2005 Ulster Cup Race Reports

Ulster Cup R1 - 12/03/05

The 2005 Ulster Cup series got under way on 12 March with the opening Kart-E-Quip sponsored round. A snow covered circuit early on quickly cleared to allow the vast entry of drivers to get their new season underway, all hoping for a win to get off to the best possible start. With the future of the circuit still unclear due to the ongoing noise problems the drivers were out to make the most of a great circuit while they still can. Indeed the racing was top class throughout the day, with close racing and precision driving displayed in the sometimes tricky conditions, firmly establishing the favourites for championship chase.

Fresh from his success at the last round of the winter series, Cadet driver Kyle Price showed no sign of letting up his fine form by taking a crushing win in the first heat, followed up by a close second place in the second heat. Winter series champion Stefan Lyttle also achieved a win and a second in the heats and so lined up alongside Price for the final, the latter taking pole by dint of having taken the victory in the opening heat. Despite having had a considerable advantage in the two heats, Lyttle and Price would be made to work hard to maintain their top results in the final. Adrian Sweeney’s two third places in the heats posed him as a contender, but trouble got in the way in the final and he wound up a distant seventh. Instead it was Adam Stirling, from further down the grid, who would pose the main threat, as he quickly rose through the field to catch Lyttle and Price. Stirling went past Lyttle, who, despite setting the fastest lap, could not respond. However Price was consistently quick and remained just out of reach for Stirling who in the end had to settle for the runner up spot. Lyttle held on to third place ahead of Michael Gordon and Carl Stirling.

William Herron took pole position for the Minimax final in his first race meeting upon a Kosmic kart, having taken a win and a second place in the heats. Lining up alongside the polesitter was the other heat winner, Rikki Gordon, who established the fastest lap by a significant margin in the dry heat two. Posing a threat from behind were Wayne Boyd and Chris Smiley, lining up alongside on the second row in third and fourth respectively. However all hopes of a close race were quickly dashed as Gordon confirmed his dry pace as he, storming away from the rest of the field and opening up a gap which was to grow to six seconds by the time the chequered flag appeared. Herron was unable to replicate his pace from the heats, falling back through the field to sixth place. Craig Stirling moved up through the field to finish a distant second behind Gordon, whilst Boyd finished where he started, in third, setting the fastest lap along the way.

The largest field of TKMs for quite some time turned out to get the new season off to a strong start for the class. Ryan Magennis made the move from Rotax Max into the class and quickly showed his intentions for the new season. Magennis had to settle for a close second in heat one behind winter series champion Stephen Rutherdale, but reversed the positions in the second heat to take the victory, with Rutherdale close behind in second. The two lined up alongside on the front row for the final, Rutherdale taking top spot due to his win in the opening heat. Michael Marsh lined up behind in third with James Turkignton alongside. Rutherdale was able to hold the lead ahead of Magennis for the opening two laps, before the pattern of the race changed with a brief rain shower. Magennis quickly stole the advantage and proceeded to pull out a considerable gap, only to slide off through the gravel around half distance. He had enough of a lead to regain the track and continue to take the win, ahead of Rutherdale who settled for a safe second. Marsh rounded off the podium places in third.

A small field of five World Formulas ran along with the TKMs. Nigel Stewart and Michael Cox shared the heat wins with the latter taking top spot for the start of the final. Stewart however quickly took over the lead and was not fazed by the tricky conditions of a wet track on slick tires, pulling out a considerable advantage over Cox. Stewart stayed on the track to take the win with Cox in second ahead of Michael Maguire in third.

Raymond Lusty took the wet opening heat in Junior Max. However it was an incredibly close cut affair as Lusty narrowly beat Johnny Clyde by only three hundreds of a second, the latter having relled him in by setting the fastest lap of the race by over three quarters of a second. Clyde himself went on to hit trouble at the first corner of heat two, but it was nothing in comparison to the dramatic and frightening crash that befell Nathan Coulter at mid distance. Earlier in the race Coulter had sustained damage to his rear bumper and whilst reaching full speed on the main straight part of it broke off and fell underneath the rear wheel. The rear wheel locked up, sending the kart and driver straight into the tyre wall protecting the starter from any untoward karts. Despite the high speed impact Coulter was fortunately able to walk away with only a hurt wrist, and went on to compete in the final. Lusty lined up on pole for the final with Samantha Thom alongside. Thom however had opted for wets which turned out to be the wrong choice. Although she briefly took over the lead she was to finish the race a lap down on the winner, Alan Davidson. Davidson had caught Lusty who was involved in a battle with Ryan Donnelly and Josh Gault for the lead. After a few laps Davidson was able to break free of the battle and pull out a considerable lead he would hold to the finish. Donnelly held off Lusty to take second whilst Gault settled for a fine fourth.

