2011 World Series 2
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 24th July 2010
Heat 1: 994  940 996(X-2) 962  9 977  901 49 147  943
Heat 2: 996  994 940  9 962  943 49 901  977 960
Final: 994  9 996(X-2) 940  962(X-2)  901 960(X-2) 992  49  977
Stewart Doak first across line in all three races but docked for contact in heat 1 and the final.  Very poor discipline from a number of racers.  More to follow.
Brian Lammey’s photos

2011 World Series 1
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 23rd July 2010
Colin A. reports:  A warm and sunny evening at Ballymena Raceway on July 23 beckoned in the start of the 2011 World qualifying series for Northern Ireland where Gary Woolsey collected a maximum haul of points after a dominant hat-trick of wins in his Mercedes SLK.

Twelve entrants assembled for the first round of the campaign, the six qualifiers from the 2010 series being joined by Corrie Beggs, Davy McKay, Paul Crawford, Robert Forsythe, Ian McReynolds and Chris Foster. For Foster this was his debut in the class at the wheel of the revamped ex-Ian Thompson Peugeot 206cc, while McReynolds was making his first foray into the Northern Ireland Series after some previous outings at Tipperary Raceway in his Citroen Saxo. The other car catching attention in the pits was the immaculate A&D built Vauxhall Tigra of Robert Forsythe which was breaking cover for the first time.

McKay and Woolsey occupied the front of the grid for this round with Forsythe and Doak next in line. Woolsey is much more accustomed to starting from the back of the pack and this advantageous starting position always looked like offering up a great opportunity for Gary to put some good points on the board. That’s certainly how it panned out too, the former British Champion taking maximum benefit from the situation with three comfortable victories. Doak chased the winner home in heat one, where the main attention focused on a good scrap for third between Heatrick and Christie; the current N.I. champion sitting it out on the wide outside for a number of laps before making the move stick.

Woolsey was quickly away into the distance at the beginning of heat two as well, but a tardy start for Doak cost him a number of places in the opening exchanges. Heatrick held down a comfortable second place in this one and once again the main battle was for third. It was Martin against Christie this time around, but unlike the opening heat John could not get his nose in front and eventually dropped back to finish fifth behind Bell.

Christie and McKay tangled on the opening lap of the final as Woolsey assumed his usual position out front. Doak and Martin stayed with the leader over the opening laps, but Woolsey seemed able to pull clear with ease and soon put some clear track between his SLK and the chasing pack. The battle for second would eventually be settled when the group came upon the backmarking Beggs. Doak went to overtake on the outside, while Martin managed to find a line through on the inside. The trio went three abreast down the back straight into Suffolk bend, but it was the closely following Heatrick who somehow managed to out fumble both Doak and Martin and emerge with second. Bell followed Heatrick’s line through to snatch third, with Doak, Martin and McReynolds completing the top six.
Heat One: 940 – 996 – 962 – 9 – 994 – 960 – 943 – 977 – 901
Heat Two: 940 – 960 – 994 – 9 – 962 – 996 – 901 – 943 – 147 – 992
Final: 940 – 960 – 9 – 996 – 994 – 977 – 901 – 992 – 962 – 147
Brian Lammey’s photos

World Series 2010

2010 World Series 16
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 4th June 2010
Colin A. reports:  John Christie confirmed his place at the top of the National Hot Rod standings in Northern Ireland after the final round of the World Qualifying Series at Ballymena Raceway on June 4. Nine cars gathered for the conclusion of the campaign with the main point of interest in the entry being the debut appearance of Keith Martin’s self built Vauxhall Tigra; the immaculate machine sporting a change of colour scheme from the 2005 World Champion to boot.

John Christie enjoyed a slender advantage over Glenn Bell at the start of the meeting, with Mark Heatrick also in with an outside chance of the title if the two front runners hit problems. Stewart Doak took charge of heat one, the outgoing champion taking an untroubled win from pole position, with Christie the first of the title chasers home in second. Heatrick clinched victory in race two, but the results obtained in the heat races narrowed it down to a straight fight between Christie and Bell for the title going into the final race of the series; Bell now also forced to rely on some mechanical trouble for Christie to have any chance of the title. Glenn did everything possible within his power by going out and winning the final in fine style, but John coolly followed his rival home to become Northern Ireland Champion for 2009/10. Heatrick rounded out a very solid campaign with third in the final, which matched his final position in the overall points chart.

The representatives from Northern Ireland at the 2010 World Final will be, subject to official confirmation from the NHRPA, John Christie, Glenn Bell, Mark Heatrick, Keith Martin, Stewart Doak and Gary Woolsey.
Heat One: 996 – 962 – 960 – 9 – 994 – 342 – 943 – 147
Heat Two: 960 – 9 – 962 – 943 – 994 – 342 – 147
Final: 9 – 962 – 960 – 943 – 994 – 342

2010 World Series 15
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 29th May 2010
Darren Black reports: Having failed to figure in the top placings almost at all during the dry heats, defending NI Champion Stewart Doak came right back to form to land the feature race in the MBB Quality Homes-sponsored NIWQ15 at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday May 29th. Earlier, Glenn Bell had annexed both heats, and looked odds on to make it a hat-trick by lifting his family’s trophy in the final, but then the rain came....

There were just the eight cars present for this one, but with World final qualification assured two of the top runners were absent. Gary Woolsey had decided his time would be better spent testing his Merc at Ipswich on Holiday Monday, whilst Keith Martin is in the process of completing his new car which he hopes to give a maiden run at round 16 next week.

Of those present, we had a first qualifying round appearance from 2-Litre Rodder Adam Heatrick in Uncle Mark’s old 206cc (his only previous appearance being at Ballymena’s Winternational meeting in January), whilst Alastair Calvin was making another of what will hopefully now be more regular appearances in the ex-Mark Keys 206.

Young Corrie Beggs took up his rightful grid position for the first time in heat one, alongside pole man Terry Maxwell, and these two set the initial pace. The four star-men had been started well back to try to improve the racing with so few cars on track, and Glen Bell was leading their charge from Mark Heatrick and John Christie. Doak was struggling badly in this one, with what sounded like under bonnet issues on his Tigra.

The three made short work of Beggs and then Maxwell, and Bell led home Heatrick to the chequered flag, with Christie breaking the circuit lap record on his way to third.

Heat two initially began just as the first had, with Maxwell leading Beggs and Bell heading the chasing pack. This time though Beggs got under Maxwell for the lead, and as Bell attempted to go second on the outside, he and Terry clashed into turn one. Glenn held on for what seemed like an eternity trying to avoid the spin, but just as he went round he was righted by a glancing blow from Heatrick’s SLK and continued on his way. Heatrick went out straight away with a flat, and Maxwell soon retired too.

Beggs now had a decent lead, and it looked as though he could hang on from Bell for his maiden win, whilst Christie was finding Adam Heatrick hard work behind, Adam having got by during the earlier incident. A slight drizzle was now making the track just a little difficult entering the final stages, and Beggs was doing well to fend off Bell’s repeated outside attempts. Experience was to tell though, as within sight of the one-to-go board Corrie slid just a fraction wide, and in an instant Glenn was in the gap and through to his second win of the night. Christie got third, and with it yet another lap record as well.

The drizzle had turned much heavier come final time, and it was four wets all round for the drivers. To put it lightly, Doak hadn’t been at the races at all during the dry heats, but things would be somewhat different this time!

Beggs set the early pace from Maxwell, but they were soon swamped by the ‘big boys’, this time led by Doak from Bell, Heatrick and Christie. Stewart was obviously much more at home this time, and he and Bell edged out a lead from the others and set to battle for the win. On a number of occasions he got shown a blue flag, but it proved to be merely for show as Bell just couldn’t get himself alongside. The only other problem was backmarkers – yes, with just 8 cars on track – who were having their own side by side dice, but Stewart soon scythed through them to record his second final win in a week to deny Bell the hat-trick. Mark H and Christie were next up, with Adam H an excellent fifth, ahead of Maxwell, Beggs and Calvin.

The battle for the NI Championship title now goes down to the wire at Ballymena next Friday night. Darren Black
Heat 1: 9 960 962 963 147 49 342 (Adam Heatrick) 996
Heat 2: 9 147 962 342 996 49
Final: 996 9 960 962 342 963 147 49

2010 World Series 14
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 21st May 2010
Colin A. reports: Northern Ireland Champion Stewart Doak recorded victory in the final of World Qualifying Round 14 at Ballymena Raceway on May 21st. An improved entry of ten cars took to the track on a pleasantly warm and sunny evening at Ballymena, Terry Maxwell and former Stock Rod World Champion Alastair Calvin amongst those back on track for this round.

It was another former Stock Rod gold top, Glenn Bell, who triumphed in heat one. Bell, back behind the wheel of his Peugeot 206cc, held off the advances of John Christie, with Keith Martin in third. The main talking point in this one however was the double disqualification of Gary Woolsey and Mark Heatrick; the two Mercedes mounted drivers correctly given their marching orders by the steward after indulging in a bout of one on one combat with each other.

Heat two brought a win for Christie, his first at Ballymena since the opening round last July, with Heatrick a very close second and Martin third once more.

Doak successfully negotiated a route around the outside of pole sitter Maxwell over the opening laps of the Cirrus Plastics sponsored final, but soon found his mirrors filled by a train of cars comprising Heatrick, Martin, Bell and Christie. Martin and Bell were not content to simply sit in the queue and both boldly attempted the tricky outside pass. Neither quite had the extra speed required to make a move stick however as Doak resisted the heavy pressure to claim a well judged final win, his second of the current campaign. Heatrick finished as runner-up, while Christie collected another useful haul of points in third. Bell, Calvin, Woolsey, Corrie Beggs and Maxwell completed the finishers.
Heat One: 9 – 962 – 994 – 996 - 147
Heat Two: 962 – 960 – 994 – 9 – 996 – 49 – 963 – 940 - 147
Final: 996 – 960 – 962 – 994 – 9 – 49 – 940 – 147 – 963
Brian Lammey’s photos

2010 World Series 13
Nuttscorner Oval, Sunday 2nd May 2010
Darren Black reports: Former World and European Champion Keith Martin stamped his authority all over NI World Series round 13 on Sunday as part of the historic Ovalfest meeting, which at long last saw all three Ulster promotions jointly run a meeting to showcase all that is good about the Ulster oval scene. There were ten formulae in action across the two days, producing some excellent entertainment for the fans, and a Martin hat-trick was only denied by a sublime exhibition of wet weather driving by points leader Gary Woolsey.

I did say all that was good about Ulster oval racing, but seven National Hot Rods in the pits is verging on the ridiculous, especially when you look at how many licences have been taken out for 2010, and how many cars aren’t being raced. There was another in the pits to give us eight, but Davy McKay once again had major problems and wouldn’t make the grid all night. Most notable absentee was Tommy Maxwell – his load-up from the previous Ballymena encounter as much as finishing his World final hopes, so he stayed away.

With Corrie Beggs still starting off the back of the grid, Martin had pole for heat one with the track awash after a sudden downpour in the minutes just prior to the cars taking the grid. It was wets all round therefore, and rolling starts were deployed. It was a very ragged rolling lap but Keith easily slotted into the lead. Fellow front row man Stewart Doak was getting nowhere as he dropped backwards, but the man on the move was Woolsey. Once he had got a handle on the track after a few tours, he simply sliced right through the entire field, from back to front in a matter of laps. Inside or outside, it didn’t seem to matter, and he soon swooped past Martin to take a lead he would stretch to well over a quarter of a lap. Martin was runner up ahead of John Christie and Mark Heatrick’s SLK.

Things had dried somewhat for heat two, but it was still a very damp and tricky raceway we were left with. Martin again led them away on the roller, and much better it was this time too. With one dry line on the track it was always going to be difficult to pass, and there were some interesting tyre choices going on too. Doak again fell backwards, as first Heatrick was prepared to risk the treacherous outside line to get by Martin. He couldn’t quite make it, and then spun himself out of contention into the bargain! Woolsey then tried too, but he got railroaded back as well, with even Corrie Beggs getting past the two star men. Corrie’s team had obviously got the tyre choice bang on the money. Martin led them home, with Christie collecting second in the end, from Glen Bell and a delighted Beggs.

The final was on a completely dry track, but would follow a similar pattern to heat two. Martin led them away, and it was up to the rest to get by him. He held tight as all-comers tried the long way around, but despite Bell and Woolsey giving it their best efforts, they couldn’t just make it stick. As Martin took his double, Christie was again the runner up from Heatrick and Woolsey.

With the six world finalists now all but decided, it will be a less stressful last few rounds for the NI drivers. It’s been said so many times that there’s too much pressure in the World Qualifiers – well here’s the chance for others to get out on track when there is much less at stake. We really do need a few more cars from somewhere - and soon.  Darren Black
Heat 1: 940 994 962 960 9 996 147
Heat 2: 994 962 9 147 940 960 996
Final: 994 962 960 940 9 996

2010 World Series 12
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 23rd April 2010
Colin A. reports: Glenn Bell once again demonstrated his handy knack of winning the final at World Qualifiers by making it three wins out of four so far in 2010 at Round 12 on April 23. The fixture marked the return of oval racing to Ballymena Raceway and eight cars appeared for this one, including Corrie Beggs making his track debut, on a fine and dry evening.

Tommy Maxwell occupied pole position for the evening and took full advantage of that spot with a determined drive to victory in heat one. It was far from straightforward however as Maxwell was under pressure from Glenn Bell for much of the way, the former Stock Rod World Champion just unable to make a move stick around the outside and forced back to third behind John Christie by the finish.

Bell got the better start at the green flag for heat two and managed to nip ahead of Maxwell into Fisherwick bend. While Bell quickly set about distancing himself from the main pack it was Stewart Doak who filled Maxwell’s mirrors this time. Doak squeezed his Vauxhall Tigra up the inside of Maxwell’s Peugeot 206 through Fisherwick bend and with the rest of the pack likely to follow suit Maxwell desperately tried to close the door by moving further and further across the track towards the infield as the pair raced down the back straight. Presumably this was in the hope that he could force the Northern Ireland Champion to back out of the move, but that was always the least likely option available and predictably Maxwell instead went spinning out of contention at the entrance to Suffolk bend, his Peugeot 206 thumping the wall for good measure.

Maxwell was an absentee for the final after being loaded up by the meeting steward and Bell once more gained the lead at the green flag. His Vauxhall Tigra steadily pulled away from the rest for a straightforward final win, his third in 2010. Doak was next across the line, while Mark Heatrick edged ahead of Christie in the closing laps to claim third.
Heat One: 369 – 962 – 9 – 996 – 940 – 960 – 994 - 147
Heat Two: 9 – 962 – 994 – 996 – 940 – 960 - 147
Final: 9 – 996 – 960 – 962 – 994 – 940 – 147

2010 World Series 11
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 17th April 2010
Darren Black reports: John Christie was the man on form when the National Hot Rods contested the Beggs Deliveries sponsored Round 11 of their World Series at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday April 17th. All three races developed into a scrap between John, and Tommy Maxwell, with Maxwell just holding on for the win in the second heat which was brought to a premature end.

Probably the worst local entry in quite some time had gathered up in the decent spring sunshine for the encounter, with just nine cars in the pits. And things only got worse when Davy McKay’s evening ended before it had even started with problems in practice. That left just the seven contenders for world qualification, to be joined by recent newbee Corrie Beggs, son of the meeting sponsor. For the record, Glenn Bell had opted for his Peugeot 206cc after winning a final apiece in both it and his Tigra over the Easter holidays. Maxwell continued with his ex-Martin 206, with all the others as you’d expect; Gary Woolsey having now settled on his Tigra for all the Nuttscorner outings.

With Beggs still running off the back of the grid, the big boys actually had no cars in front of them this time, and they lined up as one group, with Maxwell and Christie sharing the front row for all the races, with Stewart Doak and Keith Martin next up. Maxwell took it up at the start of heat one, as Beggs retired from the night’s activities after just one tour with mechanical woes. Christie tried to slot in behind the leader, only to find the gap filled by Doak, and John was then to spend upwards of 10 laps circulating side-by-side with the #996 car. He eventually broke clear, and soon hounded down the leading Maxwell.

John wasted little time hitting the outside once again, and with the aid of a blue flag or two made it into the lead for the win. Doak came upon Maxwell in the closing laps, with the rest of the field in tow. This gave Mark Heatrick the impetus to try his luck from the very back, as he hit the outside and dragged himself past Woolsey, Bell and Martin before flagfall in a very accomplished drive. Christie was the victor though, from Maxwell and Doak.

Heat two would follow a similar pattern, with Maxwell once again in charge from the off. Christie had a much easier run at him this time as Doak’s Tigra lost a cylinder leaving him to struggle round just off the back of the pack. Christie was all over Tommy like the proverbial rash, before Bell went the same way as Doak and fell back; his car sounding even worse if anything. As the lap boards came out Christie was still looking for a way by the leader, getting alongside and squeezed by the pit gate, before the one thing we all fear at the racing happened – fire!

Bell’s 206cc had broken the end off a spark plug and ingested it, leading to endless damage as he drove on looking for points. Unburnt fuel then spilled out of the carbs and set the air filters - and more - alight. It didn’t take long to catch, and Glen soon pulled up on the entrance to turn one and bailed out to safety, before quick work by marshal Ryan Wright, usually seen behind the wheel of a Saloon Stock Car these days, extinguished the blaze without too much damage to the car. It could have been much, much worse.

Just as the reds had come out, all sorts of shenanigans had broken out at the head of the field, with Maxwell spinning and Christie into the lead. But Tommy was reinstated to the win as we went back to the last completed lap, from Christie, Heatrick and Woolsey. Interestingly Tommy has now won the second heat at all three 2010 World Qualifiers...

Bell was an obvious absentee for the final, which once again quickly developed into Maxwell v Christie at the front. This time too, it wasn’t an easy ride for John, as Tommy tried every trick in the book to keep him at bay. He eventually made it by down the back straight, and Tommy almost out-braked himself into turn three. As he dived for the anchors hard he almost came to a standstill, and was dealt a glancing blow by Doak as he tried to keep it all together. This would see Maxwell relegated to the back, as Christie ran out the winner for the double and his own sponsor’s trophy. Doak got second, ahead of Heatrick, Woolsey, Martin and the recovered Maxwell.

All being well the Nationals will return to Ballymena Raceway this Friday night, before they return to Nuttscorner on May 2nd as part of the historic Ovalfest meeting which will see all three local promoters running together for the first time. Please note the National Hot Rods part of this meeting is now on Sunday May 2nd and not the previous day as initially advertised. Eighteen NI drivers have licenced with the NHRPA in 2010 – it would be nice to see a few more of them out and about the raceways in the coming weeks.  Darren Black
Heat One: 962 369  996 960  994 940  9
Heat Two: 369 962  960 940  996 994
Final: 962 996  960 940  994 369

2010 World Series 10
Nuttscorner Oval, Monday 5th April 2010
Darren Black reports:  Glenn Bell took his second final victory of the holiday weekend at Nuttscorner Oval on Easter Monday, after a hard fought afternoon’s racing, which saw the heats shared by John Christie and Tommy Maxwell before Bell ran out victor after an enthralling final.

There was an improved 12 car turnout for this one, with Bell wheeling out his Tigra this time around - the Davy McCall built Ludlow car campaigned in last year’s World Final by Rudi Myburg. Tommy Maxwell continued in the ex-Keith Martin 206, while Wayne Woolsey made another ‘one-off’ return in the ex-Dilly/Cregan Haird 206cc which the NW team currently have for sale, although he would only last one race.

Davy McKay stepped from the outside of row one to lead heat one initially, and with Christie’s disastrous Good Friday having helped his grid position, he was the first to give chase. McKay then got well out of shape exiting turn two, most likely after some sort of suspension breakage. Christie struck the #943 a glancing blow as he was faced with it sideways in front of him, but he continued in the lead ahead of Keith Martin. McKay tried to keep going, but he went straight on into turn one, albeit slowly, suggesting all was definitely not well with his Tigra.

Further back Bell had his mirrors full of Mark Heatrick’s Merc, which had been looking ridiculously fast in the previous week’s practice day. Mark soon found a way by (followed by Gary Woolsey), and although he closed on second man Martin, third would be his ultimate reward. Christie was the winner though, to banish the memory of “myworstnightsracingever.com”, as he described his exploits of a few days earlier.

McKay had effected repairs before heat two, but was given permission to run from the back of the grid. Paul Crawford was the early leader this time, but was soon overrun by Maxwell and Christie. John went for the outside pass straight away, only to get elbowed way deep into turn three, losing valuable time. This dropped him into a battle with Stewart Doak, which ended in tears when Stewart ended up spinning across John’s bows down the back straight. The Cirrus Plastics Tigra brought a marker tyre onto the raceway, giving the yellows an airing.

Maxwell led the restart away, and despite the best efforts of Heatrick, G Woolsey and Bell, he would hold on all the way to the flag. All three had a blast on the outside, but just couldn’t make it stick. Bell got the nod for second at the finish-up, from G Woolsey, Christie and Heatrick.

Crawford bogged down off the line in the final, allowing Maxwell to swoop ahead almost immediately. Doak was on the outside straight away, and so began a titanic battle for the lead that had the crowd on their toes. For over a dozen laps, Doak gave it everything on the outside, even pulling ahead on occasion and clipping the transponders first, but getting there was one thing, getting completely in front would be another.

Maxwell was right on the ragged edge as he fought to hang on, until first Heatrick got nudged into a spin from the following pack on turn three, and then Doak made his move to establish himself in front. But Stewart seemed to cut in much too soon, with the resultant contact sending the #996 machine spinning into turn one, where it was dealt a glancing blow by Martin.

The yellows were called just as Doak got himself moving again, sod’s law as always, even if it was to lead to eventual retirement for Stewart. It was certainly a poor ending to an excellent drive for the defending points champion.

