Second on the day at Tandragee for Martin Finnegan

Klaffi Honda
By Phil Wain
May 9 2006

Martin Finnegan was forced to settle for a pair of seconds at the Tandragee 100 road races on Saturday, but the Klaffi Honda rider was in contention throughout the meeting, ensuring his 2006 season continued with it’s successful start.

The 25-year-old finished a close runner-up to Australian rider Cameron Donald in both Superbike races, but with rain falling prior to the Supersport 600cc race, he opted out of the race, preferring to save himself for the forthcoming North West 200 meeting.

The day commenced with the Open race, and Martin made a clean start from his front row position. He got embroiled in a dice with Raymond Porter, but by the time he had found a way through, Donald was already four seconds clear. The race was then stopped due to an accident and, with a second three lap race being held, the results would be taken on aggregate time. Martin and Donald battled for the entirety of the second part and, although the Klaffi Honda crossed the line first, he missed out on the win by 3.9 seconds despite setting a new lap record.

Heavy rainfall delayed the start of the 600cc race by one hour and, rather than take any risks in the tricky conditions, Martin and the team decided to opt out the race - so his next outing came in the final race of the day, the feature Tandragee 100. The sun was shining once more and Martin got a good start, overtaking both John Burrows and Raymond Porter to complete the opening lap in first place. This was how it stayed for the first five laps, but Donald was closing all the time and eventually overtook Martin on the sixth lap. The pair lowered the lap record even further, but it was Cameron who came out on top at the chequered flag.

Speaking at the conclusion of the Tandragee races, Martin said:
“It’s been a good day and, although a win would obviously have been better, we managed to take a pair of close seconds and things have continued to go well. I got held up a bit by Ray Porter in the first race, and it took me a few laps to get, by which time Cameron had disappeared. I managed to get the better of him in the second part but the damage had already been done in the earlier laps.

“We sorted out all of the problems with the 600cc machine in practice, and it was working well, but when the rain fell I decided not to start the race, preferring to save the bike for the North West. The final Superbike race was a really good race, but when Cameron came by, I just couldn’t quite keep with him. His bike was flying and he was riding really well, but we hammered it out until the end and I was pleased with another second place. The Klaffi Hondas are working well, and the opening meetings have set me up nicely for the North West 200, where I’ll be looking for some more good results.”

The International North West 200 road races take place on Saturday, 9th May, with practice getting underway on the Causeway Coast on Tuesday evening.