Other 2005 Karting Reports
Ulster
Championships 2005 - 29/03/05
This year’s Ulster Championships karting event at Nutts
Corner was perhaps one of the best ever. The new one day format, which was a by
product of the noise reduction measures did not deter a large entry of drivers
who put on a great show for the spectators. A fine balance of full on pace and
consistency was of the essence as the overall scores would be determined by the
results of the three races, all of which would be counted. The changeable
conditions throughout the day produced some fantastic individual drives, the
winners in all classes thoroughly deserving their laurels after a hard fought
days racing.
The two
Stirling
brothers, Carl and Adam, began the day by showing clearly their intentions in
the first heat for Cadets. Carl used the drying track to his full advantage,
taking the win by a massive eighteen seconds ahead of Adam, with Adrian Sweeney
half a minute further back in third. Stefan Lyttle fought back after being
lapped in the first heat, whilst on the wrong tyres, to narrowly beat Carl to
the line by only four hundredths of a second. Once again Adam followed his
brother home by taking third with Michael Gordon and Kyle Price not far behind.
Carl finished off a great day with victory in the last race to take the overall
Ulster Championship title. Adam was unable to make it a
Stirling
one-two as Lyttle took second in the last race and the same position overall,
pushing Adam back to third.
Some of the closest racing of the day was seen in the TKM
Extreme class which has made a strong comeback in 2005. Ryan Magennis took the
win in the first race and followed it up with second in the next. Having
finished a lap down in the first race on the wrong tyres, Stephen Rutherdale
made the right choice in the second race and stormed through the field from well
down to take the win. William Smith made a return to racing after a few
months’ layoff and provided some extra competition to spice up the action,
taking a second and a fourth to leave himself well placed for the last race.
Surprise of the meeting was Clifford Wylie who pushed Magennis hard in the
second heat and went into the last race with a good shot at the title. In the
deciding race, however, Magennis kept a level head to take the win and with it
the championship title. Rutherdale pushed hard but had to settle for second
behind Magennis. Wylie broke down in the last race handing third overall to
Smith. However, Rutherdale was subsequently excluded promoting Smith further to
second overall.
World Formula also produced a close fight, despite justified
claims that the TKMs interrupted their races when lapping them. The seven World
Formulas should have been able to have their own separate race, but time
constraints warrant made that impossible. With more similar lap times, the
organiser will hopefully consider running the TKMs along with Rotax 177 in
future to avoid such conflict reoccurring. Derek Wilson took two wins out of the
first two races and looked well set for the title, with Nigel Stewart his
nearest challenger, twelve points behind.
Wilson
was held up by the TKMs and would finish the last race in third but it was
enough to secure the overall victory. Stewart took another second but ended up
tied on points with the winner of the last race, Sean Doherty. The tie breaker
of the fastest lap set during the day decided the runner up spot in the favour
of Doherty.
Despite being low on numbers, with only six turning out on
Easter Tuesday, Rotax 177 have always provided some close racing. Heat one
proved to be an exception to this rule as Michael Leonard took an easy win by
over seven seconds from Ciaron McKee, who was in turn eighteen seconds ahead of
Stephen Adams. Hardly captivating action. Thankfully heat two was much more
exciting as
Adams
and McKee fought hard for the duration of the race with the latter only three
hundredths ahead as the flag fell. Leonard took third but now trailed McKee by
two points going into the deciding race. McKee stormed to a six second win in
the last race after
Adams
was excluded, ensuring he took the title ahead of Leonard who battled hard with
Gary Quinn in the last race and eventually finished second.
Garry Armstrong continued his fine form of late in the
Pro-Kart class by taking an easy win in the first heat by over eight seconds.
Sean Doherty, competing in both Pro-Karts as well as World Formula, came home in
a clear second in that first race, ahead of Tim Kerr and Wesley Dempsey.
Armstrong continued his run of form with another win in the second race, this
time ahead of Tommy Fegan and Mark Dunlop. Race three saw an Armstrong once
again take the win although this time is was not Garry but instead William
Armstrong took the top spot. The points leader fought throughout the race with
Tommy Fegan and eventually took second, which was more than enough to secure the
overall title. William’s win in the last race promoted him into second
overall, just pipping Doherty who had to settle for third.
Minimax provided some close racing, but as is so often the
case Rikki Gordon’s name featured at the top of the timesheets throughout the
day. In heat one Gordon had it all his own way, taking a comfortable win from
the battling pair of William Herron and Christopher Smiley. The second, however,
saw a great drive from Wayne Boyd, who took the win and fastest lap along the
way. Gordon was still at the top, although this time in second place, with
Herron again scoring well in third. Craig Stirling added to his fourth from heat
one with a similar result in heat two, after a close fight with Smiley. The
third and final race was one of the closest of the day. Steven Bradley chased
Gordon hard for the whole race but was never quite able to get past. On the last
lap, going through the horseshoe loop, the pair collided with Bradley sent
airborne into the tyres. Gordon continued to win, whilst Bradley rejoined to
finish a painful fifth. Gordon took the overall title, whilst Wayne Boyd took
second in the last race and narrowly edged out the consistent Herron to take
second overall.