Bell soon edged ahead on the resumption of hostilities to lead them home. Christie took ther flag in second, ahead of G Woolsey, Martin, a recovered Heatrick, Tommy Maxwell, Terry Maxwell and another accomplished outing for young newcomer Corrie Beggs.  Darren Black
Heat One: 962 John Christie, 994, 960, 940, 9, 996, 369, 50, 963, 147
Heat Two: 369 Tommy Maxwell, 9, 940, 962, 960, 994, 963, 147, 943, 7
Final: 9 Glenn Bell, 962, 940, 994, 960, 369, 963, 147

2010 World Series 09
Nutts Corner, Friday 2nd April 2010
Colin A. reports:  On a weekend when the Stock Rod formula occupied centre stage in the province it was fitting that three-time Stock Rod World Champion Glenn Bell took the final honours at the resumption of the National Hot Rod World Qualifying Series for Northern Ireland on Good Friday. Round 9 was transferred from Ballymena Raceway to Nutts Corner, and there were nine drivers in attendance including Corrie Beggs making his National debut in the former Alvin Christie Peugeot 206cc. Persistent rain during the evening made for difficult conditions and the teenager acquitted himself well in the circumstances. Irish Open Champion Keith Martin recorded victory in the first heat before Tommy Maxwell held off the pack to wrap up victory in heat two. Glenn Bell, back behind the wheel of his Peugeot 206cc, scored a clear win in the final ahead of Mark Heatrick, with heat winners Maxwell and Martin next across the finish line.
Heat One: 994 – 940 – 9 – 960 – 996 – 962 – 369 – 7 - 147
Heat Two: 369 – 996 – 940 – 994 – 7 – 9 – 147 – 960
Final: 9 – 960 – 369 – 994 – 996 – 940 – 147 – 962

2010 World Series 08
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 17th October 2009
Darren Black reports:  Rab Forsythe took a deserved if somewhat surprise final victory when the National Hot Rods contested their last World Qualifier of the year at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday October 17th. Earlier in the evening Tommy Maxwell had taken convincing victories in both heats, but come final time, his treble bid was thwarted by Forsythe.

An excellent entry of fifteen Nationals had gathered in the pits for this encounter, including a track debut for Jim McLaughlin in the ex- Davy Gurney Fiesta and a return from former 2.0 Hot Rodder Paul Cregan. Cregan had competed in his first meeting in the class way back on New Years Day at Ballymena, and was still behind the wheel of the ex-Dilly/Hanna/Sear Haird Motorsport 206cc. Both men ran from the back of the field all night as they settled into the formula. Also of note was Gary Woolsey’s decision to run his SLK at Nuttscorner for the first time, whilst Glenn Bell was back in his 206cc having used the Tigra at Tipperary’s European Championship.

Pole man John Steele was very slow away at the off in heat one, allowing Maxwell to rocket straight into an immediate lead. As Steele, Jonny Stevenson and Rab Forsythe squabbled over second, Maxwell was soon stretching away at the front.

Of the star men in the back group, Andrew Murray was leading the charge, before it seemed some fluid got onto the raceway into turn one. This caused a few hairy moments to say the least, with the big loser being Christie who half spun and dropped right off the pace.

Keith Martin got under Murray, and was being followed by Stewart Doak just as the Cirrus Plastics car lost a cylinder and dropped off the pace. This gave Murray the gap to get back into the train, but Martin soon suffered the same fate as Doak, and Murray was back through to what was fifth.

Gary Woolsey was the man making moves now, moving past Murray to hare after the leaders. He soon got under Davy McKay for fourth, with Murray and Mark Heatrick tracking him through. Gary then broke clear of the others and was all over Forsythe like a rash for the final few tours. Rab kept leaving the door wide open and then slamming it hard shut at each bend, but Woolsey eventually found a way through on the last turn.

At the front Maxwell had won by the proverbial country mile, from Stevenson with Woolsey excellent to watch in third. Forsythe got fourth in the end, with Heatrick just pipping Murray for fifth with the help of the transponders.

It was déjà vu in heat two, as Maxwell once again got the jump to lead them away, with Forsythe giving Stevenson plenty to think about for second. In the pack of star men, Christie was back in the groove again, sweeping past a repaired Doak on the outside but he just couldn’t do the same to Martin who was also back in full health again.

Maxwell came home to his second chequered flag of the night, ahead of Stevenson and Forsythe. McKay was next up, followed by Murray, whilst Christie got the better of Martin around the outside on the last lap for sixth.

Few would have bet against a Maxwell hat-trick come final time, especially now that Steele had loaded up for the night which placed Tommy effectively in pole position on the grid. But that all changed in an instant when the ex-Martin World-winning #369 machine bogged down off the line. It was messy through turns one and two at the front, and even more so into turn three when McKay got into the back of Stevenson, punting the black 206 into a half spin. Davy received a black cross next time around, by which time he was in third as Forsythe had managed to take it up, with Maxwell second.

Of the star runners, Martin found a gap inside Murray, with Doak, Bell and Christie trailing through in his wake, before John put an exquisite move on Glen to nab his spot which would see Bell drop right back as those behind took advantage.

Martin and co just could not close down the advantage to the leaders though, as Forsythe continued to keep Maxwell at arms length at the front. Christie soon found trouble again though, as the #962 machine turned really sick with what turned out to be a jump in the timing. This dropped John right back, although he continued to the finish for what might turn out to be a valuable few points in the final shake up next May.

Forsythe was home and dry by now, and took a rare but welcome final win ahead of Maxwell, who will no doubt be disappointed that he missed out on the treble, but at the same time more than pleased with a hefty haul of points for his night’s efforts.

McKay crossed the line third, but was demoted two spots for his earlier clash with Stevenson. This elevated Martin and Doak ahead of him, but after Stewart had hit the outside on the last lap the two could not be separated on the line – not even by the transponders which time down to one thousandths of a second - it was that close!

That brings down the curtain on another excellent year of National Hot Rodding in Ulster. The drivers will be out on New Years Day at Ballymena for the Winternationals before the World Series resumes at Easter 2010.  Darren Black
Heat One: 369, 888, 940, 992, 960, 997, 943, 9, 994, 983.
Heat Two: 369, 888, 992, 943, 997, 962, 994, 996, 940, 960.
Final: 992, 369, 994=996, 943(x-2), 960, 940, 9, 997, 983.
Brian Lammey’s photos


2010 World Series 07
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 3rd October 2009
Darren Black reports:  Former World Champion Keith Martin may well be currently languishing outside the qualifying spots for the 2010 World Final, but he certainly helped his cause with a heat and final brace when the National Hot Rods contested World Series (NI) Round 7 at a blustery Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday October 3rd.

Twelve cars were on hand for this encounter, with Gary Woolsey back in his elderly Corsa, last raced in the British Championship by brother Wayne. His Tigra has still not returned from its spell in the Ludlow Motorsport clinic, whilst he obviously didn’t wish to risk his Merc in the tight confines of Nuttscorner. Tommy Maxwell also had to change mounts, but at a much later stage. He slammed his Haird 206cc hard into the wall in practice with a jammed throttle, and was left to use his older 206 which fortunately just happened to be in the back of the lorry.

All the others were as you would expect, with Glenn Bell behind the wheel of his usual Peugeot after testing his new Tigra at Tipp the previous weekend.

Rab Forsythe was the first to show in heat one, blasting from the outside to slip ahead of Jonny Stevenson into the lead. Further back Davy McKay and Andrew Murray had an almost carbon copy of their incident in the last Nuttscorner World Qualifier, tangling into turn three when Murray did seem to be well down the inside. It cost both dear, as they dropped to the rear of the line up.

Forsythe and Stevenson were having their own battle for the lead, meanwhile Martin was chasing hard whilst being hampered by the close attentions of Stewart Doak. Forsythe was able to breathe a sigh of relief when that duo caught the leaders, as the shift in Stevenson’s thoughts to his mirrors allowed the #992 car to break free to claim the win.

Martin tried the outside of Stevenson looking for second, but just couldn’t make it stick, leaving Doak to pull it off as the laps ran out and grab the runner up spot. Stevenson held on for third, from Bell, Mark Heatrick and Martin, who had been rail-roaded right back as the cars crossed the line in close formation.

Stevenson made no mistake in heat two, turning his pole start into an immediate lead. Forsythe relieved Maxwell of second, as Doak picked up a black cross for contact on McKay into turn one. Martin was soon out where he spent many laps of the first race – on the outside of Stevenson.

Lap after lap the duo traversed the track side by side, Keith just unable to get his 206cc far enough ahead to grab the place. Soon Doak was positioned right behind the leader, with Bell making strides on the outside on the tail of Martin. This was National Hot Rod racing at its finest, with the top ten cars running together, side by side, at top speed and with no contact at all.

Try as he might Martin just couldn’t make the outside pay off, but he was hanging in there for dear life. It was obviously going to be a photo finish, and as they sped for the line for the last time there was no separating the lead duo with the naked eye, with the rest all flashing over the line as one right behind. It was down to the computer to separate them all, with Martin getting the nod by just 0.029 of a second from a gallant Stevenson. Bell and Heatrick inherited third and fourth after Doak was docked two places for his earlier misdemeanor, whilst the entire top 10 cars were past the flag in less than 2 seconds at the end of a superb race.

The final needed a second attempt to get going, when Forsythe initially failed to get away, and then Maxwell and Stevenson got together into turn one. Forsythe got the lead at the second time of asking, before Stevenson got under him to take it up. But he once again had Martin looming in his mirrors, and a repeat of the previous race looked on the cards as Keith hit the outside straight away.

Once again Martin was finding Jonny a difficult nut to crack, with Doak again the predator right behind. Lap after lap Keith used all his experience to try to pull the move off, eventually getting ahead down the back stretch after an awesome tussle. There may have been the slightest of touches as he moved through, getting the #888 car out of shape, with the ensuing melee seeing Stevenson spin off taking Andrew Murray hard into the turn three wall in an almighty mess, bringing out the yellows.

Martin led off the restart with just four to go, and cruised home to a welcome double after his recent poor luck. Doak took second, ahead of Bell, Heatrick, and a rather subdued duo of John Christie and Woolsey.

A thoroughly entertaining meeting from the Nationals, many of whom will now head South for this weekend’s European Championship at Tipperary, before returning to Nuttscorner Oval the following weekend to round out the season in Ulster.  Darren Black
Heat 1: 992 996 888 9 960 994 962 940 997 983
Heat 2: 994 888 960 9 996(X-2) 940 962 992 997 983
Final: 994 996 9 960 962 940 992 983 888
Brian Lammey’s photos

2010 World Series 06
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 25th September 2009
Colin A. reports:  Stewart Doak won the very first National Hot Rod race of 2009 at Ballymena Raceway way back on New Year’s Day and the current Northern Ireland Champion proved to be in the right place at the right time to inherit victory in the last National race of 2009 at the venue on September 25. Davy McKay was actually the first driver across the finish line in the final at World Qualifying Round 6, but a penalty imposed by the race steward handed the honours to Doak.

The fourteen car entry included newcomer Jim McLaughlin who made his National debut behind the wheel of the ex-Davy Gurney Ford Fiesta, while Gary Woolsey raced his Mercedes SLK on home soil for the first time. All the others were in their usual mounts as they received the green flag to start heat one on a dry and pleasant evening. An eventful opening lap saw Terry Maxwell beach his Peugeot 206 on the edge of the football pitch after a spin which brought out the yellow flags. Davy McKay made his way to the head of the pack at the resumption and withstood a stern challenge from Glenn Bell in the final third of the race to open his account for the evening.

Maxwell’s eventful evening continued at the start of heat two where his car barely crawled away from the line. This sent the entire pack scattering in all directions to avoid contact with the #963 car and resulted in a complete restart being called. McKay won this one handsomely, his Vauxhall Tigra a comfortable distance ahead of Keith Martin and Bell at the chequered flag.

McKay swiftly motored through to the front of the field in the final as well, but an incident between McKay and early leader Alvin Christie caught the eye of the steward who decided that McKay had gained an advantage from contact with Christie’s car for which the former Stock Rodder received a penalty at the conclusion of the race. That handed the race win to Northern Ireland Champion Doak, with McKay relegated to second and Glenn Bell in third.
Heat One: 943 – 9 – 994 – 997 – 960 – 962 – 888 – 404 – 369 – 963
Heat Two: 943 – 994 – 9 – 940 – 997 – 962 – 996 – 960 – 888 – 992
Final: 996 – 943 – 9 – 940 – 962 – 997 – 888 – 992 – 369 – 960

2010 World Series 05
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 29th August 2009
Darren Black reports:  Andrew Murray was the man on form when the National Hot Rods raced in NI World Series Round 5 at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday August 29th, the Randalstown driver taking a heat and final double at an excellent if somewhat fraught meeting.

To quote Jim Gregory and GB, there were a few “parish notices” for this one, the most notable being Jason Winning, who returned to the fold with a new 206 clothing a frame constructed by Adie Shaw of Ulster F2 specialists A&D Preparations. It certainly looked the part in its’ white colour scheme, set off by some excellent signage. His excellent run late in 2008 before he disappeared from the scene saw Jason line up almost at the back of the grid, probably just the spot for an initial test session anyway.

Glenn Bell had two cars in the pits, his regular 206cc and his new possession – the Davy McCall built Tigra as used by Rudi Myburgh in the World Final. Glenn put in some exploratory laps before and after the meeting in his new mount, but elected to go with the Peugeot for the racing, which in hindsight turned out to be the wrong call…

All the others were mounted as you’d expect, with a welcome return for Mark Keys who had gone AWOL since picking up a hat-trick at the last Nuttscorner round in July.

John Steele stepped off pole to lead the first encounter away, and behind there was all sorts of argy-bargy as everyone settled into it. It looked like something had to give, and it came after only three laps when Keys got into the back of Tommy Maxwell exiting turn four and the Haird 206cc rotated on the spot. Maxwell then came back across the raceway right in the midst of the main pack, collecting Keith Martin and Stewart Doak in the process. With Martin left stranded facing the wrong way at the start/finish line, the yellows were called for and he was finished for this one. Doak was able to continue albeit well down the order and Maxwell rejoined at the rear too. For his part in the incident, Keys was issued with a disqualification and banished to the infield.

When they got going again, Steele had retired for the night leaving Jonny Stevenson to take it up, with Davy McKay, Murray and Bell in tow. They all soon got under Stevenson, and when McKay out-braked himself into turn three, Murray quickly capitalised to take the lead and the win. Bell was in trouble soon too, as the cc was sounding very sick indeed and he was defending his second spot for all he was worth.

As Murray sailed home for an easy victory, Mark Heatrick drew alongside Bell for second, but cut back in almost too soon, giving us the fantastic sight of the Merc taking the runner up spot on full opposite lock through turns one and two. Bell held on for third from Gary Woolsey and John Christie.

Stevenson was poor away at the start of heat two, and Rab Forsythe made good the gap in front of him for the absent Steele to grab the lead, from Maxwell, Keys and McKay. Forsythe and Maxwell made good their escape from the rest as Keys dealt with the combined onslaught of McKay and Murray, although Andrew would soon be parked up on the infield with a puncture.

As Bell’s car went sick again to continue his poor night, Christie was on the move, and an outside pass on McKay and then slicing past Keys left John in third. But Forsythe was well gone by now, Rab having the Corsa well dialled in and taking a deserved chequered flag from Maxwell and Christie. Keys, McKay and Heatrick rounded out the top six.

Stevenson had a much better getaway in the final to take the lead, with Forsythe, McKay and Maxwell dropping in behind him. Maxwell then had what looked like a suspension breakage and he went straight on into turn one very hard indeed before riding right round the wall and fortunately onto the infield and out of harm’s way. McKay then found a way under Forsythe to go second, with Murray trailing ominously in his wake and looking very sharp indeed.

Forsythe continued to be relegated by the field, but a slight touch on turn one saw Martin have to check up abruptly, and with those close behind unsighted, the #994 machine got spat from the pack and into the wall, bringing out the yellows.

Stevenson didn’t last long in the lead at the restart, as McKay got under him down the back stretch and from then on it was a two-way fight for the honours between him and Murray, who had moved through Davy’s tail. Murray did look the quickest, and showed his nose down the inside on a number of occasions. McKay got a blue flag or two, which were for the most part ignored, before Murray took a gamble down the inside into turn three. The two cars controversially touched, with McKay taking what seemed a lifetime to eventually spin into retirement. Murray reeled off the remaining laps to take the flag from the impressive Heatrick Mercedes, Woolsey, Christie, Doak and Stevenson. There followed a lengthy Steward’s Inquiry into the Murray/McKay clash, with both drivers most certainly having their own views! The outcome was that Murray - perhaps fortunately in some quarters, perhaps not in others - kept the win and the trophy.

Overall, an excellent meeting, with the Nationals under the lights at Nuttscorner always a superb spectacle. Throw in some fine 2-Litre Hot Rods, including a dramatic late charge from Wayne Woolsey in the final, and that’s why we all keep coming back time and again. Roll on next weekend’s British Championship, which should be one to savour.  Darren Black
Heat 1: 997 960 9 940 962 992 943 996 369 888
Heat 2: 992 369 962 916 943 960 940 994 996 888
Final: 997 960 940 962 996 888 916 992 983

2010 World Series 04
Ballymena Raceway, Saturday 22nd August 2009
Colin A. reports:  For the second meeting in a row it was Gary Woolsey who took the final honours when Ballymena Raceway hosted World Qualifying Round 4 on August 22.

Weather conditions worsened as the evening progressed, but the track was still dry for the eleven drivers who started heat one. Tommy Maxwell and Andrew Murray fought out a battle for the lead in this one, but Murray could not make the outside pass stick and dropped back to fifth, as Maxwell led home Davy McKay, Keith Martin and John Christie.

Some rain had begun falling by the time of the second heat, where the field had gained late arrival Robert Forsythe, but lost Glenn Bell’s Peugeot 206cc which had pulled up in heat one. A rolling start was deployed and Murray quickly deposed Maxwell from the lead this time. Gary Woolsey motored through from grid eleven to second in his Vauxhall Tigra before a caution period was required when Forsythe rotated at Fisherwick bend. An oily smoke haze wafted from the rear of Murray’s Peugeot 206cc for a few laps after the restart which caused problems for the closely following Woolsey, so much so that the British Champion dropped to fourth by the finish behind Murray, Stewart Doak and Mark Heatrick.

All twelve entrants assembled for the final which also commenced under a rolling start with the track now awash from the heavy rain. Murray, Maxwell and Martin embarked on an ambitious project to exit Fisherwick bend three abreast on the opening lap, but their plan didn’t go entirely as envisaged and a red flag was called for after they collided on the back straight. Everyone was fit enough for the restart however where Murray headed the field until Martin splashed through around the wide outside. Christie was also making solid progress, with Woolsey in tow, and they were soon up to second and third. Martin’s Peugeot 206cc was quickly reeled in, but Christie’s challenge for the lead ended when his Vauxhall Tigra spun out on Fisherwick bend. Woolsey, who had started last on the grid, was next to challenge Martin and the British Champion gradually eased ahead to claim a very well executed victory. Martin was a solid second ahead of Murray and Bell, who registered his only finish of the evening in fourth.
Heat One: 369 – 943 – 994 – 962 – 997 – 940 – 960 – 996 – 888 – 32
Heat Two: 997 – 996 – 960 – 940 – 369 – 943 – 962 – 994 – 888 – 992
Final: 940 – 994 – 997 – 9 – 996 – 992 – 960 – 962 – 369 – 943

2010 World Series 03
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 14th August 2009
Colin A. reports:  British Champion Gary Woolsey claimed a well earned final victory at World Qualifying Round 3 on August 14 at Ballymena Raceway. Scattered showers of rain and drizzle throughout the evening made track conditions unpredictable for the thirteen drivers in attendance.

Glenn Bell quickly found the grip in the early stages of heat one to move through from tenth to second. A tight side by side battle then developed between Bell and race leader Tommy Maxwell, with Maxwell successfully defending his position to the flag.

Mark Heatrick was quickly into the lead of heat two, despite clipping the wall at one point, and would never be headed in his Mercedes SLK. Towards the end Stewart Doak made the right choice amongst the backmarkers to snatch second from Keith Martin.

John Steele set a good pace in the final and led for many laps in his Vauxhall Corsa before Gary Woolsey, driving his Vauxhall Tigra once more, moved through from grid 12 to take over the lead. The British Champion completed the distance well clear of second and third place finishers Doak and Bell, while Heatrick staged a noteworthy recovery to claim fourth despite an earlier spin.
Heat 1: 369 – 960 – 994 – 996 – 9 – 943 – 940 – 997 – 992 - 962
Heat 2: 960 – 996 – 994 – 997 – 940 – 369 – 9 – 23 - 943 – 404
Final: 940 – 996 – 9 – 960 – 23 – 369 – 994 – 997 – 962 – 943

2010 World Series 02
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 25th July 2009
Darren Black reports:  On a weekend when the World Lightning Rod Championship took centre stage, it was perhaps fitting that former multi-champion in the Sierras, Mark Keys, was the pick of the bunch in the National Hot Rods, taking a faultless hat-trick in 2010 World Series Round Two at Nuttscorner Oval.

There were 13 cars in the packed pit area at the Nuttscorner Oval Speedweekend, but unfortunately troubles meant John Steele’s Corsa wouldn’t see it past practice. His stable-mate Davy McKay was giving his new Tigra its first Nuttscorner run, whilst amongst the ‘multi-car drivers’, Tommy Maxwell remained behind the wheel of his ex-Keith Martin 206, whilst Gary Woolsey was in his Tigra.

McKay led them off in heat one, but Keys soon slipped past to take it up, with the yellow 206 looking very handy indeed. As Rab Forsythe and Alvin Christie fell backwards, the man on the move was Andrew Murray, as he relegated Maxwell to set off after the leaders.

Amongst a titanic scrap for the places, a number decided to trip themselves up, with Maxwell rotating and losing valuable time. Stewart Doak was the one who gained most, but he was soon defending hard as the Cirrus Plastics machine looked to be in trouble. Even after Murray swooped by McKay for second, Keys was already home and dry for his first win, with Glenn Bell getting round Doak for fourth in the closing laps.

