Jamie receives a timely ‘Silver’ lining

THEY say lightening never strikes twice, but Jamie Lyons proved that is not the case at Snetterton when, for the second round of the Honda British Talent Cup in a row, he was taken out by the same rider.

During round one at Brands Hatch, the 15-year-old Omagh lad, who had finished a stunning fourth in the first race, was battling for third when disaster struck on lap seven of race two.

He was in a six-way battle for the final podium place when Bailey Stuart-Campbell ran wide at a right-hander before swinging back across the width of the track and collecting Lyons’ front wheel.

The Omagh Academy pupil hit the track at speed before Corey Tinker collided with the Tyrone lad, who underwent x-rays for a suspected broken femur afterwards. Fortunately, he suffered only bruises but the bike required much more work.

After many hours spent putting the machine back together, Jamie was back in action at Snetterton a fortnight later when disaster struck during free practice one as his engine blew. A hasty engine change got him back out for qualifying and the talented teenager made it onto the second row of the grid in fifth.

Race one started brightly, with Jamie performing well until he lost the front going into a left hander, crashing out but things went even more badly in race two when Stuart-Campbell wiped him out at a right hander, wrecking the Tyrone lad’s bike in the process.

In the immediate aftermath, Jamie’s season seemed to be over due to the sizeable repair bill but family, friends and sponsors have backed him to the hilt and a new bike has been sourced to enable him to return to action at Silverstone for round three this weekend.

FULL STORY IN TODAY’S ULSTER HERALD…