UK Karting - Ulster Kart Club Race Report

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Ulster Karting Club

Ulster Karting Club - Ulster Cup
Championship Summary - After Round 3

Kart racings Ulster Cup series of races at Nutts Corner Motorsports Centre has got off to a rapid start this season with three rounds of the championship already over. With capacity grids in some classes, the series looks likely to be the best supported Ulster Karting Club championship in recent times.

The Kart-E-Quip of Portglenone and M Sport of Ballymoney supported early rounds of the Ulster Cup series showed that the competition this year is extremely tough. However, the recent WGP Motorsport of Gilford supported third round showed some of the classes showing evidence of potential winners although with pleanty of rounds left and points from heats also counting none of the drivers will be slacking off in the next rounds on 4th and 24th of May.

The early May round also has a NIKA championship round the day before which will place it's own set of demands on drivers and machinery as they try to take on two key events back to back.

In the Junior Cadet class for the youngest drivers some newcomers on the scene have been creating plenty of interest. The opening round saw Samantha Thom from Cookstown at the helm with the second round seeing Broughshane's Steven Bradley show his potential. Defending champion Rikki Gordon obviously was not having the runaway start as he did last year.

The challenge however must have awakened young Rikki when he turned up the pace in the third round to take control of the lead. The dark horse however is turning out to be Dungannons Derek Martin who in only his second year is starting to show his form and has now moved up to second overall with Bradley forced into third. Young Thom is still showing strong form and is currently lying in fourth and still very much within striking distance of the leaders.

Running in parallel to the main Cadet class is the Honda Cadet class with Joel Mulholland from Randalstown taking maximum points in two of the three rounds to see him lead from Stefan Lyttle and Andrew Warwick.

The newest class to the sport is the Minimax class and already the class is nearing capacity entries, unfortunately at the expense of Junior TKM which for a long time was the mainstay Junior class. Still, times must move on and Bangors Richard McAlorum showed early on that the move up from Cadets really suited him as he took up the championship lead from another past Cadet favourite Ray Lusty from Larne.

Lusty however was in determined form in the third round at punched in three wins with maximum points on the day see him surge ahead in the championship lead. McAlorum did not have as good a run in heats as he would have liked although he still holds onto second place. Killinchys Jamie Glover is once again showing consistently good form and is right on the tail of McAlorum so the challenge for second is definately moving up a gear.

The Junior TKm class still survives though and it has given another female driver the chance to star as Crumlins Laura Taggart has had three clean sweeps so far and now has a commanding lead on billy Boy Finnegan from Ardglass and aaron Newell.

The Junior TKM Intermediate class has saw the championship lead swop around early on between early leader and winter champion Michael Flynn from Ballymartin and Randalstowns Jonny Clyde. Flynn however showed that he could match Clyde's second round clean sweep when he too took three wins in the third round. As a result, Flynn is now back in the lead, but only just, with only five points keeping him ahead of Clyde. Edward Jackson from Crossgar has been showing steady form throughout and is in a strong third place , ready to pick up the lead should either of the leading pair have a bad day.

The Junior Rotax Max class continues to see strong entries and with the poularity of Minmax and some drivers moving up into Seniors the class is starting to see some of last years favourites sorting themselves out up front. Dungivens Chris Irwin opened up the season by taking the championship lead only to have it snatched off him by Dromores Stephen Rutherdale in the second when he took three wins on the day.

The third round saw Kris Loane from Kesh and Crumlins Scott Taggart start to show their hand by finishing second and third to Rutherdale who nearly took maximum points and in the process now leads the the class by a reasonable margin. Things might have been closer only for Irwin having a no score in one of his heats but with the rest of the day going well he still retains second all be it with Loane and Taggart on equal third only a handful of points behind.

The Senior TKM class saw a new lease of life breathed into it early on with one of it's biggest turnouts in some time. However, Bangors Peter McMullin stamped his mark right at the start with three wins in the opening round to see him lead the class. Although the second round saw a similar performance by Combers William Smith, McMullin was still in strong form and with another dominating drive in the third round now leads the class by a comfortable margin.

The third round has saw second place now a hot bed of competition with Dungiven's Paul Moore getting progressively better to the extent that he has now jumped a massive six places to second with equally good performances by Belfasts Paul Maginn seeing him move up to third.

The fastest non gearbox class for the 125cc Rotax Max machines has saw all the big names from last season out in force, so much so that the huge class has required 'B' finals to whittle down the numbers for a main 'A' final in each round.

From the off however, past champion Jason Curran from Newtownards immediately stamped his mark and with two best performances in the opening rounds led the series. It wasnt all plain sailing though with winter champion Neville Bell from Dundrod and Dundonalds Richard Fitzsimons very competitive and holding second and third.

The third round again saw Curran in dominant form with wins on the day seeing him extend his lead. That third round however was one of the toughest yet with Fitzsimons really giving him a run for it. Despite the effort however by Fitzsimons, Bell was also showing strong form and still holds onto second overall although with only two points between the pair if Fitzsimons has another similar run in early May he could well close the gap on Curran and take second in the process.

Fourth overall is becoming a real hot bed of activity with defending champion Philip Harkness just holding off the challenge by his Moneymore team mate Mark McIvor. Worthy of mention is Stoneyfords Ryan Magennis in sixth who in only his first year after dominating the Junior classes is now very much showing that he will be well worth watching out for as the year progresses.

Running in parallel is the Rotax Max Heavy class but despite the class name Ballyclares Neil Henderson has come to the fore to lead the class from Cookstowns Damian Meeke with Coleraines Stephen Taylor missing out a round but still holding onto third.

The twin engined Pro-kart class is also equally well contended and the start of the season saw Crumlins Robert Robinson set the pace. However, the second round saw clear evidence from Belfasts Sean Doherty that he really meant business and although Robinson still held the lead after that round Doherts performance showed that he was waiting to pounce on the lead at the first opportunity.

The third round saw just that when Doherty dominated the day and in the process snatched the helm from Robinson. However, the one they might both have to watch out for is one of last years favourites Derek Wilson from Portadown who shot up from eighth to third in that same third round finishing second on the day to Doherty. The pair of rounds in May could well see Wilson right in the middle of the leading battle.

The fastest classes for the gearbox machines run a separate set of races to the non gearbox classes and the 3rd May NIKA championship round will see all classes competing, including the incredible 160mph 250cc machines.

The next two rounds of the Ulster Cup series on 4th and 24th May will again comprise two heats and a final per class with heats starting at 10am and finals just after lunch.

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