A full field of 35 Superstox took to the track for the European Championship, and the action didn’t take long to start as World Champion Michael Green and local favourite Lee Davison both found themselves upside down before they had even taken the green flag in heat one! Both emerged unscathed as the heat wins fell to former World Champion John Mickel (twice) and Bangor’s Craig McConnell.

The European Championship final was then dominated by Nick Roots, as he powered ahead off the start to successfully defend his title, with Green staging a great comeback from his earlier rollover to land second ahead of Mickel for an all-English top three.

Sunday saw the Irish Open Championship up for grabs, and it was Green who retained that title ahead of Roots, with Augnacloy’s Kyle Beattie in third.

A whole host of support action took place over the two days, with the Classic Hot Rods seeing Scotland’s Graeme Callender claim the Irish Open Championship, whilst Anthony Morgan from the Republic of Ireland was victorious in the Jim Purdie Memorial Trophy.

The coveted Keir Millar Memorial Trophy for the Ninja Karts fell to newly crowned World Champion Leyton Hughes from Antrim ahead of Ryan Berry and English visitor Finley Kew. The 2.0 Hot Rods Irish Masters fell the way of Portadown’s Adam Heatrick after a commanding drive ahead of Ryan McCrory and Cork’s Ian Riordan.

The Stock Rods provided close action on Saturday evening as Glenavy’s Joe Largey took the win, whilst Portadown’s Dylan McCann completed a heat and final double in the Lightning Rods on Sunday.

Lacey Bevan enjoyed a spell out front in the opening Juniors Production heat, before Abbie McKinstry pulled ahead to take the win over Stewart Hanna and Declan O’Connor. Heat two saw Aaron Dynes take the win after on the road winner Jack Morrow was docked two places for contact. Bevan took a creditable runner up spot, which was enough to earn herself pole position for the final alongside Hanna.

An early skirmish in the final saw McKinstry crash out, leaving O’Connor in the lead ahead of Sam Percy. Morrow really had the bit between his teeth in this one, pulling right around the difficult outside line to take an absolutely fantastic victory. Percy, O’Connor and Matthew Weir were next home.

The 1300 Stock Cars were simply spectacular all evening, with the bumpers put to good use in each and every race. Thomas McCrory had his new car on fine form as he took the opener ahead of Gareth Halliday and Jon McQuillan, the places decided after a huge last bend sort out. There was a big hit for Jack Kennedy in heat two as he was unceremoniously dumped in the wall on the Brown Trout Bend, as McCrory again took the flag over Matthew Milliken and Stephen McCready.

The final saw some great racing early on, with both blows and places exchanged. McCready worked his way ahead, but he soon has McCrory tracking his every move, even with the double heat winner’s rise to the red grade for the feature race. McCrory waited to the very last bend, launching an attack on McCready that took both out to the wall. They raced to the line side-by-side, with McCrory just getting the verdict, and the hat-trick, by the smallest of margins. McCready was a gallant runner up ahead of Robbie Wright in third.

The Thunder Rods again saw a very healthy field take to the track, which made things very difficult for the star men starting at the back of the grid. Debutant Rab Preston raced clear for a dream start to his career by taking the win in the opening heat, ahead of Samuel Murphy and Ricky Bradley. Bradley, in only his second outing on the ovals, then took the win in the second heat ahead of Murphy and Preston.

Preston made a lightning start to the final, quickly demoting his fellow novice graders to quickly build up a healthy lead. It was a lead he wouldn’t lose, and he raced home to take the silverware in style over Murphy and the rapid Dean Catherwood.

Mark Corry made good use of his blue grading to grab both heat wins in the Lightning Rods division, the Portadown man automatically elevating himself back to the star grade for the feature race of the night.
Ally Neill quickly hit the front in the final, but he was soon chased down by Mark McCambridge, with Corry and Stuart Agnew joining in the scrap soon after. McCambridge just couldn’t pull off the pass on Neill, before Corry almost made it past too. Mark was oh so close to getting ahead, but Neill held on resolutely to take a hard earned win over McCambridge and James McKinney in a blanket finish.

The Thunder Rods were all about local Aghadowey debutant Ricky Bradley, as he claimed both heat wins from the novice grade in some style.
An upgrade for the final was always going to make things much more difficult for Bradley, but he soon worked his way into contention once again. A late caution period saw leader Paddy Hannigan excluded for not obeying yellow flags and jumping the restart, and that opened the door for Bradley to complete his hat-trick on what became a dream debut on the ovals. Samuel Murphy, Chrissy Dempsey and Brendan Doherty filled the top places.

Declan O’Connor made the long haul from Co Meath worthwhile with victory in the opening Junior Productions heat, before Aaron Dynes claimed a great win in the second heat from the white grade. Lacey Bevan had a spell out front in the final, but O’Connor was the man on form as he swooped past to race clear for a popular victory. As Declan completed his double for the evening, Jack Morrow took second ahead of Stewart Hanna, Sam Percy and Matthew Weir.