Michal ‘Indi’ Dokoupil made the most and some of the track time available, in the 20 minutes long Ultra Lightweight Ulster GP qualifying session, setting as on Wednesday afternoon a truly world class pace on the Ariane Racing Factory Moto 3 machine.
Dokoupil who’s established amongst International Road Racing’s most popular exponents, registered a best lap time today of 4 minutes 04.204 seconds, which placed him 0.791 clear of Bob Wylie Racing supported Christian Elkin (4.04.995).
Six seconds behind the evenly matched leading duo of Dokoupil and Elkin was Irish Road Race 125/Moto 3 Championship leader Gary Dunlop (4.11.122).
Ulster GP stalwart Nigel Moore (4.16.843) finished fourth quickest, whilst fifth, sixth placing’s on the qualifying times sheet were clinched by two Kennedy’s, Melissa Kennedy (4.17.934) and brother, Dundrod debutant Wayne Kennedy (4.26.109).
Finalising the ten quickest Ultra Lightweight class competitors from Wednesday, Thursday’s qualifying sessions are Chris Meyer (4.27.719), Sarah Boyes (4.32.128), Malcolm Love (4.41.654) and Peter McKillop (4.45.897).
Looking back on recent Lightweight UGP qualifying action, Logan Racing’s Neil Kernohan reigned supreme, keeping at bay the challenge from 2004 Senior Manx GP winner Davy Morgan.
Lapping over 3.7 seconds quicker than he did from Wednesday afternoon’s competitive action, Kernohan’s best lap time of 3 minutes 56.624 seconds, gave him an advantage over lead chaser Morgan (3.58.470) of just over 1.84 seconds.
Team DHR’s Gareth Keys (4.05.436) finished third fastest, whilst lead 400 mounted competitor, fourth fastest overall was rising Scottish roads star Kris Duncan (4.07.461).
FonaCAB Ulster Grand Prix: Combined Lightweight qualifying result, is as follows:
1 Neil Kernohan 3.56.624
2 Davy Morgan 3.58.470
3 Gareth Keys 4.05.436
4 Kris Duncan 4.07.461
5 Shaun Anderson 4.09.676
6 Paul Williams 4.10.139
7 Darryl Tweed 4.10.282
8 Stephen McKeown 4.12.507
9 Dave Walsh 4.21.409
10 Bryan Harding 4.22.268
11 Peter Fletcher 4.29.934
12 Gillian McGaw 4.31.455
13 Johnny McCay 4.32.170
14 Yvonne Montgomery 4.33.590
15 Darren Duncan 4.33.765
16 Paul Daley 4.34.721
17 Stephen Carr 4.39.044
Words by Stevie Rial