Race Reports

Ulster Cup R7 - Nutts Corner - 14/10/06

Seven months after the first round back in March, the Ulster Karting Club’s season drew to a close on Saturday 14^th October. The event featured the grand finale of the Northern Ireland Karting Championships and the Ulster Cup as well as the annual Gary Ireland memorial race.

It has been a long season full of highs and lows for both competitors and the Ulster Karting Club alike. After several years of uncertainty, the club finally secured its future at the Nutts Corner circuit. With its future now looking steadier, the club can look into ways of improving the sport raising it profile as cost-effective, competitive and, above all, fun form of motorsport.

Minimax driver Chris Smiley received a well deserved round of applause at drivers’ briefing for his achievement in the prestigious Stars of Tomorrow championship. In only his second full year campaigning in the series, the young driver proved he is more than a match for the best young talent in the UK by taking third place in the overall standings.

Despite a slippery surface in the morning, conditions were near perfect for racing. The strong entry of almost one hundred competitors put on an exciting show for spectators.

In very few classes were the championships already decided, so there was much at stake as each class took to the track for the first set of heats. Issac Lyons returned to Rotax Max competition and showed how a year spent racing in the 100 Libre class has benefited him by taking a convincing win in the first race. Young lady driver Megan McCrea then gave her parents a fright in the first Cadet heat as she crashed her kart into the tyres at the exit of the chicane after a typical first lap collision. With the race being controlled by the ‘safety car’ flag, whereby the leading kart slows down and is followed by the rest of the field, McCrea received prompt medical attention. Fortunately the young driver was only shocked by the impact and was able to rejoin later in the race.

However, her parents’ nerves must have been on a knife edge as Megan achieved a rare feat of necessitating medical attention in both heats after she was once again the unfortunate party when a kart spun in front of her. Thankfully, again there were no major injuries and she was bale to take part in the final.

Chris Smiley wrapped up the Ulster Cup title in Minimax with second place in the first heat. However, he was not smiling so much at the Northern Ireland championship standings, as his chief opposition, Callum McQuittty, finished one place behind him in third and retained the lead in the championship going into the finals.

Three drivers had the luxury of already having clinched their respective Ulster Cup titles with a round to spare and so chose to sit out the last round. Philip Harkness finished well clear in the final Rotax Max standings, as did Jeffrey Scott in World Formula. Robbie Robinson’s third place at the sixth round of the series pushed the title just out of reach of nearest rival Sean Doherty.

Doherty, however, had clearly not been told this and pulled of quite possibly the drive of the season in the Pro-Kart final. From second on the grid, he attempted to drive around the outside of the pole sitter at the first corner and instead found himself bouncing through the gravel and straight to the back of the field. Somehow still driving his usual, smooth lines through the corners, Doherty picked of his competitors one by one, and from being fourteenth at the star of the race he wound up the winner by seven tenths of a second from Nigel Stewart and Gordon O’Brien in second and third.

Kyle Price, having already successfully defended his Northern Ireland title, needed only to finish the final to clinch the Ulster Cup title for Cadets. Third place in the race was more than enough to achieve this task. Just ahead of Price, Adam Stirling and Michael Gordon battled for the duration of the race for the honour of winning the last race of the season. After swapping positions several times per lap, Stirling emerged the winner by only six hundredths of a second, a result which boosted him to second in the overall Ulster Cup standings.

In other classes, William Herron announced his intentions for next year in Britain and quite possibly even in Europe , by lifting both Junior Rotax Max titles with a convincing win in the final. Chris Smiley, going for the record of how many times one name can be mentioned in a report, made his debut in the Junior Rotax Max class and flew through the grid from dead last, having not competed in the heats, to take second at the chequered flag. Jason Taylor wrapped up the Ulster Cup title in Rotax 177 for another year with a win in the final whilst Mark Overend took advantage of the ever dominant Jeffrey Scott’s absence to take the World Formula race win.

Isaac Lyons repeated his heat one result by holding off Aaron McMaster to take the Rotax Max final win. Former Minimax champion Wayne Boyd continued his fine showings in the Senior category, with a close third place in only his fourth outing in the class.

Carl Stirling made it three wins out of three by winning a thrilling Minimax final. Stefan Lyttle made a move for the lead of race on the last lap, but was immediately relegated back to third by Stirling and Smiley, who took another second place. Fourth place went to Callum McQuitty, whose continuous improvement and overall consistent driving make him a worthy recipient of the Northern Ireland Championship title for Minimax.

Three wins on the day saw Ryan Magennis overtake Northern Ireland Champion Stephen Rutherdale in the final Ulster Cup standings. Magennis, sported Darren Lindsay’s #55 throughout the day and dedicated the championship win to the road racer who was tragically killed at the Killalane road races in September.

The final race of the 2006 season was, as always, the Gary Ireland memorial trophy race for Rotax Max. With a full grid of thirty karts, the first corner melée which involved almost half of the field could only be expected. After two laps, Aaron McMaster McMaster emerged in the lead, which he would hold to the finish at the end of twenty five hard laps. Wayne Boyd came close, but nobody else was able to challenged McMaster for what was a well deserved win.

Kart racing at Nutts Corner continues over the winter, with the first round of the Winter Series on the 25^th November.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

Ulster Cup R6 - Nutts Corner - 09/09/06

Two weeks after the Ulster Karting Club’s biggest race of the year, the Irish Kart Grand Prix, competitors returned to take part in the sixth round of the prestigious Ulster Cup series. Entries for the Smith Hire Services supported event were down on recent meetings, drivers perhaps having to watch their wallet at this late stage in the season.

Nevertheless, the weather conditions could not have been better, with plenty of sunshine and not a threat of rain throughout the day. The heats ran through almost entirely without incident, and it was the Cadets who took to the track for the first final of the day.

