As practice got under way on Friday at the Around a Pound Tandragee 100, celebrating its 60th anniversary, the organisers must have been delighted with the absolutely perfect conditions in warm sunshine for the whole day – but what a difference a day can make.

Saturday morning was in total contrast, with persistent rain and a seven-degree drop in temperature, but the club was determined not to disappoint the many fans who had made the effort to be there despite the forecast, after an absence of two years.

A few of the Enniskillen & District Motorcycle Club members made the journey to the County Armagh circuit, hoping to continue their good start to the season.

First out on race day in a revised schedule were the junior classics, where Kyle Parkes was hoping to follow up on his second place finish at Cookstown the previous week in the C250 class.

After a good qualifying session in sixth place on his much more underpowered 198 Honda compared to the rest of the field, Kyle rode a fantastic race in terrible conditions to take fourth place behind Brian Mateer, Philip Shaw and RJ Woolsey.

With these consistent performances, to date, Kyle lies in second position in the championship standings.

In the C350 class run concurrently, Barry Davidson had to produce his best on the final lap to take the win from Nigel Moore by just a fraction of a second, with Andy Hornby in third.

With the first Open race being red-flagged, attention turned to the junior support race.

Technical difficulties

Adrian Heraty had a good qualifying session in 15th place in a very tough class of 34 riders, but unfortunately at the beginning of the race, technical difficulties set in, which forced him to retire.

Meanwhile, Ken Parkes – who had qualified in 24th place – had a brilliant race, having come back from injury and on a new bike, to take 14th position.

In the shortened race, it was Jack Oliver who took the win from Michael Gahan and Jonathan Watt.

In the only other race of the day, Dominic Herbertson took the win in the supersport 600 class by less than a second from early leader Michael Sweeney, with Michal Dokoupil in third.

With the race again being red-flagged on lap three of four, the organisers then took the decision to abandon the rest of the meeting.

It’s always a tough decision for any club to make, with all the effort put in from one year to the next, but safety at motorcycle racing is paramount.

As the decision was made, another two of the Enniskillen club members, Liam Trainor and Darren Clarke, who had qualified 18th and 19th respectively in the senior support class, sat patiently in the holding area waiting to be called to the grid.

Disappointment all round for both riders, and also for Paul Gartland, who had bike issues before practice.

Next up on the calendar is the North West 200, where Lee Johnston will be trying to add to his tally of wins on the famous north coast triangle.

Practice starts at 9.15am on Tuesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 12, with racing on Thursday evening and all day Saturday.