A large turnout of Rotax 177 drivers enjoyed close racing throughout the day. Michael Leonard got his day off to a good start with a win in heat one, but he could not repeat the feat in the dry second heat. The opposite could be said of Jason Taylor, who finished well down the order in heat one but took the win in the second. Leonard lined up on pole for the final, alongside the consistent Stephen Adams, who took two second place finishes in both heats. In the final Leonard proved to be a non-starter, giving up his pole position to Adams . Taylor quickly moved through into the lead and slowly began to extend it over from the other drivers. Adams pushed hard to catch Taylor , setting the fastest lap in the process, but it was to no avail as Taylor continued to pull away in front. At the flag Taylor was three second ahead, taking the win ahead of Adams in second and Ciaron McKee in third.

Tommy Fegan began his day well in Pro-Karts, taking the win in heat one with a considerable advantage over the two McAuley brothers, Andrew and Michael who second and third respectively. Fegan managed eight in heat two, which was won by William Armstrong, enough to secure pole for the final. Armstrong’s DNF in heat one put him down the order for the final, allowing Vincent McCaffery and the other Armstrong, Garry, to take second and third places respectively. In the final a fierce battle raged for third from early in the race between Garry Armstrong, Wesley Dempsey and Mark Dunlop, allowing Fegan and McCaffery to pull out a huge lead at the head of the field. By the finish the two were over eleven seconds ahead, Fegan taking the spoils ahead of McCaffery. Garry Armstrong narrowly edged out Dempsey and Dunlop to take third place.

Gary Blair opened his 2005 account with a win in the first Rotax Max heat, followed up by a seventh in heat two. Fastest laps in both races marked him out as the man to beat, especially as took pole for the final with the consistent Gary Turkington alongside. However before the final could get underway the usual dose of Rotax Max controversy had to take pace. Turkington broke down on the formation lap, prompting third place man Brian McCarte to take up Turkington’s second place grid slot. The race was underway for a lap when the CoC ordered the red flag, having adjudged that McCarte made a jump start by moving up into Turkington’s grid slot. Turkington was allowed into the race, but was sent to the back along with McCarte. With his closest challengers removed from the equation, it looked as Blair was clear to go on and take an easy victory. He did take the win as it turned out, but had to work hard for it. Keith Biggerstaff, from fourth on the grid in his first race on the Redspeed kart, pushed him hard all the way, setting the fastest lap in the process. Although he was only a few kart lengths behind Blair for most of the race, he was unable to overhaul the leader and so had to settle for a well deserved second place. Aaron McMaster moved up from fifth to take third, with Isaac Lyons taking fourth from ninth on the grid.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R2 (also NI Champs R1)- 09/04/05

9^th April saw the continuation of the Ulster Cup series with the second round of the well supported championship. The event was even better supported than normal as it doubled as the opening round of the NI Championship, with points from each race going towards both championships. The doubly important event was due to the Coleraine and District MC unfortunately being unable to obtain the necessary track license to run karting events at the Aghadowey circuit. Depending on who you talked to the reasons for this varied, but hopefully the problems will be sorted out in time for the next round at the circuit on 2^nd July.

The weather conditions followed the developing pattern of late by once again being changeable throughout the day. Tyre choice was critical for most races and the tricky conditions produced some great individual drives and some incredibly close racing in each of the twenty-four heats and finals. A prime example of the closely fought competition was the second Rotax MAX heat, in which the top six drivers were separated by less than a second. The second Pro-Kart heat also produced a sensational finish in which the drivers between third and fourteenth positions were all covered by just over two seconds.