Richard McAlorum made a sensational comeback after five months
away from the sport to take the win in the first Junior Max race by over ten
seconds. Josh Gault worked his way up from the back, using his slicks on a
drying track, to take second place after Johnny Clyde was disqualified from the
position. Raymond Lusty, having retired from the first race, came back in style
to win the second race and have a slim chance of taking the title. McAlorum took
third in the second race and looked set to take the title in the last race which
would be all important. The third and final race was led for several laps by
polesitter Callum Hughes until first Nathan Coulter, driving incredibly with a
wrist still in plaster, and then Lusty worked their way past. Lusty took a lead
he was never to loose and took the win ahead of Alan Davidson. Coulter then led
home a train of eleven karts separated by only eight seconds in third, one of
which was Richard McAlorum who took eighth.
The overall title was decided by a tie breaker (driver’s fastest lap of
the day) between Lusty and McAlorum in Lusty’s favour, but controversy
surrounded the results.
Lusty, due to a lap scoring error, was classified as a
finisher in heat one, albeit two laps down, although he retired two laps before
the end and did not pass the chequered flag. If a driver did not pass the
chequered flag they did not finish the race and so should be classified as a
non-finisher and receive zero points. Lusty was classified and was therefore
awarded five points, points which would bring him equal with McAlorum’s
eventual score of 55 points. (To demonstrate the error, in that same race Marty
Lynch, who retired after only one lap was classified as a finisher and awarded
three points) Without those five points Lusty would have had to have settled for
third overall behind McAlorum and Aaron Smith. As it was, Lusty was awarded the
winners trophy, with McAlorum and Smith in second and third overall
respectively.
Rotax Max turned out to be the most closely fought class of
the day. After the four heats, which were required due to the large entry of
over thirty drivers, Trevor Hayes and Keith Biggerstaff emerged tied on points
at the top of the standings. The tie breaker was once again brought in to action
with the overall title being decided in the favour of Hayes, who set a fastest
lap only two thousandths of a second faster than that of Biggerstaff. Gary Blair
ended up third overall whilst there was another tie over fourth, Aaron McMaster
narrowly edging out Stuart Henderson.
Report: Stephen Rutherdale
Irish
Kart Grand Prix - Nutts Corner – 29-30/07/05
The
longest running single event on the
Northern Ireland
karting calendar, the Ulster Karting Club promoted Irish Kart Grand Prix, attracted the province’s top drivers to do
battle for the honours on the 29-30 July at Nutts Corner Motorsports Centre.
Unfortunately weather conditions were not the best ever experienced in the
middle of summer, even by Northern Irish standards, but at least provided a mix
of conditions to test the drivers’ ability to the max. Heavy rain on Friday
afternoon for the first set of heats gave way on Saturday morning to a dry track
but with overcast skies, whilst several finals would be made more exciting by
light showers.
Three ten
lap heats for each class decided the starting positions for the final. Contrary
to previous years, there was no pre-final in which to make up for a bad set of
heats, so drivers were forced to exercise constraint in the heats to ensure a
position on the final grid. However in the finals no such constraint was shown
as drivers went all out to win the coveted GP plate and the magnificent
silverware to go with it.
The heaviest rain on Saturday fell just
before the Ironside Trophies supported Cadet final, leaving a slippery surface
around the circuit.
Tyre
choice was critical, and the two
Stirling
brothers, Adam and Carl, who had been the fastest in the heats, made a split
decision. Carl, starting first chose wets, whereas Adam, starting fifth after
mechanical troubles in one of the heats, started the race on slick tyres in the
hope that the track would dry out. The slick tyres clearly did not give much
grip at the start of the race as Adam slid down the order whilst Carl pulled out
a huge lead on his wet tyres. However after several laps a dry line clearly
emerged around the circuit and Adam began to pick up grip and move up the order.
Before long he had reeled in Carl and passes him for the lead, which he would
hold to the finish. By the time the chequered flag fell Adam had a massive
fourteen second lead over Adrian Sweeney, who overtook Carl Stirling at the last
gasp to take second position.
The weather played a major role in the
outcome of the TKM race and the Fairprice Mobility supported race turned out to
be one of the best of the day. The action began even before the start of the
race, as polesitter Stephen Rutherdale was hit from behind on the formation lap
by James Turkington, who made a mistake on the slippery surface. Rutherdale and
Turkington spun to a halt in the middle of the circuit and were then collected
by Daniel Burgoyne and Clifford Wylie. Wylie and Rutherdale were able to rejoin
and regain their starting positions, but Turkington and Burgoyne were out of the
race before it had even begun.
