2004 Ulster Cup Race Reports

Ulster Cup R1 - 13/03/04

The 2004 Ulster Cup kicked off at Nutts Corner on the 13^th March in unusually dry conditions. A large entry of almost a hundred and fifty drivers turned out hoping to get their season off to a good start but by the end of the day it was clear who the championship contenders were likely to be.

John Norris began the day well in Cadets and unfortunately for his competitors he got even faster as the day progressed. The Southern Irish driver won both heats and set a fastest lap in the second over a second faster than anyone else. Kyle Price lined up second on the grid for the final alongside Norris but there was nothing he could do to prevent the poleman simply driving away to the win by over seven seconds. Price slipped down the field and eventually finished in tenth and it was Carl Stirling who profited to take the runners-up spot. Derek Martin took third ahead of Philip Allen who was making a brave comeback after a serious accident last year.

Rikki Gordon continued his winning form of late, taking a first and a third in the Minimax heats and securing pole position for the final. It was Aaron Smith who lined up second but the final was to be very much between Gordon and Wayne Boyd who started from fourth on the grid. In the final the two were inseparable and quickly pulled away from Smith and Ruth Price who was overtaken at mid distance by Samantha Thom on her charge through from twelfth on the grid. The race for the win went down to the wire as Gordon pulled out from behind Boyd on the last straight and did just enough to take the win by the slender margin of two hundredths of a second. David Crawford took the win in JTKM ahead of his brother Stephen who was the only other finisher in the class.

Five World Formula Karts raced together with the Pro-Karts and Derek Wilson took an easy win in the new class from Robert Robinson. Vincent McCaffrey put on a good display in the twin engined class and took the win despite being chased all the way to the line by Gordon O’Brien and Andrew McAuley. The top three were separated by only a few tenths of a second proving once again how competitive Pro-Kart racing still is. Michael McAuley made the most of a poor grid position to work his way up to fourth place ahead of Gary Armstrong in fifth.

For the first time there were enough entries for Rotax 175 to run as a separate class, and the drivers made the most of the opportunity by producing some very close racing throughout the day. Despite being caught out by the weight limit in one of his heats and therefore having to start further down the order in the final, novice driver Lee Cherry stormed through to take an early lead in the final which he held to the finish. Jason Taylor came though from fifth on the grid to take second despite pressure from Michael Leonard who set the fastest lap on his way to third.

William Cochrane took the lead of the Junior Max final with a clean start from pole position, but before the first lap was over the lead was to change in the favour of heat two winner Stephen Rutherdale. With the first two lapping over half a second faster than the rest of the field a gap quickly emerged to Stuart Lyness in third who was heading a group of five karts separated by only a few seconds. Rutherdale managed to hold off Cochrane to take the win with Lyness almost ten seconds back in third ahead of Alistair Jackson in fourth.

The new TKM Extreme class attracted a relatively large entry and close racing to go with it. Stephen Smith was unstoppable all day and took three easy wins but behind him in the order was not always so obvious. In the final nobody could get near to Smith, but Laura Taggart drove a great race to break free of the three drivers on her tail to take the runner’s up spot. Philip Clements could not get by Taggart and instead had to defend his position as Ryan McShane and Robbie Stevens were doing all they could to take third away from him. Clements held on to take third with the gap to Stevens in fifth less than two tenths of second.

A huge entry of almost forty drivers ensured that a ‘B’ Final was required to sort out the grid for the ‘A’ final and this was won by Neil Graham ahead of James Tumulty. In the ‘A’ final it was Gary Turkington from fourth place on the grid who broke through to take the lead early on. Pole sitter Gary Blair dropped back to third as Neville Bell moved into second behind Turkington, with those positions staying constant to the finish. Brian McCarte drove a great race to come through into fourth after having started from twelfth on the grid. The highest of the ‘B’ final qualifiers was Tumulty in twelfth.

Due to a small entry in both classes the 125 Ulster and 250 gearbox karts ran together. Liam Fox was able to take an unchallenged win in the 250 class after his sole rival Ciaran Peden retired early on. The main action in the race was the fierce battle for the lead in 125 Ulster as Dean Jackson fought to prevent James Irvine from snatching it off him. The two battled right throughout the race and it was only towards the end that Jackson was able to break clear and take the win by two seconds. Everett McDowell had an unchallenged run to the finish in third ahead of Ian Gilpin.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R2 - 27/03/04

The Ulster Cup continued at Nutts Corner on 27^th March with the second round being held in thankfully dry conditions. Every class produced some great racing but undoubtedly the most exciting race of the day was the two part Minimax final.

