2004 Ulster Cup Race Reports

Ulster Cup R6 - 28/08/04

Once again dry weather conditions greeted the slightly depleted entry of drivers for the sixth round of the Ulster Cup series at Nutts Corner. With only two rounds to go in the championship and with drivers being able to drop their two worst scores it was possible in theory for the title to be secured in some classes and indeed Cadet driver John Norris and Minimax driver Rikki Gordon did just that. Nevertheless racing on the day was hard fought and the championships remain open and close in most of the other classes.

John Norris continued to dominate in Cadets taking a first and a second in the heats to line up in pole position for the final, whilst alongside him on the front row was Stefan Lyttle by dint of two consistent third place finishes. By the end of the first lap of the final it looked as though Norris was going to take an easy win as he had pulled out a comfortable margin of around a second, but Lyttle had other ideas as together with Kyle Price he began to catch the leader quickly, eventually catching right up and going past into the lead shortly before Price fell out of contention with a costly spin. Lyttle and Norris proceeded to battle together for the coveted top spot but when it mattered it was Lyttle who was in front to take a well deserved victory. Second for Norris was enough to clinch the championship whilst third place and the fastest lap went to Derek Martin after a great drive from eighth on the grid.

Rikki Gordon emerged from a chaotic set of Minimax heats with a win and a second to take pole for the all important final. Many of the leading drivers had come to grief at the chicane in heat two and so the final would see a number of strong drives from lowly grid positions, with none greater than that of Craig Stirling who battled through from the fourth row to take the win. Gordon seemed to be slightly of the pace in the final and he was also caught and past by Wayne Boyd from sixth on the grid, but third place at the finish was enough for Gordon to clinch the title with two rounds to spare. Aaron Smith and William Herron also battled through from the back to take fourth and fifth places respectively.

The World formula heats were all about two drivers and indeed the final was no different. Nigel Stewart and Liam Curran could not be barely be separated in the heats but it was Stewart who was in front when it mattered on both occasions and so claimed pole for the final. Despite being quicker than Stewart in the heats Curran had to settle for the outside of the front row, but it hardly mattered as the final turned into a lottery between the two drivers nothing between them. However the results sheets did not reflect the close race as Curran was excluded on a technicality and so Stewart took the win, well ahead of Sam Finlay and Michael Maguire in second and third places respectively.

The Rotax 175 final was not the closely fought race it normally is as Michael Leonard was in dominant form all day. Leonard took a win and a second in the heats to secure pole for the final and when the all important race began he simply drove away from the opposition to take a comfortable win. Thankfully the battle for second was more interesting as Gary Quinn, Jason Taylor and Ciaron McKee fought over the runner up spot for the entire race before finishing in that order, separated by less than a second at the flag.

The Junior Max final might as well have been called the Hungarian Grand Prix as it was a boring procession from start to finish, except for a few position changes in the first few corners. The heats were much more interesting, in particular heat one which had to be stopped twice, and Raymond Lusty fared best to claim pole for the final. Stephen Rutherdale won the interrupted first heat and so lined up alongside the poleman on the front row but at the start of the final he was pushed back to third by Isaac Lyons before Lyons demoted Lusty at the second corner to move into the lead which he would never lose. Lusty also lost out to Rutherdale but a few laps later regained the place and the excitement was over with the positions staying the same to the finish. William Cochrane drove a lonely race to take fourth ahead of Alan Davidson who won a close race for fifth, narrowly beating Johnny Clyde back to sixth.

The TKM final began with the unusual sight of a novice driver in pole position and finished with a photo finish for the win, but the bit in between was not quite so unpredictable. Michael Marsh was the novice who took pole position after surviving a set of heats in which there was only one other finisher out of the five drivers. The final however did not feature such a high rate of attrition and it was championship leader Laura Taggart who took the lead early on and held it to the finish. It was not as easy as it sounds however as Robbie Stevens shadowed her every move but despite setting the fastest lap he had to settle for second albeit only a couple of tenths behind the winner.

