2005/06 Winter Series Reports

2005/06 UKC Winter Series Round-Up

The calendar, at least, says that winter is almost over, though the weather may not suggest the same. Whatever the case, the last Saturday in February marked the completion of the annual Ulster Karting Club Winter Series at Nutts Corner. With to the cancellation of the December round due to icy conditions, the championship was reduced to three rounds – with all scores to count- meaning that every class would go right down to the wire before their respective champions would be decided.

The cold winter put off some of the more sensible racers, who would prefer to put their feet up in front of the fire than stand, shivering to the sound of karts splashing past. s that entries levels were down significantly on previous years for rounds one and two in November and January. The Cadet entry in particular was very low for the first two races, but the entry was boosted somewhat for the February round to sixteen karts, one of the healthiest Cadet grids seen for quite some time. Kyle Price, the defending N. Ireland champion, had it very much his own way throughout the first two rounds – two wins were enough to see him clinch the title before the last round even got underway. No driver in any of the other classes managed to have the title sewn up before the February meeting, but still Price was not content with two wins and the title. The two heats were won by Michael Gordon and Adam Stirling, with Price strangely off the pace. His disappointing showings in the heats saw him start the final from sixth, but before long Price was right back on the pace and challenging for the lead. The rest of the race saw a dogfight between Price and Stirling for the win, but in the end Price emerged from the exciting encounter one tenth of a second in the lead, taking another win. Stirling ’s second place was not enough for second overall, which went to Charlie Eastwood by a single point.

Minimax saw two different winners in the first two rounds in the forms of William Herron and Derek Martin, with Martin leading the standings by a solitary point going into the decider. Christopher Smiley was consistently quick over the opening meetings which saw him take two second places to put him that one point behind Martin. Martin started the day on top form with a win, but it was Smiley who lined up on pole for the final after winning the Pre-Final. Martin started third and soon became embroiled in a battle with Carl Stirling, which all the while allowed Smiley to pull away up front. Martin was unable to find a way through to challenge his championship rival, and eventually had to settle for third position behind Stirling and Smiley, who simply pulled away lap by lap on his way to the win and the overall title.

TKM promised much excitement for the last round, after two exciting outings in November and January. At the first round Ryan Magennis, for so long the dominant force in the class, was made to work hard all the way for the win by Kris Fitzpatrick. After Fitzpatrick’s subsequent retirement from the sport, at least for the time being, Robbie Robinson stepped up to the task of taking the fight to Magennis at round two in January. He put up a great fight in the heats and in the final chased Magennis all the way before the taking the lead in an outstanding manoeuvre with only two laps to go. Robinson then continued on to take the win to add to the third place he took at round one. The stage was set for a cracking championship finale, but it proved to be an anti-climax, as first only six karts turned out and then Robinson never really got it all together on the day. Having started third in the final, Robinson made some headway into Magennis’ lead part way through the race, but the leader simply turned up the pace and pulled away to another win. Magennis took the overall title with twenty-six points to Robinson’s twenty.

Michael Cox took the overall win in the World Formula class, eighteen points ahead of Michael Maguire in second.

Junior Max was full of action and controversy throughout the series, despite the smallest entry levels seen in the class since its inception back in 2002. Raymond Lusty took the win easily in round one before making the step up to Senior Rotax Max. In round two, Josh Gault and William Herron fought for the lead tooth-and-nail until a collision saw Herron spinning off the track. Herron regained the track and finished a distant second behind Gault, but subsequently the positions were reversed. Gault made amends at round three, taking four wins throughout the day in Herron’s absence to take the overall title as well.

JICA made its return to racing north of the border in the series, but struggled for numbers early on with only three karts competing the first two rounds. Wayne Boyd joined the class for round two promptly taking the win, but it was Shane Crosbie, having taken the win at round one, who led the series going into the third and final round. Boyd dominated on the day, but another second for Crosbie saw him secure the overall championship title, two points ahead of Boyd.

Formula Libre was also making a comeback north of the border, and fared better than many expected, with seven or eight drivers putting on top class displays at each of the three rounds. Philip Harkness raced only at the first round, which he won, but thereafter it was Isaac Lyons who dominated the class, with two maximum points scores giving him the formula Libre title. Aaron Coby’s two second places from the first two rounds saw him take the runner up spot, with Harkness taking third overall.

