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Nutts Corner April 24th 2010

Top Marks at Nutts Corner

 ‘Mad Mark’ Watson kick started his bid to regain the Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship title with faultless back to back victories at Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland at the weekend.

The Citroen Xsara driver swept the board with wins in all three of his qualifying heats plus the Supercar final during Round 1 on the Saturday, then promptly managed a superb repeat performance in Sunday’s Round 2 to record maximum points and make it two out of two. The result also secured Watson the Northern Ireland Rallycross Open Championship title, which together with a win in the Ulster Masters Showdown race, rounded off a perfect weekend.  

Mad Mark’s main opposition came from Declan Kelly in the Ford Fiesta and local drivers Gary White (Subaru Impreza) and Derek McGeehan (Toyota Corolla). White was the only driver to get close to the flying Xsara on the Saturday but then a front tyre blew on lap two of the final, handing second place to Kelly. Sunday’s Supercar final saw McGeehan pick up the gauntlet and finishing just two seconds behind the winner.

Top honours in all of the classes were fiercely contested, but none more so than in the Super National category where qualifying was a close run thing between the superfast Volvo S40 of David Francis, Dessie Tierney’s superb sounding Opel Tigra, the mighty rear wheel drive and turbocharged Renault Clio of James McVicker and the Astra and Corsa of Stanley and Sam Bovill respectively. Sadly for McVicker an action packed Round 1 final that initially saw the Clio charging up through the order from the third row of the grid ended abruptly when an intercooler pipe came adrift. Tierney was also in the thick of the action but a 360 degree spin dropped him right down the order, then the power steering pump failed but he still managed to haul the Tigra back up to third at the flag behind Francis as a delighted Stanley Bovill took the win. The action continued into Sunday’s Round 2, with Francis powering the Volvo to victory this time ahead of a delighted Sam Bovill, who’s wall of death effort over one of the earth banks proved a real crowd pleaser. Stanley Bovill claimed the overall Fuchs Lubricants Northern Ireland Rallycross Open Championship title ahead of Sam Bovill and Dessie Tierney.

A well supported Demon Tweeks Procar 1600 class also produced plenty of action but no one was able to stop Martin Peters from wining the final both days, though Steve Heppenstall did make a valiant effort to take second on Saturday ahead of Darren Wilcox before the differential let go on his Peugeot 205 early in Sunday qualifying. Second place in that final went to Derek Lenehan with Ben Cree a close third. Michael Duke had set the pace throughout the opening day, claiming pole position for the A final and leading the A final until the final lap when mechanical problems struck, bringing his ex Derek Tohill Peugeot 106 to a standstill. The Demon Tweeks Procar 1600 driver of the day prize was awarded to Ben Cree (round 1) and Martin Peters (round 2), while Derek Lenehan claimed the Northern Ireland title.

In the Fuchs Lubricants Juniors challenge, it was just as entertaining as eight cars at a time regularly attempted to negotiate the first corner as one! Carrying his good form into the finals, Andrew Patterson steered his car to victory ahead of Mark Francis and Niall Murray in both the Saturday and Sunday finals. Paul Barrett won the Green & White Mini Spares Junior Open Championship category on both days ahead of Calvin Beatie.

David Bell won the Super Mini category on both days and in the process clinched the Northern Ireland Championship title, with Ian Biagi doing likewise in the Revivals category. A snapped Crankshaft in the opening heat, brought the event to an early end for the 2009 Rallycross Open Championship driver of the year and Revivals D Champion - Lance Foster in his Green & White Mini Spares Mini.

Michael McLoughlin recorded back to back victories on both days in the Procar 2000 category with his Honda Civic Type-R. Conor Mulholland finished as runner-up on day one with his Fiat Stilo while Craig Brown narrowly missed out on victory on day two after a tremendous effort by his team in changing a gearbox overnight. Jeremy McWilliams managed practice and a couple of laps during the first qualifying heat which he led, before suffering engine failure.

McWilliams commented "I find Rallycross very different from anything else I've done. It's that change from tarmac to loose to tarmac that is tricky. On a tarmac circuit the tarmac is a bit more forgiving but on tarmac in Rallycross as you come off the loose the tarmac is slippery with loose stuff so you can just go straight off. I'm finding it difficult to find the right lines and set the car up as each corner is different. I've thoroughly enjoyed it though and would love to have another go if the sponsors ask me again."

The two wheel drive rally car category was won by Davy Armstrong on both days, which was enough for him to clinch the two wheel drive Northern Ireland Rally Car Championship ahead of James Kennedy and Ian Millar.

Event Results:

Round 1, Saturday 24th April

 A finals (all 5 laps), Supercars/Revivals: 1 'Mad Mark' (Citroen Xsara) 3m27.038s; 2 Declan Kelly (Ford Fiesta) +17.961s; 3 Ian Biagi (Mini Clubman); 4 Joe Cahill (Rover Mini); 5 David Bell (Rover Mini); 6 Gary White (Subaru Impreza) DNF. 

Super National: 1 Stanley Bovill (Vauxhall Astra) 3m38.147s; 2 David Francis (Volvo S40) +1.516s; 3 Dessie Tierney (Opel Tigra); 4 John Dowling (Vauxhall Nova); 5 Gabriel Hammill (Vauxhall Corsa); 6 James McVicker (Renault Clio) DNF; 7 Sam Bovil (Vauxhall Corsa) DNF. 