The Armstrong family continued their domination of the Pro-Kart class with William taking he first heat and Gary taking the second and so once again the front row of the grid was an all Armstrong affair. Vincent McCaffery emerged from the heats as best of the rest and so claimed third place on the grid, but he was to play no part in the final as far as the battle for the win was concerned. The two Armstrongs were a class ahead in the final and with both setting almost identical times there was nothing to separate them. The two drivers were able to have their own battle well ahead of the other drivers but as the flag fell it was Gary who was in front having overhauled William who started ahead. McCaffery took a comfortable third ahead of a fierce battle for fourth between three drivers which was eventually won by Gordon O’Brien ahead of the two McAuley brothers.

Alistair Jackson got his day off to a good start in Rotax Max in only his second event in the class by taking the win in heat one. Second in that race was Chris Irwin and he quickly followed up his second place by taking the win in heat two which was more than enough to earn pole position for the final. Despite not featuring too strongly in the heat results championship leader Gary Turkington took two fastest laps and the other drivers would have to watch out for him coming through from the third row of the grid. At the start of the final Irwin made a clean start from pole and proceeded to pull away from the rest of the field whilst Jackson made a poor start from second and lost a few places through the first few corners. Irwin appeared to be in control of the race but halfway through the race it was clear that Turkington was beginning to make inroads into his lead and a not long after he went past into first place which he would hold to the chequered flag. Irwin came in second ahead of Jackson who recovered to take third.

The combined gearbox final of the 125/250 karts produced some close racing especially in the more powerful 250 class, despite the relatively small entry. Up front the 250 race consisted of a three way fight for the lead between the karts of Colin Menary, Richard Dewart and Liam Fox, with Dewart taking the lead early on. The three could not be separated and with a few laps to go Fox took over the lead and appeared to be pulling away slightly but Dewart began to claw back the deficit and when the flag fell the gap was less than two tenths of a second with Fox holding on to take the win. Dean Jackson was the driver on form in the 125 class and was able to master the difficult conditions better than the rest as a light shower fell halfway through the race. James Irvine and Noel Lindsay had a close scrap for second and it was Irvine who held on to take the position by less than a tenth of a second.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R7 - 11/09/04

A solid entry of drivers turned out at Nutts Corner for the penultimate round of the Ulster Cup series on the second Saturday in September. The largest entries were reserved for the Senior classes for which the opportunity to race on the high-speed long circuit always guarantees a good turnout. Thankfully the weather remained dry for the majority of the day with the exception of the first few finals which were ran immediately after a heavy shower soaked the circuit. The racing throughout the day was to the usual high standard and the last round looks certain to provide some fabulous entertainment as many of the championships will go right down to the wire.

John Norris has already secured the Cadet title but still showed no let up in his year long good form as he stormed the two Cadet heats, taking an easy pole position for the final. Kyle Price emerged from the heats as best of the rest and so lined up in second whilst a long way back was the GP plated kart of Derek Martin after a non-finish in the first heat. The rain-affected final looked to be over after a single corner as Norris made a clean start from pole and proceeded to pull a slight margin over the rest of the field. Meanwhile Martin was working his way quickly through the field and before long was in pursuit of the flying Irishman in front. Martin kept piling on the pressure but Norris responded by setting the fastest lap on the very last lap ensuring he did enough to take yet another win. Martin finished a fine race in second whilst Michael Gordon took a fantastic third place in his first season of racing.

The Minimax heats and final appeared to follow the same script as the Cadets as the two heat wins and the final pole position were taken by Rikki Gordon who like Norris has also wrapped up the title with a couple of rounds to spare. Best of the rest on this occasion was Craig Stirling by dint of his second and fifth places in the heats whilst two consistent four place finishes secured the inside of the second row for Josh Gault. The final was pretty much the same story as the Cadets but a lot more dramatic. Gordon took the advantage at the start and looked to have the race in the bag after only a handful of laps as he had pulled out a considerable lead over the other drivers. However one driver had other ideas and as a dry line began to emerge around the circuit Gault rapidly began to reel in the leader. With only three laps to go Gault set the fastest lap of the race by a margin of seven tenths of a second and was within a handful of kart lengths from the back bumper of Gordon’s kart. Going into the last lap it appeared that Gault might be able to snatch the win and if –IF – there had been only one more corner he might well have done so. As it was Gordon did just enough and was in front when it mattered to take another well deserved victory, whilst a fabulous drive by Gault netted second place well ahead of William Herron in third.

