MOTORBIKES: Coates delighted to retain David Wood Memorial Trophy

In the first of the supersport races that decided the winner, English used the power of the IFS Global Logistics Triumph to hit the front from the start with Ballyrobert pole-setter Coates on the Kingsbury Packaging Kawasaki in third behind Jamie Patterson.

It wasn’t long before Coates was up into second and closing hard on the leader.

With three laps to go he made his move for the lead on the exit of the final chicane, but going into the righthander on the inside the two came together and Coates came off the worse.

“When I went to pull the clutch in the lever was not there, it had been broken in the collision,” said Coates.

“It made the last few laps difficult with no clutch, but it was worth it to still finish second behind Robert,” Nikki added.

In race two it was the same duo at the front and it was now down to whoever won the race would lift the silverware.

Coates led the early laps before dropping behind his rival, waiting for the chance to take the lead and win the race. On the final lap he made his move at Ringawaddy and this time it stuck and he crossed the line with 0.405 second to spare over English, with Patterson third.

“That’s for the Kingsbury Team, who have backed me this year with a great bike,” said Coates.

“Thankfully, this time around here were no problems with red flags (referring back to his last Bishopscourt experience).

“They were two great races with Robert today and I am delighted to retain the David Wood trophy,” he added.