At the lights, Rutherdale got the best start
to move into the lead ahead of Ryan Magennis. However after two laps Magennis
had taken the lead and Wylie had moved up to third after a fantastic start from
eighth on the grid. Suddenly the rain returned and as the two leaders slowed,
Wylie pressed on regardless to overtake both in a sensational manoeuvre at the
first corner. Rutherdale then caught Magennis napping and took second at the
chicane, but Wylie was flying and already had over two seconds of a lead. A few
laps later Magennis regained second from Rutherdale, to take up the pursuit of
Wylie. Unfortunately Wylie’s superb drive suffered a set back as he spun at
Top Gate, just as Rutherdale shot up the inside of Magennis to regain second
place. Rutherdale was forced to take avoiding action and Magennis was away in
the lead by the time he recovered. As it began to rain again Rutherdale set off
hard in pursuit of Magennis, overcoming a half spin at Paddock Bend along the
way. With five laps to go Rutherdale was taking chunks out of Magennis’ lead,
but there was not enough time left so Magennis came home the victor. Wylie
recovered the track and continued his sensational drive to take third place at
the finish.
The Glen Rankin Preparation supported
Minimax final was another sensational race, with a terrific two kart scrap
between Wayne Boyd and William Herron for the duration of the race. Boyd took
the lead at the first corner from his pole position but before long Herron, with
incredible straight line speed, had taken the lead. The two pulled out a
significant advantage over the battling karts of Chris Smiley and Craig Stirling
in third and fourth, but could not be separated as they passed back and forth
for lap after lap. After half distance the scrap became even more intense,
allowing Smiley and
Stirling
to close the gap drastically, with Steven Bradley in fifth also getting close
to the leading twosome. It then settled down again as Boyd sat behind Herron for
a while, allowing the gap to built up again over the following karts. With only
one lap to go Boyd made his move and then defended around the last lap, but
Herron knew he would have the advantage on the run-in to the chequered flag with
his superior speed down the straights. Sure enough he drew right up to the back
of Boyd’s kart and then pulled out to pass for the win. Boyd sensed the
pressure and drifted across the track to block Herron, but as the latter drew
alongside he moved suddenly and dangerously, causing Herron to clip the tyres
protecting the starter and narrowly missing the starter himself. Boyd crossed
the line just in front of the spinning kart of Herron, but the results are far
from finalised as the incident will have to be investigated further. Smiley
crossed the line just ahead of
Stirling
in fourth, in turn only a second ahead of Bradley in fifth.
Robbie Robinson returned to the highly
competitive Pro-Kart class after a switch to Rotax Max racing at the end of last
season. The karts may be slower but they are much more equally matched, which
makes his achievement of three wins out of three in the heats all the more
sensational, especially considering each driver had a front, middle and back
starting positions for the heats. In the JM Hughes & Co. solicitors supported final he took the lead from the start and by half distance had a
slender lead over the rest of the other twenty-two karts. Tim Kerr and Tommy
Fegan were locked in a battle for second, and as the battle relented slightly
they began to reel in the leader, lapping around two tenths of a second faster
than him each lap. Going onto the last lap there was nothing in it as the three
karts were right together, covered by less than half a second as they battled to
lift the prestigious GP title. In the end Robinson crossed the line with only
five hundredths of an second over Kerr as he made it four wins out of four to
cap a fantastic weekend. Fegan took third, only one tenth further, with Mark
Dunlop three seconds behind the winner in fourth.
The Kart Graphics supported Rotax 177
final saw polesitter Ciaron McKee take the lead at the start and then pull out a
considerable gap over the chasing pack. McKee appeared to be well on the way to
his first major title win when it all came to an end only six laps from home.
Nine laps in the lead and the fastest lap all came to naught as Jason Taylor
came through to take over the lead which he would hold to the finish. So
Taylor
took another win by less than a second from Gary Quinn who took the runner up
spot. Martin Elliot on his first drive at the circuit in many years put in a
sensational drive to take the final step of the podium after a race long battle
with Stephen Adams who eventually took fourth.
Raymond Lusty and James Laverty made lined
front row for the Coulter Homes supported
Junior Max final. At the start Lusty moved into the lead from his pole
position and proceeded to pull out about a second of a lead over the first two
laps. Ryan Donnelly, however, was the driver on form and having moved past
Laverty at the start he began to reel in Lusty hand over fist. After five laps
Donnelly had moved into the lead and not long after was followed through by Josh
Gault, up from the fourth row of the grid into second place. Gault moved ahead
of Donnelly into the lead, and Lusty followed him past Donnelly to take up
second. Lusty then momentarily repassed Gault at the first corner, only to carry
too much speed and run wide into the gravel trap with a little help from
Gault’s front bumper. Donnelly took advantage to retake the lead as Lusty and
Gault slid down the order. The field suddenly began to close up and at half
distance there were ten karts running nose to tail at the front of the field.