The first Cadet heat saw a mix of wet and dry tyres on the karts. Michael Gordon made the right decision to take the win with a considerable advantage over Carl Stirling, the two in turn well ahead of Adrian Sweeney in third. Stirling won the second heat, followed across the line by four karts all scrapping at his heels. Kyle Price finished in second, only a nose cone’s length behind whilst Gordon finished at the tail of the train of karts in fifth, albeit only a second behind the winner. The final was also a closely fought affair but it was polesitter Stirling who took another victory. Stefan Lyttle finished just over half a second behind Stirling , and two seconds ahead of the near dead heat for third. Kyle Price snatched the final podium position by only six hundredths of a second ahead of Gordon, with the other Stirling , Adam, narrowly holding off Sweeney to take fifth.

Wayne Boyd emerged from an action packed set of Minimax heats with both heat wins to his name. Positions changed countless times amongst the top drivers throughout the heats making predicting a winner impossible, but Boyd was in front both times when it mattered. Rikki Gordon took the runner-up spot in both races to line up alongside Boyd on the front row for the final. Craig Stirling, Chris Smiley, and William Herron filled the remaining top five positions in both heats, pointing towards a mammoth scrap for the win in the final. Boyd led the field away but was not to hold the lead for long as others took their turn at the top. Smiley and Boyd collided at the second turn towards the end of the race causing the latter in particular to loose valuable time. With only a lap to go Gordon suddenly emerged in the lead, a position he would hold to the chequered flag. Smiley ended up in second, just ahead of Stirling and Boyd who recovered to take fourth.

The Junior MAX final was perhaps the most unpredictable race of the day. A rain shower just before the race saw half of the field change onto wet tyres, whilst the others stayed on slicks in what appeared to be an inspired decision. The track was clearly drying early on but another shower of rain put paid to any slick-shod hopes half way through the race. Polesitter Johnny Clyde led the field through the first corner and held a narrow lead over Josh Gault, Raymond Lusty and Richard McAlorum for the opening few laps. Gault then flew off the track at turn one but regained the black stuff having only lost a few positions. Clyde began to pull out a sizeable margin over the battling drivers behind but a mistake halfway through the race dropped him back to fourth whilst McAlorum inherited the lead. Pushing hard to maintain his inherited advantage, McAlorum slid wide at turn one, ironically letting Gault through into the lead. Gault held on for the final few laps to take the win ahead of the consistent Lusty with Clyde and McAlorum recovering to take third and fourth respectively.

Pro-Karts have boasted the second largest grids of late, second only to Rotax MAX. The trend continued with a healthy grid of twenty-five four-stroke karts turning to enjoy a competitive days racing. The second heat served as evidence of the closeness of the class as amazingly twelve drivers crossed the line within just over two seconds of third placed Wesley Dempsey. William Armstrong emerged from the heats with a win and a second to his name, earning pole position for the final. Sean Doherty lined up alongside having taken the other heat win, whilst two consistent third place finishes saw Wesley Dempsey line up behind in third place. In the final Armstrong was unable to convert pole position into a win as Doherty turned up the pace and took a convincing win. An Armstrong did, however, finish on the podium in the form of Garry Armstrong who drove well from further down the grid. Mark Dunlop filled the remaining podium position in third.

Rotax 177 began with a closely fought first heat which saw Jason Taylor win by only half a second from Michael Leonard with Ciaron McKee in turn only six hundredths further back in third. McKee clearly enjoyed the close racing as he won the second race by less than four tenths after a close fight with Gary Quinn who ended up second. McKee therefore took pole for the final with Taylor lining up alongside. The two fought tooth and nail throughout the final and eventually ended up producing another close finish, McKee taking the win by four tenths, as in heat two although over a different competitor. Leonard finished the race in third ahead of another close battle for fourth, which John Capper won by only four hundredths to take the position ahead of Quinn in fifth.

World Formula had sufficient entries to run separate heats and finals, but unfortunately the racing was far from captivating action. Derek Wilson won both by significant margins over Sean Doherty in the first and Nigel Stewart in the second to take pole for the final. In the final Wilson hit trouble and wound up three laps down in seventh. Stewart profited to take the win by seven seconds from Michael Cox who narrowly beat Tommy Fegan into third.

