led us to the Isle of Man.  After the ‘box of neutrals’ incident Honda withdrew from the rest of the event.  Guy went onto a second place in the TTZero with Team Mugen, his team mate Bruce Anstey taking the win in that event.

Then the press release came that Honda and Guy would not be participating in the Ulster Grand Prix, a circuit that has brought Guy great success as well as proving almost deadly in 2015.

At this point I think most of us thought the writing on the wall was now here.

Guy Martin’s Road Racing days are over.

Explaining his decision to call it a day in an exclusive interview with MCN’s Matt Wildee, Guy said: “Racing’s been good to me, but I’m bored of it. You spend the early part of the year preparing for the season – testing, racing, talking about it, and then doing it all over again. It’s like Groundhog Day. It’s time to stop.” 

Or are they?

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Faugheen 50 : Sunday 23rd July 2017 Race Results & Timings

The Sunday Race Schedule for the 2017 Faugheen 50 is certainly a full one :

2017 Faugheen 50 Sunday Race Schedule
2017 Faugheen 50 Sunday Race Schedule

And here is how the days events panned out :

Click ‘Read More’ for all the results of every race including the break down by class, but if you can’t wait that long then the top three of the Grand Final (the winner being almost 16 seconds ahead of the second placed rider and over a full 24 seconds ahead of 4th place) were…

No sorry I can’t do it, there are no spoilers here… Read on for the full results and timing breakdowns :

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2017 Skerries 100 Results – 01/07/2017

Unfortunately I never made it to the 2017 Skerries 100, however that shouldnt stop you getting all the results… and it wont!

The event was dominated by Derek Shiels’ Cookstown Burrows Engineering Suzuki with a hat trick of big bike wins.  Derek McGee’s performance can’t be over looked either with a further three wins added to his tally and the seven laps of 2.9 miles Grand Final (on it’s second attempt, the first being halted by a red flag due to rain) went something like this :

Shiels started in pole and surged off to an impressive lead winning overall by 10 seconds, second place went to Derek McGee, followed by Michael Sweeney.  Newcomer Davey Todd was fourth, Davy Morgan fifth and Graham Kennedy in sixth.

Derek Shiels at the 2017 Skerries 100 on the Cookstown Burrows Engineering Suzuki
Derek Shiels at the 2017 Skerries 100 on the Cookstown Burrows Engineering Suzuki

Full 2017 Skerries Results :

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RoadSkin Paranoid Hoodie – Long Term Review

Date of Purchase : June 2016

Mileage Covered : c 7000 miles

Price at Time of Purchase : £99 with armour (RRP £129)

Current Price : £129 with armour

Weblink : http://www.roadskin.co.uk/shop/fully-lined-paranoid-hoodie-with-pockets-for-back-elbow-shoulder-armour/

RoadSkin Paranoid Hoody - Inside - Fully Lined
RoadSkin Paranoid Hoody – Inside – Fully Lined

Whilst at the Isle of Man TT Races in 2016 I called into the Roadskin pop-up store in Douglas and picked myself up a couple of bits of kit, namely a pair of their jeans and one of these hoodies.  The hoody at the time was on special offer at £99 including the armour – a saving of £30.

I had fancied such an item for quite some time.  Something lighter than the usual motorcycle jacket, something a bit more casual for when you are off the bike and something that still offered some protection.  The problem was the hoodies that I had seen seemed to offer two out of my three requirements, the one that seemed to be always missed was the protection – probably the only one that actually matters!

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ArenaCross UK Visits Belfast’s Odyssey Arena 28/01/2017

2017 ArenaCross UK Tour
2017 ArenaCross UK Tour

On January 27 & 28th 2017 the ArenaCross UK Tour graced Belfast’s Odyssey Arena for two rounds of the UK Competition.  With everyone from 7 year old kids to Europe’s finest indoor Motorcross Racers and a ridiculously skilled Freestyle Team this really is a high octane, completely flat out show from start to finish – and it’s a format that works and this is its fifth year on the bounce in Belfast – and my second.

Check out the official website here for all the results, upcoming events, news and photos… http://www.arenacrossuk.com

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Isle of Man TT 2016 : Day 4

So this is it for this trip, the final day.  The boat is about 7pm so unfortunately that means no viewing of the practice session tonight.  That’s one of the bad points on coming over for Practice Week from Northern Ireland – the sailings aren’t perfect, but I suppose there is no way round it unless the Steam Packet put on an 11:00pm sailing – Hint Hint…

On getting packed up the hotel kindly offered to look after my gear and panniers so I could go and enjoy the mountain again – just another reason why I absolutely will go back to this hotel without any qualm.

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The Rosslyn Hotel – Isle of Man

After a meet up with the guys in Douglas, some breakkie and a quick walk around the town and a catching of the sights it was time to head out back out towards the track.

The Legendary Isle of Man Horse Drawn Tram
The Legendary Isle of Man Horse Drawn Tram

It was on this walk around the town that I called into the RoadSkin pop up store and purchased myself a nice Roodskin motorcycle hoodie (which I have been wearing regularly ever since) and a pair of jeans (which I have yet to pull on) – the pop up store saving me well over £100 on these two items alone, oh and I picked up a couple of neck warmers too.

(Long Term Review to follow on the RoadsSkin Gear)

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