Keys soon took up the reins in the second encounter too, with Forsythe this time staying well in touch amongst the leaders. Further back, Doak was in all sorts of expensive looking trouble, as he struggled with a smoky and down-on-power engine which he said himself looked like it was “about to blow”. He held a tight line and John Christie and Gary Woolsey were able to take the high road past.

With the front three well clear, the battle was on behind as Maxwell fended off the attentions of a bunch of star men. Mark Heatrick couldn’t get his SLK past Tommy, but excellent drives saw Bell, Christie and Woolsey all by before the flag. Up front, Keys had made it an easy double, whilst Forsythe nipped by McKay for second at the end. Bell, Christie and Woolsey were next up.

It would have been a brave man who’d have bet against Keys bagging his hat-trick in the final, as he’s just too good for a front row start. He soon got his nose in front, and that was that as far as the silverware was concerned. Forsythe and McKay were next up, with Alvin C holding sway in fourth before Heatrick got into the back of him into turn 3. This unsettled Alvin, before the Merc came back and turned him right around in front of the pack, at the entrance to the home straight. The resultant chaos saw both Murray and Keith Martin in the wall too, leading to a red flag.

Both Murray and Martin failed to make the restart, with Heatrick also banished to the centre under a disqualification as the cause of the stoppage. Keys perhaps thought he might now have a few questions to answer, with the field closed right up behind him, but Mark simply disappeared again into the distance, leading home the impressive Forsythe and McKay. Woolsey was best of the star men in fourth, ahead of John C and Bell.  Darren Black
Heat 1:  916  997 943  9 996  940 962  960 994  992
Heat 2: 916  992 943  9 962  940 369  960 994  997
Final: 916  992 943  940 962 9  369 996  404

2010 World Series 01
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 24th July 2009
Colin A. reports:  Mark Heatrick took the final honours in the opening round of the 2010 world qualifying series for Northern Ireland at Ballymena Raceway on July 24.  Fifteen drivers, amongst them Davy McKay debuting his Vauxhall Tigra, contested the opener on a bright, mild evening at the Ballymena Showgrounds.

The opening heat brought a first ever National Hot Rod win for Terry Maxwell who used his front row starting position to great effect by leading from start to finish. Maxwell was followed home by Keith Martin and John Christie. Irish Open Champion Christie nipped inside the squabbling Maxwell and Mark Heatrick to secure the victory in race two with Glenn Bell in second and Gary Woolsey, back behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Tigra, in third. Robert Forysthe led the early stages of the final until Heatrick powered ahead at Suffolk bend with Woolsey and Christie in tow. The trio lapped in close company until the finish, but Heatrick never looked under too much threat as he recorded a well judged first win on home soil for his Mercedes SLK. Woolsey settled for second with top points scorer on the evening Christie in third.
Heat 1: 963 – 994 – 962 – 940 – 997 – 404 – 32 – 9 - 960 – 992
Heat 2: 962 – 9 – 940 – 960 – 994 – 996 – 992 – 404 – 369 – 23
Final: 960 – 940 – 962 – 9 – 997 – 992 – 996 – 994 – 404 – 7

***

2009 World Series 16
Nuttscorner Oval Saturday 6th June 2009
Darren Black reports:  Stewart Doak and Keith Martin were the big winners when the National Hot Rods contested the sixteenth and final round of the 2008/09 World Series at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday night. Martin came through what was a very nervy meeting indeed to grab the final win, his second feature race win of the season at the venue, whilst Doak did enough to ensure that he kept hold of the NI Championship title for another 12 months, unofficially at least.

It was a must-see meeting for all the local fans of the Nationals, with the six qualifiers all still to be decided from the seven potential World Final entrants. To top that, the NI Championship title was still within the reach of a number of drivers, so the stage was set for what would be a very intriguing encounter indeed.

There were twelve cars in the pits, but unfortunately only ten would eventually make it onto the raceway. After a time away, Rab Forsythe did actually make it onto the track, but as he was still without a 2009 NHRPA licence he would have to make do with a test session running at the back of the 2 Litre Hot Rods. Terry Maxwell was also in the pits, but for one reason or another never made it through the pit gate, leaving the seven major combatants to be joined by Andrew Murray, Jonny Stevenson and Alvin Christie.

In the pits prior to the meeting, drivers, team members and the fans were bandying about all sorts of scenarios as to what might happen and how things could pan out, but no-one even got close to what was about to transpire….

Murray’s late start to the campaign has seen his points average to and fro, and leave him almost everywhere on the grid, from front to back, and last week even right in the middle of the “big boys”. This week (with Alvin C running off the back with car problems in practice) he was second on the grid behind Stevenson, as these two made up the front group leaving the seven contenders starting in group two.

The former British Stock Rod Champion made a blinding start to heat one, undoing the stagger to swoop into the lead around the #888 car, with Tommy Maxwell settling into third on what had to be a good night from him; he being the man in the ‘bump’ spot prior to the meeting. John Christie had a good getaway too, and was soon harrying the Maxwell car, before sweeping round the outside to grab the spot, and soon doing likewise to Stevenson to go second. Woolsey followed soon afterwards in the same fashion, as the rest were left to battle amongst themselves.

It was frantic stuff in the main pack, which now comprised the whole field from fourth down, and Heatrick found himself shuffled out of things onto the outside – something he really could have done without given his own precarious position on the points chart.

Murray was well clear at the front, and coasted home to the win despite John C’s best efforts which saw him set a new lap record. Woolsey took third ahead of a resolute Stevenson, with Maxwell, Doak, Bell and Martin next up.

Murray didn’t get quite so good a start to the second event of the night, but he still took up the reins from Stevenson early doors, but the big sensation of the night had already come as Heatrick ground to a halt with a blown gearbox; Mark’s thumping of the steering wheel not even coming close to showing what his frustrations must have been given what many thought were the massive implications of his retirement.

John C lost out this time, as Woolsey was the one striding forward to third behind the lead duo, and soon into second. Maxwell was holding onto fourth, as Martin spent a number of laps on his outside before slipping ahead to leave Tommy fending off Glenn Bell for fifth.

Murray again led them home, as if to announce that when the 2010 Series begins he’ll be joining in the qualification battle in earnest. Woolsey, Stevenson and Martin were next up, and Doak inherited fifth after Bell was docked two places for knocking Maxwell wide as they entered turn three on the last lap.

The calculators were working hard before the final, much more so than Heatrick’s 206cc which was finished for the night. But that wasn’t the end for Mark that many thought, as this would become his dropped round and he would have to watch as Maxwell required first or second to surpass his total, whilst third would see them both travel to Ipswich as tied for the sixth and final spot. At the top of the chart, Doak held a slender 4 point lead over Bell, the four points Glenn had just lost himself at the hands of the Steward….And Woolsey was just 4 points behind Glenn, with Martin not out of it either….

The tension was plain to see as they gridded for the final, with Heatrick taking his place on the banking with his World Final completely out of his hands – I’m sure he must’ve bitten his fingernails to the first knuckle as he anticipated what would unfold!

The drama wasn’t long in coming, as Murray was in trouble during the warm-ups as his clutch cable came adrift, forcing Andrew to take a roller from the back of the field, but more importantly promote Maxwell to second on the grid – the very position he needed to hold….

Stevenson led them away, from Maxwell, with Woolsey and Martin next up. The pack soon caught the leading Ballymena man, and Maxwell found himself in something of a catch-22 situation. Should he hold station on the inside and defend his second spot, or take the bull by the horns and go for the lead?  Gallantly he chose the latter, but it was to be his downfall as he arrived at turn three much too hot on the outside, and the merest of touches with the Stevenson 206 saw him slither wide and out of contention.

Out of it all Martin took up the reins at the front, with Woolsey second and Doak soon sitting pretty in third as Stevenson dropped out. Woolsey closed nearing the end, but Keith held on for the trophy with Doak coming home to defend his NI title in third ahead of Bell, who must certainly be proud of second in the Series at his first attempt.

So Doak, Bell, Woolsey, Martin, Christie and Heatrick go through to represent the Province at the World Final, and you have to feel sorry for Maxwell who just missed out after a fine effort all season, and who drove on through the pain barrier after breaking his hand on Good Friday at Ballymena. Congratulation to Doak too on the defence of his NI title, no mean feat when he spent the whole season running off the back of the grid or not far off it, but was always prepared to give it his all and hit the outside line. All the drivers deserve a mention too for another fine season of racing, even if we didn’t have the numbers on track at times that we would have liked.  Darren Black.
Qualifiers photo - John Wolsey.  Brian Lammey’s racing photos in the GALLERY
Heat 1:  997 962  940 888  369 996  9 994  960 404
Heat 2:  997 940  888 994  996 369  962 9(X-2) 404 nof
Final: 994  940 996  9 962  369 997  404 nof

2009 World Series 15
Nuttscorner Oval Saturday 30th May 2009
Darren Black reports:  Having failed to figure prominently in the heats, Portadown’s Glenn Bell made no mistake in the feature race final when he ran out the winner of a tense World Series Round 15 at Nuttscorner Oval. Earlier, both heats had fallen to Corsa man Davy McKay, but he fell short when the treble was there for the taking.

The was an improved 13 cars for this encounter, the best local entry of the season so far, with both Alvin Christie and Terry Maxwell having their first World Qualifier runs of 2009. John Steele also made one of his sporadic appearances, whilst the others were all mounted as you would expect. Tommy Maxwell was in his newer Haird car, having utilised the older ex-Keith Martin car at the previous Nuttscorner meeting, and Gary Woolsey was once again in his Tigra.

Terry Maxwell set off from pole to lead the first heat initially, but was soon passed by Steele who briefly took up the running. John seemed to get out of shape entering the back straight, which left McKay with no option but to make contact, leaving the #23 car out of contention as Davy took up the reins.

Of the major contenders for qualification, Mark Heatrick (still in his Peugeot 206cc) had got a blinding start to get ahead of his rival for the last qualification spot - Tommy Maxwell - and these two soon settled into second and third after Jonny Stevenson had got himself into all manner of difficulty.

Stewart Doak was the man making strides forward now, and he got the slightest of gaps through turn four to get under Tommy M for third, before setting about Heatrick. This was a tougher nut to crack though, but the defending NI Champion made it by on the wide line nearing the end.

McKay rounded out the remaining tours to claim the win, with Doak second ahead of Heatrick and Tommy M, with John Christie the best of the rest in fifth.

Terry M once again led them off for the second time on what was a glorious summer’s evening, and led for a much longer period this time before McKay once again got the better of him to snatch the lead. Stevenson was running third behind them, but he ran wide on the exit of turn four as we neared half distance. Tommy M was right on his tail at the time, but, as if in sympathy, he ran wide too, giving Heatrick the invitation of a wide open door he wasn’t about to turn down. Tommy M, having realised his mistake, chopped hard for the inside entering the home straight, but Mark was already there and the #369 machine got turned aside onto the infield in a cloud of dust.

When things settled down, McKay was still ahead and easily took his second win of the evening, whilst Terry M and Stevenson were eventually relegated as Heatrick, Woolsey, Doak and Keith Martin moved through to the premier spots behind the winner. Tommy M had got himself going again, and his last placed finish might just come in handy in a week’s time…

McKay most definitely had his sights set on the treble as they set off in the final, with Terry M once again the man setting the pace. Davy was once again biding his time before making his move, but when he did he just couldn’t make it stick on the outside, and the treble bid went out the window as he got relegated backwards by the second group of star men.

Stevenson now took up the mantle and was glued to Terry’s rear bumper, with Tommy M now in third. The whole pack was nose to tail, but as Tommy M looked to the outside of the lead duo, Terry M slowed drastically as they exited turn two. As the main body of the field contacted with each other given the sudden drop in pace, Tommy M swept around the outside to take up the running. Bell was another major benefactor as he came right from seventh to second in one fell swoop as the whole race was turned on it’s head. Doak was now third too having made a fistful of places, with Terry M now back up to speed in fourth. What was behind it all will probably never be known – Terry reckoning that he had just “got a tail on”, whilst the knowledgeable Ulster Rod fans most definitely smelt a rat and vented their frustrations accordingly on the terraces.

With things all shook up, Tommy M had the lead, but points-leader Bell, and Doak, were soon chasing him down. Glenn wasted no time hitting the outside, and the Stock Rod World Champion soon pulled off a great pass that gave him a lead he would carry right to the line for a superb win. Doak took to the outside too and wrestled second from Tommy M in the closing stages, with Martin fourth over the strip from Heatrick and Woolsey.

So World Series NI comes to the boil quite nicely this weekend at Nuttscorner Oval with the final round. It’s all up for grabs, with the six qualifiers, never mind the points-champion still to be decided. It won’t be for the faint-hearted….  Darren Black
Heat 1:  943 996  960 369  962 940  9 994  997 963
Heat 2:  943 960  940 996  994 962  9 888  997 963
Final: 9  996 369  994 960  940 962  963 404  997

2009 World Series 14
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 22nd May 2009
Summary with thanks to BMR:  It was an evening of firsts in Round 14 of the World Qualifying Series for Northern Ireland at Ballymena Raceway on May 22nd. Andrew Murray’s brace of heat wins were his first since he returned to the class this season, before Paul Crawford recorded his first ever National success with an impressive flag-to-flag victory in the meeting final.

While the two former Stock Rod racers shared the spoils it was a case of what we have we hold for the seven protagonists battling for the six available World qualifying slots. No-one was taking too many risks with the honourable exception of Keith Martin. The 2005 World Champion was starting off last position on the grid and worked the outside line tirelessly all meeting with only a sixth place finish in the opening heat to show for his hard work. Jonathan Stevenson followed Crawford home in the final, while Glenn Bell was promoted to third after Mark Heatrick, who had tested his recently acquired Mercedes SLK during practice, was issued with a one place penalty by the steward for jumping the start.
Heat 1: 997  888 960  9 996  994 369  7 962
Heat 2: 997  7 888  369 9  960 962  996 940  994
Final: 7 888  9 960 (X-1)  962 996  940 994  997 369

2009 World Series 13
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 9th May 2009
Darren Black reports:  With his World Championship qualifying status on a knife-edge, Mark Heatrick did his hopes a power of good when he collected the spoils in the final of Round 13 at Nuttscorner Oval. His main adversary for the final spot on the Ipswich grid, Tommy Maxwell, was a heat winner along with current form man John Christie.

There were eleven cars present for this one, with probably the most notable point being that after practicing in both his cars, Maxwell plumped for the older ex-Keith Martin World-winning 206 as opposed to his much newer Haird 206cc. Tommy is also still coping with the broken hand sustained in his Good Friday Ballymena crash, racing with it heavily strapped up as there’s no rest for anyone involved in the NI qualifying chase. Gary Woolsey was once again Tigra-mounted for only the second time at Nuttscorner.

It was interesting to note the NHRPA grid for each race, with the averages putting recent returnee Andrew Murray right at the back; a massive score at his last meeting back in 2002 (or could it have been New Years Day 2003?) leaving him behind all the main protagonists. That should sort itself out for the next meeting when the old one can be discarded, whereas the seven Ipswich contenders have settled down to now gridding in what is pretty much reverse points order, as they have all raced in every meeting rendering the average system almost redundant between them.

Paul Crawford led them away in heat one, with Davy McKay soon taking over the top spot in his Corsa. It wasn’t to last long though, as he soon pulled to the centre with mechanical difficulty, handing the reins back to Crawford’s 206cc.

Jonny Stevenson was running second, but looking unlikely to find a way by. That left it up to the star men to have a go, and whilst Crawford held it tight the only option was the longer outside line. Paul was right on the edge at times, but could do little to hold them off as first Christie and then Woolsey made it by.

John duly reeled off the laps to continue his purple patch with the nights’ first chequered flag. Woolsey got home second, whilst Crawford was overjoyed at his best result to date in third. Points’ leader Keith Martin was fourth, whilst Stewart Doak nipped by Glenn Bell late on for fifth.

In heat two, McKay had pulled up once again; this time even before the warm-up laps had been completed, leaving Crawford to duly lead them off again ahead of Stevenson. Heatrick had got a blinding start to this one, getting the jump on Maxwell into turn one, before finding a gap inside Stevenson out onto the back straight. Stevenson chose to defend hard, and as he squeezed Heatrick he found himself spinning onto the infield down the back straight and retirement. Heatrick, meanwhile, found himself relegated right back.

This left Crawford holding the baby again, but not for long, as Maxwell darted by on the outside to take it up. That was it as far as a race winner was concerned, as Tommy roared to the line, with Christie and Bell almost dead-heating for second; John just getting the nod by a mere 8 thousandths of a second on the transponders when the naked eye was never going to separate them. Woolsey, Martin and a recovered Heatrick were next up, whilst Doak trailed in last having continued for half the race with a puncture, proving just how vital every last point could turn out to be, come the end of the series in a month’s time.

Heatrick made another fantastic start to the final, as things got very, very frantic in the opening exchanges. Stevenson got barged wide in turn 2, which resulted in Maxwell getting a black cross next time through. Heatrick relieved Crawford of the lead on the second tour, and set about building himself a useful advantage.

Maxwell was now up to second, as Crawford got relegated down through the pack before he pulled off into retirement. Christie in third was making Maxwell sweat, and John soon swept around the outside and into second at the halfway point.

Heatrick’s lead was well over a quarter of a lap at this stage, and it looked like he was all but home and dry. Christie had other ideas, and began hammering in some very rapid laps, some in fact over half-a-second faster than anyone else on the track. By the time he got onto Heatrick’s rear bumper only 5 laps remained, and John immediately took to the outside line. Try as he might though, he just couldn’t make the move stick, and Heatrick held on for a very welcome win in what was an enthralling finish enjoyed by all the fans. Christie was excellent value for money in second, with Woolsey in third having also joined the lead battle in the closing stages. Doak, Bell and Martin rounded out the top six.

With just three rounds to go, World Series NI continues to be finely balanced. One retirement can see you plummet down the table, whilst what they all fear most of all is a terminal problem at any meeting, which could very easily see a top name fail to make the grid at Ipswich. It will all be decided over the next few weeks, and the action is sure to be top drawer at each of the outings.  Darren Black
Heat 1: 962, 940, 7, 994, 996, 9, 997, 888, 369, 960.
Heat 2: 369, 962, 9, 940, 994, 960, 997, 7, 996.
Final: 960, 962, 940, 996, 9, 994, 997, 888, 369.

2009 World Series 12
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 1st May 2009
Results with thanks to the Ballymena Raceway website
Heat 1:  962 943 960 940 994 996 9 997
Heat 2:  943 369 997 996 994 962 9 7
Final: 962 994 369 940 9 996 997 960

2009 World Series 11
Ballymena Raceway, Friday 24th April 2009
Darren Black reports:  On a dreary, damp and overcast night, John Christie took a maximum haul of points away from Ballymena Raceway at World Series Round 11. It sounds quite straightforward, but after a dominant display in the heats, John only collected the final win after a cruel twist robbed local driver Jonathan Stevenson of his first trophy.

The entry for this one matched the weather – poor! Only nine cars had turned up in the pits, with various problems keeping a few away who otherwise would have been expected to be on track.

Paul Crawford was on pole for the first encounter, his maiden race from the front of the grid. The track was quite wet, so rolling starts were the order of the day, with Paul immediately falling backwards as Stevenson took up the running. Christie slotted into second very quickly, his poor return in the last round having dropped him forward on the grid.

As Christie challenged on the outside for the lead, Stewart Doak was giving it a great shot on the outside too, clawing right up to second in a superb drive. Stewart had earlier been moving in and out of his Tigra, very, very gingerly indeed, as he still suffered the after-effects of his high speed Nuttscorner Oval shunt on Easter Monday.

With the front pair well clear, a great battle was going on for third, between Tommy Maxwell, Keith Martin and Glenn Bell - who was suffering clutch trouble for the second meeting in a row. Tommy got himself boxed in behind the back-marking Crawford car and the others were through, but a long way behind leading duo Christie and Doak.

We had another clutch-struggler for heat two, as Doak’s had now all but gone too, no doubt not helped at all by having spent not only heat one pushing Bell to get him going at the start of the warm-ups, but also the whole meeting on Easter Monday. It was Gary Woolsey who now took over starter duties as he got Bell away whilst Doak struggled away from the line possibly on the starter. Luckily for them the conditions were bad and we were taking rolling starts, or they would both have been off the back.

Christie soon swept around the outside of Crawford to lead again just like earlier, but Maxwell and co had got themselves underneath Stevenson this time, and it was this that would check another of Doak’s charges around the outside early on. Woolsey meanwhile was stuck right at the rear of the field and was losing time hand over fist, as Crawford and Stevenson squabbled, side-by-side, ahead of him.

Christie was well clear by now, with Maxwell, Bell and Doak next up. Stewart may still be in some pain from his back injury, but it certainly wasn’t showing as he once again hit the high line and hauled himself past both Glenn and Tommy to capture second spot. Christie was home and dry though by now, with the top value Doak second ahead of Bell and Martin, who had both got by Maxwell late on.

Things were much drier come final time, and in the pits the cars sat on jacks as the drivers looked at each other to see who was going with what combination of tyres. It was most certainly still damp off-line, but more than adequately dry on it, so there was definitely a gamble on the table for anyone willing to take it. Whilst Woolsey didn’t seem to care and went with the same four wets, Martin and Christie, along with Mark Heatrick, took the bull by the horns and went on four slicks. Bell and Doak hedged their bets with a 2+2 combination however.

Stevenson was first to show in his ex-Neal Smith Peugeot, with Christie slotting into second ahead of Heatrick and Bell, after Maxwell got baulked badly when Crawford got all crossed up into turn one. Straight away the seasoned fan could see quite a situation developing here, with the entire field pretty much as one. Martin dived out wide, but it just wasn’t happening with his four slicks – not yet anyway!

Christie was having the same problem – he was never going to get around Stevenson with the outside still damp. More to the point, given his precarious points position, he didn’t want to try, as it could very easily have led to him being railroaded to the back and precious points lost. John’s only option was to pressure Stevenson and hope his inexperience told and an inside gap opened up.

A few blue flags were aired intermittently to Stevenson, but he was doing little wrong in the circumstances. If he did hold in tight, no one wanted alongside, so the stalemate continued. Christie would then at times drop slightly back, and when Stevenson regained the full racing line he was blue flagged again.