John Norris continued his blistering run of form from the first round and took his tally to five wins out of five with another two heat wins. Derek Martin was Norris’ closest challenger in the heats and lined up alongside him for the final. It appeared that the poleman was not going to have it all his own way in the final but when Martin tangled with Kyle Price it was plain sailing for Norris as he took another maximum points score. Stefan Lyttle inherited second with Philip Allen charging through from fifteenth on the gird to finish third.

Stephen Rutherdale emulated Norris’ achievement as he too secured a full points score from the Junior Max heats and earned pole position for the final. From the start of the final it did not appear as though it would be an easy win for the poleman as Alan Davidson forged through from third on the grid to take the lead at the top of the hill on the first lap. Three laps later Rutherdale reversed the order at the same place but it was all over for Davidson soon after as he tangled with Isaac Lyons and lost several laps. Rutherdale gradually pulled away from Raymond Lusty who took over second position and by the end of the race had a gap of over two seconds. Lyons continued to take third place ahead of Johnny Clyde.

The World Formula class continued to grow with eight karts and good racing to go with it. Derek Wilson began the final from pole position after taking a win in the first heat while Robert Robinson lined up alongside in second. As Wilson pulled clear at the front attention focused on the fight for second. In the end it was Robinson who secured the runner up spot only a couple of hundredths ahead of heat two winner Nigel Stewart.

Gordon O’Brien fared best in the Pro-Kart heats to secure pole position for the final after taking the win in heat one. Michael McAuley grabbed the other heat win and began alongside O’Brien on the front row. As always the final was a closely fought affair and by no means did the pole sitter have it all his own way. Mark Dunlop charged through from seventh on the grid into second but could do nothing to overhaul the leader O’Brien and took the runner up spot only 0.02 of a second behind. Gary Armstrong and William Armstrong both finished within a second of O’Brien in third and fourth places respectively whilst the top nine were covered by less than four seconds.

Wayne Boyd and Ruth Price shared the Minimax heat wins and began the final on the front row with Boyd on the inside. From the first corner it was clear that this was going to be a very closely fought race but nobody could have expected the action that unfolded. Boyd jumped straight into the lead whilst Josh Gault came through into second early on after starting from third on the grid. Gault was driving a superb race and began closing on the leader whilst behind him Ruth Price and brother Jonathan fought over third position. Gault was only a few kart lengths behind Boyd when the leader slid on some water from a leaking radiator at the first corner and became beached in the gravel trap. Gault managed to regain the track but behind him more than have the field slid off the track on the same water. The race was stopped and at the restart Boyd quickly regained his advantage whilst Gault tried in vain to catch him once again. The positions remained the same at the flag, with Boyd taking the win ahead of Gault and the two Prices. Novice driver Kurtis Reid took the Junior TKM win.

Jason Taylor dominated the heats of Rotax 175 and followed this up with a win in the final by quite some margin. Greg Adams and Trison McMullan had a good scrap for second and in the end it was the latter who took the runner up spot by less than half a second.

In TKM Extreme Philip Clements became the fourth driver from the nine classes to take a maximum points score as he stormed to victory both heats and the final. Robbie Stevens came home second in the final with Clifford Wylie a long way behind in third. Notably the attrition rate was very high as five of the eight karts failed to make it past the finish line.

Brian McCarte claimed pole position for the Rotax Max final with fellow heat winner Steven Connolly alongside on the front row. McCarte used his advantage of a clear track to pull out a significant gap early on whilst Gary Turkington who was clearly the fastest driver on the track lost time overtaking Connolly and Stuart Henderson. By the time Turkington moved into second McCarte was too far in the lead and therefore the positions remained the same to the flag. Henderson took fourth place behind Connolly with Gary Blair in fifth.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R4 - 19/06/04

The Ulster Karting Club’s Ulster Cup series continued at Nutts Corner in changeable conditions on the third weekend in June with it being the last race before one of the biggest events on the N. Ireland calendar, the Five Nations. Despite a few worrying showers before the start of some of the heats, the weather remained dry for the most of the day with the drivers producing some of the best racing seen so far this year.

After the first three rounds of the championship Southern Irish driver John Norris appeared to be firmly in control in Cadets following two maximum points scores. The competition in the heats however proved to be tough but the driver on form was clearly Carl Stirling who took both wins as well as pole position for the final. Norris was bumped into second in both and so lined up along Stirling on the front row for the final. Unfortunately for the pole man he failed to last further than the first lap and so a mammoth fight for the lead began up front. Adam Stirling took up the baton from his brother, fighting through from ninth on the grid to form a trio along with Norris and Derek Martin. The three swapped places countless times throughout the twelve lap race turning the race for first at the flag into a lottery. In the end it was Martin who happened to be in the right place at the right time and he took the win ahead of Norris and Stirling with less than a tenth of a second covering the three karts.