Donnelly drove fantastically to keep a level head at the front of the field
despite the intense pressure he was under. Gault moved back up the order to
second and going into the last lap he was right on the back bumper of
Donnelly’s kart. Donnelly placed his kart in all the right places, aided by a
yellow flag at the top of the circuit, and was able to hold off Gault to take
his first major title by only one hundredth of a second. Laverty took his best
result so far in third, just ahead of Jonathan Price who drove a superb race to
take fourth. At the flag the top ten karts were covered by only three seconds,
with Alan Davidson at the back of the train setting the fastest lap on his way
to tenth position.
The Terrapin Race Awnings
World Formula final once again turned out to be a race long scrap for the
win between Derek Wilson and Nigel
Stewart. The two put on a great race for the crowd as they traded positions, but
at the flag it was Stewart who narrowly edged out his teammate to take the
prestigious title.
Wilson
finished just six tenths behind in second before a big gap of nine seconds back
to Michael Cox in third. Cox enjoyed a race long battle for the position with
Liam Curran who eventually finished only three tenths behind in fourth.
As usual the Rotax Max race was the most
eagerly anticipated race of the day. It began with a long train of karts
fighting over the top places, led by poslesitter Neville Bell. Gary Blair took
over the lead of the Turkington and Son supported final not long into the race
but was unable to pull out a gap over his pursuers. Trevor Hayes was running in
third position, on the back bumper of Isaac Lyons in second, until he decided to
move up the order to challenge Blair for the lead. However Hayes fialed to
remember that the race was fifteen laps long as he took the first opportunity to
pass and effectively destroyed any chance of victory for anyone not called Gary
Blair. Hayes launched up the inside of
Lyons
at the tight hairpin entering the horseshoe loop and succeeded in running off
the track himself and holding up the karts behind. Blair immediately pulled out
a gap of two seconds which he would maintain to the finish.
Lyons
recovered to run second ahead of
Bell
in third. These positions remained the same until the last lap when
Bell
decided he would like to take second from teammate
Lyons
. At the same time Alistair Jackson, up from eleventh on the grid decided he
would like to take a position himself and so inevitably one kart was left in the
gravel. As
Bell
got out of his stricken kart
Jackson
moved ahead of
Lyons
to take second which he would hold to the flag.
Lyons
was passed by Chris Irwin on the last lap and would eventually finish in fourth
with Irwin taking the final podium position in third.
Report:
Stephen Rutherdale
NI
Championships Mid-Season Report
It
never ceases to amaze me just how fast June comes around, bringing with it the
mid-way point in most karting championships. Well, here we are once again
halfway through the NI championships.
In
the aftermath of the of the Motorsport fiasco that was apparently the 2005
American GP, it’s nice to be able to write that grass roots karting got one
over the highest step of the Motorsport ladder, F1. Although many problems, some
of them critical for the future of karting in Northern Ireland where encountered
at the beginning of the new year, adequate solutions were found to allow the Ni
championships to get underway.
Circuit problems were the talk of the
paddock at the beginning of the season. Towards the end of last season it became
apparent that the future of Nutts Corner as a motorsport venue was under threat,
as the local council owned circuit went up for tender. The saga went on for a
seemingly endless period of time and has only recently begun to see light at the
end of the tunnel as far as kart racing at the venue is concerned. With
restrictions already imposed upon racing at Nutts Corner, the news then came
through that the Aghadowey circuit was out of action due to problems with the
track surface. The opening round of the championship was scheduled to be held on
the Co. Londonderry circuit which has only held one karting event in the last
decade, but with it once again out of action for the time being the venue was
quickly altered.
And so, after all the pre-season drama
behind the scenes, the curtain lifted on the 2005 NI Karting championships at
Nutts Corner Motorsports Centre, rather than at the high speed Aghadowey circuit
for the above reasons. Nutts Corner, with its mix of fast, medium and slow bends
is much liked by all the drivers, which is easily seen by the size of the entry
in comparison to the other circuits. Being situated as it is almost in the
centre of
Northern Ireland
, on the east coast of Lough Neagh, the circuit is easily accessible for all,
but the layout also contributes to the larger grids that are seen at its events.
Wide enough for three karts to battle side by side, the track takes in a large
variety of challenging corners which test driver and machinery to the max whilst
still providing fantastic racing for the spectators.
Another reason for the boosted entry was
perhaps the fact that it was also a round of the Ulster Karting Club’s Ulster
Cup series, but let’s not forget that the size of the entry does not always
guarantee close racing. Well the bottom line to all the rubbish you’ve just
read is that there was a big entry and the racing was close and spectacular,
nothing less.
