FAUGHEEN 50 ROAD RACE REPORT 2022

Little did we think that after we took down the fencing in 2019, it would be three years later that we’d putting it back up. We are delighted our Faugheen 50 is back with a bang after a 3 year absence due to Covid. The Faugheen Road Race Club provided a weekend of thrills and excitement for the spectators, that lined the hedges and fields of the scenic Faugheen 50 circuit. The sun shone over the two days of qualifying and racing and while the temperatures soared amongst the spectators, the racing sent the temperatures even higher with close racing among the riders, with Tramore’s Brian McCormack making his return to the national road race scene since 2017. Riders from as far away as Germany and the Francesco Farraldo Italian team all vying for top honours at the Faugheen 50. With the drop of the flag on Sunday, Brian McCormack showed his coolness and determination in taking a race win by the narrowest of margins, 0.034 seconds from Skerries man, Michael ‘Micko’ Sweeney, which delighted the partisan home crowd and Wexford’s Graham Kennedy taking third spot. Racing was the real winner in this dramatic opener as the three contenders, McCormack, Sweeney and Browne all overshooting the first corner and with McCormack, who was the first to react, and get back on track and race to victory, hotly pursued by Sweeney and Kennedy.

Race Two, 250-350-400 seen Keelim Ryan, Stephen Tobin and Jonathan Watt battle for the rostrum with Ryan who has been in fantastic form since Kells Road Races a month ago. Tobin pushed Ryan all the way to the chequered flag and took the win by .6 of a second. Corkman Tobin had been racing at the Southern 100 in the Isle of Man during the week, arriving at Faugheen late on Friday night. With temperatures in the mid twenties, the club were battling to ensure that the road surface wasn’t melting away, which makes a pleasant change from battling the traditional Irish summer weather of warm rain. Next up was the 250-350cc Classic machines of yesteryear. These machines of a bygone age, made famous by riders such as Geoff Duke, Reg Armstrong and Giacomo Agostini. But thankfully the bikes still have the time to shine under the same competitive spirit of Barry Davidson, Freddie Stewart and Nigel Moore. The race was dominated from the off by Barry Davidson who has chalked up almost one hundred wins on national roads, could The Faugheen 50 be the place to do it. Davidson claimed the win by an impressive 11 seconds from John Leigh-Pembelton and Robert McCrum. The wee dingers were up next, a class of bikes that have unfortunately declined in number over the last few years, and the heyday of Joey and Robert Dunlop’s era astride their 125’s seem a distant memory as the major bike manufacturers concentrate on the larger capacity bike markets. However, the class persists and Cork’s Mike Browne on the Burrows Engineering Moto3 Honda was unstoppable. Not since the likes of Joey and Robert Dunlop, who could switch with ease from the larger capacity machines to the ‘wee bikes’ has anyone come close except Browne. And today he showed his class and adaptability by claiming another win in the Moto3 class, with Sean Leonard on the Mago Racing machine taking 2nd place. Barry Davidson took top spot in the S300 class with RJ Woolsley taking second and Germany’s Chris Meyer bringing home the little 125 in first place in his class. Davidson’s win brought him to 98 national wins, 2 short of the magical century. The 600cc machines were out, bringing the big guns of roadracing in another showdown, with Sweeney, Browne and McCormack chasing glory and bragging rights. With the Chawke brothers, Liam and James, Graham Kennedy and Stephen Tobin on the grid it wasn’t going to be straight up one horse race. Credit to Browne who pushed Sweeney to the limit and who had to put in a sterling performance to take first place from Browne by .089 of a second on the line followed home by Kennedy to complete the podium places. The Junior Support 201-400cc machines seen Manxman Marcus Simpson, fresh from his exploits from his maiden Southern 100 races at home take to the start line with the likes of Michael Gahan, Shaun Wynne and Mick Hogan from Bristol, Anthony O’Carroll and John Ella. Since cutting his teeth on the national roads North and South, the talented Isle of Man rider has grown in both competitiveness and confidence. Simpson pushed himself hard to gain the upper hand on the chasing pack and led from the off. While the chasing pack chased Simpson, he opened a near impossible lead to chase down. The real battle came further down the positions with Michael Gahan and Michael Gillan, and between Chris Meyer and John O’Donovan, who were separated by just half a second at the finish line. The