'Pat on' the back for Lougher as he wins 500cc Classic TT

Highs and lows for Harrison and RC Express at Ulster GP

Dean Harrison and the RC Express Racing by MSS Performance team experienced the highs and lows of motorcycle racing at the weekend’s Ulster Grand Prix when a superb podium finish in the Superstock race was followed in the next race by a heavy spill which has left him nursing a number of injuries including a broken wrist, dislocated shoulder and four broken ribs.

The festival started well for Dean in Thursday’s Dundrod 150 Superbike race when a superb start on the ZX-10R Kawasaki saw him complete the first lap in third place and for the entire five-lap race, he battled with Michael and William Dunlop and Lee Johnston for the final podium position. Although Michael Dunlop eventually took the third place, Dean successfully saw off the challenges of the other two riders and with a new personal best lap of the course, 133.217mph, he took an excellent fourth place.

Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix race day got off to a brilliant start when Dean took second in the Superstock although he was denied victory by the unbelievably close margin of 0.001s, Manxman Dan Kneen getting the better of him. Having grabbed the lead on the opening lap, Dean, Kneen and Bruce Anstey were never more than half a second apart with positions changing all the time and on each and every lap.

The lead changed hands on no less than five occasions on the final lap but Kneen’s intermediate tyres were helping him be stronger on the final third of the circuit, from the hairpin to the start and finish. Indeed, Dean re-took the lead on the final lap at the hairpin only for Kneen to close in on the run to the line and they flashed across the start and finish line side by side with an anxious wait for the timekeeper’s verdict. It went to Kneen but the result was still Dean’s, and the team’s, best ever result at the Ulster GP.

However, from the high of a rostrum came the season’s low in the following Supersport race when Dean, riding the Mar-Train Racing Yamaha, crashed heavily at Ireland’s with, ironically, Kneen also going down. The race was subsequently red flagged with Dean taken to hospital in Belfast where his recovery will now start.

Ben Constable, Team Co-owner: “Dundrod’s proving to be a bit of a bogey circuit for us and there’s always something that seems to spoil the meeting for us. Dean’s crash and subsequent injuries have obviously put a downer on the results he achieved on the RC Express Racing machines but things had been going really well up until that point. His 133mph lap on Thursday showed what pace he had and what he was capable of whilst he couldn’t have done any more in the Superstock race. To lose out by such a small margin is a tough one to take but it was a great podium and we’re all just wishing him a speedy recovery now so he can get back out on a bike as soon as possible.”

Cox Making positive Oulton Park Round 7

It was back to Oulton Park for the second time this year for round 7 of the National Superstock 1000 championship. With a new team going to Oulton was going to be a learning curve for Cox and the new ZX10. It was a tough weekend but Cox made progress throughout, unfortunately ending the weekend with a fuel problem only having to retire from the race with 1 lap to go. Victor showed great pace in the race with lap times capable of running in the top 8.

It has been a great effort from everyone with Thruxton and Oulton being back, now with 2 weeks off before Cadwell Park it gives the team and Victor some time to prepare the bike and take what has been learnt from the weekend and go on stronger for round 8.

Cox 'I am enjoying working with the new team, with Thruxton and Oulton being back to back it was always going to be tough as we had only got the new bike days before Thruxton. I am confident we will be back where we need to be, now it is time for me to get my head down with my training ready for the bank holiday weekend at Cadwell Park. '

'Thanks again to you all for supporting me.'

Great Scott! It's Lougher at the double

Twenty-four years after he stood on top of an Isle of Man podium as he claimed his first TT win, on Ray Cowles' Yamaha TZ 250A, Ian Lougher re-created that day when he clinched his second win of the 2014 Classic TT Festival with victory in the Formula 2 Classic TT, this time on Brian Scott's TZ 250A.

In the race postponed from Monday, early leader Roy Richardson was black flagged on the first lap at Parliament Square. By the time the leaders reached the Bungalow, Ian had took the race by the scruff of the neck and, with an opening lap of 107.999 mph he led the race by over seven seconds from Chris Moore with Stuart Garton 3.5 seconds back in third.