Martin meanwhile was plodding on, all the time clearing the outside line a little, ready for a charge as he had little to lose. He then went for it, and in a masterly piece of driving – which we are seeing much more of in 2009 than of late – pulled himself past Doak and alongside Bell, whom he would beat to the line for a great fourth spot.

At the front Stevenson was withstanding the pressure like a veteran, keeping everything controlled and more importantly, in the lead. He had a queue of Ulster’s best behind him, but held on to take the chequers and his first ever final from Christie and Heatrick. The Steward had other ideas though, and handed him a rare one-place penalty for ‘blocking and not obeying instructions through the Raceceiver’. Harsh it most certainly was, but at the end of the day the steward has the final say. Most drivers had watched it unfold in front of them and most were puzzled to say the least in the pits afterwards, including surprise victor Christie who was almost embarrassed by it all, and a bemused John sportingly presented the trophy to Stevenson, the moral victor in most eyes. Darren Black
H1: 962, 996, 994, 9, 940, 369, 960, 888, 7.
H2: 962, 996, 9, 994, 369, 940, 960, 888, 7.
Final: 962, 888(X-1), 960, 994, 9, 996, 369, 940.

2009 World Series 10
Nuttscorner Oval, Monday 13th April 2009
Darren Black reports:  Former World and European Champion Keith Martin scooped a heat and final double when the National Hot Rods raced in Round 10 of World Series NI at Nuttscorner Oval on Easter Monday afternoon.

There were eleven cars on hand for this encounter, all home grown with no visitors this time around. Points leader Gary Woolsey brought his Vauxhall Tigra along for, believe it or not, its first ever outing at Nuttscorner; Gary having preferred his older Corsa on previous visits. Perhaps the pecking order of the #940 fleet has been re-jigged somewhat with the arrival of the SLK….

Paul Crawford was making his Nuttscorner Oval debut in his immaculate SHP 206cc, whilst making a return after a number of years away was Randalstown driver Andrew Murray. Armed with the ex-John Holtby Ludlow 206cc, which has been stripped right back and rebuilt to Andrew’s own specification, his progress was being closely followed by many. As a former European Championship runner up and World Final qualifier, his striking machine, finished in trademark MOR Motorsport orange, would soon be well on the pace.

With Crawford, Steele and Murray being given dispensation to start at the back of the field, the Good Friday Ballymena winner Davy McKay set off in the lead in heat one, but he was always going to struggle as a blown diff in practice had left him with the wrong gearing in the Corsa. He was swiftly overhauled by Tommy Maxwell early doors, with Tommy himself overcoming the handicap of a hand injury sustained in his accident in the previous meeting. Glenn Bell was slow off the grid in this one, with a clutch problem which would blight his afternoon.

McKay soon pulled off and retired for the day, whilst John Christie was the next to fall by the wayside as a broken rear axle bracket had left him in obvious trouble. They weren’t the only ones in difficulties, as Crawford, who has been quite tidy in his few meetings so far, got caught out on the marbles in the middle of turns 1 and 2, spinning to halt mid-track. The Raceceivers helped get everyone by him ok, but the car then got beached on the kerb as he reversed to safety; as it was only slightly impeding the track racing continued.

Maxwell continued to circulate in front, whilst Stewart Doak was giving Woolsey plenty to think about further back. Stewart came wide around the #7 car, before blasting inside Woolsey down the back straight in a real opportune pass. The pair then clashed as they reached turn three, with the Cirrus Plastics Tigra spearing hard left into the wall. The yellows were quickly aired, followed by reds as it became apparent Stewart required medical assistance. Fortunately after a full check by the St John’s Ambulance personnel, he was given the all clear, although suffering from a very stiff back and neck. He was quick to praise his HANS Device, as one of the few who uses one, saying that things would have been much worse had he not had it on, given the severity of the impact. Perhaps given the speeds reached by the Nationals these should be mandatory in the near future. Woolsey was issued with a black flag disqualification for his part in the incident and duly pulled up on the centre green.

Maxwell made no mistake on the restart, taking another win in his new Haird car, followed by a recovered Bell, Martin, Heatrick and a very handy looking Murray, who had sat right on the tail of the ‘big boys’ from start to finish.

Whilst Doak was being assessed by the medical team, the Cirrus Plastics crew had readied the #996 Tigra for heat two, replacing suspension components and even broken throttle cables and the like. It seems likely the frame is twisted by all accounts, but such is the battle for World qualification, missing races needs to be avoided at all costs. Christie wasn’t so lucky, as he’d had to dash back to his workshop to effect repairs to his Tigra and therefore missed this one, as did Steele.

Bell’s clutch was still playing up, and he took a rolling start from the rear of the line up. Maxwell was the first to show, with Martin trying everything for a way past. A blue flag was perfectly obeyed by Tommy, but Keith was soon past and off into the lead. Woolsey had caught Maxwell now too, but a slight hesitation saw the NW Developments car boxed in behind the Maxwell car as Doak and Bell hit the outside. Doak moved through to second, but Gary was able to fend off Bell’s advances to move into third once both had dealt with Maxwell.

They say in these circles that sometimes a car goes better once it’s had a good hit, and Doak’s was definitely doing just that. He ran down Martin in the closing stages, and even had a look outside him as the chequered flag was unfurled. Keith held on for a good win, whilst Woolsey beat Bell home for third, with Maxwell and Murray rounding out the top six after Heatrick was once again slowed by mechanical gremlins.

Living nearby was a godsend for Christie, as he had been able to exact repairs in his workshop and be back on the grid for the final, alongside Steele who was back in action too.

Bell once again took a roller from the back, as Doak ran wide on oil left from the previous 2-Litre Hot Rod race. Martin was quickly into his stride, slipping under Christie and then relieving Maxwell of the lead, as Heatrick once again was making noises that everything was far from well with his 206cc.

Woolsey was on a charge in this one for sure, and soon dismissed Maxwell to go second. Martin had built up a significant lead, and the British Champion was at 110% commitment as he tried to close him down. There then followed something that you won’t see very often at any race track, as Woolsey spun it all away on his own entering turn one. He very nearly held it as it broke away, but in the end was left facing the traffic as a whole bunch of World Qualifying points passed him by.

Martin was now safe, and duly reeled off the remaining laps to record a very welcome victory as reward for a hard winter’s work. A battle royale had developed for second as Maxwell, Bell, Doak and Christie crossed the line as one in that order, with Murray again right behind them in sixth ahead of the recovered Woolsey. Darren Black
Official Results:
Heat One: 369, 9, 994, 960, 997, 23 nof. (940 disq)
Heat Two: 994, 996, 940, 9, 369, 997, 960, 7 nof
Final: 994, 369, 9, 996, 962, 997, 940, 23, 7, 960

2009 World Series 09
Ballymena, Friday 10th April 2009
Darren Black reports:  After failing to figure prominently in the heats, local driver Davy McKay romped away in the final to record a commanding victory as the NI World Series resumed at Ballymena on Good Friday.

Twelve cars turned up for this one, including a couple of visitors in the form of ex-local and now regular interloper Wilson Hamilton in his Colt, and Republic of Ireland driver Brendan O’Connell, again in his older 206.

Of the home drivers, there was some pristine new machinery on show, with British Champion Gary Woolsey giving his new Ludlow Mercedes SLK its first airing during practice. It seemed to be circulating pretty quickly too, save for a small braking issue, but Gary decided, as he was probably always going to, that the tried and trusted Tigra would be his car for the actual racing.

Tommy Maxwell also gave a debut to his superbly turned out new Haird Motorsport 206cc, but, whilst not a new car, the show stopper of the meeting for me was Paul Crawford’s SHP 206cc. Resplendent in a striking graphite colour scheme, and bearing his new (but old if you remember him in a Stock Rod) number #7, the car looked simply stunning.

Of the others, most were mounted exactly as we would expect, although both the camps of John Christie and Keith Martin respectively had been hard at work with significant work having gone on ‘under the clothes’ so to speak to their respective charges.

As the cars set off for the first lap of the new season, things were frantic to say the least with all the cars together right from the off. It all kicked off on the back straight as McKay and Glenn Bell came together in the midst of the pack. Both spun off onto the grass, and although Bell tried to continue with major suspension damage, it was quits for both of them in the end.

Maxwell had taken up the lead by now, and was stretching off into the distance too, as Heatrick held sway in second. Martin was swarming all over him – the #994 car looking much more of a package already after its winter rebuild. Keith wasted no time looking to the outside, but Mark has little to learn when it comes to defensive driving, and the two traversed side by side for lap after lap. Keith almost got clear at one time, only to get checked back out of turn 2, before finally making it past having spent the best part of the race on the wide line.

Maxwell eased home for a perfect debut for his new machine, with Martin a popular runner-up with the crowd after his heroics. Heatrick held on for third, ahead of Woolsey and Stewart Doak.

McKay was first away in heat two but was soon stuck on the outside line as all the fancied runners eased inside. Davy then tried to squeeze back into the queue only to end up unceremoniously dumped onto the grass, possibly after contact with Bell’s 206cc. Christie had by now shown his hand, swooping past Jonathan Stevenson to take up the running.

Maxwell tried to follow John through, but whilst alongside Stevenson squeezed him much too tight as they headed towards turn three. This pushed the #888 car onto the damp grass, from which point on Jonny was no more than a passenger. His Peugeot came sliding back onto the track, only to career into the side of Maxwell’s new machine which slammed hard into the wall. The yellows were aired and there was quite a delay as they removed the car with both front and rear end damage.

Christie made no mistake at the restart, leading home Bell, Woolsey, Doak and Martin to the win, whilst Heatrick struggled around with his 206cc stuck in first gear after the linkage came adrift.

McKay was back for more in the final, and led them off in his Corsa, now battle scarred and covered in copious amounts of gaffer tape after his earlier woes. Bell had another big moment early doors which dropped him right to the back, where he was joined by Christie who somehow got squeezed right out of it.

It had been all hands on deck to get the Maxwell car back out, and when Tommy shrugged off Stevenson cleanly this time for second, it looked as though he might just be able to reel in the leader and take the win. However, Mr McKay is no slouch as we all knew from his Stock Rodding days, and he continued to actually increase the gap as the race progressed, coming home a handy half lap clear for another Ballymena final win. All that Davy needs now is some consistency, and that may just come sooner than many think with the aging Corsa all set to be replaced by a Ludlow Tigra in the coming months.

Maxwell took runner up spot after his eventful evening, with Heatrick’s gear lever obviously much more like the thing this time as he claimed third, ahead of Doak, Martin and Woolsey.  Darren Black
Official results (Confirmed by Race Control)
Heat 1:  369, 994, 960, 940, 996, 904, 962, 761, 7, 888
Heat 2:  962, 9, 940, 996, 994, 904, 943, 761, 888, 960
Final: 943, 369, 960, 996, 994, 940, 962, 9, 904, 888

2009 World Series 08
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 18th October 2008
Darren Black reports:  Same venue, same track conditions, same final winner – only this time Jason Winning went even further than he did a fortnight ago by claiming both heat wins as well at a greasy and tricky Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday night.

There were 11 cars present for this the final outing of 2008 for the Nationals in Ulster. Davy Gurney was back with his Fiesta after a few meetings away, whilst Keith Martin returned to his own ‘usual’ car after another outing in the Haird Motorsport machine at Tipperary’s European Championship. Regardless of his Tipp shunt which damaged his Tigra (it actually wasn’t as bad as it looked seemingly), Gary Woolsey was always going to be in his Corsa for this one, and he duly was for a meeting sponsored by his fathers NW Developments concern.

Gurney’s return to the fold was rather short-lived, as he limped into retirement during the warm-up laps for the first heat with sparks showering from some sort of suspension failure. Unfortunately for Davy, that would be the end of his night before it had really even started.

Rolling starts were the order of the day again for this one, and Winning was fastest out of the blocks to lead them away. There were a few hairy moments as they all encountered the tricky turn one under racing conditions for the first time, Tommy Maxwell pulling off a ‘wall of death’-like adventure right around the concrete. He lost places hand-over-fist as well as a lot of ground, as did Ronnie McMillan somewhere in the middle of it all.

Martin was through to second, with Mark Heatrick holding sway in third with a group of Glenn Bell, Stewart Doak and Woolsey all over him. Anyone who got off line at all onto the greasy stuff was brought almost to a standstill such was the lack of grip, but the plus side for anyone defending a place was that if you kept it neat and tidy no-one was ever going around you.

Bell decided it was worth a punt on the outside of Heatrick, but in truth it was never coming off, and Glenn slid right back off the pace before losing it and spinning off altogether.

Winning was now well ahead, so far in fact that as he took the chequered flag he was in amongst a group of backmarkers that consisted of Messrs Maxwell, Christie and Jonny Stevenson. Martin got his night off to a decent start in second, from Heatrick, Doak and Woolsey.
Result: 983, 994, 960, 996, 940, 369, 888, 962, 944, 9

As they set off again in heat two, Christie once again had a woeful start from his outside front of the second group grid slot. John would most certainly have been intending to capitalise on his improved grid position following his engine woes in the last round, but it wasn’t exactly working out to plan.

Winning was again the first to show, and straight away it looked like another victory was heading his way, given that he has enough experience to keep it smooth and calm if challenged on the – by now - most definitely one line track. Stevenson settled into second this time ahead of Maxwell, before we lost Heatrick who somehow managed to glance the wall in turn one/two and then retired with broken steering.

Maxwell got up the inside of Stevenson to go second, just as Bell got caught out going onto the back straight. He had a wild slide, allowing Woolsey underneath him. The young Stock Rod World Champion gathered it all up to regain the line for turn three, only to get thumped up the rear by Doak who had already committed to following Woolsey through. The resultant contact sent Bell wide and as such as out of it, and earned Doak a black cross next time through.

As Stevenson gathered up a moment onto the back straight which cost him time but luckily nothing else, Winning was actually coming under pressure for the lead from Maxwell. Jason was equal to it though, and made it two out of two with the win. Stevenson took a creditable third in such difficult conditions, with Martin, Woolsey and McMillan next up after Doak had been docked two places for his earlier misdemeanour.
Result: 983, 369, 888, 994, 940, 944, 962, 996, 9

With the track showing no signs of improvement, even the most hardened of National Hot Rod fan wouldn’t have held out much hope of any sort of decent final. The drivers were certainly up for it, and a very ragged rolling start followed by loads of bumping and boring into turn one saw the reds get an airing and an unsatisfactory start called.

Winning looked like he had done the hard bit when he got himself away in the lead, but Maxwell and Martin purposely got themselves into second and third early on to set about challenging the ex-Brisca F2 man. Heatrick was next up, once gain in the much too familiar pose of fending off the attentions of Bell and Woolsey.

The front two were pulling clear, and when Martin started to fall into the clutches of the rest it was clear all was not well with the #994 Peugeot. Shortly after, this was confirmed, when Keith coasted into retirement with oil pressure problems - handing third to Heatrick.

Winning was still ahead when it mattered, taking the flag and a fine hat-trick in the most trying of circumstances. He never put a foot wrong all night, something many a more experienced pilot would have struggled to do such was the stinking nature of the track. After a promising run at Tipp last week too, Jason could well be one to watch in 2009. Maxwell came through for second, with Heatrick heading home Bell, Woolsey and Doak for third but a quarter-lap behind the leaders.
Result: 983, 369, 960, 9, 940, 996, 944, 962, 888.

That brings down the curtain on another year of National Hot Rodding in Ulster, and it has to be said it was a very lacklustre night on such a trying surface. The next outing is the non-points scoring Winternationals at Ballymena on New Year’s Day. With Tipperary not running right through the winter months, we may well get a few travellers for this one from south of the border to warm us up in the midst of winter. Darren Black

2009 World Series 07
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 4th October 2008
Darren Black reports:  Jason Winning took the honours when the National Hot Rods competed in World Series NI Round 7 at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday night. It was a meeting dominated by track conditions, which started off greasy right across the raceway, only for a drying line to develop and render the outside line nothing short of treacherous. Keith Martin had earlier taken the flag in heat one, before Stewart Doak mastered the conditions to perfection to take the flag in heat two in one of the drives of the season here in Ulster.

There was a disappointing showing of only eleven cars for this one, with the likes of Alvin Christie, Gurney, Crawford, Terry Maxwell, Steele and Richardson to name a few all on the sidelines for whatever reason. The only point of note amongst what we did have was that Martin had reverted back to his own 206cc, as opposed to the Haird Motorsport car he’d driven at the previous round.

With the track in far from ideal racing condition, rolling starts were the order of the day. Winning had pole, and followed the rolling lap to perfection, while Tommy Maxwell and Martin at the head of the second group closed the gap between them and the less experienced guys at the front, long before the greens came out. They got the benefit of the doubt and just a warning after the race…..

The front runners were soon engulfed by the bigger names in this one, with Davy McKay being the meat in the sandwich twice inside a lap, as first Maxwell and McMillan passed either side of him, and then Christie and Doak. As Martin soon pulled out quite an advantage, Maxwell was running second and Heatrick third.

Tommy soon got in way too deep into turn three as he was caught out by the conditions, allowing Heatrick underneath. McMillan was heading an intense battle for fourth, with Christie and Bell hot on his heels, and Doak looking around the outside of them. Heatrick was certainly reeling the leader in, and he duly arrived on the bootlid of Martin’s car as the laps, unfortunately for him, ran out. Martin therefore took the first win of the night, with Heatrick good value in second ahead of Maxwell, McMillan, Christie and Bell. Doak was next up having seen his attempts on the wide line come to nought.

Christie had finished with what sounded like a very rough motor indeed, and further inspection would diagnose a dropped valve thus ending the Irish Open Champion’s night.
Result: 994, 960, 369, 944, 962, 9, 996, 940, 983, 943.

Whilst the start to heat two was much more orderly than the first encounter, trouble wasn’t far away. It came when McKay rotated exiting turn two, the unfortunate McMillan clobbering him hardest of all and breaking the near side rear suspension on the #943 car. Although Davy would eventually drag the car to safety, the yellows had already been called for and the race went under suspension.

When we got going again we had another rotation, this time by Heatrick after he’d got into turn one much too hard. He clipped Bell as he went around, but soon rejoined - although considerable ground had been lost. All this left Maxwell in the lead, although he did soon have Bell to contend with as he had dragged himself right onto terms with the leader. When I say dragged, it was almost literally just that, as the contact with Heatrick earlier had damaged the near side rear of Glenn’s machine, and a broken shocker or some suspension component would cause the wheel to judder up and down under braking and leave a trail of sparks behind it around the track (see Brian Lammey’s photos in the Gallery)

Glenn carried on regardless though, the slower pace on the treacherous track obviously making his ailment less significant. He even tried to pass Maxwell on the outside for the lead, but had to check back. Maxwell was driving the perfect inside line, well aware that the other line was horrendous to say the least. Gary Woolsey was next to give it a go, but he couldn’t make it stick either, nor could the next trier in Doak.

Maxwell had now slowed the pace right down to his desired level, so much so that when Heatrick joined the queue again after his earlier spin his lap times dropped by a full 2 seconds – 15.7secs on the open track, 17.7 on the back of the lead queue. It looked as though it would be stalemate at that, as everyone had tried the outside and failed. As we entered the final stages, step forward Mr Doak, who hit the wide, and messy, outside line once again. He dragged himself alongside Bell, then Woolsey before drawing alongside the leader. It looked at this stage as if he might be in trouble, but he hung on and swept in front of Maxwell for a win that brought spontaneous applause from the terraces. Much as Christie’s Irish Open win was top drawer stuff such was his dominance, this was outside line driving of the highest quality, and on an awful track too. As GB said in his Birmingham report last week, one of those drives which reminds you why you keep going back week after week…

As Doak took a well deserved victory lap, Maxwell held on to second, ahead of Woolsey and the very much handicapped car of Bell.
Result: 996, 369, 940, 9, 960, 994, 944, 888, 983.

For the final we were now down to just nine cars, as the damage to McKay saw him load up, along with Christie. Winning settled into the lead from Stevenson, meanwhile Maxwell slithered out of the queue and was soon out of the running. Heat two-hero Doak collected a black cross early on for an alleged jump start, as he settled into fourth behind Heatrick, with a repaired Bell, and Woolsey, in close attention right behind.

Heatrick was piling the pressure on Stevenson, and experience soon told when Mark slid down the inside of rookie Jonathan on the home straight. The rest of the train then followed through as Stevenson got relegated out of the picture. All the while Winning was holding sway at the front, making sure he kept a tight line and letting the rest figure out how to get by.

Bell went fractionally wide through turns 1 and 2 at one stage, and so treacherous was the track offline that his lap time on that particular tour was over 1.5 seconds slower than what he had been doing beforehand. Winning almost made the same mistake into turn one, which was by far the worst spot on the track, but managed to gather it all back together swiftly. Heatrick was all over him like a rash, but Jason has done enough laps of Nuttscorner in his time (albeit in the other direction in an F2!) to know what it takes to win races on nights like this.

Winning slowed it up and kept it clean right to the flag, to claim an excellent - if unexpected - win. Heatrick was a gallant runner-up, with Doak third after evidence checked in race control showed that he hadn’t in fact jumped the start. Woolsey, Bell and Maxwell rounded out the top six.
Result: 983, 960, 996, 940, 9, 369, 944, 994, 888.

A number of the Ulster based drivers will travel to Tipperary next weekend for the European Championship, before World Qualifying continues on Saturday the 18th back at Nuttscorner Oval. Darren Black

2009 World Series 06
Ballymena, Friday 26th September 2008

Darren Black reports:  John Christie claimed the spoils in controversial circumstances when the National Hot Rods contested World Series NI Round 6 at Ballymena Raceway last Friday night. Cullybackey driver Davy McKay, having taken a fine win in heat two, crossed the line first in the final but was sensationally docked two places for a rules infringement, thus elevating the recently crowned Irish Open Champion to the winner’s position. The opening heat of the night had earlier fallen to former World Champion Keith Martin.