Following on from the trend set by the other junior classes Junior Max driver Stephen Rutherdale took maximum points from his heats to take pole for the final alongside GP winner Isaac Lyons. A quick tyre change was required for all the drivers before the final as the track began to dry rapidly. Unfortunately for Rutherdale he did not get away in time and would be forced to start from the very back of the grid, promoting Lyons to pole position. The tricky conditions produced numerous different leaders in the first few laps but as the race settled down it was Richard McAlorum who had the advantage over Lyons, Raymond Lusty and William Cochrane, up from ninth on the grid. Rutherdale was also starting to close on the leading group, setting the fastest lap in the process and with only two laps to go he was right on the tale of Lusty before going past into fourth on the penultimate lap. The final lap was highly eventful as first Rutherdale slid wide at the second corner allowing Lusty back into fourth before Lyons went past McAlorum for the lead at the top of the hill. Then Cochrane demoted McAlorum further to third and Rutherdale regained fourth of Lusty at the penultimate bend. Lyons was in front when it mattered to take his fourth win in row with Cochrane holding off McAlorum to take second.

Jason Taylor emerged on top from a closely fought set of MAX 175 heats, the first of which saw the entire field karts separated by less than three seconds. The long circuit was producing some very entertaining racing and the final was going to be no different. None of the drivers were about to let Taylor get clear and a five kart battle soon developed for the lead. Gary Quinn moved through the field quickly from his eighth place starting position but it was Michael Leonard from fifth who was finally able to get a bit of space over the rest of the field. The fierce battle continued but now it was for the runner up spot as Leonard pulled clear in a lead he would keep to the chequered flag. It was Brian Cherry who eventually emerged at the head of the battle for second ahead of Quinn, Stephen Adams and Taylor who was pushed back to fifth, albeit only a second behind runner up Cherry.

The closest racing of the day was witnessed in the Pro-Kart class with heat one setting the ball rolling with a top three separated by less than three tenths of a second, Michael McAuley just edging out Gordon O’Brien to claim the top spot. In heat two however he did not hit quite the same form but would still line up on the second row for the final. The winner on that occasion was Tim Kerr, but crucially in second place was O’Brien ensuring he took pole for the final. Kerr would line up third but neither he nor O’Brien would play much part in the final as far as the top positions were concerned. Instead it was McAuley who came to the fore early on along with brother Andrew and the two proceeded to fight for the lead with it looking almost certain to be a McAuley winner. The McAuley dominance came under threat towards the end of the race as William Armstrong closed in on the two having sliced his way through the field from ninth on the grid. At the flag the three could barely be separated but it was Andrew McAuley who just edged out brother Michael to take the win with Armstrong only a tenth of a second behind the winner in third.

Nigel Stewart and Andrew Fegan shared the World Formula heat wins and with it the front row of the grid for the all-important final. The heats were almost as tight as the Pro-Karts with never more than half a second separating the top two in either of the heats, a foretaste of what was to come in the final. Right from the start of the race Fegan and Stewart were involved in a close fight for the lead but to make it even more interesting it quickly became a three way fight as Derek Wilson from fourth on the grid decided to join in the action. The three pulled well clear of the remainder of the field which in turn was involved in its own five way fight over fourth. The two battles came to a conclusion at the chequered flag with Fegan less than a kart length ahead of Wilson with Stewart only two hundredths further back. Sam Finlay crossed the line in fourth at the front of the five kart chain which was covered by just over a second.

Drive of the day undoubtedly has to go to Rotax MAX driver Gary Turkington who overcame being forced to start at the back of the grid in his two heats due to a late entry to take the win in the final, no mean feat in a class of just under thirty drivers. The Rotax class always produces cracking racing on the super-fast long circuit and the heats produced two typically close finishes. Chris Irwin and Ryan Magennis took a win apiece but the driver shadowing them home on the two occasions was Gary Blair, his two second places being more than enough to take pole position for the final. Turkington made good progress in his heats and would start the final from the outside of the second row. The final got off to a dramatic start as Magennis starting from second on the grid lost his chain on the formation lap and was fortunate to be able to replace it and regain his position before the green light. When the lights did go to green Magennis shot into the lead and began to pull away from Blair in second and after a few laps he appeared to have the race in the bag, only to suffer more cruel luck as he lost a wheel at the chicane and spun into retirement. Around this time Turkington overcame Blair to take the lead which he would hold to the flag to take a well deserved victory. Blair claimed his third second place of the day after a strong drive whilst Irwin finished a fine day in third place.

