Saturday 05 August saw the 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland host the 6th round of the SW Adair Tyres Northern Ireland Sprint Championship at Kirkistown Circuit outside Portavogie. This event was also a round of the Motorsport UK SBD Motorsport Engines British Sprint Championship. In all 76 competitors started the event including the fastest drivers from Mainland UK, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland as well. Whoever was the fastest today could safely boast of being the fastest sprint driver in the UK and Ireland.
With a wet start, a drying afternoon forecast and a superb entry everyone was interested to see who the fastest person around the track would be. Galway man Rob Dwane proved to be the man to beat in his awesomely quick OMS 25 setting an untouchable 105.19 sec run. Rob was not long home from competing in a European Championship Hillclimb in a Speedcar in which he was a guest driver. Rob’s pace in Spain was unreal and he finished up third overall on a hill he had never seen before in a car he had never seen before either!!
Sylvie Mullins from Ballyvaughan Co Clare made the long run north to Kirkistown circuit in his new to him Gould GR 55B and finished second overall on a superb 107.90 run in a car which he is still getting used to and setting up. Alan Cassells from Lurgan was third in his Force HRC with a 108.50 sec run which was 3.31 secs behind Robb and 0.6 secs behind Sylvie Mullins. Tony Greenan from Hilltown pushed hard in his F3 Dallara Mercedes and despite some impressive driving he finished fourth overall and fastest Northern Ireland driver at end of the day.
Up and down the paddock there was some superb action and the usual comradery amongst competitors. There was an amazing buzz around the paddock and an almost carnival atmosphere in which the racing just seemed to be going on in the background. I personally haven’t seen an atmosphere as good as this in many an event.
Not only was the atmosphere good but the quality and number of single seaters was awesome. We had a total of 23 ranging from all singing and dancing Gould GR55B of Sylvie Mullins with its ex-formula 1 Judd engine, the ex-Sebastian Vettel World Dallara of Gerard O`Connell, Tony Greenan formula 3 Dallara F317. Tim Woodside in his Pilbeam MP82, Scott McMullan and Ethan Faulkner in Jedis and Jenny Pollock and John Whitley in Formula Fords as well – That’s a serious line up and a line up which many another championship could only dream of!!
We had one driver who will remain anonymous who went to sign on at event HQ on the morning of the event and when asked to produce his race licence, produced instead, his bus pass!! Thankfully for the quick reactions of the competitor behind him who tapped him on the shoulder and said, “I’ve got one like that, they’re great”, severe embarrassment was avoided. This little faux pass will remain a secret for ever more. Now in fairness the driver in question was not driving like a “gentleman of age”. Infact he was the complete opposite and this individual is now getting well to grips with his steed, so much so that he is beginning to scare his son who wants him to slow down lol. Whilst I wont name him, some people say that’s he’s too old to race, but we call him fast!!
Again, up, and down the paddock competitors were doing their usual great things. Poor Ryan Murray had a slight technical issue which sidelined him for the day, but local competitor and friend Adrian Kielt stepped in and lent him his car for the timed runs. Now sadly Ryan didn’t read the contract for borrowing your oppositions car, and he subsequently beat Adrian, in his own car by a mere 1.74 secs – how rude. Adrian was however delighted to see Ryan drive his car and reading between the lines he learnt some tips, from watching Ryan which will improve Adrian’s future times.
There were some debuts and a lot of craic in the rally car classes which are having a bit of a revival again. Jonathan Strain returned to sprinting in his 205 and dominated class 10 on his way to 29th overall. Jonathan was impressive to watch, Infact that term impressive, doesn’t do him justice, through the front chicanes. He was going so well that fellow class competitor Raymond Johnston was hunting the paddock for a parachute to secure to Jonathan’s car to slow him down a bit, and I can assure you Raymond was travelling hard.
In the bigger rally car class Richard O`Mahoney was having a ball but he still hasn’t twigged the art of sprinting. The aim of a sprint is to complete the circuit in the shortest time possible. Richie did manage to complete the circuit on each run, but he did an extra half lap on each run as he fishtailed round the circuit like the little mermaid on her first ever swimming trip! Richie is impressive to watch and is certainly not lacking in skill and talent, but I’m glad I`m not responsible for his tyre bill!!
There were a few family duels ongoing too. There was the father, son (x2) and Grand daughter dual in the Hawthorne camp. No guessing who won that dual as David now seems to be the fastest Hawthorne. There was also a father daughter dual going on there too as Amy chased her Dad David Hard as well. Dan Campbell once again beat his dad Garry Campbell in their starlets. I was speaking to Garry who was blaming this on running older tyres – in fairness Dan has really got to grips with the starlet this year and he, Mr Smyth and Mr Jones are becoming a very formidable trio. Scott McMullan also led his father Carson home, Scott in his Jedi and Carson in the Reis Aero. Its great to see Carson back out again and he`s getting faster and more confident with every outing. The next step is to see him in the jedi!!