Of the fourteen cars in the pits, there were a few surprises even with the meeting coming just five days after the end of the International weekend in Ulster. Martin was a major talking point, as he was behind the wheel of Chris Haird’s VW-powered 206cc - “just to see what I think of it” were his words in the pits. There were also a couple of welcome new faces, although the first of them didn’t get past practice. The man in question was none other than former Stock Rod World Champion Alastair Calvin, who had unfortunately thrown an oil pump belt off during his acclimatisation to the borrowed Mark Keys 206. The other debutant was sometime Stock Rodder Paul Crawford, who had purchased the ex-Norman/Gary Woolsey SHP 206cc. Paul has been racing motorbikes of late, and many might remember him for putting his Stock Rod on the front row of the National Championship final at Hednesford just three or so years ago.

For heat one the cars were faced with an oil-covered track from a previous race, and they all coped admirably early on. McKay took up the early running, as Jonny Stevenson got railroaded by the pack in the opening exchanges. Jason Winning was running second now, but a moment through the Fisherwick bend saw Martin through on his inside.

In the main pack, things were frantic to say the least, and on one occasion Christie, Heatrick, McMillan and Woolsey all came very, very deep into turn one as someone got their braking badly wrong! Martin soon disposed of McKay to take the lead and then had Christie following suit as McKay’s Corsa dropped to third.

Martin had everything under control and gave his unfamiliar mount a win in his first race in it, with Christie looking good value in second. McKay served notice of his pace with third, ahead of Heatrick, McMillan and Woolsey.
Result: 994- 962- 943- 960- 944- 940- 9- 996- 404- 369.

McKay was again the first to show in heat two, as Alvin Christie this time was the one to be railroaded to the back, thwarting good outside starts by Heatrick and Doak in the process. Christie was making decent early progress in this one too, and he soon led the major runners inside both Tommy Maxwell and then Winning.

As McKay held the advantage, Stevenson was driving a sterling race in second, holding off the advances of heat one winner Martin. Doak meantime was giving it a go around the outside of Woolsey in the pack, but that came to nought when the new British Champion somehow found a way under Glenn Bell.

Martin was soon clearly in trouble, which would turn out to be tyres with the pressure pop-off valves set incorrectly. Stevenson was actually getting away from the Haird car to consolidate his second spot, whilst Keith was left to defend strongly against the onslaught from Christie.

McKay came home to record a rare and welcome victory, with Stevenson equally as pleased in second. Next came Martin, followed by Christie, McMillan and Woolsey.
Result: 943- 888- 994- 962- 944- 940- 996- 9- 960- 404.

The final had hardly get underway when the red flags were airing for a complete restart after Tommy Maxwell found himself up the wall on the back straight courtesy of an understeering McMillan. With a wheel in the baulkhead Tommy was going nowhere, thus necessitating his rescue.

McKay and Stevenson again set the early pace, while a rash lunge by Alvin C took Heatrick right out of the running and earned Alvin a black flag for his troubles. Martin and Christie were again leading the charge after the two front runners, Keith leading the train under Winning to go third.

There then followed a very uncharacteristic mistake by the Dungannon ace, as he seemed to clip one of the infield markers exiting turn two. The resultant moment was just the invitation Christie needed to get underneath him, and Martin’s third spot instantly became seventh. Next McMillan was gone, as he rotated on the pit bend whilst under pressure from Doak. Stewart was initially black-crossed for this incident, but this was later withdrawn after videos had been checked.

Bell and Woolsey had nipped under Doak in the midst of the shenanigans, and soon were lining up Stevenson for third on the road. Christie meanwhile had reeled in McKay and was soon piling the pressure onto the #943 car. John looked both inside and outside but was thwarted each time by Davy’s defensive driving, and the starter was aiming a few waved blue flags at him too, as well as asking him by Raceceiver to hold a consistent line.

John still hadn’t found a way past when the rest of the mob came knocking, as Bell, Woolsey and Doak joined in the fun too for the last few laps. Christie was still looking for his way by, but it could be seen now that he was worried about the rest getting under him should he try the wide line. With one to go, McKay was black crossed for “not obeying instructions from race control”, and when he took the chequered flag a lap later he was duly docked two places to third. Christie thus inherited another win for his Tigra, although I’m sure John would have rather it had been under different circumstances. Bell was elevated to second ahead of a deflated McKay who had just had one of his best night’s ever in the National class. Doak just beat Woolsey over the line for fourth by 3 hundredths of a second, with Stevenson, Martin and Heatrick rounding out the top 8.
Result: 962- 9- 943- 996- 940- 888- 994- 960- 944- 983

World Series NI continues this Saturday night, October 4th, at Nuttscorner Oval. Darren Black

2009 World Series 05
Ballymena, Friday 5th September 2008

Darren Black reports:  Reigning British and NI Champion Stewart Doak was ‘at the double’ when the National Hot Rods competed in Round 5 of their 2009 World Series at a very wet and windy Ballymena Raceway last Friday night. Mark Heatrick took a deserved win in the first heat of the night, before Doak took over to record the other two victories.

There was little of note amongst the entry, which was down on the norm of late with a few regulars missing. They probably decided a night inside was much more attractive, as we were treated to persistent rain all through the meeting, which, coupled with a nasty wind, made things pretty grim. One saving grace was that at least we had a fully wet track, which often leads to some pretty decent action at Ballymena, instead of the tedious one line stuff that a drying track would bring. James O’Shea was once again a very welcome visitor from south of the border, and Gary Woolsey was back in his Tigra. For everyone else it was ‘as you were’ so to speak.

Jason Winning was the first to show in heat one, as the Rods threw a massive ball of spray across the stadium when they set off. Tommy Maxwell and Mark Heatrick were both showing early speed too, as was Keith Martin, who had taken to the outside line right from the off. Ahead of him though, Jonathan Stevenson was having his own moment on the outside line, as he slid sideways into the wall exiting turn 2. Martin had to take quick evasive action, and his good start went out the window as he spun across the pack onto the infield.

Maxwell soon relieved Winning of the lead, with a fast charging Ronnie McMillan now in his tyre tracks. Ronnie has always revelled in the wet, and it was no surprise when he swept around Maxwell to take up the running. Heatrick was now challenging Maxwell for second, and after a tough battle Mark eventually did edge ahead. McMillan looked home and dry though, but a lapse in concentration allowed Heatrick to box him in behind Stevenson who was in the process of gathering up another moment. With Ronnie trapped, Mark swept by to take it up and grab the win, while Glen Bell was the best of the rest in third ahead of Woolsey and Christie. Doak was sixth, with Martin and Stevenson next home after Maxwell was docked two places for a start-line misdemeanour.
Result: 960,944, 9,940,962,996,994,888.

Only twelve lined up for heat 2, as Davy McKay had called time for the night. Stevenson grabbed the early initiative, as both Winning and Davy Gurney dropped off the pace on what was now a very treacherous track indeed. Maxwell and Heatrick were again in chase and soon took up the premier two spots as Stevenson slipped backwards.

McMillan cut under Martin to show himself as a real contender once again, but he had Doak for company this time. The #996 car looked transformed from the car that was well off the pace in heat one – but it was just the same car, as the problem was that Stewart simply couldn’t see in the first race with a visor problem! As Heatrick relieved Maxwell of the lead, Doak was obviously the fastest car on track, as he cut under McMillan and then outside of Maxwell to set about challenging for the lead.

He soon had the leader under pressure, and they even almost tripped over one another whilst lapping Gurney. Doak lifted off to allow Mark to get straightened up, before coming back again to slip right around the outside and on for an excellent win. Heatrick was a gallant runner-up, ahead of Maxwell, McMillan,Woolsey and Bell.
Result: 996, 960,369,944,940,9,962, 994.

For the final we were missing Stevenson too, so just eleven cars set off in pursuit of the silverware. Things followed a similar pattern to heat two early on, with McMillan and Doak relegating Martin before Doak took the spot of Ronnie to move after pace-setters Maxwell and Heatrick.

Heatrick was all over Maxwell like a rash, but was just not able to find any opportunity to get alongside, let alone past. Soon Doak had joined in to make it a three way battle, as Maxwell was blue flagged to give the others a shot at passing around the outside. Heatrick tried but to no avail to get alongside, but only succeeded in letting Doak through to second. Doak immediately headed for the outside of Maxwell, and quickly pulled through to take up the running, with Heatrick soon following suit.

As the front two pulled clear, Maxwell now had his hands full with McMillan, Bell and Woolsey all looking for a way by, and Christie right up in there too. Maxwell got shown a black cross for not holding his line as McMillan failed to get by, before young gun Bell executed the move to perfection. As Doak came home for his second win of the night from Heatrick (and the perfect warm up for the defence of his British crown later this month), there was late drama as the back-marking Gurney spun on Fisherwick bend on the last lap. The spectators all held their breath as the battle for third approached, and as Bell, McMillan, Maxwell and Woolsey somehow squeezed by, an unsighted Christie smashed head-on into the stationary car with a sickening thud. Bell came home for third, ahead of McMillan, Woolsey and O’Shea after Maxwell received a two place penalty from the Steward.
Result: 996, 960, 9, 944,940, (74), 369(x-2), 994.

Next up for the Ulster National Hot Rods is the double header championship weekend, with Doak defending his British Championship at Ballymena on Saturday September 20th, before Keith Martin puts his Irish Open title on the line at Nuttscorner Oval the following day.  Darren Black

2009 World Series 04
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 30th August 2008

Darren Black reports:  Having blown an engine on his last Nuttscorner Oval outing, Ronnie McMillan enjoyed a reversal of fortunes when he took the final honours at NI World Series Round 4 on Saturday night. It was a night that certainly favoured those starting near the front of the grid, with Thomas Dilly collecting his maiden National Hot Rod victory and Jason Winning grabbing the other heat win. It was also a meeting which showcased the formula at it’s best under the floodlights, with wheel-to-wheel action the order of the day, with the odd bit of controversy thrown in too for good measure!

There were fifteen cars in action this time around, and that would have been sixteen had Round 3 winner Clive Richardson not encountered more bad luck which saw his Tigra loaded up long before the first heat came under starters orders. Amongst those who did make the action was Republic of Ireland interloper James O’Shea in his Haird Fiesta, up for some practice on the unfamiliar track before the Irish Open Championship on Sept 21st. All the others were mounted as usual, with Davy McKay back in action after a few rounds away and Gary Woolsey in his Corsa as is the norm round Nuttscorner.

Dilly made the early break at the drop of the green in heat one, with fellow front row man Winning struggling away and getting railroaded backwards. Dilly broke clear as Jonathan Stevenson held off the attentions of Mark Heatrick for second – Mark being the first of the second group to make his way through.

Heatrick was hesitating just too long behind Stevenson though, and the star men weren’t going to settle for that for very long. Soon a train of Keith Martin, Stewart Doak and John Christie all made the long run round the long way to relegate both, leaving Mark no doubt kicking his heels for not committing to the outside sooner. The trio then set after Dilly, and with the lap-boards out a grandstand finish was most certainly on the cards. We weren’t to be disappointed, as the novice held the inside and invited the rest to take his first ever win from him. Christie was the one who took the bull by the horns so to speak, and he hauled himself round the others to grab second on the line, behind Dilly who had soaked up quite a bit of pressure over the final few tours. Martin, Doak, Heatrick, McMillan and Bell followed them all home.
Result: 966, 962, 994, 996, 960, 944, 9, 940, 369, 888

Dilly Once again led them away in heat two, but this time Winning got a decent getaway and sliced into second behind him. This left Stevenson fending off the attentions of Alvin Christie and Heatrick for third. Mark once again was finding it difficult to relegate those ahead, and Martin again had a look around his outside, but just then Heatrick got underneath Alvin C to send him careering down the order and salvage Mark’s race, which looked doomed as he almost got boxed in once again.

By now Winning was all over Dilly, who was attracting a number of blue flags to hold his line. Winning tried as he might, but all the time Stevenson was dragging the field ever closer to the lead battle. Into the closing stages they were all together, but just as Winning got knocked wide, he came back with great momentum to get by Dilly and claim an excellent win. Stevenson was equally good value in third, ahead of Heatrick, Martin, McMillan and John Christie.
Result: 983, 966, 888, 960, 994, 944, 962, 996, 9, 940

Dilly’s lead at the start of the final was much more short-lived, as Winning quickly demoted him to second and set about building up a healthy advantage. Further back, the first black cross of the night was shown to Heatrick who punted McKay into a half spin, which only resulted in the two of them careering into the infield out of the pack. McKay was out there and then, and Heatrick rejoined well behind the rest.

McMillan was the first star man to show in this one, and he was soon breaking clear of the main pack, particularly when Doak lifted off to allow Martin to gather up a very sideways moment which also allowed Woolsey to dart around the outside. This breathing space allowed McMillan to attack Dilly, and he was soon into second spot and haring after the leader, setting fastest lap after fastest lap of the night. What was beginning to look like an unassailable lead for Winning was now a lead that was in grave danger…

Ronnie didn’t waste much time either, his Ludlow Tigra looking in fine fettle as he blasted into the lead past Winning. All eyes were fixed further back though, where a mammoth battle was developing for third as the 5-lap board loomed. Dilly was holding station on the inside, with Martin trying the long way round, but it was proving rather difficult given the ‘difficult’ line Dilly was driving. A couple of blue flags later and Keith was once again right alongside entering the back straight. As Dilly pulled back in tight to the kerb, a huge gap between the two presented itself to Woolsey, and being the racer he is, Gary was heading for it like a shot. It was never going to come off though, and the three came together in a big way at the end of the back straight. With the rest of the pack following en masse right behind, it was always going to be messy…

Martin lost bags of time, Woolsey came through relatively unscathed (except for the black cross next time around), but Dilly was out, followed not long after by Bell as well. For the third meeting in a row, Doak found himself being part of somebody else’s accident as he clipped someone or other in the midst of the melee. He tried to carry on, but with both rear wheels pointing in different directions, never mind the tyre smoke from the fouled bodywork, his crab-like machine soon attracted a black flag.

McMillan had no worries however, and he cantered home a country mile ahead, with Winning equally content with his runner-up spot. John Christie came through to take third, with Woolsey fourth over the line but dropped three places in the final analysis. Tommy Maxwell came from nowhere to inherit fourth after a very poor night for him, ahead of a recovering Martin and Alvin C. With Woolsey dropped to seventh, O’Shea took eighth after Heatrick fell foul of the Steward too for his clash with McKay early on.
Result: 944, 983, 962, 369, 994, 404, 940(x-3), 74, 960(x-2), 935

World Series NI continues this Friday night, Sep 5th, at Ballymena with Round 5. Darren Black

2009 World Series 03
Ballymena, Saturday 23rd August 2008

Darren Black reports:  Having endured a torrid time since acquiring his latest Tigra, former British Champion Clive Richardson certainly made amends with a fine double at the Ballymena-staged NI World Series round 3. On a night of changeable conditions throughout, Glenn Bell was however, the star of the show; with a heat win and second place in the final to complement his successful defence of the World Stock Rod Championship.

There were sixteen cars in pits for this one, although we had unfortunately lost two by start time. Rab Forsythe succumbed to engine problems in his Corsa, whilst clutch troubles saw Jonny Stevenson loaded up before racing had even began.

Thomas Dilly was all alone at the front of the line-up and immediately made the lead spot his own in heat one, on a track that was more than a little wet. Ian Thompson Jnr soon settled into second ahead of another man with bags of BriSCA F2 experience, Jason Winning. Richardson had made a disastrous start to his night, getting baulked behind the much slower Alvin Christie car and he could only watch as a number of the field relegated him before he could escape.

Bell was already showing quite a decent turn of speed in the tricky conditions, and he dived under Winning for second, just as Dilly got relegated by them all, leaving Thompson in the trump spot at the head of the field. Many would have expected someone of Ian’s calibre to hold on for the win from here, but the 206cc is still obviously not to his liking as of yet, and he was always defending against Bell, who was now joined by Keith Martin and Gary Woolsey. All three eventually found a way past on the outside to fill out the top positions.

Bell held on all the way to the flag for another impressive victory, ahead of Woolsey, who had eased inside Martin with five to run. Thompson held on for fourth, ahead of Ronnie McMillan, Stewart Doak, Richardson, John Christie and Mark Heatrick.
Result: 9, 940, 994, 901, 944, 996, 976, 962

There was a peculiar start to heat two, when the pit gate was zipped up, as covered in the recent rule update, once all the cars waiting had entered the track. Only half a dozen or so set off on the 3 warm up laps, but the others had in fact been blocked behind a truck on the notoriously difficult entrance to Ballymena’s pit lane. There followed a short ‘will they open the gate or won’t they’ stand off, and common sense eventually prevailed and the remaining cars took to the grid, albeit without the benefit of the warm ups.

Since winning heat one, Bell had stormed to an emphatic World Championship victory in his Stock Rod, and all eyes were on him in this one too. The fairytale night wasn’t to continue though, as a poor getaway allowed many of the fancied runners inside him as he got stuck on the wetter outside line. Dilly again led them away, but it wasn’t long before Richardson zipped through to take it up on lap three. Just as he did, Thompson was pressed into a spin from third by the following pack led by McMillan. As the #901 car spun out of contention, it was dealt an unavoidable glancing blow by Doak, which completely re-arranged the rear end enough to finish Ian’s night. This brought out the waved yellows in order to clear the stricken machine from the racing line exiting turn two.

Richardson led them back into combat, followed by McMillan, Martin, Doak and Woolsey, after Dilly had been relegated shortly after the race returned to green.  Soon after the half way stage, Doak pulled an excellent move to get under Martin entering the home straight, dragging Woolsey and Bell through with him as Keith lost three spots in one swoop. That’s how they stayed ‘til the end, with Richardson making a welcome return to victory lane, ahead of an un-penalised McMillan, Doak, Woolsey, Bell and Martin. Heatrick just beat Christie over the line for seventh as the entire top eight crossed the line as one.
Result: 976, 944, 996, 940, 9, 994, 960, 962

Pole-man Dilly again showed at the drop of the green flag in the final, taking up the running from Alvin C after Winning was knocked wide in the early exchanges. Last week’s star man Davy Gurney was another finding himself way wide and off the drying racing line, as he out-braked himself into turn one. Most notably, Richardson was moving through early doors, but had Bell right on his boot-lid this time. With only a handful of laps completed, they had already taken up first and second spots, with McMillan leading the chase ahead of Christie and Doak.

The lead duo were soon going at it hammer and tongs, with Bell ducking and diving all over the rear of the Richardson Tigra. The former British Champion was having to dig deep into his wealth of experience to keep the young charger at bay, with Glenn no doubt on a high following his earlier World Final win. Even the return of the heavy drizzle that had plagued us all night made little difference, and Glenn almost did get right alongside Clive at one stage, only to fall back on the slippery stuff out wide. The fact he quickly regained any lost ground showed just who was in the faster car - if anyone was ever in any doubt…

Despite Bell’s best efforts, Richardson held on for what must have been a very welcome final victory indeed, and hopefully the kickstart Clive’s ’09 campaign badly needed. Bell took the applause as he rounded out a fine night with second; having gained a new legion of fans amongst the casual supporters tempted along by the headlining World Championship. McMillan had another steady finish for third, ahead of Christie, Doak, Woolsey and Martin.
Result: 976, 9, 944, 962, 996, 940, 994, 404 (all above are official results).

World Series NI continues at Nuttscorner Oval this Saturday night, August 30th.  Darren Black

2009 World Series 02
Ballymena, Friday 15th August 2008

Darren Black reports:  With the defence of his World Stock Rod title just a week away, Portadown racer Glenn Bell warmed up in fine style with the final win at World Series NI Round 2 at Ballymena Raceway last Friday night. From an excellent 17 car turnout, Londonderry driver Davy Gurney claimed both heat wins with two fine drives in only his second National Hot Rod outing.

So 17 cars in the pits, and it had some veteran enthusiasts pointing out that this was probably the highest turnout for a domestic Ulster NHR meeting ever. I can take you back to the heydays of the eighties, and I can’t remember there ever being any more – anyone able to take us back to the seventies and the birth of the class in the province? What was even more interesting though, were the absences of McKay, Steele, Terry Maxwell and Keys to name a few – could we be heading for a 20-car meeting before long??? Not too many moons ago we thought we were doing well with seven... 

Of those actually racing, most notable was the return to National action of Ian Thompson Jnr, behind the wheel of a refettled McCall-built 206cc last campaigned by his father. Very nice it looked too, and Ian was a busy man doubling up with the Brisca F2’s as well. 2.0 Hot Rodder Rab Forsythe was back out, having given his ex-Ivan McMillan Corsa an overhaul, whilst another 2 Litre refugee was Thomas Dilly, now armed with the ex-Steven Hanna/Mark Sear Haird Motorsport 206cc for his second outing in the elite class.

Forsythe nearly stopped hearts at the green flag in heat one on what was a very greasy raceway after rain before start time. He was very slow away, but luckily everyone was able to avoid him. Things were soon brought up short though as the backmarking Dilly clipped an infield sleeper and spun to a halt at 90 degrees to the traffic exiting turn 2. The field all got slowed up just as they came upon him, but as Jonny Stevenson and Thompson went wide to avoid him, Ian got run up the wall at no more than walking pace, but it was enough to leave his rod dangling at 45 degrees suspended from the top rope with a wheel astray.

At the restart Alvin Christie was the one slow away this time, backing up Clive Richardson and Bell, which saw Ronnie McMillan clout the back of Glenn’s motor which saw him retire with smoke pouring from fouled bodywork. Davy Gurney was setting the pace in his SWM Fiesta, the Lightning Rod man of a few years back showing a decent turn of speed. Stevie Williams was running second ahead of Stevenson, with Richardson and McMillan cutting through to fourth and fifth with Gary Woolsey (as usual at Ballymena in his Tigra) in hot pursuit.

