Team Ireland retain 3rd in Phillip Island Classic 2017!

Phillip Island Team Ireland Result

Team Ireland retained 3^rd place in the Phillip Island International Classic for the 2^nd year running as the UK claimed 1^st. Solid performances again from Paul Byrne and Derek Sheils meant the privately funded Irishmen took 3^rd place with almost 200 points to spare.

Paul Byrne again excelled in the individual series to come home in 4^th as newcomer to the event Derek Sheils finished a really credible 7^th, ahead of some well established names such as James Hillier and Peter Hickman.

Race 3 showed improved returns for Paul and Derek finishing 6^th and 7^th respectively as 3 other team mates Dave Johnson, Hilton Hincks and Chris Campbell also crossed under the chequered flag. Bad luck rained down on the efforts of Ben Rea, Cormac Conroy and Alexander Pickett however as they were forced to retire.

Race 4 showed an improvement for Paul Byrne as 4^th place beckoned with the Australian team fighting back in an effort to reclaim the title from the dominant Jeremy McWilliams led UK team. Derek Sheils bagged another 7^th place on the Tom Dermody Suzuki XR69 ahead of Conor Cummins to secure more points for the team. Dave Johnson just missed out on an impressive top 10 finish in 11^th as Hilton Hincks, Chris Campbell and Alexander Pickett ended up 16^th, 19^th and 20^th.

 Irish non-riding captain Mike Meskell was delighted with how his team performed.

"We had some good bikes and some  not so good this weekend, but they held together and we have achieved our goal of getting closer to the top two teams," Meskell said. "We want to be regarded as a serious competitor to Australia and the UK, and we will come back bigger and stronger in 2018 with better bikes, including two XR69s."

Race one: 1 Jeremy McWilliams (UK), 2 Shawn Giles (AUS), 3 Peter Hickman (UK), 4 Conor Cummins (UK), 5 Jed Metcher (AUS), 6 Chas Hern (AUS).

Race two: 1 McWilliams, 2 Hickman, 3 Metcher, 4 Alex Phillis (AUS), 5 Paul Byrne (IRE), 6 Giles.

Race three: 1 McWilliams, 2 Hickman, 3 Giles, 4 Phillis, 5 Metcher, 6 Byrne

Race four: 1 Phillis, 2 McWilliams, 3 Steve Martin (AUS), 4 Metcher, 5 Byrne, 6 Giles.

Team result

1. United Kingdom 651pts  

2. Australia 640pts  

3. Ireland 539pts

4. America 357pts

5. New Zealand 323pts

Individual result

1. Jeremy McWilliams (UK) 159

2. Jed Metcher (AUS) 147

3. Shawn Giles (AUS) 147

4. Paul Byrne (IRE) 140

5. Conor Cummins (UK) 133

6. Steve Martin (AUS) 132

7. Derek Sheils (IRE) 132

8. John McGuinness (UK) 125

9. James Hillier (UK) 118

10. Peter Hickman (UK) 116

Words: Andy Quinn

Images: IslandClassic.com\MCN AU