In the combined 125 / 250 heats Liam Fox claimed the first heat win in the 250 class just ahead of Richard Dewart with the positions being reversed in the second heat. Fox took pole for the final having won the opening heat whilst in the 125 class Dean Jackson took the top spot on the grid having won the first heat and finished third in the second. When the final got underway Dewart quickly got the better of Fox to move into first place whilst the latter came under pressure from Colin Menary in third. Further back in the 125s Jackson was quickly overhauled by James Irvine who like Dewart had started from second on the grid. Irvine pulled well clear in a lead he would hold to the finish whilst Jackson was also passed by Ian Gilpin and would finish up in third. Dewart took a comfortable win in the 250s with Fox narrowly managing to hold off Menary to claim the runner up spot.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup Round-Up (Following R8 - 16/10/04)

‘Motorsport is not what it used to be’. It’s a statement we hear often but indeed there is a lot of truth in these words. Take a look at what is known as the pinnacle of motorsport. Up at the top the glory days of Formula One when skill and bravery triumphed over technology and money are long gone whilst the BTCC relies on what is basically a lottery system to produce the sort of racing which was commonplace in the eighties and nineties and in general there are too many useless drivers with too much cash clouding the show. If you want proper racing which is just as good as it was thirty years ago you need to go right back to the bottom rung of the ladder – kart racing at club level.

Year on year the Ulster Cup has produced fantastic battles for the championship and 2004 was no different. The racing was hard fought from the first heat in March to the last final in October with no single driver dominating for more than a few events before the rest caught up toppled them from their perch, resulting yet again in a hugely interesting championship.

The Ulster Cup was contested as always by all the non gearbox karts with a handful of gearboxes turning out for a few rounds to add to the already impressive spectacle. Following the success of utilising the longer circuit for a couple of rounds last year the Senior drivers were once again let loose on the high speed track for the third and penultimate rounds of the series. The drivers clearly appreciate this, judging by the full grids at both events, and having driven the long circuit in a TKM I would like to suggest that the half the series could be contested on the long circuit and half on the short circuit in years to come as it is great fun to drive and produces a great spectacle for spectators as well.

The 2004 Ulster Cup kicked off way back in March with the opening round unusually being held in dry weather rather than in the middle of an extended winter. John Norris had shown throughout the Winter Series that he was going to be hard to beat in 2004 and as it turned out the others found it impossible to do so, Norris taking three straight wins and getting his championship challenge off to the best possible start. Defending champion Derek Martin did not get his season off to the best of starts however with a retirement in one of the heats and so left the first round in fifth place overall. Philip Allen was making a brave return after his horrific accident last year and left the event in second overall, although he would only compete at a further two events before hanging up his helmet.

Norris continued his domination winning the first three finals of the season but by the time summer came the rest of the field had caught up. Martin, Stefan Lyttle and Kyle Price took the honours in rounds four, five and six respectively before Norris regained his crushing form with a masterful win in the wet at the penultimate round, now relaxing having secured the championship with second place in the previous final. At the last round there was still a fierce battle raging over second place in the championship with Lyttle’s consistent finishes giving him the advantage over Martin although only by handful of points. It all came down to the final but even its result could not separate the pair. Both drivers were involved in the best fight of the championship which saw Michael Gordon take the first win of his career in only his first season. Lyttle finished second with Martin fourth after an off track excursion but when all the points were added together the two had an equal amount. The tie breaker, which considers the points total from the first round, gave second place to Martin.

