The May car race meeting at Kirkistown on Saturday 25th was blessed with beautiful weather. With a slightly smaller number of races than usual, this allowed time for spectators and marshals to get a proper lunch and look at both the display of Ford Mustang cars, marking the 60Th anniversary of the model, and the display of restored Mondiale racing cars, marking the 40th anniversary of the Bangor marque.
A combined grid of Kirkistown Minis and Kirkistown Fiestas got the meeting started. From the off, Peter Bennett, from Tandragee, shot into the lead of the Minis and was never headed again. Mark Stewart, from Belfast, chased valiantly but in vain. Behind him, there was an almighty battle for third between Johnny Titterington, from Saintfield, Craig Gilmore, from Ballyhalbert, Darren Gilmore, from Lisnaskea, and Paul Stewart, from Belfast. At the end, Paul Stewart crossed the line in third, just ahead of Darren Gilmore. In post race scrutiny, Mark Stewart’s car failed and he was removed from the results, promoting his brother, Paul, to second and Darren Gilmore to third.
Neville Anderson, from Banbridge, soaked up intense pressure in the Fiestas from Portadown’s Michael Graham, throughout the race. He took a deserved win. Third place went to Strangford driver, Megan Campbell.
In the second race for these cars Mark Stewart raced knowing that he would be excluded from the results because he could not remedy the technical issue with his car at the track. Peter Bennett took another lights to flag victory in the Minis. Darren Gilmore, Paul Stewart and Johnny Titterington had another great battle for second place. Gilmore got second and Titterington third. The Fiesta race was a re-run of the battle in race one. This time it looked like Michael Graham was going to win but Neville Anderson made a move stick on the final lap to take another victory. Megan Campbell was third again.
The big attraction at this meeting was the return of the Irish Legends. These are 5/8th scale representations of 1930s American Stock Cars, powered by Yamaha 1,300cc engines. They are fast, lapping around the 68 second mark. Racing is always close and frantic.
In Race One, Anthony Malone, from Dunboyne went from 1st to last with car problems, while his brother Lee almost did the total opposite, going from last on lap 1 to finish third at the end. Scott Jackson, from Kilkenny, and Michael Barrable, from Dublin, disputed the lead for the entire race, with Barrable being in front when it mattered. Ballymena driver, Richard Spence, finished sixth.
In the second race, Lee Malone had a great battle with Evan Curran, from Naas. The race was red flagged on lap six, following an incident at Maguire’s Hairpin that removed Michael Barrable, Gordon Brown, from Dublin and Derek Hogan, from Tallaght. At the restart, Curran took the lead but Malone got past on the penultimate lap to take victory. Sylvie Bartlett, from Killarney, was third and Richard Spence took another sixth place.
In the final race for the Irish Legends, there was a great battle between Barrable, Curran, Jackson and Lee Malone. On lap nine there was a coming together at the John Crosslé Chicane that removed Barrable and Jackson. On the final lap, Malone passed Curran for the win. Sylvie bartlett took third. Spence was seventh.
The Modi-5-Cup Mazdas produced a good field for two races. In the first, Craig Ewing, from Dundonald, took an untroubled victory. After some initial place swapping during the first three laps, Rob Kennedy, from Crossmaglen, secured second place from Newry driver, Damian Moran.
In their second encounter, Francis Allen, from Moira, established a lead on lap one. Ewing was chasing hard and closing the gap. Kennedy was also coming through the field, having started at the rear. On lap seven, Ewing took the lead and began pulling away from Allen, who was now contending with Kennedy. However, Kennedy went out two laps later leaving Allen in a safe second place. Damian Moran took another third place finish.
After a poor season in 2023, Formula Ford 1600 racing has revitalised and the competition has been excellent in 2024. In the first FF1600 race, there were great battles throughout the field. At the pointy end, five drivers were disputing the lead. They were Morgan Quinn, from Kill, Jason Smyth, from Celbridge, David McCullough, from Ballymena, Ronan Doherty, from Dunloy and Stephen Connor, from Ballymount. Further back, a great duel was taking place between The Randalstown Rocket, Alan Davidson, and Dundalk’s Ian Campbell, who had to do some major repairs to his car overnight. Smyth got some daylight between him and his pursuers but second place was not settled until the final lap, when Quinn finally made a move stick on McCullough.
It was more of the same in the second race for FF1600. Smyth took the lead on lap one but he was being closely chased by Quinn, until Quinn retired on lap six. Now behind Smyth, the two County Antrim drivers, McCullough and Doherty were together, fighting for second place. At the flag, McCullough prevailed. Davidson was fourth and Strangford driver, Ethan Campbell took an excellent fifth place.
Grid numbers in both Roadsports and saloons have been really poor this year. As a result, the races for these cars were combined and a total of five cars took the start. Gavin Stanfield, from Cabra, took a start to finish win in both saloon races. Derry’s Gavin Kilkey was second. The Roadsports provided more of a battle, with veteran Banbridge driver, Arnie Black, having to pass both John Benson, from Holywood, and Bernard Foley, from Blackrock, to take the win. Benson took second, with Foley third. In the second race, Arnie had to do it all again from behind. On lap four he got the lead and held it to the end. Benson retired from second on the penultimate lap, leaving Foley to inherit the place.
The next car race meeting at Kirkistown will be on Saturday 22nd June and will feature the mighty B.O.S.S. cars, with local legend, Tony Greenan, from Hilltown being the man to watch.
Words: DONAL O’NEILL/500 MRCI [Images must not be used in any way without prior written consent of the photographer]