Lougher and his team adopted an early refuelling tactic and he came in at the end of the first lap thereby handing the race lead to Moore who opted to go on through to start his second lap.

But there was no panic in the Lougher camp. At Ramsey, Moore led by over 43 seconds but by the time they completed their second circuit Lougher had reduced the deficit to just over 28 seconds and, with Chris having to pit for fuel, Ian was effectively the new race leader designate.

Indeed, by Glen Helen on the final lap Lougher was back in front by some 22 seconds and just as he did in the 500cc Classic TT on Saturday, he saved his best until last to notch up the fastest lap of the race at 111.064 mph, and in the process extend his race winning margin to over 53 seconds from Moore to register a superb 2014 Classic TT double.

Garton was 9.9 seconds back in third with Tom Snow, Phil McGurk and David Hewson completing the top six.

It was another virtuoso performance from Lougher with massive thanks going to Brian Scott for providing a brilliant bike.

Earlier in the day the popular Welshman took part in the 350cc Classic TT where, despite limited track time on the much respected Team Ripley Land Racing Drixon Honda, he still rode to a solid fourth place finish.

It's been a successful return to the Isle of Man for Ian, who despite 'retiring' last year, always hinted that he would continue to compete in selected events.

East takes positives from Silverstone

James East had his second outing for ILR Kawasaki, as Round 9 of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship took place on the world stage at the weekend as support to the British MotoGP round at Silverstone.

The weekend started solidly enough for James, finishing 18th quickest in Free Practice, but a very painful case of arm pump had surfaced which would ultimately persist throughout the weekend.

East then posted the 25th quickest time in first qualifying, and an improvement of almost a second in the next session was enough to move him up another three places to 22nd overall and a place on the eighth row of the grid.

After a terrible start in the race, James quickly settled down to lap at a respectable pace and come home in 19th place.

He now looks forward to re-joining the team for the final round at Brands Hatch in October.

ILR Kawasaki Team Manager Ian Lougher: "It is good to work with such a young, talented, up and coming rider who is so appreciative of everything that the team do for him. James has masses of potential that is just sitting there waiting to be realised, and I'm sure at the next round we will see that."

James East: "I am obviously not satisfied with the 19th position we achieved at the weekend, but we have made good progress with the settings of the bike. I can't thank the ILR KAWASAKI team enough for their help and guidance as it's been second to none, and I can't wait for Brands Hatch now."

INcompetition Racing Donington Park

David Allingham made a welcome return to the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Donington Park this weekend. Having missed Cadwell Park following a crash at Oulton Park where he sustained an injury to his thumb that required an operation.

David rode through the pain barrier at Donington and made vast improvements in every session he went out on track. The team made various changes from practice to qualifying and he placed the INcompetition Yamaha on 20th on the grid for the sprint race on Saturday. He got a good start and was lying as high as third in the Supersport Evo Championship class. He was battling for an Evo podium but was unable to get the better of Josh Corner on the final lap and had to settle for fourth.

He moved to 17th on the grid for race two and after avoiding a huge crash on the start he was running first in the Evo Championship class but was unfortunate to crash out at the Esses on lap five.

David Allingham - "This wasn't the weekend I was hoping for, I really wanted to be on the podium in the Evo class in both races here but it just wasn't to be. The first race went ok I was a little bit annoyed with my start and I felt like I should have been further up the pack but all in all it wasn't a bad result with a broken thumb.

I was really confident going into race two and got the start I wanted coming around the first lap in ninth and first Evo bike by quite a large distance. The safety car was out was out for the first few laps and when it went in Luke Jones and Rispoli got past me. I managed to stay with that group and felt like I could make a move on Rispoli until I crashed out at the Foggy Esses. I was really annoyed with myself but can't wait for Assen, I will hopefully be fully fit by then and back battling for podiums and wins. A huge thank you to all my team and sponsors and hope I can make amends at the remaining rounds of the season."