2003 Ulster Cup Race Reports

Ulster Cup R5 - 24/05/03

The weather had been pretty awful in the week prior to the fifth round of the Ulster Cup and race day was no different. There was a large entry for the event, boosted by the return of the gearbox drivers who were taking part in their second round of the series. Despite the conditions there was close racing in most classes and the championship battles are really starting to heat up.

For the first time ever there were sufficient numbers for Max Heavy to run a final of their own which also benefited the other Rotax Max drivers as they would not have to go through a ‘B’ Final. From the start it was clear to see who the victor would be as Jason Taylor raced away to an easy win to consolidate his position at the top of the championship points. Michael Leonard came in second ahead of Trison McMullan, with Rodger Kingsbury and John Rafferty the other finishers.

Despite being one of the smaller classes, JTKM Intermediate once again provided a great race between championship contenders Edward Jackson, Johnny Clyde and Michael Flynn. Pole sitter Clyde got away cleanly at the start, with Flynn and Jackson slotting in behind. Clyde seemed to be pulling out a lead, but the chasing two never let him get away. At the start of the final lap the positions were unchanged but then going up the hill out of the chicane Clyde made a tiny error and Flynn powered past him into the lead. To add insult to injury, Clyde was also passed by Jackson two corners from the end. The results of the race closed the gap at the top of the table so that Clyde and Flynn are now equal on points with Jackson not far behind in third. Laura Taggart took another win in JTKM to further extend her lead ahead at the top of the championship table.

Steven Bradley was on top form in Cadets and by the start of the final he already had two heat wins to his name. Having taken a second and a third in the heats, Rikki Gordon was along side Bradley on the front row. In difficult conditions Bradley led away at the start, pulling out a lead from Gordon, who in turn had a comfortable gap behind him. Honda runner Joel Mulholland got ahead of Derek Martin to take third, with the positions staying unchanged till the flag. The top three Comer finishers – Bradley, Gordon and Martin – reaffirmed their top three positions in the points with fourth placed William Buller now almost a hundred points behind.

The Junior Max race was next on the programme, but unfortunately the race had to be red flagged after three laps for dangerous driving throughout the field. The signal to stop the race was given and first few karts were able to stop safely. Some of the drivers in the midfield failed to see the flags and there was chaos as drivers slid into the stationary karts. Christopher Long managed to flip his kart over the others in the pile up, but fortunately he was not seriously injured. The Clerk of Course decided that the race was to be rerun after the other races were completed, allowing repairs to be carried out on damaged karts.

There was a small entry of only four TKMs, proving once again that TKM racing is dying out in Northern Ireland as Rotax Max takes over. Thomas Madden took his first win in the class so far in the series to move up to third overall. Paul Moore had another solid day with second in the final which allowed him to extend his lead over Peter McMullin in the championship.

In Pro-Karts Derek Wilson and Robert Robinson were the men to beat. After both missed the last round, Wilson and Robinson needed a good result and both got off to good start by each gaining a first and a second in the heats meaning the two would line up first and second on the grid. In the final it was Wilson who broke the deadlock and took a good win by two seconds from Robinson. Nigel Stewart was a long way behind in third, ahead of Tim Kerr and championship leader Sean Doherty.

The heats provided mixed result for the Minimax drivers. Championship leader Raymond Lusty lost a wheel in the first heat and struggled in the second. Wayne Boyd took his first ever win in the second heat, which put him on the front row for the final. After not having a win since March, Richard McAlorum drove well to take a second and a third, placing him on pole position. McAlorum made the best start and pulled out a small gap. Boyd held second until he was forced wide onto the gravel and demoted to fifth, where he would finish. Lyness moved through from third on the grid and towards the end of the race he began to catch McAlorum, but ran out of time and had to settle for second. McAlorum’s win moves him into the lead of the championship, with Lusty dropping three places due to his problems throughout the day.

Jason Curran entered the Rotax Max final with four wins to his name already, no doubt hoping to add to his impressive tally. Neville Bell claimed pole, with Curran three places behind in fourth, knowing that he had to beat Bell to secure the championship early. Aaron McMaster should have taken second place on the grid but failed to make it to the start. Mark McIvor started from third on the grid, but he too dropped out early after only two laps. Curran drove a strong race to take the lead from Bell and keep it to the finish. Curran’s win put the championship out of the other drivers’ reach, with Bell moving into second overall.

After a brief spell in 250cc racing, Matthew Campbell was back in the 125 gearbox glass and dominated the heats and final, taking three clear wins. Dean Jackson lost the lead in the championship by failing to finish the final and slipped to second overall. James Irvine had another strong and consistent day to take second in the final and with it the lead in the championship. Dessie Black was the first 210 kart home ahead of double heat winner David Adair.

Robert McAdam had a bad day in 250s after dominating the first round. A third place and two non finishes meant that McAdam dropped to second overall. Liam Fox failed to finish heat one, but made up for it by taking a win in the second heat and second in the final, therefore taking over the championship lead. Colin Menary’s consistency paid off as he took the win in the final and was the only driver out of the seven entries to finish all three races. Only three karts completed the distance in the final, with Robin Hamill a lap down behind Menary and Fox.

