By Donal O’Neill
THE torrential rain at Kirkistown Racing Circuit on Saturday showcased the incredible talent of the drivers in their cars and Superkarts.
It is hard to choose, but the highest praise has to go to the 17 junior drivers in the Patch Tyre Equipment Junior Mini Coopers races, who are all aged 14-17 and could some of the more experienced drivers in other classes a thing or two.
In their first race, four drivers broke away at the start, as Bruckless’ Jaden McBrearty, Tallagh’s Eoin Dooley, Ardee’s TJ Taaffe and Carrickfergus’ Kyle Irvine all powered into the first corner together.
Irvine crossed the finish line first, ahead of McBrearty and Taafe, but he received a post-race penalty of five seconds for track limits, meaning he was relegated to third, with the other two moving up the places.
In the second race for these young chargers, later in the day, it was the same three protagonists looking for the same piece of asphalt throughout the early laps.
Once again, the racing was immaculately clean, with lots of respect being shown.
Taaffe took the lead, while Irvine had to come from a fifth-place start. On lap four, he passed McBrearty, for the first of many times.
McBrearty made his final move stick on the last lap, but he could do nothing about Taaffe, who had been able to drive away from the duelling duo.
The Roadsports had started the day, in poor weather conditions. Newtownabbey driver Jim Larkham dominated in his Radical Pr6, seeing off Youghal’s, Mike Ward, in a similar machine and Donaghadee’s Richard Francis.
In the second outing for these cars, Larkham was leading until his car faltered on lap nine, leaving Ward with a massive lead. Behind him, a great tussle saw Banbridge’s Paul Thompson hold off Donaghadee’s Mark Francis.
During the Winter, Ballymena driver Ben Smith undertook a lot of testing at Kirkistown, often in very wet weather, and he drove away from the rest of the field this time out, with Dundalk driver Ian Campbell second and Belfast’s Matthew Gilmore third.
He repeated the feat in the second race, winning by a margin of 4.5 seconds, despite a post-race penalty of five seconds for track limits. Once again, Campbell was second, ahead of Gilmore.
The Legends, 5/8th scale replicas of 1930s American stock cars are fan favourites, and they were involved in three races at Kirkistown on Saturday.
Race one saw Nico Frank, from Berlin, take the lead and drive away. Behind him, a battle raged between Gordon Brown, from The Ward, Alex Twomey, from Millstreet, Michael Barrable, from Dublin, and Willie Lawrence, from Golden.
Places swapped lap-by-lap, before Frank took the win, ahead of runner-up Lawrence and third-placed Brown, with just 1.3 seconds between second and fifth.
The second race for these machines produced very close racing for the podium places. After eight laps, Lawrence took the win, with Barrable second and Frank third.
In the final Legends race, Lawrence raced from eighth to take the win on the final lap, finishing ahead of longtime leader Brown and Frank.
The Kirkistown Mini Coopers should have had 10 cars, but Robinstown’s Kyle Quinn struck problems in testing on the Friday.
In their first race, lap one saw the Gilmore twins, Craig, from Ballyhalbert, and Darren, from Lisnaskea, in first and second place respectively.
Paul Stewart, from Belfast, got off to a poor start and was fought back, passing Darren Gilmore on lap six and Craig Gilmore, for the lead, on lap eight. He was never headed again and the positions stayed fixed until the flag.
The Kirkistown Fiestas ran concurrently, with Neville Anderson, from Banbridge, finishing first, seeing off Richhill’s Travis Mawhinney and Garrett Phayres.
In the second outing for these combined grids, Ballyclare’s Taylor Frizzell led until the final lap, when Paul Stewart deposed him, while Mark Stewart fought through the pack to take the final podium position.
Amid controversy in the second Fiesta race, where one driver was disqualified and received penalty points on his race licence, Phayres took the win, with Grace McCallion second and Stephen Walker, from Helensburgh, in third.
In the first Modi–5-Cup race for Mazda MX5s, Dundonald driver Craig Ewing, took another win. He was chased by Crossmaglen’s Rob Kennedy, while Loughinisland’s Paul McAlinden held off Templepatrick’s Peter Gilchrist and Antrim’s Robert McAlister to take third.
In race two, Newry’s Damian Moran, who is making a comeback after some major joint surgery, managed to lead for two laps, before Ewing went past.
Moran held on another lap, before Rob Kennedy came through, and although he looked set to take a remarkable third, Holywood’s Stuart Annesley got by.
The rain did not dampen the spirits of the Superkarts drivers and, as usual, they put on a high-paced show.
In race one of the 250cc class, Comber’s Alan Crossen disappeared into a lead that he would never lose. Behind him, Lurgan’s Richard Dewart pipped Moira’s Liam Fox to second by one fifth of a second.
In the 125cc class, Stuart Coey, from Comber, spent most of his time battling with the 250cc machine of Ballyclare’s Jonathan Adams.
Even with that inconvenience, he managed to finish ahead of Craigavon’s Brian Jones. Gavin Dewart, from Lurgan, filled out the podium.
In the second outing, Crossen dominated again, while Fox secured second place and Parsons got his first podium of the day. Jones improved to first place in the 125cc class, ahead of Dewart and Coey.
In the final Superkart outing, Crossen did not start, due to mechanical issues. Fox took a dominant win in the 250cc class and Jones finished second overall, winning the 125cc class.
Jonathan Adams was the second and only other 250cc finisher, as the weather took its toll, while Coey was second in the 125s, with Dewart third.
The next car race meeting at Kirkistown is the season finale on September 26, which will feature the Martin Donnelly Trophy race, for Formula Ford 1600s, plus the Emerson Fittipaldi Trophy race, for Formula Fee.