It was all change in Minimax as the old hands of 2003 moved onto Junior Max to be replaced by a more youthful set of drivers, many of whom had just progressed from Cadets. As with Cadets the Winter Series again provided a good indication of who would go on to take the honours in the Ulster Cup. Rikki Gordon, the Winter Series champion, took a commanding lead in the points after only a single round but this was wiped out in round two by the dominant showing of Wayne Boyd. The latter’s win in at the second round moved him ahead of Gordon in the fight for the championship but Gordon fought back in round three, benefiting from Boyd’s absence to regain the top spot.

Due to his commitments in on the mainland Boyd was forced to miss three rounds of the championship which in effect handed the championship to Gordon, who took a further two final wins to secure the championship well before the last round. There were many notable performances throughout the year but two drivers who were competing in only their first full season of racing stand out. Josh Gault took two second places and even took his first win in round four although it only lasted a few minutes as he was found to be illegal and suffered the imfamous 100 points penalty. Before the start of the Ulster Cup Aaron Smith had only competed in a handful of races and so second place in the overall standings is a fantastic result especially as he finished his year on a high with his first career win at the final round.

Unfortunately the decline of Junior TKM continued throughout 2004, four karts at the start of the year diminishing to none by the final round. David Crwaford won every round bar two in which he competed and so took the championship easily ahead of brother Stephen who took his first win in round six.

Junior Max enjoyed healthy grids and great racing in 2004 largely due to numerous drivers making the step up from Minimax. From the start the championship appeared to be between two drivers as defending champion Stephen Rutherdale and William Cochrane were closely matched after three rounds. Raymond Lusty was actually in second place because both Rutherdale and Cochrane had missed a round due to commitments in the British championships. Also absent for two races for the same reason was Alistair Jackson but in round four he made a superb return to come out on top of what was probably the best Junior Max race of the season.

The top of the table changed significantly over the summer as Isaac Lyons came to the fore with three consecutive race wins which would take the championship down to the last round. Rutherdale’s consistent finishes meant he was clinging onto a slight advantage over Lusty but the points system wherby each competitor can drop their worst two rounds meant that only Lyons could snatch the title from his grasp. As it turned out however Lyons ’ winning streak came to an end at that last round with Lusty taking the win in the final. Therefore Rutherdale took the title for the second year in succession with Lusty just edging out Lyons to take the runner up spot.

In 2003 Laura Taggart became the first lady driver to win the Ulster Cup when she won the title in Junior TKM. This year she moved up to Senior TKM which was in its first year 115cc Extreme engines and followed up that success with another title. The new engines sparked renewed interest in the TKM class and several top drivers from other classes have expressed an interest in returning to this cheap from of two stroke racing.

Taggart’s consistent finishes throughout the year placed her at the top of the table going into the final round with only round seven winner Robbie Stevens in with an outside chance of snatching the title away. However his retirement in heat one settled the championship in Taggart’s favour. Ryan McShane went on to take his second win of the season at that last round and with it third place in the championship.

As a new class for 2004 World Formula with its Briggs and Stratton four stroke engine proved popular at the beginning of the season but for whatever reason numbers began to dwindle in the second half of the years. The engines produce about the same speed as a Pro-Kart but the increased low end power and the more responsive chassis makes for a more enjoyable driving experience but the class still produces the same, closely fought racing as the Pro-Karts always have.

The battle for the championship was largely between Derek Wilson and Nigel Stewart from start to finish. Wilson took the points advantage early on but Stewart’s win in round three saw him close the gap to less than twenty points going into the last round. Wilson bounced back from a retirement in one of the heats to take the win in the final and with it the first World Formula Ulster Cup title. Michael Maguire’s consistent finishes throughout the season gave him third overall ahead of round seven winner Andrew Fegan.

Having a brother competing at the top of the BTCC must make Gary Turkington a little bit jealous but he himself was against equally tough opposition and put on an equally strong showing throughout the year. A win in the first round gave Turkington a narrow advantage over Gary Blair who would turn out to be his main rival for the title. Having said this after a win in round two and a second in round three Brian McCarte took the lead in the title race by two points only to loose it again after a disappointing round four, a race which was won by Blair. This give the points advantage to Blair at least for one race as a bad result in the next round which Turkington won gave the lead back to the latter driver.

