With a prize fund of almost £12,000, Sunday's fourth Annual Monaghan Road Races offer the best monetary awards of all the national motorcycle race meetings, thanks to sponsorship from McElvaney Motors (Main Scania Dealers) of Dublin and Monaghan.
Eight races will be held over the 2.6 miles Glaslough circuit, located five miles north of Monaghan town, the record for which was set in 1997 by English rider Simon Beck riding a 750cc Kawasaki at a speed of 98.131 m.p.h.
Owen McNally had three wins last year and the Coleraine rider returns with a 600cc Honda as well as his 125cc and 250cc machines. In the lightweight (125cc) class, McNally will no doubt find a very tough opponent in Welshman Ian Loughter, winner of the 125cc TT in the Isle of Man in June.
With the exception of Joey Dunlop, the list of top riders reads like a "who's who" of Irish road racing - Adrian Archibald, Jason Griffiths, Robert Dunlop, Gary Dynes, Denis McCullough, John Donnan, Adrian McFarland, Victor Gilmore and Gary Jess.
Tonight there will be a display of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Glaslough village and tomorrow there will be a parade lap of the circuit by a big turn out of the "great American Dream" machines, after the practice session.
The Cancellation of the Limerick and Kerry Motor Clubs' two hillclimbs, to have taken place this weekend at two new venues near Tralee, wil not effect Donal Griffin who has won the Dunlop Hillclimb Championship for the second successive year. The Dublin driver, an air traffic controller at Shannon, has won eight out of the 10 rounds. The battle for second between Padraig Forde and Karl Gleary will be contested in the two final rounds in Donegal on September 11th/12th.
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