Demon Tweeks Procar 1600: 1 Martin Peters (Citroen Saxo) 3m51.762s; Steve Heppenstall (Peugeot 205) +0.489s; 3 Darren Wilcox (Citroen Saxo); 4 Derek Lenehan (Peugeot 106); 5 Ben Cree (Peugeot 205); 6 John Kennedy (Peugeot 205); 7 Graham Blair (Honda Civic); 8 Michael Duke (Peugeot 106) DNF. 

Procar 2000: 1 Michael McLoughlin (Honda Civic) 3m53.392s; 2 Conor Mulholland (Fiat Stillo) +12.987s; 3 Craig Brown (Renault Megane) DNS. 

Round 2, Sunday 25th April 

A finals (all 5 laps), Supercars/Revivals): 1 'Mad Mark' (Citroen Xsara) 3m31.189s; 2 Derek McGeehan (Toyota Corolla) +2.008s; 3 Gary White (Subaru Impreza); 4 Declan Kelly (Ford Fiesta); 5 Ian Biagi (Mini Clubman); 6 David Bell (Rover Mini). 

Super National: 1 David Francis (Volvo S40) 3m42.251s; 2 Sam Bovil (Vauxhall Corsa) +1.768s; 3 John Dowling (Vauxhall Nova); 4 Stanley Bovill (Vauxhall Astra) DNF; 5 Willie Farrell (VW Golf) DNF; 6 Dessie Tierney (Opel Tigra) DNF; 7 James McVicker (Renault Clio) DNS. 

Demon Tweeks Procar 1600: 1 Martin Peters (Citroen Saxo) 3m 54.513s; Derek Lenehan (Peugeot 106) +1.069s; 3 Ben Cree (Peugeot 205); 4 Darren Wilcox (Citroen Saxo); 5 Samantha Thon (Peugeot 205); 6 Graham Blair (Honda Civic); 7 Kevin Liddle (Citroen Saxa); 8 John Kennedy (Peugeot 205) DNF. 

Procar 2000: 1 Michael McLoughlin (Honda Civic) 3:57.2; 2 Craig Brown (Renault Megane) +1.380; 3 Conor Mulholland (Fiat Stillo) DNF; 4 Jeremy McWilliams (Renault Megane) DNS. 

2009/10 Fuchs Lubricants Northern Ireland Rallycross Open Championship Final Points Standings

Supercar

1 'Mad' Mark Watson - 71 points 

2 Declan Kelly - 58 points 

3 Gary White - 30 points 

Super National

1 Stanley Bovill - 48 points 

2 Sam Bovill - 44 points 

3 Dessie Tierney - 42 points 

Procar 1600

1 Derek Lenehan - 56 points 

2 Martin Peters - 42 points 

3 Jackie Harris - 42 points 

Procar 2000

1 Conor Mulholland - 65 points 

2 Michael Mcloughlin - 48 points 

3 Craig Brown - 32 points 

Super Mini

1 David Bell - 72 points 

4wd Rally Car

1 Gary White - 63 points 

2 Derek McGeehan - 61 points 

3 Mark Massey - 32 points 

2wd Rally Car

1 Davy Armstrong - 68 points 

2 James Kennedy - 48 points 

3 Ian Millar - 40 points

The final two rounds of the 2009/10 Fuchs Lubricants Northern Ireland Rallycross Open Championship takes place at Nutts Corner alongside the opening two rounds of the 2010 Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship. The event is held at the County Antrim venue on April 24^th & 25^th and televised by British Eurosport.  

All of the categories are still wide open in the championship and pretty much anyone can still win as the best 3 out of 4 points scoring rounds count. The points position really is that tight.

Mad Mark Watson will be keen to score maximum points in both Championships, having already secured a lights to flag victory in the opening round of the Northern Ireland Open series back in October. However, Declan Kelly was second then behind the Citroen Xsara and has since taken the win in round two with his Ford Fiesta. Kelly now has his sights firmly set on making the championship his. Don Shannon’s familiar Volvo S40 currently heads the Super National category but the points situation is very tight behind the Ballymoney driver, with Stanley Bovill (Astra), Sam Bovill (Corsa), James Murphy (Escort), Barry McCardle (Renault 5) and Ian Byrne (Toyota MR2) all in with a shout.

Mark Francis has been the dominant force in the Junior category, as has Jackie Harris in Procar 1600 and David Bell in Minicross, but anything can yet happen as there is always plenty of fierce competition in these classes. Nutts Corner also provides an opportunity to see the two and four wheel driver rally cars in action - both very well supported classes. Throw in all of the drivers aiming to make a good start in the British Eurosport televised Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open Championship and you can be assured that drivers will be going flat out for top honours.

The Nutts Corner weekend has already attracted a strong entry, making it the perfect way to end one championship and kick start another.

P&O Irish Sea Ferries are supporting the 2010 Fuchs Lubricants Rallycross Open championship and are offering discounted ferry travel for those making the journey across the Irish Sea. The Park Plaza Hotel in Belfast are also associate sponsors of this event providing accommodation facilities to drivers, teams and officials.

The on track action starts at 9.30am on each day and further information on the event can be obtained at the official Championship website - www.RallycrossOpen.com