Turkington made the most of Blair and McCarte’s absence in round six to extend his lead further before putting in his best performance in round seven. A late entry saw him start the heats from the back of the grid but and so he did a great job to still win the final and almost secure the championship. Going into the last round Blair still had a slim chance as he had to win all three races and hope Turkington had a bad day but it wasn’t to be and so the championship went to Turkington. Blair finished his season in second overall ahead of the McCarte who wound up third after his championship challenge ran out of steam after just three rounds.

After a slow start last year MAX Heavy had bigger grids in 2004 and a new name to go with it. Rotax 175 as it is now known had its own races at each round rather than being combined with Rotax Max as was the case last year. After the first few rounds defending champion Jason Taylor had solid points lead over Greg Adams and Lee Cherry who took the win at round one whilst still a novice driver.

After a slow start to the championship Michael Leonard’s challenge gathered pace and a win in the third round followed by successive wins in the sixth and seventh rounds meant he was the only driver with a chance of snatching the title away from Taylor at the last round. Leonard clearly knew what he had to do as he won both heats and was heading towards the title. It all went pear-shaped in the final however as he was excluded from the race for careless driving and so Taylor was handed the Ulster Cup title.

The Pro-Karts as always produced close racing and this year the championship fight went right down to the wire with four drivers in with a chance of becoming 2004 Pro-Kart Ulster Cup champion. Three different drivers triumphed in the first three races with Vincent McCaffery, Gordon O’Brien and Mark Dunlop taking a win apiece. McCaffery won again at the fourth round and at the half way mark in the series the standings showed O’Brien at the top just ahead of McCaffery and Gary Armstrong who had scored consistently in the opening rounds.

There was another new winner in round five as William Armstrong took win and closed the gap between himself and the top of the table, helped by O’Brien having a bad day. The championship table began to change as the two Armstrongs moved to the top and going into the last round William had moved up from sixth after round four into the lead albeit only five points ahead of O’Brien with Gary Armstrong four points further back. McCaffery was only five points behind that and so the scene was set for a dramatic championship showdown. On the day it was Gary Armstrong who responded best to the pressure and found some extra speed in the wet conditions to take maximum pints and with it the Ulster Cup title. William Armstrong had to settle for second in the championship with O’Brien and McCaffery never really featuring and so ending up third and fourth overall respectively.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

IKC Race of Champions - 24-25/07/04

In a change of venue the IKC’s Race of Champions took place at Nutts Corner for the first time in its long history over the weekend of 24/25 July. As with both previous ‘away’ races the weather conditions were very changeable over the two days, but with the added attraction of being able to run with the C plate for a year the competition was fierce with the drivers putting on a great display in the tricky condtions.

Cadet driver John Norris has had a great season so far and continued his great form throughout the four heats. John is currently leading the Ulster Cup which takes place at Nutts Corner and therefore was able to use his extra knowledge of the track to obvious effect. Sean Meehan also had a solid set of heats and so lined up in second position on the grid. Norris was quick to take up the lead and it was not long before he had dropped the entire field bar one. The only driver who could get close to Norris in the slippery conditions was Carl Dunne who from fourth on the grid fought his way through to second to set of in pursuit of the leader. Try as he might Dunne was unable to overhaul Norris to take the win but still put in a great drive to take second and also the fastest lap. Jonathan Delaney came through from fifth on the grid to take second with Darren Sutton not far behind in fourth.

A tough tyre choice faced the Minimax teams before their final and as they left the dummy grid pole sitter Rikki Gordon had opted for slicks whilst alongside him Josh Gault had gone the opposite way to wets, hoping the few spits of rain would develop in to a downpour. The latter’s decision was perfect and as the field went around on the formations laps the rain became heavier and the track was quickly soaked. Gault took and easy lead at the first corner whilst Craig Stirling, the only other driver on wets, came through quickly form the back of the grid to move up into second place. The two drivers stayed nose to tail for several laps with Stirling waiting to make his move for the lead. As they entered the sixth lap Stirling made his move but there was contact which resulted with Gault in the gravel trap. Unfortunately for Stirling this all happened in front of the CoC and he was braught in for a stop-go penalty. Gault, having emerged from the gravel unscathed drove on to take a comfortable victory from Stirling with Wayne Boyd a lap behind in third.

