The Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, is evolving into even more of a motoring mecca in 2019. Changes to the physical layout, with the relocation of the road car paddocks, will make way for an all-new live action arena guaranteed to thrill spectators. The four-day Festival, this year taking place on 4-7 July, is always looking to the future in making sure the newest and most exciting cars, bikes and technologies are very much part of the mix.
Saturday 02 March saw the first round of the SW Adair Tyres Northern Ireland Sprint Championship at Nutts Corner and boy did the championship kick off in style.
This seasons ANICC Millers Oils Northern Ireland Hillclimb Championship was quite possibly one of the most hotly contested in recent years and it was Dungiven’s Gerard O’Connell who defied all odds to be crowned king!
Not far beyond Benone Beach on the outskirts of Coleraine is a stretch of road, all of which is uphill, with a famous hairpin bend, this stretch of tarmacadam is known as ‘Eagle Rock’ within the hillclimbing fraternity of Northern Ireland and recently, it hosted the penultimate round of the Millers Oils Northern Ireland Hillclimb Championship.
Round 7 of the ANICC Millers Oil Northern Ireland Hillclimb Championship, the Maxwell Freight Garron Point Hillclimb, run by Mid Antrim Motor Club took place on Saturday 11 August and was supported with a fantastic entry of 70 cars.
Volkswagen and the 500-kW ‘I.D. R Pikes Peak’ have made history at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb when Romain Dumas defeated a field including cars with conventional drive-train technology. In doing so, he not only broke the previous record for electric vehicles, but also bettered Sébastien Loeb’s all-time record from 2013 – by a full 16 seconds.
Spamount Hillclimb is one of the youngest events in the Millers Oils sponsored Northern Ireland Hillclimb Championship, but the enthusiastic organising team from Omagh Motor Club have quickly established it as a popular and challenging venue.
Saturday (5 May) saw the hills around Belfast East, reverberate to the sound of hillclimbing – hillclimb is a motorsport initiative popular throughout Europe and rest of the world alike, but in the UK, some of the most exciting events are right here in Northern Ireland.
A day of extremes and high drama. Again an early start for all but a stunning late Spring morning had everyone in great form. The day remained dry and quite warm until late afternoon when it became much cooler and light rain dented the confidence of the last of the runners in T3.
Last Thursday may have been the official launch of the hillclimb season but Saturday (14 April) was the day that the full entry list of eighty competitors had been eagerly waiting for – round one of the 2018 ANICC Miller Oils Northern Ireland Hillclimb Championship.