Adam Stirling was on dominant form in the two Cadet heats, taking two convincing wins to line up on pole for the final. Stirling was helped on his way in the final, when, after he had successfully negotiated the first corner, his two closest rivals and the main championship protagonists collided and ended up in the gravel. As championship leader Kyle Price and second placed man Michael Gordon rejoined the circuit, Stirling was already well clear, with only Megan McCrea able to keep on the same straight as the leader. Price overtook McCrea on his run through the field to an eventual second place, whilst Gordon recovered to take fifth place. Only nineteen points now separate Price and Gordon going into the last round, Price holding the narrow advantage.

After sporting twenty-five entries at the Grand Prix, the Pro-Kart class only managed a vastly reduced field of seven karts, the smallest entry for many years. The heats were still dramatic; especially heat one in which championship contenders Robbie Robinson and Sean Doherty collided at the exit of the Horseshoe. Doherty spun onto the infield and lost a lot of time, and Robinson was judged to have forced his rival of the track, subsequently being docked three places in the results. The final was all about the dominant performance from Derek Wilson who took the win by just under three seconds from runner up Doherty. Robinson rounded out the top three to clinch the title with a round to spare.

Only two JICAs turned out to compete. Rikki Gordon was already well clear when his only other competitor, Craig Stirling, received the technical flag for a trailing rear bumper. A maximum points score means Gordon has wrapped up the title with a round to spare. Junior Max championship leader and Grand Prix winner Stephen Bradley had a disappointing day by his standards, taking a distant fifth place in the final. The final had got off to a controversial start as the Junior Rotax drivers started the race tight to the back of the two JICAs. Varying speeds through the first corner saw Junior Max polesitter William Herron shoot up the escape road, the lead being taken by defending Northern Ireland champion Samantha Thom. Despite Josh Gault getting close around half distance, Thom held the lead to the end of the race to collect fifty points for the win. Herron scythed his way back through the field to take third place, overtaking Bradley at the top of the points standings when dropped scores are taken into consideration.

The World Formulas enjoyed some of their closest racing for quite some time. A three way fight for the lead between Jeffrey Scott, Michael Cox and John Clarke was eventually broken up when the latter two collided at the top of the circuit. Scott was left to take a clear win, a win which sees him lift the championship title as well.

Carl Stirling repeated his younger brother Adam’s feat by wining the two Minimax heats fairly easily. The final demonstrated just how competitive the class has become, as five karts ran in close succession for the opening part of the race. Chris Smiley took the lead early on, leaving Stirling to fend off Stefan Lyttle who in turn had Adrian Sweeney and Callum McQuitty snapping at his heels. A mistake at the exit of the Horseshoe caused McQuitty to drop back, and then after half distance the two leaders began to pull away. Stirling began to catch Smiley and appeared to have a good chance of snatching the lead on the last lap, but steady driving from Smiley allowed him to hold on to take the win by just two tenths of a second. Sweeney, finishing fourth behind Smiley, Stirling and Lyttle, set the fastest lap of the race. The times of the four quickest drivers were covered by just four hundredths of a second. Smiley now only needs to finish one race to secure the title at the last round in October.

Jason Taylor got his day off to a good start, taking the win in the first Rotax 177 heat. Ciaron McKee won the second, and indeed it was McKee who went on to take a dominant win in the final. With a winning margin of over four and a half seconds, the fifty points gained moves McKee right into the title chase going into the last round. With dropped scores considered, Taylor leads Michael Leonard by three points, with McKee only three points further behind in third overall.

Championship rivals Ryan Magennis and Stephen Rutherdale took one win apiece in the TKM Extreme heats. Magennis lined up on pole position and used his now customary slow pace on the run in to the lights. Four attempts were required to get the race underway with the field being too spread out each time, but when it did get underway Magennis’ plan backfired as both Derek Wilson and Rutherdale surged past at the exit of the first turn. Wilson led the opening two laps, but Rutherdale squeezed through at Paddock Bend at the start of lap three. Magennis followed suit, before taking the lead from Rutherdale on the same lap. Rutherdale found his way back in front a lap later, but then it was Robbie Robinson, from the back of the grid, who took over the lead on lap six. Rutherdale briefly took it back, but Robinson reasserted himself at the front. Magennis overtook Rutherdale and then Robinson just after half distance. Rutherdale dropped off the pace and it was left to Magennis and Robinson to battle it out at the front. With three laps to go Robinson found a way back in front, only for Magennis to retake the lead as they went onto the last lap. Magennis’ defensive line around the last lap meant Robinson could not get past, and so he took a vital win which sees the championship go down to the wire at the last race in October. Rutherdale regained the time lost to come in third, four tenths of a second behind Robinson, whilst Wilson suffered a collision with a back marker on the ninth lap, and was forced to retire with a bent axle.

The first Rotax Max heat was eventually won by Keith Biggerstaff, after early leader Kyle Adair suffered a broken chain at half distance and was forced to retire from the race. Philip Harkness made sensational progress through the field, from nineteenth on the gird, passing eight karts on lap one and working his way up to second by the finish. Harkness took the win in heat two after a race long battle with Aaron McMaster. At the start of the final Harkness got away cleanly, pulling out a considerable advantage over the first lap. Raymond Lusty began to catch the race leader, but after a few laps running within half a second of Harkness, his pace dropped of and Harkness simply drove away into the distance. Four and a half seconds was the winning margin, Lusty taking second after holding off a last lap charge from the flying Chris Irwin. McMaster took the fourth position, ahead of Wayne Boyd, in his first ever race in the class, in fifth. The win gives Harkness another Ulster Cup title ahead of the last event in October.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

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