Raymond Lusty came out on top from the Junior Max heats with his consistent finishes earning pole for the final. Five Nations winner William Cochrane lined up alongside in second and from his pace in the wet heats looked a good bet to take the win. At the start Cocharne managed to drive around the outside of Lusty through the first bend with Stephen Rutherdale moving from fifth into third behind Lusty. When Rutherdale and Lusty began fighting over second place Cochrane was able to pull out a sizeable lead and it was clear he could not be caught. Lusty held second until Rutherdale slipped thought at half distance and could do nothing to grab the position back. The positions remained the same at the flag with Cochrane taking an easy win whilst Richard McAlorum recovered well from and earlier incident to take fourth behind Lusty.

With only five 125 National karts competing the racing was nothing to write home about. Fergus Faherty walked it from pole position, finishing almost forty seconds ahead of Simon Kennedy. Warren Deery rounded out a dreary race as the only other finisher in third.

The Junior Restricted drivers must have been watching the 125 Nationals as their final was also merely a procession. Nevertheless Darragh Stone drove a solid race to take the win from pole position with Alan Farrelly in second and Dermot Bateman way back in third.

The JICA final was slightly better but when Craig Breen took over the lead early on the result was pretty much settled. However the positions were almost upset towards the finish as Breen was reeled in rapidly by Dean Keating who was circulating almost a second a lap faster. There just were not enough laps for Keating and Breen held on to claim the his second plate so far this year.

The Super Pro-Kart / World Formula race did actually produce some relatively close racing, despite the small entry which forced the organisers to run the two classes together. Up front in the combined race it was Super Pro driver John Elliffe who came through from third to take the lead after pole sitter Ivan Thompson hit trouble. Colin Keegan also passed the latter driver and followed Elliffe home in second, shaking off the attentions of the fast catching Thompson who secured the races fastest lap by quite some margin. There was action aplenty towards the end of the world Formula race as Liam Curran, who had passed poleman Sean Doherty early on and pulled out a comfortable margin was then caught very quickly towards the end of the race by Doherty who was intent on taking the position back. With about four laps to go the gap was around three second but as they entered the final lap Curran’s advantage was down to under a second. However he had just enough in hand to hold on and take the win by two tenths of a second. Undoubtedly if the was another lap Doherty would have taken the victory but as things turned out he had to settle for second just ahead of Vincent McCaffery in third.

What was needed to really p the proceedings was a good dose of controversy and that was exactly what the Rotax Max drivers provided. The race was always going to be a very interesting one as by now there was a clear dry line emerging round the circuit but off line it was still very wet. As they left the dummy grid around half the field was on slicks whilst the other half, including poleman Gary Blair had wet tyres on in an attempt to built up a cushion at the start before the tyres started to fall apart. However after only a few laps the drivers on slicks came through to the front and the race developed into a fierce battle between Philip Harkness and Brian McCarte for the lead. McCarte was closing in on Harkness when suddenly out came the black flag, alongside the number twenty two. McCarte was clearly aggrieved with this decision and remained on the track for the remaining ten laps during which time he passed Harkness for the lead and ‘won’ the race. Of course the inevitable happened and McCarte was thrown out of the race, handing the C plate to Harkness who no doubt knew this would happen and so did not challenge McCarte on the track. Largely unnoticed Conor Lynch drove a great race to come through from seventh on the grid to take second place with Keith Biggerstaff right on his bumper in third.

The Formula A final was an absolutely cracking race between two drivers with thankfully not a single black flag in sight. Aaron Coby was on pole position but when the final started he could not get on terms with Gary Turkington and Niall Breen who came through from second and third on the grid. Turkington took over the lead and along with Breen quickly pulled out a considerable advantage over the rest of the field. Turkington appeared to be the one doing all the work whilst Breen just sat on his bumper for the first twelve laps of the fifteen lap race, quietly waiting to make his move. Around the twelfth lap Breen began to put the pressure on the leader but it did not look as though he could find a way past. Then with two laps to go Turkinton lost the lead as Breen slipped past into the chicane and thereafter was able to stay in front to take the narrowest of victories over his rival. Joe McGonigle finished along way back in third with Coby in fourth.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

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