By Donal O’Neill
THE first car and superkart race meeting of the 2026 season at Kirkistown Racing Circuit was a thrill-a-minute event.
The first event was a combined race for Roadsports and Global GT, which was predicted to be one of the highlights of the day.
At the start, Banbridge veteran Arnie Black got a great launch in his Crosslé, but the Radicals of Newtownabbey’s Jim Larkham and Youghal’s Mike Ward soon out-accelerated him.
While Larkham managed to stay in front all the way, Ward kept on his case, finishing just 0.2 seconds behind and setting the fastest lap for the Roadsports.
The Global GTs were even closer, with Navan’s Peter Drennan taking the lead at the rolling start and Greystones’ Cameron Fenton all over the back of his car, trying every way to get past.
The vastly experienced Drennan held his nerve all the way to the end and while setting a new lap record for the Global GTs at Kirkistown, Fenton finished a mere 0.3 seconds behind. Jack Conachy, from Newry, was a distant third.
Race two was for Formula Vee B and C drivers. Uncharacteristically for a Vee race, Ballymena’s Sean McClements simply disappeared up the road, storming to victory by over 40 seconds.
However, behind him, it was a typical Vee affair, with Niall O’Mara, from Fethard, Aaron Murray, from Ballymena, Lee Flynn, from Kilkenny and Andy Keogh, from Saggart, swapping places constantly throughout the race.
At the finish, it was Flynn who took second and O’Mara third. It was a photo finish between O’Mara and Murray, with O’Mara getting the official decision.
Race three featured the Formula Ford 1600s, and everyone was interested to see who was on form and might be a contender for the 2025 Martin Donnelly Trophy race later in the day.
Jordan Dempsey, from Mullingar, was slow off the line and was passed by Kill’s Morgan Quinn and Dunloy’s Ronan Doherty. The inexperienced Ben Smyth, from Ballymena, was swamped at the start, dropping from fourth to seventh.
The racing between Dempsey, Quinn and Doherty was phenomenally close until the latter’s car got sick on lap six. This allowed Dempsey to attack and pass Quinn for a lead he would not lose.
The result saw Dempsey win by half a second, in front of Quinn, while Smyth fought his way back to third, finishing just half a second behind the runner-up.
The fourth race was the first of three for the ever-popular Legends. Current champion Scott Jackson, from Kilkenny, took the lead from the rolling start and began to pull away. However, Jamie Moylan, from Naas, who had started in seventh place, was on a charge.
By the end of lap two, Moylan was second, but he spun back down to sixth just a lap later. Perhaps with the help of some red mist, he quickly regained second place, passing the squabbling Nico Frank (Berlin), Gordon Brown (Ayrfield) and Willie Lawrence (Golden). Jackson took the win from Moylan, with Frank securing third.
The combined Kirkistown Mini Coopers and Kirkistown Fiestas were up next, and both provided unexpected results after some very close racing.
Ballyhalbert’s Craig Gilmore took a great win in the Minis, ahead of his brother, Darren, and Belfast’s Paul Stewart. Newcomer Travis Mawhinney, from Richhill, won in the Fiestas, followed by Banbridge’s Neville Anderson and Nobber’s Lorcan McGivney.
Looking at the result of the first Modi-5-Cup race for Mazda MX5s, one could be forgiven for thinking that you were looking at a repeat of 2025. Yes, Dundonald’s Craig Ewing won, but this time, he was closely chased all the way to the flag by Rob Kennedy, from Crossmaglen. Holywood’s Stuart Ansley, from Holywood, finished in third place.
The Superkarts had three races. This year, the 250cc grid has shrunk and the 125cc grid has expanded greatly. Only three 250 Superkarts were in attendance, with Brian Jones, from Craigavon, winning the first and third races and Liam Fox, from Moira, taking the second.
Newtownards driver Alan Witherow won all three 125cc races. In the first, Scott Greenaway, from Gilford, took second and Stuart Coey, from Comber, was third. In the second race, Coey moved up a place to second, demoting Greenaway to third, and in the final Superkart race, Gavin Dewart took second, ahead of Coey.
The second Legends race saw Moylan lead from start to finish, while Scott Jackson rose from seventh to second at the end of the third lap. He was closely monitored by Willie Lawrence, with the two of them swapping places right up to the final lap, before Jackson held on for second.
In the second Roadsports outing, Larkham hit early problems, leaving Ward to take the win from Arnie Black.
In the same race, the Global GTs were a lot more fraught. Peter Drennan and Cameron Fenton went at it hammer and tongs throughout, passing and repassing constantly. At the finish, Fenton won by half a second, but in taking second place, Drennan eclipsed his new lap record that Fenton had set in the previous outing.
The second Formula Vee race included the “A” drivers. This did not phase McClements, who took his second win of the day. Multiple champion Gavin Buckley, from Dublin, finished second and third went to popular driver Sean McCallion, from Derry.
The 2025 Martin Donnelly Trophy race for FF1600 was next and ex-Lotus Formula 1 driver, Martin Donnelly, was there to present the trophy named in honour of his late father.
This turned out to be one of the best Formula Ford races seen in years. From the start, four drivers were fighting for the lead, and the end of lap one, Doherty was leading from Dempsey, with Quinn third and Smyth fourth.
Two laps later, it was Doherty from Quinn, then Smyth and Dempsey. On lap six, Quinn was involved in what the clerks called ‘a racing incident’ and spun down to 11th place. Smith was second behind Doherty.
By lap 10, Dempsey had passed both Smyth and Doherty. He and Doherty were keeping very close company when, on lap 12, Smyth went off. The race was stopped and the result declared, with Jordan Smyth crowned as the 2026 Martin Donnelly winner.
Doherty was second and Dave Partks, from Ballina, who had been having an amazing battle with the Randalstown Rocket, Alan Davidson, was third.
The second race for Kirkistown Mini Coopers and Kirkistown Fiestas was in keeping with the rest of the meeting – highly entertaining.
The current Mini champion, Taylor Frizzell, held a slender lead from start to finish. Second place was disputed all the way by the Gilmore brothers and the Stewart brothers. At the finish, Mark Stewart took second and Darren Gilmore took third.
The Fiestas were even more entertaining, as Neville Anderson, who led from the start, was passed by McGivney and Mawhinney on lap five. A lap later, Mawhinney took the lead for good, while Anderson, McGivney and Grace McCallion, fought over the minor placings. When the chequered flag came out, McGivney was second and McCallion third.
The final Legends race began in sunshine and finished in hail stones. After a frantic first two laps, Moylan emerged in the lead, chased by Frank, with the pair holding position, even when the hail came down. On the final lap, James Byrne, from Dublin, claimed third place.
The second race for Modi-5-Cup Mazdas was a reverse grid of the finishing order in the first race, thus Ewing and Kennedy had to come from the back of the field.
While Ewing had passed the entire field and led by the second lap, it took Kennedy until the final lap to slot into second place, and he could not do anything about Ewing. Pete Gilchrist, from Greenisland, took an excellent third place.
All in all, this meeting provided an excellent start to the season at Kirkistown. The next meeting is on Saturday, April 25, and will feature the Irish B.O.S.S. cars, which are the fastest on this island.