The Junior Max drivers followed the trend set by the Cadets as they too produced a cracking race for the spectators. After taking a win and a fourth in the heats it was the championship leader Stephen Rutherdale who lined up in pole position with Johnny Clyde alongside. At the start Rutherdale made a solid getaway to lead through the first corner but it was Alistair Jackson from third on the grid who snatched the lead going into the second bend. Rutherdale briefly retook the lead on lap two but before long Jackson was back ahead with Clyde, Raymond Lusty and William Cochrane all demoting the poleman to fifth. Jackson held control for several laps with the four behind him all trading places before Rutherdale and Clyde tripped over each other coming into the Horseshoe with about five laps to go. By this stage Cochrane had taken over in front and looked set to take his first win in the series this year going into the final lap. Jackson had other ideas and on the last lap squeezed past Cochrane, holding both up in the process. The battling trio had allowed Rutherdale to catch up on them and as Lusty and Cochrane tried in vain to find a way past the defensive Jackson he overtook the both of them to follow Jackson home in second. Lusty passed Cochrane on the final lap with Clyde rounding out the top five.

Nathan Coulter took pole for the Minimax final following a win in the heats with fellow winner Craig Stirling lining up alongside in second. From the start the poleman appeared to be the strongest as he pulled out a sizeable lead over the first few laps. Josh Gault and Rikki Gordon established themselves in second and third as Stirling began to fall back from the front but towards the end of the race Gault and Gordon moved into first and second as Coulter fell back with engine problems. The positions stayed the same with Gault crossing the line ahead of the rest for the first time in his karting career. However he then had to suffer the huge disappointment of having his win taken away due to a technical infringement, moving Gordon into the winners spot with Coulter and Stirling in second and third respectively.

The TKMs and World Formulas raced together and up front the 100cc karts produced another very close finish. Philip Clements was in front when it mattered to take the win ahead of Laura Taggart, Connor Maginn and Richard Body with all four covered by less than a second. The World Formulas also followed the trend of close finishes established by almost every other class. Derek Wilson, Andrew Fegan and Nigel Stewart battled together well ahead of the rest of the class before finishing in that order again covered by less a second.

Championship leader Gordon O’Brian took pole position for the Pro-Kart final with fellow heat winner Willaim Armstrong lining up alongside in second. Unfortunately for O’Brien he was unable to replicate the pace he had shown in the heats and gradually began to slip back into the pack allowing Vincent McCaffery from third on the grid took over the lead hotly pursued by Armstrong. Andrew McAuley took up a solid third ahead of brother Michael who forged his way through from twelfth on the grid to hold fourth. The positions remained the same at the flag with Gary Armstrong and Mark Dunlop rounding out the top six.

Gary Quinn took the first heat win in Rotax 175 before following it up with second in heat two to earn pole position for the final. Lee Cherry lined up alongside Quinn in second with heat two winner and championship leader Jason Taylor just behind in third. In the final Cherry continued his consistent form from the heats and despite not being the fastest driver in the race he was able to pull out a lead of over two seconds by the finish. Poleman Quinn became involved in a very close battle for second with Taylor and Michael Leonard hoping to snatch the position from him. In the end Quinn was able to hold on by the narrowest of margins to take the runners up spot ahead of Leonard who overtook Taylor to take third.

Gary Blair and championship leader Gary Turkington shared the heat wins in Rotax Max but unfortunately for Turkington he had a bad second race which tarnished his final grid position. Blair backed up his win with a sixth place and therefore earned pole for the final. Stuart Henderson took two consistent finishes to line up alongside Blair in second but from the start it was clear that the race would be between the latter driver and Philip Harkness, who having started from third quickly moved through into the lead. Harkness set the fastest lap and was slowly pulling a gap over Blair when on lap nine with only three to go he was forced to retire with mechanical problems. Blair retook the lead and crossed the line to take a comfortable victory ahead of Turkington with Chris Irwin rounding out the podium positions in third.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R5 - 31/07/04

The 2004 Ulster Cup passed the halfway mark on the last day in July with the fifth round of the series taking place in fantastic conditions with not a drop of rain in sight. A solid entry of over a hundred and twenty promised exciting racing in each of the classes and with the points leaders in several classes not having their best of days the race for the title is now really hotting up.