The first final of the new season saw
defending champion Kyle Price, donning the #1 plate, in the thick of a close
battle between four drivers for the win. The fastest laps of the four drivers
were all within a tenth of the best lap, which was to be set by Price. However
Price was unable to get close enough to challenge for the victory which went to
Carl Stirling after narrowly holding off Stefan Lyttle who took the runner-up
spot. Price settled for third ahead of Michael Gordon, whose brother Rikki was
doing much of the winning in the next step up the N. Ireland karting ladder,
Minimax. Rikki took the win in the final, although only after previously
dominant driver Wayne Boyd became involved in the battle for second and wound up
coming home in fourth. Nevertheless, Gordon left the opening round with a narrow
eight point lead over Boyd, with Chris Smiley only twelve points further back in
third.
The remaining junior class, Junior Max was
just as unpredictable, with the first heat narrowly won by Samantha Thom and the
second dominated by Richard McAlorum who had not really featured in race one.
There was another incredible turn in the final, as rain fell just before start
of the race, making conditions tricky. As many of the leaders fell by the
wayside, Josh Gault flew through the field to take the win by half a second from
Raymond Lusty. Gault, having had consistent heats took a narrow lead in the
championship, just seven points ahead of Johnny Clyde in second.
TKM Extreme continued its resurgence by
featuring what has been missing for so long – a bit of controversy. James
Turkington won his first ever race and in the process angered rival Clifford
Wylie which almost resulted in fisticuffs in parc fermé. However with TKM being
a ‘friendly’ class where most of the drivers are there for enjoyment and a
bit of ‘craic’, unlike so many of the other money-dominated classes,
differences were quickly forgotten and normality resumed. Normality meant two
dominant victories for Ryan Magennis, including the final win which gave him a
significant lead in the championship. Rotax Max saw close racing, with six karts
crossing the line covered by a single second in the second heat. However Gary
Turkington dominated the final with a lights to flag victory over Neville Bell,
who finished just over a second ahead of team mate Isaac Lyons in third.
Turkington took the lead in the championship with ninety points to the
sixty-nine of his nearest rivals Isaac Lyons and Keith Biggerstaff.
Two classes where the drivers are rightfully
there for the enjoyment, without crazy Formula 1 ambitions (due to old age in
most cases…), produced some of the best racing at the opening round.
Unfortunately there never do seem to be many spectators to watch the World
Formula and Pro-Kart races, but it was their loss as they missed the eleven long
train of Pro-Karts separated by only two second for example. The Pro-Kart final
saw a relatively comfortable win for Sean Doherty, with Garry Armstrong and Mark
Dunlop taking second and third ahead of the close battles further back. Just to
contradict the content of this paragraph, Nigel Stewart took a dominant win in
World Formula, but to give me some evidence of close racing Michael Cox narrowly
beat Tommy Fegan by less than a tenth of a second to take the runner up spot.
A month later the championship moved on to
Kirkistown race circuit for round two. The twisting circuit which cuts across
the main circuit, around the back of the newly built, two-storey, clubhouse
always produces close racing. The trick to getting the circuit right is to use
just the right amount of the kerb, which in most cases is when your inside wheel
just scrapes the kart-breaking tyres which are there to prevent drivers cutting
too much of the corner. It’s a fine art which requires precision driving to
get round the circuit in the fastest possible time.
Cadets were significantly down on numbers
from the first round with the fourteen strong field being reduced to just four
drivers. The reason for that is quite a mystery, as the twisting circuit poses
quite a challenge to the little karts and their operators. Anyway, Kyle Price
took maximum points over the days racing, but was pushed hard all the way by
Megan McCrea, who eventually took two second positions. With most of his main
rivals absent, Price was free to take the lead of the championship. Minimax
almost saw a repeat of the Cadet class, with William Herron just missing out on
a maximum points score by taking second in one of the heats to go along with his
other two wins. Wayne Boyd took second in the final to remain in second overall
with Herron moving into the points lead.
Marty Lynch was on form in Junior Max,
taking two wins including the all important final, which saw him move up into
the lead of the championship. Samantha Thom took second in the final and so
moved up to second overall, not far behind the Lynch, with more consistent
scoring allowing Richard McAlorum to remain in third overall. Stephen Rutherdale
narrowly managed to hold of Robbie Stevens to take the TKM win, the two crossing
the finish line bumper to bumper, with Scott Taggart coming through the field to
take third. Rutherdale failed to finish one of the heats but moved into the lead
of the championship after winning the final. James Turkington took third in the
final and moved up to second overall, only seven points behind Rutherdale.
Insufficient numbers prevented World Formula
from taking to the track, but Pro-Kart upheld four-stroke honour by producing
another cracking race. Championship leader Sean Doherty followed up his round
one win by winning the final to extend his championship lead further to fifteen
points over William Armstrong. Armstrong showed incredible consistency over the
first two rounds, taking seventy-seven points in each, and he would continue the
consistency by taking seventy-three in the third round at Bishopscourt. Another
class to suffer reduced numbers was the Rotax Max class, with only eleven
drivers turning up compared to the twenty-four of round one. Nevertheless, Gary
Turkington extended his championship lead with second place in the final and two
third places in the heats. Philip Clements took the win in the final quite
comfortably, but did not make much impact in the championship having missed
round one, although when scores are dropped later in the season he could well
come into play.
