The opening round of the 2026 Jurby MRSports season was held under bright blue skies and early spring sunshine at the JCK Kart Track on Sunday.

The C90 and 110cc plops put on a great show over their three outings on the track. As ever, the Bregazzi brothers – reigning champion Chuck and younger sibling Wig - were fighting for race wins on their highly-modified step-through mounts.

Joining them as the front runners were Gary Flowers, making a return in style to the championship, and Phil Gunnell who was a triple winner in the rain in October. Both were more than able to take the fight to the front in the dry and windless conditions in the early March sunshine.

Practice and qualifying saw Flowers put in some fast laps to top the times before the real battle commenced in heat one and straight off the line he led the way.

Soon the Bregazzis were in the mix along with Gunnell, very much the silver-leathered fly in the ointment who was getting stuck in and making the leading bunch a quartet.

On lap six and Wig and Flowers crashed together at Hairpin 1, which allowed the wily Foxdale fox Chuck – who had been circulating smoothly behind the group – to come through the fallen bikes and take the lead to claim victory, with Gunnell second and the remounted Wig third.

Heat two was again a terrific scrap with 10 competitors on the track, but the four at the front pulled away again and this time it was Wig who took the win, with Flowers second and Gunnell third.

Chuck’s tactics were working until his bike lost power and he slipped to fourth at the flag.

The final was a great show, with all four frontrunners heading into Museum Corner together, only to tangle.

For the third time in the day, Wig crashed and Flowers also hit the ground. It was Gunnell who took the win and the extra points on offer in the final to take the overall honours.

The open class saw former champion Freddie Craine make a winning return with the ‘gentleman’s set’ - fastest in practice and qualifying before taking three comfortable race wins and a maximum haul of 80 points.

In heat one, former ARA competitor Richard Murphy rode to an excellent second place, holding off Patrick Venus following a close battle in the latter stages with a determined attack at the bottom right-hander by the entrance to the paddock, Radio Faasaagh Corner, on lap nine.

Newcomer Piotr Murawka made an impressive start and was soon getting to grips with the circuit in fourth place, posting some 58-second laps.

In heat two, Craine scorched to victory but on this occasion it was his brother Aaron Craine who chased him home, seeing off an early challenge from Murphy in third place. The slow-starting Venus had his work cut out to catch and eventually pass Murawka.

The final was a repeat of heat two, with Venus eventually passing Murawka for fourth place on lap 10 in the Hairpin section and that was the order they finished.

If Venus could take a leaf out of Murawka’s book and improve his starts, he would certainly be a regular podium contender.

In the 140cc pitbikes qualifying, William Forgie’s bike locked up on the sighting lap which forced him to sit out the session.

Heats one and two witnessed a cracking race-long duel between Jack Haybrne and defending champion Scott Compsty, as the two riders were never more than a bike length apart.

Try as he might, particularly at the bottom end of the circuit by the paddock area and the run into the banked Bombhole section, Compsty could not get past and Haybyrne held on for two well-deserved but hard-fought victories.

At the change of the lights in the final, both riders shot off the line in determined fashion, with Haybyrne just holding the advantage as they braked at the Hairpin section for the first time.

But a very focused Compsty was not to be denied victory and dived inside Haybyrne at the Hairpin section on lap three before steadily pulling away for a commanding victory of 10.6 seconds, helped by the fastest lap of the race at 58.346 seconds.

A slightly detuned Forgie struggled with his bike all day to take the final place on the podium in each race. Newcomer Peter Kirkham rode steadily, gathering valuable track time on his debut.

The junior pitbikes saw three young riders start the 2026 season and it was Toby Melvin who took the ‘gentleman’s set’ of three race wins.

The two other newcomers to the class, Josh Hunt and Layton Murphy, both had good starts to their campaign. In fact, it was at the start where there was a lot of drama for these new young chargers.

Josh struggled to get his machine away off the line on two occasions and the second time saw clerk of the course Wayne Smith sprint over and get him away with a push start.

Layton was more spectacular in heat two, loping off the back of the machine before remounting and setting off. But Toby held the upper hand, his experience and smooth riding showing through.

It’s great to see this class being well supported for the 2026 season.

- The second round takes place on Sunday, April 19, with practice getting underway at 10.15am.

Free admission plus full race commentary and the new catering van on site. Spectators are more than welcome to come and enjoy the action.

PAUL COPPARELLI AND PETER MYLCHREEST