British Road Championship at Raceway

Lincolnshire’s Andy Holtby is the current champion and the thirty-two year old Englishman is sure to be a big attraction for local motorsport fans in his 230bhp Vauxhall Tigra.

Fellow Lincolnshire driver Dick Hillard finished third in the Irish Open at Raceway last season and is expected to figure prominently again, while Scottish hopes will rest with the hard-charging Willie Hardie from Shotts in North Lanarkshire. Republic of Ireland Champion Des Cooney is another top contender for honours along with Steve Burrows who makes the journey over from Smallfield in Sussex for the event.

Local Challenge

Heading the province’s bid for glory will be Northern Ireland Champion John Christie.

Former British winners Keith Martin (Dungannon), Gary Woolsey (Portadown) and Stewart Doak (Portadown) will all entertain hopes of recapturing the crown, while Glenn Bell and Wayne Woolsey, former World Champions in the Stock Rod and Two-Litre Hot Rod classes respectively, are two more potential victors in the star-studded entry list. Indeed Woolsey warmed up for the event with a final win last time out at Raceway.

Group Two Irish Championship

The other major event on Saturday’s packed programme is the Group Two Lightning Rod Irish Championship. This event is always keenly contested and another titanic battle is expected. Stewart Nicholl, Lyle Murray, Nigel Doherty and Kenny Carson have both qualified well for the final and are sure to be in the thick of the battle out front along with Shane Gault who will be aiming to claim this title for an impressive fourth time.

A fantastic evening of motorsport is completed by races for the Stock Rods and Classic Hot Rods with the first event blasting off the grid in the Ballymena Showground’s at 7:15pm.