Robbie Robinson gave himself a lot of work to do throughout the championship, competing in the Pro-Kart class as well as TKM Extreme. However it seemed to pay off as he was clearly the quickest at round one, where he took ten points, and at round two led until half distance when he fell off the track and eventually finished sixth. Tommy Fegan won the second round and held a narrow advantaged going into the deciding round. Robinson however appeared to have a few problems in the heats of the last round, and he was very much off the pace throughout the day, unable to challenge either Fegan or any of the other drivers who had only previously an outside chance and were now developing into serious threats. Incredibly, it was Lewis Walter, his first time at the track on a visit from England , who showed the other nineteen locals the way to go in heat 2 and the pre-final before going on to round off a perfect day with a win in the final. Garry Armstrong and Fegan battled right throughout the final between themselves, unable to challenge for the race win. Fegan, with Robinson nowhere in sight only needed his third place to lift the title, provided things remained as they were. However he did not give up pushing and at the line was only two hundredths behind Armstrong in second. To Fegan’s delight, it was enough to give him the title, with Armstrong displacing Robinson to take second overall, two points behind Fegan.

As usual, the Rotax Max class was easily the most fiercely contested class throughout the series. John Joe Walsh won round one, whilst Raymond Lusty, stepping up from Junior, utterly dominated proceedings at round two. Neither driver was present at the last round of the series, so it was Brian McCarte, also on ten points, who was in command going into the day’s racing. Ryan Donnelly and Robert Devenney shared the heat wins, but it was Aaron Smith who won the pre-final and took pole therefore for the final. McCarte’s challenge disappeared early on and he would finish the race down in eighteenth, which left the situation simply that whoever won the race would also become champion. The race became a very frantic affair, and with almost thirty karts on track it wasn’t long before the leaders, Aaron Smith, Ryan Donnelly and Andrew Maybin were fighting their way through the backmarkers. The backmarkers only made the race more interesting, as the lead changed between these three lap after lap, but as the chequered flag fell it was Aaron Smith who edged narrowly ahead of Donnelly to take the win by the smallest of margins, with Maybin taking third. Smith’s win saw him take the overall title by four points from Lusty, who, despite having only contested one round still took second. Gary Ross won the Rotax 177 championship from Jason Taylor in second.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

500 MRCI winter Series (Kirkistown) Mid-Championship Report

The 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland’s annual Winter Series began in the middle of November at the famous Kirkistown racing circuit on the Ards peninsula. Further improvements to the circuit, following those which were required to facilitate the new state of the art club house, attracted a large entry despite the cold but thankfully dry conditions. The second meeting in December also attracted a decent sized entry, and the slippery conditions turned qualifying into a lottery meant for exciting competition in the day’s three races.

The alterations to the circuit, which include a flat-out sweeping section along the pit straight used by the cars, have reduced lap times and have given the circuit a fantastic flow, in comparison to the previous stop-start nature of the layout. Overtaking has been increased as the long run from the tight chicane after the hairpin at the top of the circuit has allowed drivers to get close enough to make a manoeuvre at the first corner. The first corner is one of ‘those’ corners in motorsport. At the end of a long, flat out run which sees some karts reach almost eighty miles per hour, a slight tap of the brakes is required to slow the kart down. Turn in is difficult due to some slight bumps on the circuit – turn a few centimetres too late and you will end up over a metre away from the apex, which will then set you up badly for the immediately ensuing left-right chicane. The key word is commitment, to go through it quickly it is imperative that you turn in and then get immediately back on the power, allowing the back to step out slightly but hopefully controllably. Fantastic.

The Series is made up of twelve rounds, three at each meeting, the positions for which are decided by timed qualifying each day. Qualifying often means that whoever is fastest in the session takes pole and then wins all three races, but this proved not to be the case at rounds 1-3 in most classes. Cadets were unpredictable with three different winners in the form of Charlie Eastwood, Kyle Price and the ever improving Megan McCrea.