top spot was taken by Simpson, with Gillan and Gahan finishing second and third respectively. The Supertwins were next to starting grid and featured the heavy hitters of Sweeney, Liam Chawke, Tobin and O’Carroll. Once again Sweeney took control at the front while the pack sorted themselves out behind him. Tobin and O’Carroll traded positions around the circuit, both locked in their own battle while Sweeney eventually took the chequered flag, O’Carroll overcoming the tenacity of Tobin to claim second, and Tobin having to settle for 3rd by just .5 second. Time for the second of the classic bike races, the Senior Classic, which once again would see Davidson out to try and make it 99 national wins, and Cumbrian Richard Forde along Kevin Gildea in the 1000cc class go toe to toe for valuable Championship points as well as the highest rung on the podium. The 500cc class would see Davidson pitted against Leigh-Pembelton who incidently took the win at Kells just 4 short weeks ago. Both Forde and Kildea raced each other hard, with Forde just having the guile and drive to take the win in an enthralling battle of the two strokes, with Kildea just falling short by two seconds. Davidson after setting the fastest lap time of the 500cc class and 99 wins within his grasp suffered mechanical failure on the last lap and had to retire, handing first position and valuable Championship points to John Leigh-Pembelton with Freddie Stewart and Patrick Walker rounding out the positions. Ian Thompson took third spot in the 1000cc class. The prelude to the Keever’s Bar Faugheen 50 Grand Final was the Non Championship Senior Support and if spectators thought they could take a deep anticipatory sigh and relax before the Grand Final, the Senior Support race wouldn’t let them. Simpson and co. provided high adrenaline, high octane racing that set the course on fire as the sun hid behind the clouds. Manxman Simpson used the extra leg from the Isle of Man flag to give himself that extra edge over Keelim Ryan. Both riders trailed each other, showing confidence and belief in each others ability to go right to the wire racing each other around the narrow, twisty and bumpy roads of Faugheen. No quarter asked, no quarter given, both riders raced right to the black and white chequered flag. Simpson took the win by .3 of a second and celebratory punched the air in delight and relief as he crossed the line just ahead of Ryan. Anthony O’Carroll took third, with Kerry’s John Ella in fourth by .04 of a second. The racing appetite wasn’t so much wetted as it was slapped, by such a battle. Even the sun came out from behind the clouds for the Grand Final in fear it would miss such a spectacle. The Grand Final would see the return of the big guns for the Keever Bar Faugheen 50 Grand Final. Sweeney, Browne, McCormack, Kennedy and the Chawke brothers from Rathkeale entered the bike racing arena that is Faugheen. Would there be drama at Creamery Corner, would lessons from Race 1 be learned or repeated, could Brian McCormack take the win, what had Browne left in the tank, had the Chawke Brothers a tag team plan or would Tobin, fresh from Isle of Man taken something special from the island, or would Wexford man Kennedy spoil the Sweeney show. Sweeney hit the front from the off, keeping his machine as close to the tarmac and not losing traction, determined not to play second fiddle to anyone, he stamped his authority on the front row of the grid, who in a split second were playing catch up on Sweeney. The battle for second and third was going to be played out in Sweeney slipstream, if the pack could get close enough to his slip stream. Kennedy took advantage and got himself into the mix while Tobin powered on to battle with McCormack. Lap after lap, Sweeney stamped his dominance and drive on the chasing pack, relentless in his ambition to claim victory. The laps counted down, 8 laps, 7 laps, 6 laps, Browne and Kennedy were running out of laps to catch Sweeney, Sweeney was getting closer to victory, all the while Tobin and McCormack were caught up in their own fight for the podium and placings. Liam Chawke was pushing on hard, and he too had the scalp of McCormack in his sights, so who would prevail over the ever decreasing lap count. Sweeney applied a masterclass of road racing, as Peter Hickman would say, “win the race in the slowest speed possible”. Sweeney managed the race on his own terms, and crossed the finish line nearly 6 seconds clear of Browne. Browne was no slouch and did his upmost to chase down Sweeney, finishing 15 seconds clear of Kennedy, ahead of Tobin and McCormack. Sweeneys performance earned him Rider of The Meeting joining the elustrious names on the Trophy, names such as Ryan Farquar, Derek McGee, Dan Kneen and Darren Lindsay.