Ulster trio in second half title charge
THEY produced stellar performances in the first half of the season but now Colin Turkington, Daniel Harper and Jack Young will seek to build on their positions in three of the UK’s most high-profile racing championships as they return to the track after the summer break.
All three, along with Chris Smylie, are in action at Snetterton in east Anglia this weekend, with Turkington headlining the programme as leader of the British Touring Car Championship.
Already a three-time champion, the Portadown driver is 33 points ahead of his BMW team-mate Andrew Jordan, with the Honda of BTC Racing’s Josh Cook a further 14 back in third.
But Turkington (below) insists it is too early to start thinking about a record-equalling fourth BTCC title.
“Reflecting on the season so far, we entered the summer break exactly how we wanted with momentum on our side and, although we are ahead in the standings, my approach and mindset is the same.
“There are still 15 races to go and it only gets tougher from here on in. I’ll continue to focus on my performance and hunt out areas for improvement, enjoy the journey and see where we are come the finale in October.”
But while Turkington has enjoyed a successful first part of the year, fellow Ulsterman and Cook’s BTC team-mate Smylie has had little luck.
The Carrickfergus driver, who won for the first time last season, has been right on the pace, finishing on the podium at Croft, but has been the victim of several costly clashes. He will want to turn his speed into results.
Teenagers Harper and Young have been producing the results in the Porsche Carrera Cup and the UK Renault Clio Cup respectively.
Harper, in his second year of his Porsche scholarship, has won four times and starts the second half of the season with a 20 point lead over Lewis Plato, and is 32 ahead of George Gamble in third.
Young lost the lead in the Clio Cup when he was nudged into the barriers in the second race at Croft — he had won the first — but the Belfast youngster has been far from idle over the summer and goes to Snetterton on the back of a trio of victories in Open Clio races at the French and German Grand Prix meetings. He is six points behind arch rival Max Coates.
Meanwhile, Craig Breen settled into his new role at Hyundai with third fastest time in yesterday’s shakedown ahead of Rally Finland. Kris Meeke was sixth, just half a second slower. INSTONIANS captain Andrew White accepts the role of underdogs when they take on CIYMS in the Gallagher’s Challenge Cup final at The Green, Comber today (11am) but knows there is enough talent in his side to cause an upset.
“CIYMS will expect to win all in front of them this season, but the beauty of cup competitions is that you are just one good day for us and one bad day from them and Instonians win the cup,” says White, who today plays his 10th cup final.
The worry or, with positive thinking, the encouragement for White (right) is that CI finally lost a league match, to Carrickfergus last Saturday, but the captain — who won the man of the match in his first final for North Down in 2000 — knows it will be probably take a big innings from at least one Instonians player to topple the favourites.
“We’ve lost to a Waringstown 100 from (Kyle) McCallan, a CI hundred from Rassie (van der Dussen), so it could boil down to someone from Instonians getting a century,” he adds. “But we are running into a bit of form and, after a terrible start in the league, have won our last two matches.”
Nikolai Smith fell just six runs short of three figures in the quarter-final against Waringstown, when professional Murray Commins also hit 84 in an impressive 37 runs win at The Lawn, and White is excited for the future of the South African.
“Murray has fitted in seamlessly and has the potential to be the best bat in the NCU for the next five years. He is also committed to Ireland and qualifies in another two years,” says the Ireland chairman of selectors.
“Shane Getkate (who made his ODI debut last month against Zimbabwe) has had a great year; Josh Manley, who joined us in June, has run into a bit of form and James Magee and Rob McKinley are both bowling well, so there is an air of confidence in the team.
“If we play to our potential we have a chance and, although we have a few youngsters in the team, cup finals are big occasions for even the most experienced players.”
White will have his first-choice line-up available, although it will be a race to Comber from Dublin Airport this morning for Olly Metcalfe and James Hunter, who are flying back from the Under-19 qualifying tournament in the Netherlands.
It is an experience that CI skipper Nigel Jones knows all about as he interrupted his coaching duties at the qualifiers two years ago to make the pre-match toss with minutes to spare.
This time, he expects all 12 squad members to be there in plenty of time and raring to go as they chase a hat-trick of cup final victories in the space of five years against Instonians.
With the first Premier League match postponed and the second meeting due to be played tomorrow — now also postponed — the teams’ only meeting this season was the T20 semi-final when Mark Adair hit 67 off 27 balls. If the Ireland international, in his first cup final, tees off anything similar then Instonians task will be verging on the impossible.
Although Adair will not be allowed to bowl in the final, following his exertions in the Lord’s Test match last week, Jones still has Jason van der Merwe as a third seamer and probably four front-line spinners.
The only selection doubt is the availability of off spinner Trevor Britton but he is his 90% certain to play. If not, David Robinson is a pretty useful replacement. CIYMS: N Jones (capt), C Dougherty, J Matchett, O Pienaar, R Hunter, J van der Merwe, M Adair, J Mulder, J Cameron-Dow, A Coulter, T Britton, D Robinson. Instonians: A White (capt), N Smith, O Metcalfe, M Commins, S Getkate, R McKinley, J Hunter, B Rose, J Manley, J Metcalfe, J Magee, M Humphreys.