Ryan Magennis was unstoppable throughout the day in TKM Extreme, only a mistake in tyre choice in the second preventing him from taking a clean sweep. The first heat saw a four way fight for second, eventually won by Robbie Stevens, although a long way behind Magennis in first. James Turkington drove a highly controversial race in the second heat to take a first career victory ahead of Clifford Wylie after the two collided on the last lap. In the final Magennis led from lights to flag to take another win. Turkington held second early on but was soon passed by Stephen Rutherdale, up from fifth on the grid. Rutherdale took second at the flag whilst Turkington dropped back due to a broken chassis, allowing Wylie to take the final podium position.

The Rotax MAX heats were as fiercely hard fought as always, resulting in an incredibly close finish in the second heat. Brian McCarte led home Gary Turkington, Isaac Lyons, Gareth Conn , Aaron Roper and heat one winner Keith Biggerstaff, all six drivers covered by less than a second. Turkington earned pole for the final after consistently quick driving which saw him take two seconds in the heats. As it turned out the front of the grid was for once not the place to be. But then neither was the back. Turkington was pushed deep into the first corner as about eight of the drivers behind all collided, ending up on top of one another as they emerged from the first turn. Further down the field there was a separate six kart pile up ensuring few drivers emerged from the first turn without damage to kart or pride. After makeshift repairs the restarted final got underway, thankfully with everyone emerging from the first corner intact. As the drivers behind fought for position Turkington was able to pull out a considerable advantage over the opening laps which was to stay constant for the remainder of the race. Neville Bell, Lyons and Aaron McMaster ran line astern for the duration of the race, eventually ending up bumper to bumper in second, third and fourth respectively. Biggerstaff took fifth with Gary Blair rounding out the top six.

Ulster Cup R3 - 07/05/05

7^th May saw the continuation of the Ulster Cup with round three of the well supported series. The changeable and therefore tricky conditions that have plagued the opening two rounds prevailed throughout the heats making tyre choice a lottery for some classes. As usual the difficult conditions brought out the best driving from all the drivers and produced top class racing throughout the day. Thankfully the finals were mainly dry with the exception of the Cadet race which was run on a quickly drying track. With the championship nearing the halfway mark the points battles are really beginning to heat up in one of the closest championships for many years.

Carl Stirling took an easy win in the first Cadet heat whilst brother Adam took the remaining heat after a very closely fought race. Adam narrowly managed to hold of Stefan Lyttle by less than a tenth of a second to take the win with the top five karts covered by just over two seconds. The heat one winner, Carl, came in third and so lined up on pole for the final. However a heavy rain shower before the final race threw the importance of grid positions out of the window and placed the emphasis on making the right tyre choice with the track drying out all the time. As it turned out Lyttle was the only one to get it spot on as he simply ran away from the field at the rate of a second per lap to take an easy win. The battle for second raged throughout the race between Michael Gordon and Kyle Price and was eventually decided in Gordon’s favour by the narrow margin of five hundredths of a second. Lyttle moved into the points lead with a nineteen point advantage over Price, while Carl Stirling was demoted to third overall after problems in the final.

Wayne Boyd dominated the Minimax heats, taking the win in both and clearly demonstrating his intentions for the final. However the early running saw William Herron move through from third on the grid to take over the lead. Herron held the lead for several laps as Rikki Gordon moved up the order to join the two at the front and make it a three way fight for the race win, the trio edging out a gap over Craig Stirling and Derek Martin in fourth and fifth respectively. Steven Bradley was busy making a fantastic comeback after completing the first lap in last position, moving up past Martin and then Stirling to take fourth place, which he would hold to the finish. Boyd set the race’s fastest lap and moved ahead of Herron with not long left to run, going on to take the win and with it the completion of his maximum points haul. Gordon demoted Herron to third but saw his championship lead lost to Boyd, albeit by only two points, with Herron fifty points further back in third.