Richardson was finding novice Stevenson a tough nut to crack as he swarmed all over the back of the ex-Neal Smith/Connolly car. It all finally gave way though as they took the 1 lap to go board. Clive got a good run down the inside of the #888 car, but Stevenson shut the door hard. Richardson touched the grass and spun inside-out into the wall just by the pit gate, whilst Stevenson clouted second man Williams into a spin. As the rest of the field speared off in all directions, McMillan was sent outside the spinning Williams car only to collect Keith Martin, who had already glanced the #32 car too, on the way back in. Keith was out on the spot with a wheel underneath his car, whilst Stewart Doak clipped something too and had a wheel out of his Tigra as well. John Christie, who had been running right off the pace all race, tried to pick his way through it all, but he got tagged too and ended up spun onto the infield with McMillan!

An almighty mess to say the least, but that didn’t bother Gurney, who romped home half a lap clear for his maiden win. Gary W got second from Mark Heatrick, Tommy Maxwell and Alvin C, ahead of Dilly and Forsythe, whilst Doak trailed his stricken motor over the line for eighth.
Result: 935, 940, 960, 369, 404, 966, 992, 996, 888, 962.

Gurney set off into the lead in heat two once again, and was soon building a buffer that was going to be hard to run down. Further back, Martin had got his car not only back together, but ‘on the money’ on the outside line. He quickly made up a handful of places, only to have it all taken from him when he got baulked by Forsythe who was in the process of being railroaded by the rest of the pack. Williams was again running strong in second ahead of Stevenson, whilst Richardson was next up after sterling work by his crew got the rear end of the Tigra into some sort of order. It didn’t last long though, as he rode the wall entering the home straight on a couple of occasions before retiring for the night with what looked like front suspension damage.

Bell was leading the charge of the big names from the rear, and was soon harrying Alvin C for fourth. Christie valiantly held on for a number of tours before Glenn cut underneath him, bringing the rest in tow and leaving Alvin slipping backwards on the greasy outside line.

Gurney once again came home well ahead to make it two out of two, from an impressive Williams, Stevenson, Bell and McMillan. Maxwell, Woolsey and Christie rounded out the top eight.
Result: 935, 32, 888, 9, 944, 369, 940, 962, 996, 960.

Gurney stepped off into an immediate lead in the final, with his sights set on the hat-trick. Thompson was back out for this one, and his early pressure on Bell seemed to spur the youngster on in the opening laps, as he made significant early ground that would see this race take on a whole different complexion to that of the heats. Glenn soon left the others behind, as he slipped underneath Alvin C and Stevenson to go third well before half way. Soon he was onto Williams, and wasted little time swooping right around the Corsa to head after the leader. McMillan was playing catch up this time, and he soon copied Bell’s move on Williams to go third, followed by Martin and Woolsey.

Bell was making inroads into Gurney’s lead at quite a rate of knots, but soon found out that catching was one thing, but passing might just be another. It developed into quite a battle, before Glenn found a way through on the inside to head for the chequers. Gurney soon had his hands full again as McMillan and the rest caught him, but Davy was equal to the challenge.

Bell stormed home to collect the silverware, with driver of the night Gurney hanging on in second in clouds of smoke after a punt from McMillan fouled his bodywork. Ronnie held on for third, from Martin, Woolsey and Christie, with Doak, Heatrick and Maxwell the next over the line.
Result: 9, 935, 944, 994, 940, 962, 996, 960, 369, 901.

World Series NI resumes this Saturday, August 23rd, at Ballymena in support to the World Stock Rod Final.  Darren Black

2009 World Series 01
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 26th July 2008

Darren Black reports:  On a day when a record number of National Hot Rods graced the track for a domestic World Series round, Crumlin’s Tommy Maxwell grabbed the headlines with an excellent drive to net the spoils in the final of the opening 2009 World Qualifier during the Nuttscorner Oval Speedweekend.

With a fantastic 16 cars in the pits, there were always going to be a few interesting entries. Topping that list was the return, once again, of Clive Richardson, this time in the ex-Buller Ludlow Tigra. Whilst good to see Clive back, it is most certainly a disappointment that young William has departed the scene after such an inspiring start, with his Formula BMW racing now his sole focus for the time being. World Stock Rod Champion Glenn Bell was having his first local run, with the former Wayne Woolsey 206cc now finished in his usual blue livery. Londonderry racer Davy Gurney finally made his Nationals debut at this one, after his first attempt late in 2007 saw him not make it past practice in an aging 205. This time he was armed with a Steve Wills Fiesta, and quite splendid it looked too. Of the others, Jason Winning made a welcome return to the fold for his first appearance of 2008, whilst Gary Woolsey was, as usual, utilising his older Corsa for Nuttscorner Oval.

The new rules from the NHRPA meant all the slower runners took up their rightful grid slots at the front, and John Steele was the first to show in heat one from his pole start, with Jonny Stevenson settling into second. Woolsey and Stewart Doak were the ones making moves in the right direction from the main group of “star” men.

Further back, Maxwell was fighting off the attentions of Richardson and Ronnie McMillan, before it all ended in tears on turns 3 and 4. Incidentally, with the new Race Control now in operation, the startline had been moved to the opposite side of the track to what had been previously used. Therefore, the River End was now turns 1 and 2, with the Nuttscorner Roundabout end now turns 3 and 4.

Anyway, back to the real plot, and McMillan got into the back of Richardson into turn 3, which in turn punted the #976 car into Maxwell. Both lost bags of ground, as Maxwell spun and Richardson was left stranded for a time. McMillan collected a black cross next time around for his troubles…

Stevenson had by now slipped into the lead, and was looking quite handy at that, but the pressure of Woolsey bearing down on him was to take it’s toll as the newcomer spun it all away through the first turn. Woolsey duly accepted the gift of the lead, and led Doak home for the first win of the ’09 campaign. Bell was good for third, ahead of John Christie and Davy McKay, after McMillan was docked three places for his earlier misdemeanour.
Result: 940, 996, 9, 962, 943, 404, 944 (x-3), 960, 994, 369, 23, 935, 32.

Diff problems had curtailed Richardson’s evening by the time heat two came around, and as Steele led them away Stevenson hesitated on the line, being hit by Both Stevie Williams and Alvin Christie. The reds got an airing for this one, with Williams unfortunately out of the complete rerun.

Steele settled into the front once again from Stevenson, with Glenn Bell and Maxwell this time holding off the Woolsey charge. McMillan then had a monumental engine expiry, leading to copious amounts of oil on the raceway. The yellows were called for, and then a red flag as a large scale clean up operation was required, but not before both the leading duo had spun off on the slippery stuff.

For the restart both Steele and Stevenson were reinstated to the front spots, but were soon swallowed up by the rest, as the impressive Bell took up the reigns at the head of the field. Woolsey and Doak then found a way past Maxwell to give chase, but the young double World Stock Rod Champion held them off for his second National win in as many meetings. Maxwell held onto fourth despite massive pressure from John Christie in the closing stages, with Steele rounding out the top six.
Result: 9, 940, 996, 369, 962, 23, 960, 994, 943, 983, 404, 935.

Former Stock Rod man Steele was obviously enjoying his exploits in the ex-Willis Corsa, and he once again set off into the early lead in the final. Stevenson was giving chase, as from the back group Bell was once again leading the charge ahead of Maxwell, Woolsey and Doak.

Bell then came to pass Alvin C, and as he looked to the outside exiting turn 4 he drifted slightly wide, and in a flash the others were underneath him. Maxwell was now leading the pack to the front, slipping under Stevenson and then Steele to take it up. Woolsey was tracking his every move though, and Doak and Christie weren’t out of it yet by any means.

Maxwell held on well to record an excellent victory, with Woolsey completing a fine night for him with another second spot finish. Christie finished his night with a fantastic opportunistic move right around the outside of Doak, to snatch a hard earned third on the line ahead of the British Champion. Keith Martin was on the leaderboard for the first time of the night in fifth, having finally accounted for the stubborn Mark Heatrick after a meeting long battle between the two. Bell rounded out the top six, ahead of Heatrick, Winning and Alvin C.
Result: 369, 940, 962, 996, 994, 9, 960, 983, 404, 935, 23, 888.

All in all, an enjoyable night’s racing from an excellent entry of cars. Should it continue, we are sure to be for an intriguing season of National Hot Rod racing in Ulster.  Darren Black.

***

2008 World Series 16
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 24th May 2008

Darren Black reports:  Whilst young William Buller reeled off his second National Hot Rod hat-trick in a row at Nuttscorner Oval, the controversial face of the sport once again reared its head on a night of high drama. Once a full investigation had taken place, Portadown’s Stewart Doak was able to add the Northern Ireland Championship to his British title.

There were 14 cars in attendance for this the final round of the 07/08 season. John Steele and Jonny Stevenson had their Nuttscorner Oval debuts, whilst Buller was back from his self-imposed Ballymena exile for another run in his National – yet again running alongside his 2.0 Hot Rod commitments on the night. Stevie Williams was another welcome returnee to the fold, whilst as usual Gary Woolsey was back in the Corsa as opposed to his Tigra.

As well as the 14 cars racing, we had, believe it or not, 3 more in the pits. All three were without licences at this point, and were unable to race, but were given dispensation to arrive and practice if they wished. First up was World Stock Rod Champion Glenn Bell, who looked immediately at home in the Wayne Woolsey SHP 206cc. As well as his Stock Rod, Glenn is also campaigning on the circuits this year in the Renault Clio Cup, but it would be interesting if he could find the time to give the Nationals a decent shot. Former European and National Lightning Rod Champion Nigel Jackson was in another of the NW Developments cars, this time the 206 (last driven by Wayne Woolsey too) which started life as an Autocross Fiesta in the 90’s. Davy Gurney was the third of the trio, back for more in what looked suspiciously like a SWM Fiesta Mk4 after nearly making his debut late last year in an elderly 205.

Mark Keys gave up his pole position before the start of heat one, leaving a gap on the front row. Davy McKay couldn’t capitalise and it was instead Buller who shot through to make the early running. Heatrick grabbed second from Martin, as McKay got rail-roaded right out of it. Gary Woolsey likewise got stuck on the outside and dropped well back - the start of a very poor evening for the defending champion.

Ronnie McMillan was running fourth on the road, but had himself a real moment entering the back straight as his Tigra twitched sideways. Christie did well to avoid him as they all held everything together. With Buller now well clear, the train comprising Heatrick, Martin, McMillan, Christie and Doak had a huge task ahead with the backmarking Steele; Stevenson and Terry Maxwell battling amongst themselves. Steele soon found himself facing the wrong way on turn 3, a leaking engine seal spraying oil onto John’s tyres and bringing his night to a premature end.

Some words on the Raceceivers gained the placemen a clean run through the others, but by this stage Buller was well clear and crossed the line on full opposite lock half a lap clear. Heatrick, Martin, McMillan and Christie rounded out the top five.
Result: 302, 960, 994, 944, 962, 996, 940, 943, 916, 888, 404, 32, 23.

Buller and Heatrick once again grabbed the initiative from McKay in heat two, and soon set about pulling clear of the rest. A mammoth battle was kicking off between the star men, and when McMillan got shuffled out of the pack he had to give it a go on the wide line.

Gary Woolsey soon joined in to make it five along with the cars of Martin, McMillan, Christie and Doak. Martin didn’t seem just quite as lively as in heat one, but McMillan was struggling to make it the long way around him. All five cars circulating together filling both lanes of the track was a joy to watch, with never any more than the proverbial cigarette paper between them. As if that wasn’t enough, McKay soon decided to join them as well.

Heatrick had kept Buller much more honest this time at the front, but ‘Buck’ still took the flag well clear for his fifth win on the trot at Nuttscorner Oval. As the star train came through it all got very messy around the final turn, as Doak’s late run round the outside saw him squeezed wide by McMillan. Martin held onto third, while Christie headed home McMillan and Doak in the final shake-up.
Result: 302, 960, 994, 962, 944, 996, 940, 943, 404, 916, 888, 32.

Outgoing NI Champion Woolsey had loaded up and had enough by final time, and this gave Doak a clear spot in front of him in what was to be a crucial race to the points title. As Buller once again rocketed off the line to take the lead, Doak’s grid slot on the racing line rubber at the exit of turn 4 allowed him a similarly fast getaway. With the empty Woolsey slot ahead of him, Stewart was importantly in front of Christie and McMillan by turn one, and right on the rear of his now closest rival, Martin.

Heatrick was once again settled into second, but just couldn’t handle the pace of Buller’s Ludlow Tigra at the front. Martin was now running third ahead of Doak and Christie, but as we entered the final three laps of the 2007/08 season things were about to explode as they came to lap the back-marking 206 of Terry Maxwell….

Maxwell lifted off to let Martin slip ahead round the outside into turn one, only to get back on it to race with Doak who was following closely. The momentum of the Cirrus Plastics car was compromised onto the back straight, allowing Christie the run on the two ahead. Somehow the Doak and Christie cars touched, with the #996 Tigra coming across the front of the Christie car at 90 degrees and into the passenger’s door of Maxwell’s car which was tight on the inside kerb. This sent Terry on a wild ride down the infield - which is particularly rough in that area. As Doak gathered it all together, Maxwell emerged back onto the track and accelerated into the side of the Cirrus Plastics motor, taking it into he fence. The cars then amazingly continued right around onto the start and finish straight with the Maxwell car buried in the side of Doak’s Tigra and revving constantly on the limiter. Both cars suffered considerable damage, and due to the seriousness of the situation unfolding on track the red flags quickly came out in the interests of safety, and the race was declared.

Buller once again took a superb hat-trick of wins to underline that the 16 year old really is the real deal in these National Hot Rods. Not since Ian McKellar in the mid-nineties have we seen someone not even old enough to drive on the road make such an impact on the sport. It is though somewhat unfortunate that his other commitments will keep him away from both the Ipswich Spedeweekend supports and also the National Championship weekend. Heatrick rounded out a decent night for himself by completing a trio of second places.

After an investigation by Nuttscorner Oval, including gathering the views of those involved where necessary, the result has been declared as the cars passed the line on the previous lap. Although Doak and Christie were at odds as to who - or what - caused the incident, both were sporting enough to accept it as a racing incident and leave the result as it was. Unfortunately however, the seriousness of the incident that occurred afterwards meant that Terry Maxwell was loaded up from the meeting and the issue passed to the NHRPA for further disciplinary action.
Result: 302, 960, 994, 996, 962, 944, 943, 404, 888, 32.

When the dust had settled and the results confirmed, Stewart Doak emerged as a most worthy NI Champion for the season, having led the points chart all the way since round 1. Martin’s late surge and the dropped scores helped him into a commendable second, whilst Heatrick inherited third at his first attempt after the unfortunate Christie paid the price in the dropped scores department.

Overall, despite the dramatic and somewhat sad ending, it’s been the best season in quite some time in Ulster. With the prospect of possibly even more cars for the new campaign, everyone is looking forward to Nuttscorner Oval Speedweekend on July 26/27 for 2009 World Series NI Round 1….we might even have a new World Champion to welcome home!  Darren Black.


2008 World Series 15
Ballymena, Friday 16th May 2008.

Darren Black reports:  Crumlin driver Tommy Maxwell added to his impressive race win total of the 07/08 season at Ballymena on Friday night, when he recorded a heat and final double of emphatic victories. Gary Woolsey was the night’s other winner, grabbing the victory in the opening, and most definitely the best, race of the night.

Only too often we see the entries tail off as we reach the end of a gruelling season, but that was certainly not the case for this meeting. There were two debutants amongst the 13-strong field, the first being local Stock Rodder John Steele (23), who wheeled out the ex-Mark Willis European Championship winning Vauxhall Corsa. This is of course the machine with the unique beam axle front end, and which was raced most recently by Billy Bonnar and Alan Wilson. The other newcomer was a complete novice to the ovals, Jonathan Stevenson (888). His mount was the ex-Alan Connolly/Neal Smith Ludlow 206, most recently driven in anger by Ronnie McMillan of course. Both would not trouble the leaders over the course of the night (not that anyone would expect them to given the company), but put in some more than respectable laps to show what they will be capable of given time.

Mark Keys stepped off pole into an immediate lead in heat one, and soon set about establishing a decent advantage. Keith Martin quickly demoted Tommy Maxwell to go third behind Mark Heatrick, as Keith made the most of his most favourable grid slot in quite a while. All eyes were on the charge of the Tigras though, as Gary Woolsey and British Champion Stewart Doak were looking more than lively as they arrived in fourth and fifth.

Martin had no answer for the duo, and they soon swept through on the inside, before switching to the outside of second man Heatrick. Mark could, like Martin, offer little resistance to the Ludlow pair, and he succumbed to outside passes from both inside the space of one tour. It was now all about running down Keys – the former Lightning Rod champ had established a handy little lead as everyone focused further back. Woolsey was on a mission though, and soon took up the lead with yet another dart around the outside. Keys soon hit trouble as his motor went sick, which gifted second to Doak.

Woolsey and Doak took the flag well clear after two inspired drives, while Keys held on for third despite his ailments. Heatrick held off the advances of Martin for fourth, with John Christie just nipping ahead of the Dungannon man in the latter stages to nab fifth.
Result: 940, 996, 916, 960, 962, 994, 944, 943, 369, 404, 888, 23.

Anyone who thought that heat one’s excellence would set the trend for the night would however be sadly mistaken, as heat two and the final were to follow very similar lines, and a stark contrast to the evening’s first race.

Keys’ attempts to rectify his sick motor were in vain, as the gremlins returned and he retired to the infield for the night even before the warm-up laps were completed. Maxwell therefore inherited the front of the grid, and he soon turned that into a lead he would never lose.

Heatrick settled into second, and as Maxwell channelled all his efforts into building up a sizeable lead, Mark was using his to fend off the rest of the field. Martin tried time and again to get past the #960 206cc, but could never quite make it stick. The Heatrick car was obviously much slower, but Mark was driving a very calculated race. He was giving those on his outside plenty of room, but the lack of outside grip coupled with some very defensive corner entries from Heatrick was keeping allcomers at bay.

Mention must also go to Doak in this one. He’s not only the leader of the points, but for Joe Bloggs in the stand who wants value for his eight quid entrance fee he’s always the man to watch. Right from the green flag to the chequered in this one he was on the offensive, spending many laps outside of Christie and McMillan. Sometimes it comes off in a blaze of glory, although this was one of the frequent times it didn’t, but you certainly can’t fault the guy for giving it 110%.

Maxwell came home over half a lap to the good, which serves to show how much Heatrick was in defensive mode. Mark held them all off to take second, ahead of Martin, Woolsey, McMillan, Christie and Doak.
Result: 369, 960, 994, 940, 944, 962, 996, 943, 404, 963, 888, 23.

The final quickly settled into the same routine as heat two, with Maxwell pulling steadily clear at the front whilst Heatrick went on the defensive once again. First Martin tried the wide outside, almost getting there but never just far enough up. He dropped back slightly, giving Woolsey the chance to go for it. He had pulled it off quite handily in heat one, but all thoughts soon turned to their mammoth battles side by side at Nuttscorner Oval last year, which eventually ended in tears. Gary tried his heart out, but couldn’t make the move stick at all, and then in a move which brought puzzled looks all around the raceway, he just plain and simple seemed to give up, and pulled wide right out of contention. Martin now gave it a go once again, but got rail-roaded back, allowing McMillan and Christie through in the tight finish.

There was nothing tight about Maxwell’s winning margin though, Tommy cruising home a country mile ahead of the field. Heatrick held on to second, after another defensive drive the late, great Leslie Dallas would have been proud of. McMillan snatched third at the death, from Christie, Martin and Doak.
Result: 369, 960, 944, 962, 994, 996, 943, 404, 940, 888, 23.

World Series NI comes to a conclusion this Saturday night when the 16th and final round is staged at Nuttscorner Oval. The Championship is still up for grabs even though the six qualifiers for Ipswich are all but known. It will be calculators at the ready with dropped scores also coming into account. It promises to be a night of high drama… Darren Black


2008 World Series 14
Nutscorner Oval, Saturday 3rd May 2008.

Darren Black reports:  Fresh from his top ten placing on his Formula BMW Europe debut in Barcelona last weekend, William Buller was bang on form at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday night when he steered his Rockingham Tigra to a faultless hat-trick of wins. In the final John Christie was his nearest challenger, but once he had broken through the pack Buller had long since disappeared.

There were 13 cars in the pits for this one, including a return to World Series action for Wayne Woolsey in his usual SHP 206cc. It was only a fun outing for Wayne and he started off the back of the grid, concentrating on racing his 2 Litre Rod on what was a busy night for him. Buller by the way was doubling up too, whilst Stewart Doak had probably wisely left his 2 Litre at home to concentrate fully on his National.

Alvin Christie (no relation, by the way, to “the” Christie’s) was having his Nuttscorner Oval debut in the formula, whilst for the anoraks amongst us, Tommy Maxwell had reverted back to his usual mount of the ex-Keith Martin World-winning 206.

Buller, obviously without a three-meeting average, had been seeded by the NHRPA directly in front of the seven cars still in contention for Ipswich qualification, but he wasted little time in bursting past front row men Steven Hanna and Davy McKay to take up the running in heat one. McKay followed him past Hanna for second, as Terry Maxwell got all crossed up and spun on the back straight, fortunately getting going again without any problems.

Hanna was soon railroaded to the outside, which held up early charges by Keith Martin and Stewart Doak, before the pretty #7 car ended up stranded on the exit of turn two following a spin which brought out the waved yellows.

Buller wasted little time in putting fresh air between himself and the rest when they got going once again, as the battle for third behind McKay intensified between the big men. Ronnie McMillan almost got squeezed out of it at one point, the resultant mix-up allowing Gary Woolsey to nip under Christie for fifth.

Buller sailed home to collect his maiden National Hot Rod win, with McKay impressive in second ahead of Mark Heatrick and McMillan.
Result: 302, 943, 960, 944, 940, 962, 996, 994, 50, 963, 404, 7.

Buller made a lightning start to heat two, darting right through the middle of the front row to lead into turn one. Tommy M tried to follow suit, but the gap had long since closed and he clobbered into both McKay and Hanna, sending McKay’s Corsa to the wall and putting the front near-side wheel of the Maxwell car right back against the bulkhead. Obviously the red flags got an airing and a complete restart was called.

Maxwell sat out the restart and the rest of the meeting, whilst McKay was able to rejoin with a back wheel arch at all sorts of angles, albeit voluntarily from the back. Buller unsurprisingly shot off into the lead once again, as Hanna was railroaded down the order on the outside.