However, if there was ever an example of the downfall of qualifying in kart races it was shown by the Minimax class. Christopher Smiley was on top form and took the pole position and all three race wins, whilst William Herron took second on the grid and second in all three races. Derek Martin and Jonathan McMullan followed the trend, taking all thirds and fourths respectively. Certainly for spectators the action was very dull and predictable and it cannot have been a whole lot better for the drivers. When random ‘front and back’ positions are used for heats, the quick drivers have to work their way through the field, and whilst doing this any manner of things may happens, making races more unpredictable. As rounds 4-6 of the series were to proved there is nothing more exciting to watch than quick drivers coming though the field from the back of the grid.

TKM Extreme was quite eventful, with the drivers on the front row, Stephen Rutherdale and Kris Fitzpatrick colliding at the first corner of the first round to start off with. Fitzpatick went on to win after overhauling an exceptional drive from Connor Maginn. Rutherdale made amends in the second round, taking the win after a hard fought race. Fitzpatrick ran wide on the first lap, allowing Rutherdale to take the lead which he held until Fitzpatrick retook the lead with two laps to go. At the first corner of the last lap Rutherdale dived up the inside, took the lead and held it to the end. Rutherdale went on to take the win in round three after every other driver changed to wets and he remained on the slicks, taking the lead on lap six and holding it to the end

Philip Harkness won all three races in Rotax Max easily. Johnny Clyde in only his second outing in the class put in a solid display to take second in rounds one and two, and fifth in round three. Andrew Maybin put in a sensational performance to take two thirds and a second in his first visit to the circuit for several years. Junior Max had a terribly small entry and was almost as predictable and boring to watch as Minimax. Raymond Lusty took the first two wins quite comfortably, before causing a bit of excitant by loosing the lead on the last lap of round three to Wayne Boyd.

Pro-Karts was very much a two horse race throughout rounds 1-3 between Jason Morrow and Garry Armstrong. The two were inseparable all day and almost made up for the other classes in the entertainment stakes, passing and repassing for lap after lap. Morrow took the first win, before Armstrong turned the tables to wins both rounds two and three. Mark Dunlop proved to be best of the rest with two thirds and a sixth position.

Rounds four-six in December provided a refreshing change from the usual tedium imposed by timed qualifying, and as so often is the case in Formula One and other motorsports, the weather was the cause of all the excitement. Rain over the previous few days meant that the circuit was damp, but not so bad as to have any standing water on the morning of the event. Although temperatures were relatively warm, and despite a slight breeze, the circuit simply refused to dry on parts with new tarmac, such as the opening section of the lap. A dry line did form on most of the track, but the first few corners remained slippery to the extent that the Pro-Kart drivers felt the need to keep wet tyres on their karts for the duration of the meeting.

As there was no standing water on the circuit many drivers, including several front runner with large amounts of experience decided to try using slick tyres for the qualifying sessions and as it turned out they were to pay the price as the track was to wet and they would have to start well down the grid for the day’s three races. These drivers were then faced with the challenge of working their way through to the front of the field within the ten laps that made up each race. No driver was more spectacular to watch trying to achieve this than Raymond Lusty, who had dominated the first three rounds of the series in Junior Max. His chances of doing the same this time by were dashed after choosing slicks in qualifying which put him down to seventh on the grid or the three races. In round 4 he worked his way quickly through the field and took a comfortable win by two seconds, whilst in the round five he worked his way up to the front and was battling for the lead with Wayne Boyd with two laps to go. However the two collided and Boyd went right to the tail of the field, whilst Lusty recovered to take second behind William Herron. Third in that race, as he would also be in round 6, was Callum Hughes, who was on sensational form throughout the day. Lusty took the win in the last heat, but only after a three way scrap between himself, Boyd and Herron was resolved in his favour. The two wins extends Lusty’s championship lead to fourteen points over Boyd.

Cadets were down on numbers with only six karts participating. Megan McCrea really stamped her authority on the class by taking three comfortable victories, whilst second place for most of the day belonged to Jason Dickson. Charlie Eastwood had problems in the first two races but came back to pip Dickson to the post for second place in round six.