Going into the third round only seven points covered the top four drivers in Junior Max, with Alan Davidson at the top of the table. Marty Lynch won the opening heat easily, whilst Raymond Lusty, second in the points, took the second race by a narrow margin from Ryan Donnelly. Lynch lined up on pole for the final which turned out to be the best race of the day. When Lynch fell by the wayside early on Lusty took over the lead and began to pull out a gap over the rest. However engine troubles not long into the race put paid to his chances. Donnelly took over the lead and held it for many laps before he was caught by Johnny Clyde and Samantha Thom. Just as it looked as though a three way scrap for the lead was about to develop, Clyde made a break for it and managed to pull out a small but significant margin over the battle for second. Stuart Lyness, up from tenth on the gird latched onto the scrap for second between Thom and Donnelly and with only a few laps to go passed both and took the second place he would hold to the finish. Clyde took the race win and so moved into the championship lead by twenty points whilst Davidson, after a difficult day dropped to second overall.

TKM saw a truly dominant performance from Ryan Magennis who took the wins in both heats and then followed this up with the win in the final. The final was decided at the lights as Magennis slowed the field right down and made the best start to open up a lead he would hold to the finish. Stephen Rutherdale started second and finished second, just under three seconds behind Magennis. Clifford Wylie and Robbie Stevens fought hard throughout the final over third position with Wylie eventually taking the spot. The three wins allowed Magennis to extend his lead over Rutherdale in the championship further, with Laura Taggart moving up to third overall.

The recent resurgence of Pro-Karts continued with a huge grid of twenty-five karts turning up to compete, making the class equal in numbers with the ever-popular Rotax Max class. The results of the heats once again featured the Armstrong name at the top, Garry winning the first and William winning the second. Pole for the final was occupied by the latter with Garry lining up alongside and Tim Kerr fronting the second row in third. The final confirmed that William was the driver on form as he set the fastest lap and pulled out a gap of nearly five seconds by the finish. Garry finished a lonely race in second with Kerr finishing where he started by taking the remaining podium position. Southern drivers Gordon O’Brien and Barry Cregg rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

World Formula produced fantastic racing all day, culminating in the closest final of the day. Jeffrey Scott won the opening heat ahead of Sean Doherty and Nigel Stewart. Doherty won the second heat with Stewart and Derek Wilson fighting throughout over second, a battle eventually won by Stewart. Doherty lined up on pole for the final with Scott alongside, but not long into the race the latter was dropped as a fierce battle broke out between Doherty, Stewart, Wilson and Mike Curran. After quiet heats Curran was on form in the final , setting the fastest lap as he moved up the field. The battle raged between the four throughout the race but as the flag fell Stewart was in front, taking the win by only a tenth of a second from of Wilson . Curran edged out Doherty to take third, the top four covered by less than second. The win saw Stewart extend his lead to over fifty points over Michael Cox who retained second overall with his fifth place in the final.

Rotax 177 has become has gradually become more competitive since its introduction in 2003. The two heats were fast paced and closely fought and built up to a dramatic climax in the final. Michael Leonard won the first heat from Gary Quinn and Kevin McGovern. The second heat saw a battle for the lead throughout the race between Ciaron McKee and Jason Taylor, with McKee emerging as victor by less than half a second. In the final Taylor had it relatively easy as Leonard and McKee fought tooth and nail over second place, allowing Taylor to get away in front. With only a few laps remaining Leonard made the decisive move at the second corner, and the ensuing contact saw McKee sideways and then out of the race. Taylor took an easy win from Leonard with Quinn taking the remaining podium position in third. After the race McKee clearly took exception to the earlier incident and a confrontation with Leonard in parc ferme ensued, a moment which resulted in McKee’s disqualification from the race results. The day’s results saw Taylor extend his points advantage over Leonard who moved up to second from fourth overall, ousting McKee who dropped to third.

Chris Irwin won a very close Rotax Max heat one by only six hundredths of a second from Gary Blair, with Alistair Jackson only six tenths further back. Blair’s third place in the rain-hit second heat secured pole position for the final, with Irwin to line up alongside after taking ninth in heat two. Gareth Conn drove a solid second heat in the tricky conditions to take third on the grid for the final. The final was to be decided at the first corner as Blair got through cleanly whilst over ambitious driving behind saw karts spinning in all directions. Blair was free to take the win as he pleased, pulling out a gap of just over two seconds by the finish. Alistair Jackson set the fastest lap towards the end but could not catch Blair and had to settle for second. Conn took third ahead of Irwin in fourth. A disappointing day for championship leader Gary Turkington saw him drop to third overall whilst Blair moved up from third to take Turkington’s place at the top of the points table. A solid day for Keith Biggerstaff saw him retain second overall.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R4 - 11/06/05

The Ulster Cup championship passed the halfway mark with the fourth round held at Nutts Corner on 11 June. For the first time this year the weather remained dry for the duration of the day, allowing exceptionally close racing in all classes as the championship battles really begin to heat up.