The rerun of the Junior Max race was slightly more successful than the first in that it did not have to be stopped. The track was still slippery and most karts were on slicks. There was a massive pileup at the start, no doubt caused by the difficult track conditions, which left nearly half the field in the gravel. Poleman William Cochrane was the only driver to get away cleanly and immediately pulled out a healthy lead, only to be quickly caught by Neil Graham who used his wet tyres to come from the back of the grid into the lead. Inevitably, Graham’s tyres soon burned up and Cochrane retained his lead. David McCullough had taken advantage of the chaos at the start and was running in second. McCullough’s second place came under threat from Jason Wilson and Stephen Rutherdale, who had worked their way back into third and fourth after loosing a long time in the gravel at the start. At the end of an exciting race full of incidents and retirements, it was Cochrane who took the win from McCullough, Wilson and Rutherdale, whose fourth place allowed him to extend his lead over Chris Irwin at the top of the points table.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R6 - 13/09/03

The penultimate round of the Ulster Cup was held at Nutts Corner on 13^th September. Thankfully, the weather pattern was different from most of the previous rounds with sunny, dry conditions throughout the day.

Championship leader Derek Martin suffered a bad day in Cadets, with two non-finishes due to engine trouble. Steven Bradley, second in the championship, took use of the advantage with a win and a second in the heats. Bradley led from the start the final, only to be held up by Rikki Gordon, a lap behind, half way through the race, allowing Kyle Price to close in quickly. With about six laps to go Price was right with Bradley and then he went past him into the lead. Bradley wasn’t about to give up and going into the last lap he was in the lead. On the run to the flag, however, it was Price who just edged ahead to take his first final win. Adrian Sweeney also drove a great race to take third place and the fastest lap.

The Minimax championship was very close between four drivers coming into the meeting which will probably prove crucial in the final championship standings. Raymond Lusty, fourth in the standings, had a great set of heats to put himself on pole for the final. Isaac Lyons started the final from the outside of the front row and was determined to show where he could be in the championship if he had not missed two rounds. From the start Lyons pulled away into a huge lead of nearly six seconds at the end, with a lap time three quarters of a second better than anyone else. Lusty finished a solid second to take over the lead in the championship after Richard McAlorum and Stuart Lyness both hit trouble in the final.

Robert Devenney took the victory in the Max Heavy final well ahead of Jason Taylor. Taylor was followed home closely by Neil Henderson and Trison McMullan with just over a second covering the trio.

Alistair Jackson started the day well in Junior Rotax Max with a win in the first heat followed up by a sixth place, enough to give him his first pole position in a final. Stephen Rutherdale took two third places to start second, with William Cochrane winning the second heat and starting fourth. Rutherdale made the best start and dived round the outside of Jackson to take the lead into the first corner. Cochrane also got by Jackson early on and the two pulled away at the front. Behind them, the battle for third was close between Jackson, Scott Taggart and Jason Wilson. Rutherdale took the win and with it the Ulster Cup title, ahead of Cochrane and Jackson who had a good race to take third.

The championship battle in JTKM Intermediate was close coming into the meeting, but with Jonny Clyde missing, Michael Flynn had quite an easy run to victory in the final. Ryan McShane was the only person who could prevent Flynn taking three straight wins, winning the first heat, but only managing fourth in the final. Aaron Newell drove a great race in the final to take second ahead of Edward Jackson, with Billy Finnegan taking his first win in JTKM.

With Jason Curran already having sealed the championship at the previous round, the battle for second took over. Trevor Hayes had two great heats with a win and a second, putting him on pole in the final. However, in the final Hayes could not resist the pressure of Five Nations champion Philip Harkness, who forged through to win by just over a second. Hayes took a solid second place with Keith Biggerstaff just edging out four drivers to take third.

The Pro-Kart final proved to be a close battle between the top three drivers in the championship. Derek Wilson and Sean Doherty each took a win and a fourth in the heats, but Wilson claimed pole because he won the first race. Andrew Fegan, third in the championship, started from the inside of the third row, but he was soon right with Wilson and Doherty. Fegan set the fastest lap, but was unable to get in among the top two and had to settle for third. Wilson edged out Doherty on the line to take the win by only 0.04 seconds. Nigel Stewart finished fourth ahead of Mark Harvey.

Once again there was a small entry of TKMs, but this did not stop the final from being a cracking race. Andrew Rutherdale started from pole, but was quickly overtaken by Paul Moore and Robbie Stevens. Stevens pulled out a considerable margin as Rutherdale went inside Moore for second place. Moore closed the door, but Rutherdale refused to give way, and Moore ran wide into the gravel and out of the race. Rutherdale carried on his charge, and halfway through the race he overtook Stevens for the lead. Stevens didn’t give up and fought to get the place back, but to no avail. In the end Rutherdale took the win, just 0.1seconds ahead of Stevens with Clifford Wylie in third.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R7 - 04/10/03

The conclusion of the Ulster Cup took place at Nutts Corner on 4^th October and with many championships going down to the wire, the day produced some great racing. Unfortunately the weather did not match the standard of competition, with constant rain and cold conditions throughout the day.