The first weekend in June saw the
championship roll onto round three at the ex-airfield circuit at Bishopscourt,
near Downpatrick. Drivers have mixed feelings towards the circuit – many,
including myself, enjoy the fast straights and high-speed curves as a change
from normal racing at the other more twisting circuits. Some, on the other hand,
dislike the rough track surface and see the ludicrously long front straight as
an engine breaker and so it is usual to see a somewhat diminished field on the
few occasions the venue is used as a karting circuit.
The long straights inevitably produce nose
to tail slipstreaming battles as the drivers fight to get to the front. It used
to be the case that races were decided on the last lap between the top corner
and the chequered flag, but the recent insertion of a chicane, albeit flat out,
prevents such manoeuvres. Drivers have been forced to change their race tactics
as position is most easily taken on the front straight just after the
start/finish line.
However tactics never came into play in
Cadets as Kyle Price dominated all three races to extent his lead further in the
championship. Junior Max produced close battles throughout the day, with often
three or four karts fighting for the lead. Championship leader Marty Lynch got
caught up in many incidents, including the first corner of the first heat when
he wiped out much of the field with an over-optimistic manoeuvre up the inside
of the track. Lynch managed fifth in the final, and so lost the points lead to
Samantha Thom who took third in the same race. The win went to Richard McAlorum
after overtaking Raymond Lusty on the last lap of a hard fought race long
battle.
Minimax points leader William Herron took
another final win after shoving Steven Bradley of the race track to take the
lead of the race. Bradley wound up second after rejoining down in fifth, and
once again there was a case of a driver getting away with removing his
opposition from the race, despite being in the line of sight of no less than
three marshals. In the first TKM heat, incidentally at the very same corner,
race leader Stephen Rutherdale was blatantly removed from the race and received
a big fat zero points score for the race. The offending driver then received
illegal outside assistance to rejoin the race and finish third, in the process
gaining enough points to move ahead of Rutherdale into the lead of the
championship. However Rutherdale managed to regain the points lead later in the
day by taking the win in the final after narrowly holding off Clifford Wylie who
battled to find a way past for the
duration of the race. Going into the last chicane the two were side by side, and
with the chicane not wide enough for two karts Rutherdale was forced to take to
the grass, rejoining the circuit to take the win by only three hundredths of a
second from Wylie in second.
A reduced field of Rotax drivers turned out,
but that did not prevent a great race developing for the race win between three
drivers. Trevor Hayes eventually took the race win after passing Isaac Lyons on
the last lap, with Aaron McMaster crossing the line right behind in third.
Championship leader Gary Turkington took fourth place but saw his championship
lead reduced to just fourteen points over
Lyons
. Only three karts turned up to take part in the World Formula class, which
raced along with the TKMs. Nigel Stewart won both heats from Derek Wilson, who
ensured that the positions were reversed in the final after a race long battle
between the two, who are now only separated by five points at the top of the
points table. The Pro-Kart class turned out to be the biggest of the day with
eighteen drivers taking part. Garry Armstrong won the final ahead of Tommy Fegan
with Sean Doherty taking third. Doherty maintained his championship lead, with
more consistent scoring from William Arstrong keeping him in second overall.
For the first time in 2005 the gearbox karts
appeared on the same day as the direct drive classes, but it was not their first
round of the championship. Round one had been held as a support race to cars on
the long circuit at Kirkistown at the end of April, with the 125 and 250 classes
taking part. Andy Hamilton took the wins in both races of the slightly different
format, each race giving equal points towards the NI championship. Noel Lindsay
took second behind
Hamilton
on both occasions, with Trison McMullan taking the third highest points haul of
the day after finishing third and fourth in the two races. Round two on the
fantastic long circuit at Bishopscourt saw James Irvine take the win in the
final ahead of Everett McDowell who came though the field from the back of the
grid. Lindsay took third in the final to maintain his lead in the championship
overall.
The 250cc karts were really able to stretch
their long legs at Kirkistown, which brought out a large field of twelve karts.
Stephen McAdam, on a break from British long circuit racing, took both wins,
ahead of Liam Fox each time. Round two saw a return to form for British champion
Matthew Campbell, who took a heat win and followed it up with the win in the
final, to move up to third overall. McAdam failed to finish the final and so
dropped to second overall behind Fox who took second in the final.
Report: Stephen Rutherdale
NI Championships Finale -
Bishopscourt - 24/09/05
Six months and six events after the first round in April,
the 2005 NI championships came to an end at Bishopscourt Motorsport complex.
