Bishopscourt set for largest meeting of the year

Featuring all classes, including the spectacular 160mph capable Superkarts, the days racing is sure to be fast and with points also up for grabs in the Northern Ireland championships then there is plenty at stake. The junior classes are particularly strong this year and the championship stakes are hotting up with no one driver really running away with things.

Recently, the sport and the gearbox classes in particular, got a big shot of adrenalin on 14th August when the 2009 World IRC Rally Champion Kris Meeke from Dungannon made a ‘guest’ appearance to take on, and win, the Ulster Karting Club and Young Racing Irish Kart Gran Prix at the totally refurbished Nutts Corner Circuit.

After taking third in class in his first race in the 250 National class, the opening lap of the final was full of excitement when the leading pair of multiple champion Colin Menary from Bangor and Liam Fox from Lisburn, the defending Northern Ireland champion, got all tangled up. That let Richard Dewart from Waringstown and the hard chasing Meeke surge through.

The next twelve laps saw an incredibly close battle between Dewart in the lead with Meeke only yards behind and clearly right in fully committed race mode. Such breakneck pace eventually did see Meeke pick his overtaking moment with two laps to go but although he managed to squeeze past Dewart was far from giving in and was wringing the neck off his bright yellow machine chasing after the man-in-black.

However, the final high speed lap saw Dewart forced to give in when his engine seized and with his nearest rival sidelined then Meeke went on to take the victory and prove himself to be a worthy champion on his new found four wheeled machine. Fox and Menary did regain composure to finish second and third respectively.

World 250 Formula E Champion Trevor Roberts from Lurgan looked on approvingly and to show off the charitable side of the sport the pair and the mainly gearbox Bishopscourt Kart Club presented karting fan Marc Biggar who suffers with Muscular Distrophy with a cheque towards a new special wheelchair. The day was also Marc’s fifteenth birthday so it as a terific way to celebrate it with the new GP champion.

Anyone with an interest in the sport can find out more on www.nikarting.com ahead of this Saturdays special ‘B’ plate meeting at Bishopscourt. Racing gets underway at 10am on Saturday morning with finals just after lunch.