Carl Stirling lined up in pole position for the Cadet final after claiming the win in heat one ahead of brother Adam before following it up with third in heat two. Championship leader John Norris took the win in heat two and so line up in second, although he was not to feature strongly in the closely fought final. Instead the final turned into a battle between the two Stirling brothers as Adam quickly caught up with his brother having started from the third row of the grid. However the driver really on the move was Kyle Price who was forced to start the race from twelfth after he had his win in heat one taken away due to an engine technicality. Price forged his race through the grid and was into third by half distance and was able to catch up with the two leaders within a handful of laps as they held each other up fighting over the lead. By the time the last lap board came out Price was in the lead and was able to do just enough to hold on to it and take the win by less than a tenth of a second. Adam Stirling beat brother Carl to the line to take second and also the fastest lap of the race.

The Junior Max final also turned out to be a closely fought affair with this time four drivers battling for the win. Raymond Lusty was the driver on form in the heats, taking the opening heat and also the win ahead of Isaac Lyons before coming through from the back to take the win in the second heat after Stephen Rutherdale was demoted for a technical infringement. When the final got underway Lusty took the lead from pole closely pursued by William Cochrane, Lyons and Rutherdale. The four stayed in the same positions for the opening half of the race until Lyons made a move for the lead to which the other three drivers were simply unable to respond. A few corners later Lusty was demoted again as Cochrane moved though into second and thereafter the positions stayed the same to the flag, with Lyons taking the win by just over two seconds. Rutherdale took fourth ahead of Richard McAlorum who drove a strong race to take fifth from eleventh on the grid.

Gary Quinn was the most consistent finisher in the Rotax 175 heats with his third and fourth place finishes netting pole position for the all important final. Championship leader Jason Taylor lined up in second and from their pace in the heats it was clear that the final win would be contested by these two drivers. Indeed that is what happened and the race produce one of the closest finishes of the day but it was Taylor who was slightly in front when it mattered. Despite taking the fastest lap Quinn could not quite do enough to overhaul Taylor and so had to settle for second well ahead of Brian Cherry who rounded out the top three.

Minimax drivers Nathan Coulter and championship leader Rikki Gordon both took a first and a fourth in the heats but Coulter took pole for the final by dint of the fact he finished higher in heat one. However he was to be completely out of luck in the final as he lost the lead early on to Gordon and thereafter fell back into the field. Coulter’s race finally came to and unfortunate end underneath the kart of Ruth Price just after half distance. Up front Gordon was never challenged again and went on to take a comfortable win. However the battle for second was much more intense but was eventually won by Jonathan Price who drove a solid race to come through from ninth on the grid. Aaron Smith lost out to Price and so had to be content with third ahead of Craig Stirling and Samantha Thom.

Derek Wilson was unstoppable in World Formula and took a full score of a hundred points. In the first heat Wilson took the win by three seconds but the second was much closer with less than a second covering the top three drivers with Nigel Stewart and Sean Doherty led home once again by Wilson . In the final Wilson led the whole way from pole, although for once he did not set the fastest lap, that honour being taken by Sean Doherty who took a lonely second place. Tommy Fegan came in third a long way back from the top two he in turn was well ahead of Michael Maguire in fourth.

The Armstrong family was all conquering in Pro-Karts with Gary and William sharing the two heat wins. The latter claimed pole by dint of having a better result in his other heat whilst Gary lined up alongside with Vincent McCaffery and Michael McAuley filling the second row. In the final the domination continued as the two Armstrong drivers pulled away from the rest of the field with only the matter of who would take the win having any significance. Despite setting the fastest lap Gary was unable to catch William who pulled out a gap of over two seconds by the finish. Tim Kerr finished in third almost five seconds behind the Armstrong duo with McAuley just beating McCaffery to the line in their battle for fourth.

TKM driver Ryan McShane profited from the absence of championship leader Philip Clements and dominated proceedings throughout the day. Laura Taggart followed McShane home in both of the heats and so the two lined up alongside on the front row. In the final the poleman lead from the start and finished with a comfortable lead over Taggart who took another second place. Connor Maginn finished well back in third whilst in turn he had a comfortable gap over Michael Marsh and Robbie Stevens who had a close battle for fourth with Marsh just taking the position by a tenth of a second.

Gary Turkington was very much the driver on form in the Rotax Max heats as he took two second place finishes and easily secured pole position for the final. The two heat wins were taken by Ryan Magennis and Neville Bell and with both drivers taking eleventh place in their other race they would line up in second and third places respectively. In the final Turkington quickly established control at the head of the field and pulled out a lead right from the start which ensured that he would never be challenged and he was able to take a comfortable lights to flag victory. Bell had slotted into a comfortable second at the start but by around half distance it became clear that he was being caught by Brian McCarte who had started from fourth on the grid. McCarte timed his charge perfectly and snatched second place from Bell within sight of the chequered flag with the latter having to settle for third ahead of Magennis in fourth.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

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