Held on the high speed, flowing circuit, the titles in most classes predictably
went right down to the wire, although some where decided before the days action
got underway.
One class whose champion was already decided was Cadets.
Kyle Price defended his number one plate superbly all season and so will keep it
for another year in 2006. However this did not detract from the days racing, as
Cadets produced some of the best racing of the non-gearbox classes. Megan
McCrea, coming off the back of a superb performance at Kirkistown a week
previously was on top form. In the first heat she took the lead only to spin
back to second, allowing Adrian Sweeney to take the win. The final saw a three
way scrap between McCrea, Price, and Sweeney. McCrea and Price traded the lead
for the whole of the race, with Sweeney keeping a close watch in third. On the
last lap McCrea had the lead and managed to defend from Price right the way
round the lap to take the chequered flag and a fantastic win. Price took second,
whilst for Sweeny third was enough to take the runner up spot in the
championship.
Stephen Rutherdale had already won the TKM Extreme title
before the event by dint of second place finish at round six. Only three karts
turned up for the last event, which saw Rutherdale win the two heats after close
battles with Clifford Wylie. However an incident between the two on the
penultimate lap of the second heat caused irreparable damage to Rutherdale’s
kart, allowing Wylie to take the final unchallenged after Robbie Stevens spun on
the first lap.
Minimax has seen a fantastic or Alonso/Raikkonen battle
thorough out the season between Wayne Boyd and William Herron. Boyd had a
slender advantage before the round of just over ten points when dropped scores
where taken into consideration. Herron took both wins in the heats to set
himself up in the best possible way for the final, whilst two second places for
Boyd set the scene for what was to be a terrific scrap for the title in the
final race of the season. After seventeen heats and final, held at four
different circuits, Boyd and Herron where separated by only two points going
into the deciding race. Whoever finished ahead would lift the title. Herron led
away at the start and before long the two had pulled out a massive advantage
over the scrap for third between Steven Bradley and Jonathan McMullan. Lap after
lap the race followed a familiar pattern, as Herron would have a bit of a gap
going down the front straight, but Boyd would close the gap again along the back
section of the course. Boyd never went past Herron into the lead, leaving those
watching to wonder if he would make a move towards the end of the race, or if
indeed Herron had the edge over him. Going into the last lap Herron had a small
gap over Boyd, but once again Boyd closed up along the back of the course.
However Herron defended magnificently and allowed Boyd no room to go past, so
coming home to take the chequered flag and the championship title.
Samantha Thom has driven superbly all season in Junior Max,
and so led the series going into the last round. Defending champion Richard
McAlorum had led before round five, but problems in the heats saw him lose the
lead to Thom. McAlorum was absent from the last round, meaning that Thom’s
closest challenger was Nathan Coulter, although he was almost fifty points
behind in second. Thom was on form on the day, winning the two heats to line up
on pole for the final. At the start of the final Thom and Raymond Lusty broke
away to battle for the lead at the front of the field, while Coulter and Johnny
Clyde battled together for third. After several lead changes, Thom was in the
lead at half distance, with Lusty right in her wheel tracks. But then at the
exit of the chicane at the end of the fifth lap, Lusty’s kart suddenly ground
to a halt having thrown the chain. As Thom passed the yellow flags and then
Lusty beside his stricken kart she was unchallenged in the lead and went on to
take the win and the championship title. It is the first time the NIKA title has
been won by a female driver and a fantastic achievement by Thom. Coulter took
second and with it the same position in the overall points standings.
No World Formulas competed at the last round, so Derek
Wilson took the overall title by twenty-one points from Nigel Stewart.
Pro-Kart was one of the classes whose champion was decided
before the last round. Garry Armstrong was victorious at round six, putting the
title out of reach of his nearest rival, William Armstrong. On the day, Sean
Doherty, fourth in the standings won the first heat but it was Garry Armstrong,
taking second in both heats, who lined up on pole for the final. The early
running saw a five kart scrap between Doherty, Garry Armstrong, Vincent
McCaffery, Tim Kerr, and Tommy Fegan. At half distance the first three made a
break for it as Kerr and Fegan began to drop back. Kerr continued to drop back
and eventually finished in seventh, but Fegan found some speed and closed up
with the leaders over the last few laps. After lead changes for lap after lap,
Doherty emerged in front when it mattered, going through the last chicane to
take the win by only a karts length from McCaffery.
Only eighteen points separated the two Senior Rotax title
contenders, Gary Turkington and Isaac Lyons going into the final round. The
final assumed a similar pattern to the heats, as a four way scrap for the lead
developed after only a handful of laps.
Lyons
led, then Turkington took up the running before Mark McIvor, returning after a
long absence, took the lead at half distance. The lead changed a few times
before the end of the race, but McIvor was in front when it mattered as he took
a solid victory. Turkington took second but it was a delighted Lyons, finishing
third, who took the championship title. Turkington, who might have taken the
title if he hadn’t retired when leading comfortably at round six, sportingly
congratulated the new champion at the end of a top class, season long
championship battle.