The Cadet final was a two part race following the crash of Jack Lyons on the exit of Paddock Bend. Fortunately Jack was uninjured in the crash but he was unable to make the restart. Brother Carl and Adam Stirling resumed where they had left off in the first half of the race by battling together for the lead at the head of the field. After many laps of nose to tail racing Adam came home ahead of Carl by only one hundredth of a second. Stefan Lyttle rounded out the top three, gaining just enough points to hold his lead in the championship.

Wayne Boyd, following a third place at the Rotax O Plate at Larkhall in May, continued his fine form by dominating the proceedings in Minimax. Boyd took the wins in both heats and went on to take the final win by a margin of six seconds from Rikki Gordon. Boyd’s second consecutive maximum points score sees him extend his head in the championship to twenty-two point over his nearest rival Gordon. Derek Martin came out on top of the race-long scrap for third, finishing narrowly ahead of Craig Stirling and Steven Bradley.

Ryan Magennis continued to dominate TKM Extreme, taking the two heats and the final. Stephen Rutherdale, minus his airbox having lost it on the second lap, battled for the duration of the race with Clifford Wylie for second position. Rutherdale took second on the road by only a few tenths of a second, but was subsequently excluded for the missing component. Wylie was promoted to second with Laura Taggart taking the trophy for third. Magennis now appears to be uncatchable in the championship with over a hundred points in hand over his nearest rival Rutherdale.

Tim Kerr won by a relatively comfortable margin in the Pro-Kart final, finishing two seconds ahead of runner-up Sean Doherty. Tommy Fegan and William Armstrong enjoyed a close battle for third, eventually finishing in that order. Gary Wheeler led home a huge scrap for fifth, with Wheeler, Garry Armstrong, Gordon O’Brien and Dessie Roberts all covered by only half a second. The championship has really closed up with the two Armstrongs, Fegan and Kerr all covered by only eight points.

Nathan Coulter took the lead early on in the Junior Max final and held it to the end to take a well deserved victory. Raymond Lusty recovered from a slow start to take second with Josh Gault finishing third. Richard McAlorum moved through the field from the fifth row of the grid to take fourth. Johnny Clyde remains at the top of the table although Lusty is now within nine points of the leader.

Jason Taylor took the win in Rotax 177 by less than a second from Ciaron McKee. Gary Quinn rounded out the top three, finishing a second ahead of Michael Leonard who took fourth. Another consistent showing from Taylor sees him extend his head in the championship to seventy-two points over his nearest rival McKee, with Leonard only eleven points further back in third.

Derek Wilson won a somewhat uneventful World Formula final by a huge six seconds from Nigel Stewart. Michael Cox was a further six seconds further back in third Michael Maguire and Alistair McLaughlin the only other finishers in fourth and fifth respectively. Stewart remains at the top of the points table, with consistent finishes leaving Cox in second overall ahead of Wilson in third.

The Rotax Max race was without doubt the most spectacular race of the day. Stuart Henderson took the lead on the first lap, only to spin at Paddock Bend on the third lap and be left sitting broadside across the track. Henderson calmly waited to rejoin as the other 26 drivers took avoiding action, with somehow only two making minor contact with the stricken kart. After drastic avoiding action put many of the early front runners down the field, Andrew Herron emerged with a clear lead over the rest. For the next ten laps Herron held on to the lead but Isaac Lyons and Chris Irwin were closing in fast. With two laps to go Lyons overtook Herron, with Irwin demoting him further to third at the next corner. Going up the hill on the last lap Irwin pulled out and passed Lyons , coming home to take a spectacular victory. Lyons took second with Herron rounding out the top three. Irwin’s win sees him climb up the three positions in the points to hold third overall, not far behind leaders Gary Blair and Keith Biggerstaff.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

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