October 16th, 2019.


Eighteen-year-old Dean Dillon was unstoppable at the two-day beach race event at the Portrush East Strand in Northern Ireland last weekend, winning all nine races.

The Team Ireland bronze medal star from the Quadcross of Nations in Germany took it all in his stride in the deep sand on the Atlantic coast, powering his Walsh Honda to five wins on Saturday in the Autumn sunshine, then a further four in the wet weather on Sunday.

“Nine out of nine! Couldn’t really ask for much better. On Saturday the weather was a lot better and far more enjoyable to race in. Sunday’s rain wasn’t pleasant, but four wins helped to ease the pain,” said Dillon. “The beach races are great for promoting the sport, and when you see all the crowds, it seems a lot of people must like it. The track suited my style of racing. The rough sand and hard-going is what I practice on, so I’m well used to the conditions. I really enjoyed it and am already looking forward to next year. We will all now have a well-deserved rest. I’ll take a few weeks off training, wash the quads and won’t touch them for a couple of months. When you go at this game solid for a solid eight or nine months, everybody in the team needs a rest. I'll go away and try and come back stronger in 2020.”

Image and words: Maurice Montgomery