DAY 1 – Homes & Miles at Kirkistown day one…
Just ten British Sprint competitors made the long trip to Northern Ireland for the 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland’s traditional summer Kirkistown sprint weekend. As usual they were joined by a number of local ‘hot shoes’ keen to show the visitors that there were fast sprinters in these parts. They weren’t wrong.
Using the one and a half mile ‘traditional long circuit’, qualifying for the first Run Off saw Terry Holmes (Lola Tegra) comfortably ahead of the two Mygale Ecoboosts of Pete Goulding and Championship leader, Graham Blackwell with reigning Champion, Steve Miles (Van Diemen RF96) next up.
The first Run Off was remarkable in that the first four maintained their qualifying positions with very similar times and gaps. John Loudon was the fastest 1100cc runner in fifth while Simon Baingbridge lost a lot of time to finish ninth and Simon Wallis posted a ‘fail’ due to a broken CV joint.
Qualifying for Run Off Two saw Goulding fractionally ahead of Miles with Blackwell, Porrett (Lola Tegra) and Bainbridge behind. Holmes was back in ninth after a lower shock absorber mounting bolt snapped. The Lola Tegra was out for the afternoon but enough parts were sourced to effect a repair for the following day.
The up and down day continued into Run Off Two when Miles (managing overheating issues) just outpaced Bainbridge by a couple of tenths to get his title defence back on track and a little closer to Blackwell who came home third. Loudon was fourth having sorted out some wheel bearing issues with the help of another competitor.
Goulding and Loudon both took an extra point for setting new class records.
And what of the locals? Rob Dwane in a 1.3t OMS 25 took FTD, with a 107.04 over three seconds ahead of Holmes while Tim Woodside (Pilbeam MP82) was only just pipped for third FTD by Goulding. Ryan McGimpsey also set some very competitive times in his enthusiastically driven 1.3 Jedi.
Results:
Kirkistown August 6, 2022
500 MRCI
SBD Motorsport UK British Sprint Championship Rounds 15 & 16
Run Off One (Round 15)
1. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 110.29s
2. Peter Goulding (1.6t Mygale FF 200) 112.20s
3. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 113.56s
4. Stephen Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm) 114.63s
5. John Loudon (1.1 Force TA) 116.54s
6. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra T90) 117.95s
7. Grahame Harden (1.3 Radical PR6) 120.75s
8. Mark Anson (1.1 Jedi Mk6) 132.28s
9. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono) 164.32s
10. Simon Wallis (1.1 OMS 3000M) fail
Run Off Two (Round 16)
1. Stephen Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm) 113.03s
2. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono) 113.22s
3. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 114.27s
4. John Loudon (1.1 Force TA) 117.05s
5. Peter Goulding (1.6t Mygale FF 200) 117.63s
6. Grahame Harden (1.3 Radical PR6) 119.35s
7. Mark Anson (1.1 Jedi Mk6) 123.40s
DAY 2 – Holmes bags a pair in N.Ireland…
Event 10 at Kirkistown on 07/08/2022
For Day Two of the 500 MRCI organised sprint at Kirkistown, all ten British Sprint competitors who had made the trip were present for morning qualification after overnight repairs had been made to the Holmes/Porrett Lola and the Wallis OMS.
Pete Goulding (Mygale Ecoboost) led the qualifiers from championship contenders, Steve Miles (Van Diemen RF96) and Graham Blackwell (Mygale Ecoboost) with Terry Holmes (Lola Tegra) back in seventh checking out his rebuilt suspension. It was clearly running fine as Holmes stormed to a first Run Off win ahead of Goulding, Miles and John Loudon (Force TA) the leading 1100cc runner. Blackwell was sixth after overshooting the chicane and bending a pushrod which was repaired for the following runs. Simon Bainbridge (SBR Crono) had his engine cover blow off and was red flagged.
Qualifying for the seond Run Off saw Goulding ahead of Blackwell with Simon Bainbridge (SBR Crono) finding time to take third.
The final Run Off of the week-end saw Holmes take a comfortable win ahead of Goulding, Bainbridge, Miles and Blackwell. The battle between Blackwell and Miles at the top of the leaderboard intensified with Miles leaving Kirkistown just four points adrift with six round left.
There were fewer quick locals present than on the day before but, nonetheless, Rob Dwane (1.3t OMS 25) took a stunning FTD with a 104.30s run.
Results:
Kirkistown August 7, 2022
500 MRCI
SBD Motorsport UK British Sprint Championship Rounds 17 & 18
Run Off One (Round 17)
1. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 109.34s
2. Peter Goulding (1.6t Mygale FF 200) 111.08s
3. Stephen Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm) 112.70s
4. John Loudon (1.1 Force TA) 115.82s
5. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra T90) 117.33s
6. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 117.86s
7. Grahame Harden (1.3 Radical PR6) 118.43s
8. Mark Anson (1.1 Jedi Mk6) 121.86s
9. Simon Wallis (1.1 OMS 3000M) 124.08s
10. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono) FAIL
Run Off One (Round 18)
1. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 110.15s
2. Peter Goulding (1.6t Mygale FF 200) 111.92s
3. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono) 112.28s
4. Stephen Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm) 113.68s
5. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 113.94s
6. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra T90) 115.66s
7. John Loudon (1.1 Force TA) 116.44s
8. Grahame Harden (1.3 Radical PR6) 118.98s
9. Simon Wallis (1.1 OMS 3000M) 122.35s
10. Mark Anson (1.1 Jedi Mk6) 123.34s
British Sprint Championship positions after round 18:
1. Graham Blackwell (1.6t Mygale Ecoboost) 383 points
2. Stephen Miles (2.0 Van Diemen RF96mm) 379 points
3. Terry Holmes (3.5 Lola Tegra Judd) 350 points
4. Peter Goulding (1.6t Mygale FF 200) 328 points
5. John Loudon (1.1 Force TA) 319 points
6. Simon Bainbridge (4.2t SBR Crono) 302 points
7. Grahame Harden (1.3 Radical PR6) 269 points
8. Graham Porrett (3.5 Lola Tegra T90) 264 points
9. Mark Anson (1.1 Jedi Mk6) 259 points
10. Steve Broughton (2.0 Dallara F399) 257 points
11. Matthew Hillam (2.0 Dallara F399) 241 points
12. Simon Wallis (1.1 OMS 3000M) 231 points
Words: http://www.britishsprint.org/
Photos: Graham Baalham-Curry