The battle for the title in Cadets was solely between Steven Bradley and Derek Martin coming into the last round. Bradley held a 25 point lead but on the day neither featured strongly in the results. Rikki Gordon was back on form, a win and third in the heats putting him on pole position for the final. Kyle Price continued his improving form with a third place on the grid, just behind Bradley. Gordon got cleanly away at the start of the final, and together with Price pulled away at the front. Bradley spun shortly into the race, but drove well to get back up to ninth by the end. Martin quickly became involved in a huge battle for third between four drivers, a battle which was won in the end by Adrian Sweeney. Gordon ran out the winner from Price, but Martin’s sixth place was not enough to snatch the title away from Bradley.

Liam Fox and Robert McAdam shared the heat wins in the 250 Gearbox class, which was run along with the 125s. With the other competitors struggling with reliability, both fought together at the front, in a battle which was only decided at the last corner. McAdam came out of the hairpin just in front, but on the exit of the corner he lost the back end in the slippery conditions. His kart spun round, allowing Fox through to take the win, before recovering to take second. Gary Agnew was promoted to first in 125 after James Irvine was excluded from the results of the meeting for a technical infringement. Keith Hemsley took a comfortable second ahead of Dean Jackson.

With Michael Flynn already having won the championship, the battle for second in JTKM Intermediate was fought between Edward Jackson and Johnny Clyde. The latter had the points advantage coming into the meeting, but a DNF in the heats put him to the back of the grid. Jackson took full advantage with two wins in the heats before putting in a dominant performance in the final to take maximum points. Clyde ’s second place was not enough to prevent him loosing second place to Jackson by only six points. Laura Taggart reeled off another win in JTKM, with Billy Finnegan in second.

Isaac Lyons returned to racing in Junior MAX after a year in the Minimax class and immediately proved he could be competitive in both classes with a win and a second in the heats, earning pole position for the final. With Stephen Rutherdale having clinched the championship, there was still an intense fight for second between William Cochrane and Chris Irwin, Cochrane just ahead on points coming into the decider. Lyons led a way from the green light, with Alistair Jackson forging his way through to second from sixth on the grid, along with Cochrane. The positions stayed the same until the end, with Kris Loane taking fourth ahead of Irwin, which was enough for Irwin to take second in the championship only five points ahead of Cochrane.

Derick McCarte produced two superb drives in the heats to take pole for the Rotax MAX final. Once again the battle for second in the championship table was intense, with Jason Curran already having taken the title. Gary Turkington moved up quickly at the start to take the lead from Philip Harkness and McCarte, who was slowly slipping back. Steven Connelly moved into fourth and was catching McCarte before a collision left the latter stranded in the gravel, Connelly continuing to take third behind Turkington and Harkness. Second place was enough to give Harkness second in the championship ahead of Neville Bell.

The fight for the Pro-Kart title went down to the last race and finally decided in the favour of Derek Wilson. Wilson was on great form in the heats, two win giving him pole for the final. Sean Doherty, his main rival for the championship, did not have such good heats, leaving him tenth on the grid for the final. Andrew Fegan, third in the championship, was also on strong from and was the only one who could keep with Wilson in the final. The pair finished over eight second ahead of the others, Wilson taking the flag by only 0.1 seconds from Fegan. Wilson was able to clinch the championship as Sean Doherty only finished seventeenth in the final.

Minimax produced the closest championship fight with Richard McAlorum trailing Raymond Lusty coming into the deciding round. McAlorum was on top form in the heats and took a win in the first heat followed up by a second place. Lusty took a close second to McAlorum in the first heat, but was in trouble in the second when he lost his nosecone, earning a mechanical flag. He had it all to do in the final from ninth on the grid and despite moving quickly up to third, he could do nothing about McAlorum who stormed to the win and the championship title. Jamie Glover took a strong second in the final, but it was not enough for him to snatch third from Stuart Lyness in the championship.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

2003 Ulster Cup Standings

Cadets: 1) Steven Bradley 2) Derek Martin 3) Kyle Price

Honda Cadet: 1) Joel Mulholland 2) Stefan Lyttle 3) Andrew Warwick

Minimax: 1) Richard McAlorum 2) Raymond Lusty 3) Stuart Lyness

JTKM: 1) Laura Taggart 2) Billy Finnegan 3) Marty Lynch

JTKM Inter: 1) Michael Flynn 2) Edward Jackson 3) Johnny Clyde

Junior MAX: 1) Stephen Rutherdale 2) Chris Irwin 3) William Cochrane

Senior TKM: 1) Paul Moore 2) Peter McMullin 3) Robbie Stevens

Rotax MAX Heavy: 1) Jason Taylor 2) Trison McMullan 3) Neil Henderson

Rotax MAX: 1) Jason Curran 2) Philip Harkness 3) Neville Bell

Pro-Kart: 1) Derek Wilson 2) Sean Doherty 3) Andrew Fegan

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