NI Championships Review
The year 2005 began with a cloud of doubt
hanging over the future of karting in
Northern Ireland
, at least in the short term. But by the time the last round of the NI
championships at Bishopscourt in September was complete, a total of 9
rounds [including gearbox] counting towards the championships had came and
passed successfully. A total of 53 different drivers took victories in
the 10 different classes, in what was one of the most competitive series
for years.
The problems at Nutts Corner fortunately did
not cause any cancellations of races, at least as far as direct drive racers
were concerned, but sadly the first round of the NI Championships, which was due
to be held at Aghadowey in April, had to be called off. The meeting was shifted
to Nutts Corner, welcomed by the Ulster Karting Club to run with the first round
of its Ulster Cup. Wet weather in the morning did not put a damper on
proceedings, but the track was dry in time for Carl Stirling in the Cadet class
to take the first final win of the 2005 championships. Rikki Gordon, Josh Gault,
Sean Doherty, Ryan Magennis, Gary Turkington, Ciaron McKee and Nigel Stewart
also got their season off to the best possible start in their respective
classes.
At the opening round of the series it was
important to note the level of entries was much the same as in 2004. The Cadets
were out in force for this first round but thereafter the numbers dwindled, with
on two occasions later in the series only four karts competing. Compare this
with the large grids of up to thirty karts not so long ago, and it is clear to
see that the ‘feeder class’ for karting is struggling. We hope to see the
grids begin to increase again this year, something which is important for the
future of the sport.
Minimax and Junior Max were out in force, as
were Pro-Karts and Rotax Max. TKM Extreme was beginning to make a comeback,
something it has continued to do with gird of around fifteen now common-place,
compared to the three or four karts competing just a year before. World Formula
karts were also on the grid, but unfortunately the course of the year saw the
class begin to die out.
Absent altogether though from the first
round were the Gearbox karts, who were forced to wait a while longer before the
first race of their series on the long circuit at Kirkistown, in a joint event
with the cars. Andy Hamilton dominated 125s, with Stephen McAdam doing likewise
in 250s. Round two was held at the same venue and saw Ian Gilpin take both wins
in 125s, with Liam Fox and Stephen McAdam sharing the wins in 250s.
It was not until June at Bishopscourt that
the gearboxes would be reunited with the direct drive racers, under the bright
sunshine of the Downpatrick circuit. Always a favourite with the gearbox
fraternity, the circuit is not always so well appreciated by the direct drive
racers, citing the long straights as an engine breaker. So it was a pleasant
surprise to see healthy grids in most classes.
Unfortunately numbers at Kirkistown were
disappointing all year, especially for the three ‘K’ plate rounds, despite
the construction of the fantastic, state of the art, new clubhouse. Track
improvements made before the 05/06 winter series have greatly improved the
circuit for the non-gearbox racers and so should see increased numbers in the
new year, bringing it back to the standard of racing seen a few years ago.
The drivers all got one outing on the
blindingly fast Aghadowey circuit in July for round four of the series. The
event clashed with another across the water, so not many gearbox racers turned
up, but healthy grids of direct drive racers did turn out to put on some of the
best racing seen all year. The event also featured perhaps the funniest sight of
the year, and indeed for many years, of half the Rotax Max drivers pulling into
the pits early and having to go back out to complete the race. Now just whose
fault was that??! A great amount of work has been carried out on the circuit by
the organisers and some of the drivers, so it would be great to see the circuit
get more support from the drivers in the future as it is important to retain
four venues for racing in the province.
After another gearbox round at Kirkistown
and a direct drive event at Nutts Corner, the karting fraternity rolled into
Bishopscourt race circuit for quite possibly the best event of the year. Not
only was it the last round of the NI championships, with most classes set to go
right down to the wire before the champions would be decided, but the organisers
pulled out all the stops to attract many British gearbox racers from across the
water to compete in the first ever Irish Kart GP to be help at the track. Free
drink, a large prize fund and a fantastic circuit all did the trick with smooth
organisation making sure the day was a complete success. Andy Hamilton and Liam
Fox took the wins in the respective 125 and 250 classes, both drivers also
taking the NIKA titles as well. The direct drive racers put on a superb display
to back up the action, with Minimax and Rotax Max in particular putting on
superb nail biting finishes that saw William Herron and Isaac Lyons respectively
being declared champion.
Congratulations also to the other drivers on
their superb achievement of lifting the NIKA title in each class:
·
Kyle Price (Cadet)
·
Samantha Thom (Junior Max)
·
Garry Armstrong (Pro-Kart)
·
Stephen Rutherdale (TKM)
·
Gary Ross (Rotax 177)
·
Derek Wilson (World Formula)