There was the usual McGimpsey family battle in which Ryan once again beat his father, Robert. Richie O`Mahoney lead his father Richard home and Crawford Ewing Jr took the honours against his father Crawford Ewing Snr. Robert Fitzgerald also finished ahead of his father Clem in their dual driven Mazda MX5 with its new look paint scheme! Jonathan Strain won the Strain family battle by beating his uncle Noel. In all these instances youth persevered over age and the younger family member triumphed. However, in Camp McKee, Adam bucked this trend when he his younger brother Ben in the family Seat Ibiza. So, we’ve had father and sons, uncles and Nephews Fathers and daughters, brothers and we also had a husband and wife combination too with Adrian Pollock the past 3 time Sprint Champion and his wife Jenny Pollock competing in their Van Diemen Formula Ford.
Adrian was superb to watch and showed his knowledge and experience with some more, interesting lines into and through the chicanes. His ability to corner fast and maintain speed shows why his trophy cabinet is so full. Theres some individuals who could learn a lot from watching Adrian and his lines. Jenny was also going exceptionally well and is improving hand over fist with every event she does. She has clearly been receiving hints and tips from Adrian on lines and carrying speed as her lines and techniques were very akin to Adrian’s. The only way I could tell them apart in the car was the luminous glow from Jenny’s bright pink Balacalava!! I did ask Adrian if he had a matching one but didn’t get a repeatable answer!!
One other point to note was the massive number of Minis out. There was a total of 8 minis, of which 2 were BMW minis and 1 metro so the BL group was well represented. The fastest mini was Jimmy Lightbody but the purists amongst us would say that a BMW mini doesn’t count, so the fastest “Propper mini” was Karl Johnston.
Now that we’ve mentioned Mini`s the unofficial title of fastest mini in the west went once again to Karl Johnston who pipped Gerry McGarrity by a mere 0.72 secs. It was great to see Gary Milligan back out again, but he was only able to be the third, and some might say slowest mini from the West. Wee Gerry was delighted to see Gary Back out again as it meant that he wouldn’t be the slowest mini from the west anymore. Gerry also proved that his promise at round 3 was correct that when he promised that he was going to let Gary win the first one so that he thought he was good, then Gerry would blow him into the weeds at the rest of the events.
The modified category was closely fought, and Dan Campbell took not only family honours but Modified honours after pipping his father Gerry by a mere 3.6 secs in their Toyota Starlets. Both these guys were flying on their way to finishing 18th and 22nd overall. Third modified man home was the returning Jonathan Strain in his Peugeot 205 rally car.
In the specialist category David Hawthorne took a superb category win as well as 17th overall in his Westfield. Andy Hawthorne was second ahead of third placed Steven Hawthorne with only 0.26 secs between them. Its hard to tell where the 0.26 was won or lost but had steven not had such a big breakfast he may have been faster, the beans could’ve been weighing him down, but alternatively had Andy worn his glasses and been able to see just how fast he was going, he may have been slower. Who knows!!
The Roadgoing category was once again dominated by a BMW, however on this occasion it was Aaron Vance in his BMW M3 who was fastest with a 141.76 sec run which put him 35th overall. Crawford Ewing Jr who has been the man to beat so far this season was 2nd on a 143.21 and Crawford Ewing Sr was third on a 146.34 finishing ahead of Stephen Donnelly in his twingo
In the Heaslip Ladies Challenge Trophy Amy Hawthorne once again took trophy honours in her Clio finishing a mere 1.05 secs, on corrected time ahead of Jenny Pollock who pipped Emma Campbell by a corrected time of 2.29 secs. Now for those reading this who wonder what the corrected time is about, the Heaslip Ladies Challenge trophy works on a corrected time basis which is calculated using a performance indicator conversion based on the drivers’ previous times in comparison with the overall FTD. This way the ladies are all pitched together on corrected time and the girl in the fastest car doesn’t win every event just by having more horsepower or better tyres, it’s all down to how they perform measured against each other!!
The next and seventh round of the 2023 SW Adair Tyres Northern Ireland Sprint Championship takes place Nutts Corner on 23 September and is hosted by North Ulster Car Club. Entries can be found on www.rallyscore.net
Words: DAVID EVANS #154 | Photos: GARY CRAIG MOTORSPORT PHOTOGRAPHY [Images must not be used in any way without prior written consent of the photographer]