Christie and Doak were, as usual, giving the fans value for money as they tried the outside amongst the pack – John being the one to benefit as he was able to get past McMillan before the end to finish third behind Buller and Heatrick. Doak wasn’t so lucky this time, the British Champion having to settle in behind Keith Martin and interestingly just in front of Wayne W, who had been hanging onto the main pack throughout both heats as if he’d never been away.
Result: 302, 960, 962, 944, 940, 994, 996, 50, 7, 404.

Wayne W sat out the final leaving 11 cars to take the green flag, and there couldn’t have been too many fans inside the stadium who would have bet against Buller taking the win yet again. Hanna made a much better start this time, and led them away before Buller made his move on the exit of turn four up the inside. That was the last anyone would see of the pristine #302 car, as William simply disappeared into the distance leaving the rest trailing in his wake.

McMillan was the first to try the outside line to break the deadlock further back, but his attempts to get on terms with Heatrick were to end in failure and Ronnie dropped back through the field. Christie was the next to give it a go, and after several laps on the wide line he broke free from Heatrick and the pack. Martin then took up the gauntlet too, but he found Heatrick much tougher to crack, and just couldn’t pull it off.

Christie soon had put a quarter of a lap on the main pack and was eating into Buller’s lead big time, but anyone who cast an ear towards the Rockingham car would have heard that William was barely on half throttle by this stage, and he coasted home to record an easy hat-trick, the first by a provisional licence holder in the formula. Christie was good value in second, which on any other night would probably have been an excellent win, with Heatrick next up followed by Martin and Doak in a photo finish.
Result: 302, 962, 960, 994, 996, 944, 940, 7, 943, 404.

The penultimate round of the series takes place on May 16 at Ballymena, before they all return to Nuttscorner Oval on May 24 for the series finale. The six World Qualifiers may be all but decided now, but I’m sure the calculators will be out in many of the workshops over the next few weeks as dropped scores come into effect before the NI Champion 2007/08 is crowned. Darren Black


2008 World Series 13
Ballymena, Friday 11th April 2008.

Darren Black reports:  Portadown driver Mark Heatrick cemented his position within the all-important top six in World Series NI with a heat and final double at Ballymena Raceway on Friday night. The Heatrick Demolition-backed driver also claimed a runner-up spot in the other heat for good measure, as it fell to Ronnie McMillan’s still new Tigra.

There were 13 cars on hand for this outing, the most notable being the debut of Alvin Christie (404) in the ex-Robin Morrow/ Colin Atkinson Ludlow Peugeot 206cc. Now pristine in silver livery, the car looked very much the part. The driver though would have some rustiness to shake off, as it’s quite a number of years since I remember him racing a 1600 Hot Rod at the old, original Nutts Corner Raceway.

There was also a welcome return for Stevie Williams, before we move on to the “what car did they use this week?” snippets. For your information – Tommy Maxwell was still in the ex-Lee 206, whilst Gary Woolsey reverted to his usual Ballymena mount of the Tigra.

The track was wet for heat one following a shower shortly before start time. Mark Keys had pole position for the first time, but it soon became obvious that the former Lightning Rod National Champion either had a problem, or most likely, didn’t have wets on! He was swamped as they traversed the back straight for the first time, causing a few hairy moments and three abreast activity. Heatrick grabbed the early initiative, and it was a joy to watch himself and second placed man McMillan enter the home straight for the first time “full of the rack” as they say in these parts. Ronnie soon slipped around Mark to take it up in what is, after all, his favoured conditions.

Woolsey and points leader Stewart Doak were going at it hammer and tongs for third, and this would catch the eye for the remainder of the race. Doak slipped under Woolsey after he had tried to nip around Heatrick for second, and they circulated side by side on the wet track with no-one giving an inch. When Doak finally nailed the position, Woolsey was obviously none too pleased for some reason and hammered into the rear of the #996 Tigra, not once but twice. The impact knocked Doak’s Tigra wide and the two again circulated as one with 100% commitment, with Doak even dealing the backmarking Steven Hanna car a glancing blow as he was forced wide whilst they lapped it.

McMillan went on to claim the first victory of the night, ahead of Heatrick. Doak and Keith Martin were elevated to third and fourth respectively by the Steward after Woolsey was quite rightly demoted two places for his earlier contact.
Result: 944, 960, 996, 994, 940 (x-2), 962, 369, 404, 963, 916, 7.

The rain had stopped in time for heat two, and a dry line had developed on the track. The fact though that the outside was still damp and greasy meant, as all short oval fans know, that the entertainment value would be greatly reduced for this one. After problems earlier, Davy McKay made his first start of the night in this one from the back, whilst Mark Keys elected to forego his pole position start.

Keith Martin was in trouble before we even got going when his clutch cable came adrift, and he was forced to make a rolling start from the rear of the line up. Heatrick again made the early running, as Tommy Maxwell got hung out to dry from his lonely front row start with the star men putting some pretty robust moves on him.

As Heatrick held sway at the head of the field, a slip by Woolsey allowed Doak and Martin underneath in what turned into a processional event due to the one line raceway. Mark took the chequers as McMillan kept him honest right till the end. John Christie grabbed third, with Doak fourth ahead of Martin and Woolsey.
Result: 960, 944, 962, 996, 994, 940, 943, 916, 369, 7, 404, 32, 963.

The “relatively” low temperature – it felt like the Caribbean compared to the Good Friday meeting here! -  had prevented the track from drying any come final time, so we were in for more of the one line stuff of the previous race. Tommy M again got swamped at the start as Heatrick led away. Further back Doak had made a blinding start to dart up the outside early on, but found his progress thwarted by Maxwell as he slipped down the order – Stewart eventually getting back in line behind McKay. He soon relegated Davy though, and set off after the train of line astern leaders comprising Heatrick, McMillan, Martin, Christie and Woolsey.

It looked to be fizzling out to a dull finish but Doak was prepared to offer the fans the value for money they were after. Immediately he took to the outside of Woolsey, only to drop back in line. Then he went for it again, and this time he got as far up the snake as Christie before being forced back once again. He wasn’t done there though, and went again with the lap boards out. Unfortunately it was never going to come off on such a difficult track, although he did earn the applause of quite a number who appreciated the effort. In fact, his final blast actually saw the impressive McKay, who had held onto the “big boys” throughout the race, down the inside to relegate Doak to seventh in the end. Heatrick had held allcomers off to claim his second win of the night from McMillan, Martin and Christie.
Result: 960, 944, 994, 962, 940, 943, 996, 916, 369, 32, 7, 404.

World Series NI action continues at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday May 3rd.  Darren Black


2008 World Series 12
Nuttscorner Oval, Monday 24th March 2008.

Darren Black reports:  On a day when the closeness of Northern Ireland’s National Hot Rod racing was as evident as ever, Portadown’s Mark Heatrick helped himself to his first Nuttscorner Oval final win on Easter Monday. There was a thirteen car entry on hand for this one, with the heats falling the way of Ronnie McMillan in his new Tigra and Keith Martin.

Most notable amongst the entry was young William Buller, who made his debut in another immaculate Ludlow Motorsport Tigra. The teenager was also in action during the day in the supporting 2.0 Hot Rods, taking the final win from a record entry of 29 cars. Whilst taking his oval racing deadly serious, William’s main focus in 2008 is, of course, his Formula BMW Europe campaign with Fortec Motorsport, which will see him compete on the undercard at all the European Formula 1 Grand Prix as he tries to make a profession from his motorsport.

Of the others, we had lost Mark McKinstry from Friday’s Ballymena meeting (and of course the Tipperary regulars too), but gained not just Buller but Will Scott too - Will still behind the wheel of his SWM Fiesta. Gary Woolsey wheeled out his usual Nuttscorner mount in the McCall-built Corsa, whilst Tommy Maxwell continued in the ex-Rich Lee 206. There were also Nuttscorner Oval debuts for Mark Keys and Steven Hanna.

With Terry Maxwell, Davy McKay and Scott all electing to start at the rear with the provisional licence holders, it was Tommy M who had pole position in the opening heat of the day, intent on adding to his hat-trick three days previous at Ballymena. McMillan had other ideas though, and shot down the inside of both Tommy and Heatrick in a scary three-abreast moment into turn one to take it up. Heatrick slotted into second, but would lose out as things got rather untidy, with Tommy M bumping him wide and out of the train. Maxwell picked up the days’ first black cross for his troubles, as Heatrick got slotted back in only to get thumped wide by Woolsey – cue black cross number two.

McMillan continued to hold sway at the head of the field, with Martin now in second, whilst John Christie seemed to be struggling with a misfire as he laboured to keep points-leader and British Champion Stewart Doak at bay for third. Doak soon found a way past as the new Christie machine hesitated, and Woolsey was next to challenge John for what was now fourth. Gary’s attempts round the outside only succeeded in letting Buller down the inside – the youngster taking to the Nationals like a duck to water with the big names not fazing him in the slightest.

McMillan reeled off the remaining tours to give his Tigra its’ maiden victory, from Martin, Doak and Christie, with Buller inheriting a fine fifth following Woolsey’s demotion in race control.
Result: 944, 994, 996, 962, 302, 916, 940 (x-2), 960, 369 (x-2), 943, 963, 980, 7.

Tommy M wasn’t falling for the same trick from McMillan at the start of heat two, and kept the door firmly shut to head the field away. Heatrick soon took up second spot on the road after barging his way past McMillan, a move which hadn’t gone unnoticed by the Steward and he duly collected a cross next time around. In the shake-up Martin found himself in second, and he duly accepted the lead when Tommy M got way out of shape onto the back straight to get himself relegated by most of the top runners.

As Keith extended his lead, interest further back showed Mark Keys showing the first signs of transferring his Championship winning Lightning Rod form to the Nationals, when he was able to nip past Doak for a time, whilst a battle royal between Heatrick and Christie saw both cars out of shape on more than one occasion. Buller was also showing his pace once again, trading places with the more established names in only his second race. Hanna’s opening Nuttscorner Oval meeting then unfortunately came to an abrupt end when he smacked the wall and left his immaculate 206cc looking rather the worse for wear.

Martin took an easy win, from Woolsey and Doak, once Heatrick had been relegated to fourth for his infringement early on.
Result: 994, 940, 996, 960 (x-2), 962, 302, 944, 916, 943, 369, 980.

As if the cold wasn’t enough, a huge shower of rain and sleet, and sometimes hailstones to boot, had left the track pretty slippery for the start of the final. A rolling start was called for this one therefore, but once things had settled down we didn’t get very far before the yellows were flying for Tommy M spun on the River Bend, with McMillan rotating too entering the home straight. As so often seems to be the case, just as the yellows went out, both cars were moving again, but Sod’s Law always seems to be the winner doesn’t it???

Both the spinners rejoined at the rear of the queue as Heatrick led them back past the green, ahead of Christie and Doak. Previous heat winner Martin was struggling badly in the conditions and was falling well off the pace, but the same could not be said for McMillan, who clearly had the bit between his teeth in his favoured conditions. He easily relegated the tail-enders, and then slid past both Buller and Martin to appear in fifth. Woolsey was always going to be a tougher nut to crack though, and just when a little patience was called for Ronnie made his move at the wrong time. He got into the back of Gary’s Corsa onto the back straight, sending the #940 machine slithering wide, with Ronnie moving through, only to see exactly what he was expecting half a lap later – the day’s fourth black cross!

The top five were all together as we entered the final phase of the race, but Heatrick duly defended his lead all the way to the chequered flag to record the win, from Doak and Christie, with Woolsey and Buller moving ahead of McMillan in the post-race analysis.
Result: 960, 996, 962, 940, 302, 944 (x-2), 994, 369, 916, 980.

The next World Series round is back at Ballymena Raceway on Friday 11th April. Darren Black


2008 World Series 11
Ballymena, Friday 21st March 2008.

Darren Black reports: The green flag fell on the 2008 season at Ballymena Raceway on Good Friday, and it was Tommy Maxwell who did all the winning on a bitterly cold night. A fine hat-trick in an unfamiliar car saw him do his World Final hopes a great deal of good.

With an impressive 17 cars in the pits, there was plenty to talk about amongst the entry. Firstly, there was the welcome sight of five visiting drivers from the Republic of Ireland using the meeting as a test session – Tom Casey, Mike Riordan, Des Cooney, Shane Murphy and Joey Butler all of course having to start off the back of the grid in the Northern Ireland World Qualifier.

Amongst the locals, two pristine new Ludlow Tigras caught the eye, as Ronnie McMillan and John Christie debuted their new charges. Ronnie’s 206 had only just arrived back from South Africa on Wednesday, and he had special dispensation from the NHRPA to bring both cars for practice. As it turned out, the Tigra more than impressed Ronnie, and the 206 didn’t even see the light of day. Tommy Maxwell’s 206 had also just returned from SA, but in a much worse state of repair, so he was forced to go with his recently acquired ex-Rich Lee SWM 206, albeit with the now ubiquitous Keith Martin front end.

There were also two drivers making their debuts in the formula too, the first being former Lightning Rod National and ORCi Champion Mark Keys (#916) in the ex-Hillard/Stow/McClure/Allen/Dilly SHP 206. The other was former Autograss man Steven Hanna (#7), who gridded an immaculate ex-Mark Sear Haird Motorsport 206cc. A final point of note was that Terry Maxwell was now using the number 963, with his ex-McMillan 206 now in almost exactly the same colours as brother Tommy’s usual mount.

Perhaps it was the months champing at the bit waiting on the action to get going again after the winter break, but all hell broke loose very early on in heat one. For some reason McMillan got into the back of pole-sitter Terry M big time into turn 1 after only a lap or two, the result being that Terry spun, taking brother Tommy with him on the outside. As cars went all directions, McMillan went to the outside looking to escape, only to spin right back across the racing line where he collected the unlucky points leader Stewart Doak, severely bending the #996 car’s back axle and breaking his own steering. Unsurprisingly, the red flags got their first wave of the season….

McMillan, Doak and Terry M were absent from the restart, with Tommy M taking up the running ahead of Mark Heatrick, Gary Woolsey and Christie. There was little to choose between them all in what turned out to be a very static race, and that’s how they stayed until the chequered flag.
Result: 369, 960, 940, 962, 994, 943, (970), (142), (961), (151), 974, 916.

The Cirrus Plastics team had performed a minor miracle to get Doak’s Tigra back in action for heat two, and McMillan and Terry M rejoined the fray too, although Terry this time opted to start from the rear of the line up. Tommy M once again set the early pace, this time tracked by McMillan, Christie, Woolsey, and Doak. As they circulated line astern, Woolsey had a few sniffs up the outside of Christie’s new motor, only allowing Doak and Martin through on the inside as a result. Once again the closeness of the top six or seven cars was evident as they circulated almost as one for much of the race, before McMillan hit the outside looking for the lead with a couple to run. Ronnie was obviously playing the percentage game, knowing that if he couldn’t make the move stick there was very little time to get rail-roaded right out of the major places. It almost paid off for him though, as he clawed right alongside Maxwell down the back straight for the final time, and only just failed to snatch the win in a photo finish. Christie claimed third, from Doak, Woolsey and Keith Martin.
Result: 369, 944, 962, 996, 940, 994, 960, 943, (961), (921), (151), (970), (142), 974, 7.

There was a restart required in the final too, as Mark Heatrick found out that three abreast out of turn two on lap one doesn’t usually work. The resultant aerobatics saw the SHP 206cc left stranded half way down the back straight with broken suspension.

Tommy M once again took it up at the second time of asking, as the slow away Davy McKay baulked several of the big names, with Christie being the major loser in it all. Maxwell had a tirade of Tigras tracking him this time, as McMillan, Woolsey and Doak followed his every move. Woolsey had his hands full keeping Doak at bay, allowing the front pair to break clear a few times, but Ronnie was once again biding his time and sure enough they were soon all back together again in a train.

Just like in the previous race, the appearance of the lap boards was McMillan’s cue to go for it. He easily pulled up alongside Maxwell, but what he feared was about to come true, and he got checked back and in an instant Woolsey had filled the gap on the inside and Ronnie was in danger of getting hung out to dry. The chequered flag came to his rescue however, just as he must’ve planned, with Maxwell taking the spoils and a faultless hat-trick of wins – just what the doctor ordered when you’re one spot outside the top six. Woolsey took his gift of second, with McMillan just holding on for third from Doak, Martin, Christie and McKay.
Result: 369, 940, 944, 996, 994, 962, 943, (961), (921), 974, (151), 963, 7.

World Series NI now moves on to Nuttscorner Oval on Easter Monday for WQ12.  Darren Black.
NB. All results are as seen trackside and are in no way official.


2008 World Series 10
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 20th October 2007

Darren Black reports:  In a race meeting that showcased National Hot Rod racing at its very best, it was John Christie who grabbed his second final win in three Nuttscorner Oval meetings on Saturday night. All three races saw frenetic battles for all the positions, with the heats falling to Mark Heatrick and Gary Woolsey.

There were a couple of welcome newcomers amongst the excellent fifteen cars in the pits for this encounter, with ex-Lightning Rod man Thomas Dilly stepping up to the Nationals in the ex-Hillard/Stow SHP 206 most recently raced locally by Wayne McClure and Francis Allen. The other was Davy Gurney, who returned to the ovals having become disillusioned with the rallying he’s been partaking in of late. He wheeled out a Peugeot 205 sourced from the Outlaw series at Arena-Essex, but gearbox woes saw him sidelined during practice and unable to make his debut. The smile on his face suggested he will soon be back for more though…

Ian Thompson Snr quickly turned his pole spot into the early lead in heat one, with Tommy Maxwell tracking his every move. Jason Winning, the final winner last time out, got stuck on the outside and quickly fell down the order. The lead duo had opened a gap as Gary Woolsey looked for a way by Mark Heatrick, looking both inside and out – a bit of déjà vu from the last meeting which of course ended in tears. There soon was trouble at the front though, as Maxwell aimed for a gap inside Thompson, into turn one. It turned out to be a gap that was closing fast, and the two cars came together with Maxwell being left stranded mid-track to give the yellows an airing.

Heatrick accepted the lead of the race quite gratefully, and he led them off for the remainder of the race which saw a high speed train of hot rods circulating in close proximity. Woolsey kept him honest all the way but it wasn’t to be, leaving Heatrick the victor, with Ronnie McMillan third ahead of Stewart Doak and Keith Martin, who crossed the line almost side by side.
Result: 960, 940, 944, 996, 994, 962, 983, 801, 943, 974, 555, 980.

There was drama for Thompson early on in heat two, as he pulled up during the warm up laps in trouble. Efforts were made to get him going, but the rest eventually took the green without him. Jason Winning led early on before a halt was called when Terry Maxwell slammed the back straight wall in his ex-McMillan 206, bringing out the reds and a complete restart.

Winning wasn’t nearly as quick away at the second time of asking, leaving Tommy M to take up the lead. Woolsey had crucially cleared Heatrick early on in this one, and was soon tracking the leader down. There then followed some interesting tactics from Gary, as he knew that, with his point’s situation critical, he could not afford to get stuck outside Maxwell and get railroaded back. He then proceeded to back the rest of the pack up for a few laps, getting them side by side and squabbling amongst themselves, before getting the hammer down and closing the gap to Maxwell. This gave him some clear air from the third placed man, allowing an all-out attack on Maxwell, which soon netted him the lead and the win. Maxwell claimed an excellent second, from Heatrick, McMillan, Martin and Christie
Result: 940, 369, 960, 944, 994, 962, 943, 983, 996, 980.

Thompson was repaired and able to lead them away in the final, whilst fellow front row man Winning once again got hung out to dry on the outside. Tommy Maxwell was now holding station in second, but soon Woolsey had found a way by on the inside. Many would have expected Maxwell to be the next victim to get railroaded back on the outside line, but Tommy doggedly hung on for his life alongside Woolsey, with the rest of the train snapping at Gary’s rear panel. It was clear that Woolsey was playing with them once again, as he backed everyone up behind him yet never allowed Thompson’s lead to rise to any more than 5/6 car lengths.

Lap after lap Maxwell hung in there on the outside, one minute alongside Woolsey for second, the next battling to hang onto fifth or sixth. McMillan got out of shape in turn 3 allowing Christie under him, and suddenly after all the side by side racing which the crowd were enjoying, Woolsey’s tactics were going out the window as he now had star men behind him. He took off after Thompson for the lead, but this time instead of leaving the pack behind to battle amongst themselves, he had Christie and Doak for company. Gary soon latched on to Thompson’s 206cc but straight away Christie hit the outside. You could visibly see the crowd willing him on down the back straight as he drew alongside the #940 Corsa and then Thompson to take it up to rapturous applause around the stadium. Woolsey soon followed him by, but they were all brought short with 5 to go when Maxwell ended up across the back straight having given the wall a glancing blow as his superb outside run came to an unfortunate end.

The restart saw one of the finest races of the season end in something of an anti-climax over the remaining 5 tours, with Christie enjoying a popular win from Woolsey, Doak, Martin and Winning.
Final: 962, 940, 996, 994, 983, 801, 944, 960, 943, 980, 966.  Darren Black.


2008 World Series 09
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 6th October 2007

Darren Black reports:  Former F2 and 1600 Hot Rod star Jason Winning was the top performer at NI World Series Round 9 at Nuttscorner Oval with a heat and final double, his first victories since stepping up to the National class. On a night which saw 12 cars racing and tempers frayed, Rab Forsythe also claimed his first win in the formula with a heat two victory.

There were a couple of interesting entries for this one, both of them newcomers to the Nationals and starting off the back on provisional licences. Long time F2 stalwart Darren McKinstry (974) was racing his brother Mark’s ex-Ian Thompson/Clive Richardson 206, whilst Terry Maxwell (555), brother of Tommy, was behind the wheel of the ex-Ronnie McMillan 206 after completing his first season of racing in the Brisca class.

