Round 5 of the ANICC Millers Oils Hillclimb Championship took place on Saturday 25th May 2019. The event had 64 starters and was to be a very cloudy day with rain threatening to strike at any time, but it held off for it to be a mainly dry day.
This was an important round for the championship, being a bonus points scoring round, which could shake things up regard’s championship places. The Omagh Motor Club ran a fantastic event, keeping things moving and getting in an extra timed run.
Gerard O’Connell’s first timed run was to be the fastest of the group, breaking the previous Hill record, with Graham Thompson 2nd, Ricky McGimpsey 3rd, Alan Cassells in 4th.
As the Temperatures dropped for run 2, Gerard’s first run was going to be hard to beat. Graham Thompson the only other man to break the 40 second mark, Ricky McGimpsey also went faster.
The 3rd run was to have a incident , Gerard reporting a stuck throttle causing him to go off the road, Graham Thomson did not take part the rest of the day either, Alan Cassells and Ricky McGimpsey again both went faster this run but this wasn’t going to be enough to catch O’Connell or Thompsons 39 second runs.
Ivan McCullough was just behind them in his powerful 4wd Nissan GTR and completing the top 5.
In the Modified Saloon Championship battle, Ivan McCullough took maximum points, with Oliver Cormican in 2nd and Alan Jardine in 3rd.
In the Roadgoing Saloon Battle, Paul Montgomery took maximum points in his Subaru, Andrew Robb 2nd and David Gibson in 3rd.
The Class Winners were Stephen Wishart in class 1, Andrew Robb in class 2A, Paul Magill in class 2B, Paul Montgomery In class 3, Colin McBride in class 5, Stephen Harvey in class 6A , Dermot O’Hagan in class 6B, Garry Campbell in class 9A, Gerard O’Connell In class 9B, Marc Johnston in class 10, Stephen Baxter in class 11, Ivan McCullough in class 12, George Stevenson in class 14, Graham Thompson in class 15, Gerry McGarrity in class 16A and Allan Jardine in class 16b.
The Top 10
1st Gerard O’Connell
2nd Graham Thompson
3rd Ricky McGimpsey
4th Alan Cassells
5th Ivan McCullough
6th Seamus Morris
7th Gareth Sayers
8th Anthony Cairns
9th Marty McKenna
10th Oliver Cormican
Words: ALAN CASSELLS #5 | Photos: Gary Craig Motorsport Photography
[images must not be used in any way without prior written consent of the photographer]
2019 ANICC MILLERS OILS N.I. HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR
13 April: Croft Hillclimb Holywood, Co. Down
27 April: Drumhorc Hillclimb Laurencetown near Banbridge
04 May: Craigantlet Hillclimb Craigantlet Hills above Belfast
18 May: Knockagh Hillclimb Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim
25 May: Spamount Hillclimb Castlederg , Co Tyrone
28 June & 29 June: Cairncastle Hillclimb Festival Larne, Co. Antrim
10 August: Garron Point Hillclimb Carnlough, Co. Antrim
24 August: Eagles Rock Hillclimb Magilligan, near Coleraine
