Before Sunday’s race, Eugene Laverty dropped by to have the craic with the team. Eugene Jr attended  the same school in Randalstown and the two families have been friends for 30 years.

Starting from an unaccustomed 25th place on the grid, it was going to take something special for Eugene to drag himself up to the front of the field.

​

By the end of lap 9, the wee bull had had taken back 15 places one way or another but he wasn’t going to have it all his own way. As we made it into the 10th lap, Eugene was leading a group of 5 riders on the road including Durham, Clayton, Stacey and Toms and they were all battling for places. As they went into Redgate on lap 11 Eugene was pushed back two places, a mighty battle ensued that lasted for the rest of the race.

​

As Charlie Nesbitt crossed the line to claim the win, Ed Best lost the front end of his bike on the last corner and slid out of the race. Chief beneficiary of this misfortune was Eugene who again moved up a place to a fine, if unexpected, 9th place finish.

This tidy finish sees Eugene collect 9 championship points and moves him up to 14th in the Championship standings with just 4 races of the season remaining.