The best racing of the day was reserved for Pro-Karts, always known for close racing. Several drivers tried slick tyres in some of the races but the greasy surface remained to slippery throughout the day for them to be of any use, meaning that every driver used wets for the last race of the day. Tommy Fegan took pole for the three races but was unable to convert it into a win in any of the races. Mark Dunlop, Sean Doherty and Garry Armstrong took the wins in rounds four, five and six respectively, but only after positions were decided on the very last lap of each and every race. Four way scraps at the front of the field were commonplace throughout the day, showing Pro-Kart racing at its very best. Consistent points scores now see Armstrong currently holding the lead of the championship by 10 points over Mark Dunlop.

On the contrary, close battles were nowhere to be seen in Minimax, Christopher smiley again making sure nobody else had a look-in on first place, taking another two wins to add to his maximum points tally so far.

Tyre choice was critical as well in TKM Extreme qualifying, where the front two rows of the grid were made up of wet shod karts, all the rest of the eleven runners bar one using slick tyres. Stephen Rutherdale took a pole position on his first flying lap, and went on to take a comfortable win in round four, only to be disqualified for being underweight. Making the most of championship leader Fitzpatrick’s absence, Rutherdale went on to take the wins in both rounds five and six. Gerard McEntee and Robbie Stevens pushed Rutherdale hard in the last race of the day and may have found a way past, but both fell back as Stevens made a mistake and McEntee lost his chain.

In his first race in the Rotax Max class at Kirksitown, Alan Davidson put his kart on pole for the three races. However nobody was really to come close to beating Philip Harkness in the races, who took another three wins to add to the three from the November rounds. The racing was exciting and hard-fought throughout the day, with up to five karts battling for the lead in the three races. Brian McCarte took second in rounds four and five, but a crash at the first corner of round six meant he could do not higher than fifth, with Ryan Donnelly taking the runner-up spot on that occasion.

500 MRCI winter Series (Kirkistown) championship Round-Up

Either karters in Northern Ireland are thick skinned or thick headed, for seventy racers turned out to contest the final round of the Kirkistown winter series in bitterly cold conditions on 11^th Feb. The twelve round series, ran over four events throughout the winter months had been blessed with fine weather for the three prior events but it was not to continue as cold and showy conditions prevailed throughout the day. Tricky track conditions with rain in the morning made racing exciting and kept the championship contenders on tenterhooks until the titles were finally decided by the end of the day’s three races.

Throughout the series a trend had began to emerge in that the pole sitters, decided by the eight lap qualifying sessions, went on to win all three races. As a result, racing up until the February round of the series had generally been pretty dull and processional, with of course one or two dramatic exceptions, often as a result of a wet track when tyre choice was all-important.

Qualifying, which would sort out the grids for rounds ten, eleven and twelve of the championship was very wet. The track didn’t dry in time for the first set of races which were run in much the same conditions. First out onto the track were the Cadets, a class throughout the winter months has been controlled by the flying lady driver, Megan McCrea. McCrea already had seven race wins under her belt and would go on to take another three wins by the end of the day’s racing. Jason Dickson gave McCrea something to think about in the first race of the day and just came up short on taking the win, with McCrea responding to the pressure to take a further win to add to her tally. With double points on offer in each of the three races, twenty points were more than enough for McCrea to clinch the title with two races still to spare. Dickson continued his fine form for the rest of the day, taking another two second places, although no driver could do anything to overcome McCrea who took another two wins. With drivers able to drop their three worst scores out of the twelve rounds, Megan achieved the phenomenal result of a maximum points score with a total of 120. Dickson’s form on the day saw him overtake Charlie Eastwood to take the runner-up spot.

Minimax was to see a driver take maximum points haul, with Chris Smiley not dropping a point all the way through the series on his way to the title. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Smiley on the final day of the championship however, as he was forced to start every race from the back of the grid, and encountered problems at the first corner on two occasions. These simply prompted fantastic comeback drives from the young driver who came back to take the win each race. Callum McQuitty, Jonathan McMullan and Stefan Lyttle shared the best of the rest positions in the three races, each taking one second place, with McMullan taking two more solid points finishes to take second overall.