Winning was the first to show at the fall of the first green flag of the night, and wasted little time putting daylight between himself and the pack, led by Ian Thompson Snr and Forsythe. Further back a real battle royal was developing as Gary Woolsey spent many laps alongside Mark Heatrick. Time and again Gary almost dragged himself right past, but just couldn’t get far enough by to make it stick, with plenty of paint being swapped in the process. It was eventually ended when Gary got in behind Heatrick and helped him into turn 3, sending Heatrick wide and allowing a train of cars through on the inside. Woolsey picked up a black cross next time round for his troubles. None of this was worrying Winning though, and he took the flag half a lap clear of the field, with Thompson second from Forsythe and McMillan, after Woolsey was dropped two places for the contact on Heatrick.
Result: 983, 801, 992, 944, (940(x-2)), 994, 996, 962, 960, 369, 974, 555.

It was a similar start to heat two, with Winning breaking away but only after it almost ended in tears as Thompson tried to force his way through on the inside into the first bend. All eyes were fixed on the main pack though, as once again Woolsey was sticking it out on the outside of Heatrick. Mark was giving him all the room he needed, but time and again Woolsey tried to cut in front of the #960 car when not fully ahead. It all ended in tears when Woolsey chopped across him into turn 3, with the NW Developments car traversing the bend sideways before coming to rest across the track entering the home straight. Almost everyone got by, but Keith Martin was the unfortunate one who clipped the Corsa and he was out on the spot. The waved yellows were called for, and there then followed some heated exchanges between officials of the meeting and Gary and a member of his team, which unfortunately led to him being loaded up from the meeting.

Once we got going again after a delay, Forsythe and Tommy Maxwell got the jump on Winning and Rab was able to reel off the remaining laps to take a pleasing victory. Following him home were Tommy M, Winning and Christie, after Stewart Doak was demoted two places for inadvertently overtaking under waved yellows aired for the Woolsey incident.
Result: 992, 369, 983, 962, 996, 960, 944, 801, 974, 555.

There was an explosive start to the final, as Thompson slid into the wall on lap 3 and had the ex McCall/Richardson 206cc burst into flames as the fuel cap had not been attached. The blaze was quickly extinguished and Ian joined in for the full restart. His excitement didn’t end there though, as both he and Forsythe went around on turn 1 of the restarted race. Forsythe retired, whilst Thompson continued but well adrift of the pack. Winning meanwhile was looking good once again at the head of the field, with Heatrick his nearest challenger this time but struggling to get on terms. Behind, McMillan and Doak were having a decent dice for third with Christie and Martin likewise for fifth. Winning held on to collect the silverware and underline his future promise, with Heatrick second from McMillan, Doak and Christie.
Result: 983, 960, 944, 996, 962, 994, 369, 555, 974, 801.

World Series NI Round 10 takes place back at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday October 20th, after many of the local drivers compete at Tipperary for the European Championship where Keith Martin will defend his title. Darren Black


2008 World Series 08
Ballymena, Friday 28th September 2007

Darren Black reports:  Crumlin’s Tommy Maxwell bagged another healthy haul of World Championship qualifying points at Ballymena on Friday night, when he grabbed a fine heat and final double. He only narrowly missed out on Ulster’s first 70-point maximum score too, as John Christie beat him into second spot in heat two.

There was an improved 13 car entry for the night’s proceedings, with Rab Forsythe, Davy McKay and Robin Morrow returning having missed the previous encounter. It was also pleasing to see Forsythe and Francis Allen joining Jason Winning in taking up their allocated grid slots and giving the ‘big guns’ more work to do on their way to the front. On the machinery front, Ronnie McMillan continued in the Alan Connolly 206, whilst Gary Woolsey wheeled out his Ludlow Corsa for this one following his shunt with the Corsa at Nuttscorner Oval a week previous.

Maxwell wasted no time setting out his stall for the night by quickly grabbing the heat one lead early on, as Ian Thompson Snr and Allen got railroaded back through the field. McKay held second from Forsythe and Winning, but Mark Heatrick soon led the more established names to the front, as the trio dropped through the field with Winning in particular having a few hairy moments as he mounted the wall. As Maxwell extended his lead at the front, Heatrick had Christie, Keith Martin and Stewart Doak in pursuit, with Keith somehow making a hole inside John entering the back straight to snatch third and bringing British Champion Doak through with him.

Maxwell continued to the flag with ease to notch win number one of the night, from Heatrick, Martin, Doak, Christie and McMillan.
Result: 369, 960, 994, 996, 962, 944, 940, 801, 992, 943, 905.

There was a hectic start to heat two, and while Maxwell showed first again there was all sorts of shenanigans behind as they headed down the back straight with McKay and Martin, to name two, both finding themselves out of shape and almost in big trouble. Thankfully nothing too untoward happened, but it transpired that it was all the result of Winning’s woes, as he had continued unaware that he had broken a steering arm on the entrance to turn one. Just how he got parked up as far away as turn three without a major accident happening is anyone’s guess, but they all continued nonetheless. As Allen went for a wild spin on the back straight with little time loss, Maxwell’s departure into the distance wasn’t just as cut and dried this time. When Christie dived underneath Heatrick down the home straight to go second, it was obvious that John was going to seriously threaten the leader this time. Threaten him he did too, and he soon took over the lead, before cruising on to the win. Maxwell took the runner-up’s spot, with Woolsey, Martin and Doak next up after they had all relegated Heatrick to sixth.
Result: 962, 369, 940, 994, 996, 960, 944, 801, 992, 943, 914, 905.

There was a much depleted field for the final, with Allen, Winning, Morrow and McKay all loaded up for the night with various problems. Forsythe was the next to find trouble, as he barely got off the line and was swamped by the rest of the field – Rab parking up his ex-Ivan McMillan Corsa on the inside of turn one with his race over. The smaller field led to Heatrick in second seeming closer to Maxwell early on this time, but the question was could he close in? Woolsey was soon on the chase too once he’d relegated Thompson, with Doak making moves in the right direction as well having gone around McMillan, Christie and Thompson. Woolsey then got on terms with Heatrick, who spurned his attempts to pass and allowed Doak to latch onto them, with Martin and Christie in close attendance too. All this was playing right into Maxwell’s lap, as he merrily continued on his way to his second chequered flag of the night. Heatrick held off the combined challenge of Woolsey and Doak for a commendable second spot finish, with Martin and Christie rounding out the top six to finish off Ballymena’s National Hot Rod proceedings for 2007.
Result: 369, 960, 940, 996, 994, 962, 944, 801.  Darren Black


2008 World Series 07
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 22nd September 2007

Darren Black reports:  John Christie produced a superb last lap charge around the outside line to capture the final spoils in a photo finish at World Series NI Round 7 at Nuttscorner Oval. On a night with plenty of talking points, Tommy Maxwell and Keith Martin shared the heats, whilst Gary Woolsey left the stadium with a badly damaged Corsa, and a badly damaged points total to boot.

There were eleven cars in action for this one, with Will Scott making a welcome return in his Fiesta. Francis Allen was again behind the wheel of the McClure 206 as he completed his third provisional meeting, whilst former 1600 Hot Rod and Brisca F2 man Jason Winning took his allocated grid slot for the first time now that he’s comfortable with his ex-Neville Stanley 206.

Maxwell was first to show from pole in heat one, ahead of Ian Thompson Snr, with Winning slotting in behind Ronnie McMillan, who was still at the wheel of the Alan Connolly Ludlow 206. British Champion Stewart Doak was looking in irresistible form once again, as he left the other star names behind and swooped right around Mark Heatrick to head after the leaders. Heatrick meanwhile now had Martin, John Christie and Woolsey looking for a way by, but the youngster held them at bay. Doak soon eased by Winning to close on McMillan, as Thompson slowed dramatically with smoke pouring from the left rear wheel. Doak now took to the outside of McMillan for second, but failed to make it stick, with new-boy Winning even having the audacity to nibble up the inside of Stewart as he struggled on the wide line. Maxwell was well clear at the end, taking a fine win from McMillan, Doak, Winning, Heatrick and Martin.
Result: 369 Tommy Maxwell, 944, 996, 983, 960, 994, 940, 962, 914, 980, 801.

There was drama before heat two kicked off, as Heatrick ground to a halt on the warm up laps with a broken half shaft. They set off then without him, and Maxwell again got the jump to lead from Thompson, McMillan and Winning. We soon had one massive National Hot Rod train of upwards of 10 cars circulating as one at lightning pace, before it all kicked off on the River Bend mid-race. Thompson got way out of shape on the way in, with McMillan left with nowhere to go as in an instant he was faced with the #801 car across the front of him. Ronnie hit Thompson, spinning the 206cc around, but the real damage was still to come as it rolled backwards onto the racing line. Doak just got through and no more, but Woolsey was the unlucky victim as he collected it with the passenger side of his Corsa. As the yellows waved, Gary’s car was left with severe damage – the rear wheels pointing in all directions and his night was done.

Winning got swamped at the restart, as Maxwell continued to lead from Doak and Martin. That’s how it stayed right until the end, with Tommy looking safe in the lead until he got much too deep into turn three on the final tour, leaving a gap one of his Maxwell Freight lorries could quite easily have utilised. Doak dived inside, only for Maxwell to come back across him taking the momentum from both cars. It was now a drag race to the line from turn four, with Martin slipping past both to claim it by inches on the line. Maxwell held onto second, from Doak, Christie and Winning.
Result: 994 Keith Martin, 369, 996, 944, 962, 983, 980, 801.

Heatrick only just made the line-up for the final, but opted to start from the back of the field for this one. For the third time Maxwell led them away, from Thompson and McMillan, with Ronnie once again looking for a way by the #801 machine. It all went pear shaped into turn one, as he tipped Thompson into his second spin of the night, although fortunately he wasn’t collected this time. With Ian momentarily stranded, the yellows had been called for, and at the restart Christie found himself in second, ahead of McMillan (who collected a black cross on the restart for his part in Thompson’s demise), Winning, Martin and Doak.

Doak and Martin soon relegated Winning, but at the front Christie seemed reluctant to take to the outside of Maxwell, who was leaving him plenty of room. John obviously was thinking points, and how he could well lose a handful if he got stuck out wide, but his opportunity soon came as the squabbling behind gave the lead duo a little breathing space. John hit the outside line, but was run wide by Maxwell onto the marbles, and in an instant he went from challenging for the lead to desperately hanging onto his second from McMillan who had nipped down the inside. Christie wasn’t for giving up though and eventually slotted back into second with the laps running out. He quickly closed in on Maxwell again, and with less than two to go, and spurred on by the crowd, he got the bit between his teeth and went for it again. They were neck and neck down the back straight for the final time, and John just edged clear to grab the victory by the slimmest of margins on the line. Maxwell was a gallant runner up, with Martin third and the impressive Winning fourth, after McMillan was docked two places for the earlier incident with Thompson.
Result: 962 John Christie, 369, 994, 983, 944 (x-2), 996, 914, 901, 980, 960.  Darren Black.


2008 World Series 06
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 1st September 2007

Darren Black reports:  Ronnie McMillan made it two final wins in two days as he really got his World qualifying campaign back on track with a heat and final double at an entertaining Round 6 at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday night.

There were twelve cars on hand for this one, with Francis Allen back in action again in the Wayne McClure car. Jason Winning made his Nuttscorner Oval nationals debut, although Rab Forsythe wasn’t in the line up this time, concentrating on his 2 Litre Hot Rod instead for the night. McMillan was once again in the Connolly 206, with everyone else in their usual mounts.

Car problems saw Davy McKay elect to start from the rear in heat one, with a spot left vacant for him for future races. That left Tommy Maxwell all alone on the front row, but he was soon swamped by the entire field, as Ian Thompson Snr took up the running from Mark Heatrick. McMillan was running third and harrying the leaders, but a moment through turns one and two saw him drop off the racing line and gift the spot to Irish Open Champion Keith Martin. Stewart Doak, Gary Woolsey and John Christie all followed through before Ronnie could recover, and we soon had a high speed train of eight cars lapping on a very fast pace. At the sharp end, Heatrick obviously felt he was quicker than Thompson, but despite a few looks to the outside, you could tell he had visions of the whole field passing him by if he tried it for real. Thompson therefore held on for the win, with Heatrick second from Martin, Doak, Woolsey and Christie.
Result: 801, 960, 994, 996, 940, 962, 944, 943, 983, 369, 914, 905.

Thompson was again the first to show in heat two, but McMillan soon caught him napping into turn one to take it up. Ronnie had Christie for company this time, and the two soon put some fresh air between themselves and the rest. Thompson and Heatrick were renewing their acquaintances for third, with Martin, Doak and Woolsey caught up behind. Doak was the first to have a go, and he showed just how capable his Tigra is on the outside as he grappled his way past the lot to go third. Martin and Woolsey soon followed him, but McMillan was home and dry for the win, with Christie keeping him honest all the way to the flag. Doak, Martin and Woolsey were next up, with Thompson and Heatrick swapping quite a bit of paint as they finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Result: 944, 962, 996, 994, 940, 801, 960, 983, 369, 905, 914.

Thompson grabbed the early lead in the feature race, but Heatrick had early ideas about getting by the obstacle he’d encountered all night by immediately taking to the outside. He held on out wide for a number of tours, but just couldn’t make it stick and soon McMillan, Christie, Doak, Martin and Woolsey had relegated the youngster. McMillan could now smell a second final win in two days as he stepped up to challenge Thompson, and a slight mistake from Ian exiting turn two gave Ronnie the opportunity into the River Bend – the #944 car going ahead after some contact between the two which attracted a black cross as McMillan took up the running. Thompson lost a hatful of places at the same time, as Christie took up second ahead of Doak. Stewart then put the move of the meeting on John, with a clinical if somewhat robust move down the inside to move ahead, with John also being relegated back to sixth by the time he’d recovered. His troubles didn’t end there, as he then tripped over Heatrick to end up facing the wrong way and right out of it.

It was now a four horse race for the lead as Martin and Woolsey joined Doak and McMillan. Doak took to the outside of McMillan for the lead with those behind waiting to capitalise as the crowd really became vocal and began to get involved. Stewart couldn’t make it past though, and Ronnie made it to the chequers first for the second night in a row. Doak, Woolsey, Martin and Heatrick followed home, as attentions now turned to Ronnie’s black cross which was halting the usual spectator exodus to the car park. Evidence was sought from both parties involved in the incident, and Ronnie kept the win and with it another shot in the arm for the recently unlucky McMillan camp.
Result: 944, 996, 940, 994, 960, 983, 914, 943, 962, 801, 905, 369.  Darren Black


2008 World Series 05
Ballymena, Friday 31st August 2007

Darren Black reports:  The McMillan team have gone through a tough time of late, but Ronnie delivered a real tonic for everyone by taking the final win at yet another wet Ballymena round on Friday night. Earlier heat wins had been enjoyed by Gary Woolsey and Stewart Doak.

There were a few points of note amongst the entry, notably Ronnie McMillan in the Alan Connolly Ludlow 206, with illness and injury ruling Alan out until at least the new year. Ronnie was carrying an injury too, with a broken thumb the result of a practice incident a couple of weeks earlier. Ronnie’s reason for driving the #77 car was of course the fact that brother Ivan had wrecked his usual mount the previous week, but it was good news all round as Ivan was released from hospital the day of the meeting with a full body cast to preserve his broken neck vertebrae. Of the others, Gary Woolsey had elected to race his Corsa once again instead of the Tigra campaigned at the previous round.

Ian Thompson snr soon relieved Davy McKay of the lead in heat one, which had only a slightly wet track, and had seen some drivers gamble on a combination of slicks and wets. McMillan had a moment on the back straight with two wheels on the wall at one stage, before Gary W swept by to take the lead. McMillan followed him through, as did John Christie, which was how they stayed to the flag. Thompson held on for fourth, ahead of Keith Martin and points leader Stewart Doak – both struggling on the wrong tyre choice.
Result: 940, 944, 962, 801, 994, 996, 943, 960, 983, 992, 369.

We almost lost half the field for heat two, with 5 cars being left outside the track as the warm up laps began after taking an absolute age to get from the pits. Fortunately they were allowed to take the start, but McKay almost failed to move at all at the green, and was hit by Thompson, with Mark Heatrick and Martin landing glancing blows too. All had cleared itself without any need for a caution, and Tommy Maxwell took up the running from McMillan and Gary W. Ronnie looked for a way by a few times, even ending up on the grass at one point, but Martin and Doak had soon joined in the fun at the front. Doak was looking real good, and after Woolsey and Martin had swapped places a few times, Stewart went right around the outside of them both. He then switched back to nip underneath Maxwell to take it up and seal a fine win. Woolsey was runner up from Martin, McMillan and Christie in a superb race.
Result: 996, 940, 994, 944, 962, 801, 992, 369, 983.

Maxwell and McMillan set off to battle for the lead once again in the final, but Ronnie soon settled into the lead as McKay went out on the Fisherwick bend. Martin was dicing with Woolsey yet again too, Keith moving through to second as a result. Doak was being significantly delayed behind Thompson, but after breaking clear closed the gap to the front-runners quite easily. At the front McMillan was home and dry from Martin, with Doak making it through to third after accounting for Woolsey and Christie.
Result: 944, 994, 996, 940, 962, 801, 983, 992, 943, 369.
All results are as viewed trackside and not official.  Darren Black


2008 World Series 04
Ballymena, Friday 24th August 2007

Cullybackey racer Davy McKay earned his first ever victory in the National class, but only just! The former Stock Rod man only moved into the premier ranks at the start of the season and fought out a thrilling final with Irish Open Champion Keith Martin that saw the pair separated by only seven hundredths of a second at the flag! Martin had earlier won the opening heat which was marred by a nasty crash for Ivan McMillan, the local driver nursing damage to his neck after a massive impact with the wall. The other heat brought a win for Antrim driver Tommy Maxwell. Randalstown driver Jason Winning was the latest driver to make his debut in the National Hot Rods at Raceway and the former F2 driver made a solid first outing at the wheel of his attractive Peugeot 206.
Heat One: 994 - 962 - 996 - 960 - 943 - 992 - 983 - 801
Heat Two: 369 - 960 - 940 - 994 - 996 - 962 - 992 - 983
Final: 943 Davy McKay - 994 - 940 - 996 - 962 - 369 - 960 – 992
WQR 5 Friday 31st August 2007. With thanks to Colin Arbuthnott


2008 World Series 02
Nuttscorner Oval, Saturday 28th July 2007

Darren Black reports:  Tommy Maxwell took a well-deserved first final win in the National Hot Rods at Nuttscorner Oval on Saturday night during the second round of the 2008 World Series. The new qualifying grid format produced some excellent racing throughout the night, and was well received by fans and drivers alike. Mark McKinstry earlier grabbed the win in the opening encounter of the night, and Ronnie McMillan enjoyed a deserved heat two victory given his lengthy recent lay off through injury.

Entry wise, Ronnie was back in his normal 206, having sampled brother Ivan’s Corsa at Ballymena the previous night. Gary Woolsey was still in his Corsa too, with the Tigra parked up ready for Hednesford one presumes. All the others were as per usual, with Ian Thompson Snr continuing in the ex-Richardson/McCall 206CC having made his first appearance in it the previous night.

Heat One
Thompson led them off in the first Nuttscorner Oval encounter of the 2008 Series, with McKinstry slotting into second. Stewart Doak had made a tremendous getaway but was baulked on the outside by Tommy Maxwell as he slipped back through the pack. McKinstry soon made a move for the lead with Thompson losing out altogether as the Peugeot 206 driver took up the running, closely followed by Round 1 winner Mark Heatrick. Behind these the McMillan brothers were holding third and fourth, until Ronnie got well crossed up on the Airport Bend to let a host of star men through.

Back at the sharp end and Heatrick had a look outside McKinstry, only to quickly find himself stuck out on the wide line and relegated back as a result. McKinstry came home for a fine win, with Ivan McM hanging on in second. Keith Martin had a tear around the outside at the end, getting up alongside Ivan but got relegated back in the final shake up. Gary W claimed third from John Christie, Mark Heatrick, Doak and Martin.
Result: 21 Mark McKinstry, 946, 940, 962, 960, 996, 994, 944, 77, 369, 943, 801.

Heat Two
Thompson was again first to show in heat two, but soon had McKinstry and Maxwell all over the 206cc like a rash. There was a hairy three abreast moment coming onto the home straight between the three which they just about got sorted out over the start finish line. It was still messy into turn one though, with Maxwell punting McKinstry into a lurid wide slide which saw the #21 car smack the wall, bringing out the waved yellows. Maxwell got a black cross during the caution period, and Heatrick soon followed on the race resumption with one of his own for a very ambitious lunge inside Thompson.

Ronnie McM immediately relieved the two of them of the lead position they’d been fighting for, and held on all the way to the flag. Gary W kept Ronnie honest in second, with Doak third from Martin and Christie, after Heatrick was dropped two places from fourth to sixth.
Result: 944 Ronnie McMillan, 940, 996, 994, 962, 960 (x-2), 77, 801, 946, 943, -, 369 (x-2).

Final
Once again Thompson set the early pace in the feature final, but was soon relegated by both Maxwell and Heatrick, with McKinstry retiring his repaired rod to the infield on lap one. Doak had the bit between his teeth right from the drop of the flag in this one, going into turn 1 three abreast in a bid to gain ground. It was working too, only for the slower Thompson car to baulk him as it dropped back.

Heatrick had obviously enjoyed his Round 1 final win, and was certainly after another, as he pressured Maxwell inside and out. Just like earlier Mark’s eagerness to get outside was to be his downfall, as he allowed Ronnie McM to get under him and in an instant he was going backwards as the train came through under the cc. Connolly moved through to third and once again that man Doak was on the outside, gaining loads, then losing it again time and again, before coming back for another go. It didn’t really pay off in the end, but the British Champion found many admirers in the crowd for his attempts on the outside right throughout the evening.

Up at the front Maxwell was home and dry for his first ever final victory in the Rockingham Motor Speedway backed event, and this only 4 months or so since he joined the class, or any form of motorsport at that. Ronnie McM was good value in second, with Connolly, Gary W, Christie and Doak next up.
Result: 369 Tommy Maxwell, 944, 77, 940, 962, 996, 994, 960, 946, 801. Darren Black

Archived reports from previous seasons HERE