Sharing happier times with the Big Man, here at Faugheen

Hi to Everyone, It's hard to know what to say after the tragic weekend we have just experienced in road racing.
Martin Finnegan was a big lad and a big name in racing. To his wife Brenda, daughter Rachel, his mum and Dad, brothers and sisters and all the team I send my sympathies at this sad and difficult time.
I am proud to say I knew Finbar and raced against him in the past, he was not only a fellow competitor but also a friend. We had many good chat's and plenty of craic and laughs together, he was helpful and chatty to all in the paddock.

Moving on to the racing side of things... Still nursing the injury to my hand I knew I had a tough evening of practice ahead of me on Friday night. Tandragee is a very physical circuit and I knew the quick boys would be quick. I ended up 9th on the big bike, 11th on the 600 and 4th on the 250, On arrival to the paddock on race morning I took the 250 for a lap behind the support class to try out different gearing, it was fairly damp at this stage leaving the roads very greasy in places. On my return to the paddock Finbar and I shared a brief conversation about the weather conditions, little did he or I know he would go on to win the opening race of the day. That last conversation will be a lasting memory for me.

The Superbike bike race went fairly well for me. I was 10th on the opening lap and came through the field to finish 5th behind Martin, Ryan, Adrian and Keith. I guess that was as good a result I could have hoped for. I'd like to have made a better start so that I could have got away with them for a lap or two as coming through the field seem rather easy.

As we left Tandragee after a dark day in racing our thoughts were firmly with the Finnegan family..

JB#16

Pic by Baylon McCaughey www.irishracephotography.com