Callum Hughes went into the final day with a slender lead in the Junior MAX standings over William Herron. Herron had missed the first three rounds, but since then he had proven himself to be driver to beat, a point he confirmed with three wins on the final day of the championship which saw him overtake Hughes to take the title. Round eleven of the Junior MAX championship was one of the outstanding races of the day, with each drivers venturing onto a drying track on very soft wet tyres. Herron held the lead early on but after half distance Hughes began to reel him in and with two laps to go was right on the leader’s tail. All of sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, came Michael Shaw, whose kart was clearly hooked up on the near-dry track. At the start of the penultimate lap Shaw took second from Hughes and set off in pursuit of Herron, and by the end of the lap the two were nose to tail. They went into the first corner side by side with neither driver giving an inch. Herron held his nerve, Shaw went wide and in an attempt to make amends went in deep to the ensuing chicane, ran wide and clipped the tyres marking the inside of the corner. Shaw’s kart then spun across the circuit and delayed Hughes, allowing Herron to take the win. Second for Hughes in this race was enough for him to secure second overall behind Herron.

Third in the Junior Max standings was Raymond Lusty, who switched to Senior Rotax Max half way through the series, going onto take possibly a unique record. Three wins at the January meeting and a further win in February gave him third in the standings of the latter class. There aren’t many drivers who have started a championship in a Junior class and finished it in the Senior equivalent, still achieving top three positions in the overall standings of both classes. However the overall win in Senior Rotax went to the ever consistent Philip Harkness, who took six wins on the trot over the first two meetings. An inspired tyre choice saw Johnny Clyde take the win in round eleven after when the track dried, favouring Clyde ’s slick tyres and allowing him to take the lead from Harkness on the very last lap of the race. Clyde then profited from Lusty’s retirement from second place on the penultimate lap of round twelve to take the runner-up spot in that race, and with it second overall in the championship standings.

Three wins at the January meeting put Stephen Rutherdale firmly in the driving seat as far as the TKM Extreme title race was concerned. Going into the final three rounds in February Rutherdale had a thirty-two point advantage over his nearest rival, Robbie Stevens, but with double points on offer anything was possible. Qualifying resulted in a Rutherdale pole position, which enabled him to take the win in a very wet heat one after being briefly challenged by Robert Robinson early on. Round eleven proved to be one of the best races of the series. The two drivers on the front row of the grid, Rutherdale and Robinson, opted for slicks with a narrow dry line emerging around the circuit. James Davidson took the lead early on with his wet tyres, but Rutherdale picked up the pace to take the lead back on lap three. On the next lap Rutherdale was out however with a broken chain, handing the lead back to Davidson. Robinson then got through into the lead but could not pull away from the six kart scrap developing behind him. Eventually Robinson held on to take a slender victory with a great second place going to Davidson just ahead of Stevens. Rutherdale made amends by taking the win in the final round of the series, but only by two tenths of a second after a fantastic scrap with Robinson throughout. Robinson’s strong result at the last event boosted him to second overall with third in the standings going to Peter Napier, a great result in just his first year of racing.

After a slow start to his championship assault, Sean Doherty got firmly up to speed with three wins at the January meeting which put him in the lead of the Pro-Kart standings going into the last three rounds. A grand total of nineteen karts turned out to contest the three rounds at the February meeting, easily the biggest turnout of any class throughout the series. Mark Dunlop won a very closely contested round ten, which saw battles raging right throughout the field. Round eleven was just as fiercely fought, but this time Dunlop won quite comfortably from Doherty, putting him firmly in control going into the final round. Jason Morrow went on to take the win in that final round, adding to his solitary win back at round one in November. Morrow’s win boosted him up to third overall, a single point ahead of Garry Armstrong in fourth. Back at the very top of the table, however, Dunlop’s title was confirmed after he hounded Morrow over the last few laps and wound up in second, in contrast to Doherty’s fortunes as he failed to score any points. So Dunlop took the title with 100 points to Doherty’s 82.

With the first championship of 2006 already completed, there is much to look forward to for N. Ireland karters in the new year. As well as the largest ever N.I. championships with ten rounds spread over the four tracks around the province, 2006 will also see the first running of the All Ireland ‘Golden Helmet’ series. The series, which is made up of the six big events on the emerald isle, north and south of the border, will see karting in Ireland united in one very spectacular series, which kicks off at Kiltorcan, Co. Kilkenny on 9^th/10^th April.

Report: Stephen Rutherdale

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