Kincaid claims Irish championship title at weekend Raceway meeting

Entries from right across the UK produced an absorbing series of hard fought races for the title, but on this occasion the UK mainland visitors left empty handed as the drivers from Northern Ireland were on top form throughout the evening.

Defending Champion Ryan McCrory, William Murray and Kincaid accounted for the heat races before Kincaid crushed the opposition with a flag to flag win in the championship final. Dean McCrory made an impressive debut in his new car to secure the runner-up spot with Bradley McKinstry making it a clean sweep of the podium positions for Northern Ireland drivers. Unfortunately a technical problem with McCrory’s car, discovered during the post race inspections, meant the Antrim lad was removed from all results for the meeting.

F2 STOCK CARS

World Champion Kelvyn Marshall headed the entrants for the Irish Open Championship where the two-third format was adopted for the heat races. Defending Champion Ryan began the defence of his title in the best possible fashion with a very tidy win in the opening qualifier, before William Murray from Randalstown took the hours in heat two. Irish Champion Kincaid timed his run to perfection to grab the victory in heat three on the final bend and it was Kincaid who qualified on pole position for the final, with Dean McCrory alongside on the front row. This one tuned into a real battle of outright speed and that is one thing that Kincaid is rarely founding wanting as the Antrim ace motored home to collect his second Irish Open title in three years after an utterly dominant drive.

2016 Irish Open: 1st. Christopher Kincaid, 2nd. Bradley McKinstry, 3rd. Chris Burgoyne, 4th. Jon Palmer, 5th. Craig McConnell, 6th. Graham Fegan

STOCK RODS

The final round of the DNA Tuning Series attracted 11 entrants where Johnny McCloy and Jonny Downs accounted for the heat wins. The points scored in the two heat races were added to those already accumulated at the first two rounds to determine the grid for the series final. That pitted Jason Clyde and Aaron Moody together on the front row with Jack Kennedy and Niall McFerran on row two. Clyde had been off the pace somewhat during the heats so it was going to take a determined defensive drive from the pole sitter to earn victory in this one. Moody, Kennedy and Adam Sloan all tried their best to prise the lead away from Clyde and at one stage a seven strong train of cars circulated as one at the front. Clyde coolly kept everything under control however to repel the onslaught and register a very hard fought win.

DNA Tuning Series Final: 1st. Jason Clyde, 2nd. Aaron Moody, 3rd. Niall McFerran, 4th. Adam Sloan, 5th. Jack Kennedy, 6th. Matthew McKinstry

MISCOR F2 STOCK CARS

A splendid entry of 15 youngsters took to the track for their Challenge Cup which included visitors from England and Scotland. It was the locals who held sway in the opening heat where Rhianna Murray swept through on the final bend to pip long time leader Jack Morrow to the flag. The visitors hit back in race two however where Scotland’s Lewis Burgoyne eased home ahead of Staffordshire’s Elexie Bartram and Jaimie Dawson from Aberdeenshire. A six strong group broke away from the main pack at the start of the final until a tangle between Morrow and Dawson brought out the red flags. Burgoyne took control at the restart to steadily pull clear for a fine win at the chequered flag. Randalstown lass Murray motored home in second after a fine showing all evening, with the podium positions completed by Bartram.

Challenge Cup: 1st. Burgoyne, 2nd. Murray, 3rd. Bartram, 4th. Hosie, 5th. Leon Muir, 6th. Cathal McFerran.