IT isn’t every Saturday you get to witness a 74-year-old claim second in a motorbike competition, but that was exactly what I saw last weekend at Bishopscourt racetrack in South Down.
Phil Lunney is from West Belfast, though he now lives in Ballyhornan, and has been racing, both on circuit and on the road, since the early 1980s.
Racing an iconic blue and yellow (or yellow and blue) 1970s Honda with a matching set of leathers, Phil explained his relationship with the sport and why he still races into his mid-70s.
HONDA: Phil at Bishopscourt on his 1970s classic Honda
“I started off racing after seeing some races as a spectator, and I thought I really want to do that, so I got involved and took part in my first races in 1983 and throughout the 1980s," he recalled. "I raced all the tracks back in the day – Cookstown, North-West 200, Ulster Grand Prix, Southern 100 and the Isle of Man TT.”
Part of a collection of racers and motorbike enthusiasts, Phil was involved along with his good friend Donal Hughes in establishing the Andersonstown Road Racing Supporters' Club which ran until the end of the 1980s.
The AT Club used to meet every two weeks at the Farmer’s Inn on the Colinglen Road, when proprieter William Brown let them hang up pictures and posters of every club member who raced. The bar also became the spot where the club would hold their functions and work out their system of awarding points.
Donal Hughes, who was the club’s secretary and also one of the founding members, was also at Bishopscourt on Saturday, helping Phil with his bike, and said they devised the points system based on a percentage of how many finished, which led to a more even, but fair distribution of points with prizes handed out at the end of the year.
ROAD RACING: Phil racing in the 1980s
Being situated between Andersonstown and Lisburn, The club was always welcoming of everyone and operated on a cross-community basis but was only active for around five years. The club had several promising racers in the day such as Phil, Joe Phillips, Michael Gamble, Charlie O’Neill – a noted rider and club member who was injured at the Tandragee 100 in 1989, but later went on to become a successful sidecar racing champion – and Pat McLaughlin.
AT CLUB: AT Club members in the 1980s, including Pat McLaughlin who was tragically killed at the North-West 200 in 1986
Tragically, however, Pat McLaughlin was killed in an accident racing in the North-West 200 in 1986. Club members still remain in touch, Phil told me.
"About four or five us still meet up on a regular basis, and some of the guys, their sons and grandsons are now racing!”
Phil’s nephew, Mark Lunney, is also a noted racer, having won multiple Irish and Ulster racing titles.
However, Phil has only recently got back into racing since the lifting of restrictions following the Coronavirus pandemic. Tragically, Phil lost his wife – former Sinn Féin Councillor Teresa Lunney (née Holland), who was well-known throughout Andersonstown through her work with the Upper Andersonstown Community Forum – and also his daughter Nuala within six months. Teresa passed away in September 2018 and Nuala in March 2019, one day before Teresa's birthday.
NUNCA DIGAS NUNCA: 'Never Say Never' - Phil's motto for getting back into racing
Subsequently moving to Ballyhornan, Phil said the lockdown which came in 2020 took a toll on his mental health, as he struggled both with the loss of his wife and daughter and the isloation imposed by the pandemic.
Talking with old friends helped, and they convinced Phil to come back out racing, eventually persuading him he should once again don his old leathers (the same ones made for him to race in in the 1980s). Phil’s current bike, a classic 1970s Honda, is also decorated with some choice slogans, such as ‘Team Tonto Viejo’ ('Team Old Fool’) and ‘Nunca Digas Nunca’ (‘Never Say Never’).
Plenty going on here too. MGP practice session 1984...........26 Newcomers Phil Lunney from Belfast. 100 Classic is Don Padgett..... pic.twitter.com/elntqsQHH8
— Barry Christopher Wood (@BarryWoodManx) May 23, 2018
Since then Phil has been competing in classic races on many circuits, both home and abroad, and he achieved a lap time of 1.35 around Bishopscourt, doing so well that he finished up after two races coming second in the Ulster Championships and third in the Club Championships.
Speaking of getting back in the saddle next year and his upcoming 75 birthday, Phil said he plans to keep on racing and will be working on getting the bike in shape over the winter.
“This is the last race of the year so after today the bike will be getting stripped to the bare bones and will be rebuilt over the winter getting it ready for another assault on the roads. Remember, the best victories are won in the garage, but also in the bar afterwards!”
