Three different drivers at the head of Scottish Mini herd at Kirkistown
Mini Coopers are, it seems, herd animals. At least the ones in Scotland seem to be, and their annual visit to Northern Ireland last weekend certainly proved the theory. Fifteen cars crossed the Irish Sea, and the by-now-expected Caledonian carambolage ensued at Kirkistown, with some extra weather factors adding to the fun.
Three contests provided opportunities for close contact in cold/dry and cold/wet conditions, as they huddled together for extra warmth in races that produced three different winners.
Race one gave Jason Ballantyne victory by 0.4 seconds from Chad Little and the ever-competitive Oly Mortimer. This was despite a prolonged mid-race delay after the only local driver, Jack Irvine, contrived to roll at the Hairpin on lap five while in the lead bunch. Undaunted, Irvine was back in action for the second contest – which went to Mortimer by just over a second from the jousting Ballantyne and Little – and claimed a fighting fourth spot from Ian Munro.
And to complete an interesting day, the local lad took second spot in the finale, behind runaway victor Daniel Patterson, with Munro nipping at his heels. Throughout the field there were the usual paint-swapping moments, which gave everybody plenty to chat about on the ferry home. Meanwhile, a small field of local Minis provided their own fun, with wins going to Darren Gilmore and Peter Bennett.
Formula Ford – back to strength after a sparse 2023 season– featured Jason Smyth in commanding form in his Team Dolanrun Van Diemen when he was triumphant twice ahead of team-mates Morgan Quinn (race one) and Jordan Kelly (race two). David Mccullough completed the podium party both times. Brazilian teenager Isaac Canto placed fourth twice, while the Pre-90 section fell to birthday boy Philip Harris.
Completing the single-seater action, Formula Vee provided a win for Andy Keogh among the B and C class runners from Robert Fleming and Kieran Hannan while, in the overall encounter, there was glory for Gavin Buckley from Jack Byrne and Colm Blackburn. Keogh took fourth.
The small Saloon field produced some good racing. Both bouts were won by
Gavin Stanfield’s Subaru, but race two offered an extra challenge with pouring rain – especially for Stanfield, who was on slicks! Despite this, he kept rally man and Kirkistown debutant Stephen Wright (SEAT Supercopa) at bay, but his winning margin shrunk from 25s to 1.1s!
Elsewhere, Roadsports provided Steven Larkham with two unopposed Radical wins, while Peter Drennan dominated a small Global GT field.
And then there were the Mazdas. The Mazda Modi-5-cup has been energised by the arrival of some new faces for this year and the hero of the day, sprinter
Craig Ewing, proved to be one of them, winning both times on his first day at the races. Behind him, Francis Allen delivered the challenge in race one but, in the damp sequel, it was another ‘newbie’, James Crowe, who piled on the pressure, with Allen demoted to third.
Meanwhile, some of the older faces provided their own entertainment. David Cousins – ‘father’ of the class – managed to damage his tail lights during an overtaking move that didn’t quite come off. Not very paternal, perhaps, but it almost worked.