Massive couple of weeks ahead for karters

This Sunday 8 August and all of the following weekend will be big for Ulster Karting Club drivers when they take on back to back meetings at Nutts Corner Circuit.

The August 14 and 15 meeting in particular will be Ireland’s largest karting event when drivers from across the country, and further afield, take on the Precision Kart Team of Dungiven supported Irish Kart Grand Prix.

All classes will be contended for at both meetings including the incredibly fast Superkarts which are capable of 160mph and acceleration comparable to Formula One.

The junior and senior non gearbox drivers will all be out in force as usual with some of the highlight classes including Junior Cadets for the 8 to 12 year olds all hoping to impress national team bosses that visit these shores.

This Sunday’s meeting, starting at 11am, will be round five of the tough Ulster Cup series and judging on the last set of races there has been no holding back even when two race meetings are so close together.

In the run up to these two meetings, the Susan McCutcheon Interiors and Sprint Auto Centre supported recent back to back meetings have given a real insight into how things are really hotting up mid-summer.

In the Honda Cadets class, which has now developed into one of the largest classes, Ballymoney brothers Philip and Chris Doherty are having their own incredibly close battle for fifth overall.

Philip leads Chris by only three points which is nothing in this sport so the next two races will be all important as the pair try and close down the gap to the podium.

Dungiven’s Martin McLaughlin will be all out to get back into the top five in the Rotax Max class. Although Martin is currently in seventh place the class is hotly contended with only a few race places spanning five drivers so a big result could well see McLaughlin launch into the top three if things go his way.

Portstewart’s Andrew Lynch has steadily improved all season, in the last two races in particular. As a result, Andrew is right on the edge of the top ten and if he can keep the consistent form up then a top ten is for sure a possibility.

Coleraine’s Martin Culbertson will tackle the twin engined Prokart class and will start in sixth after his last round in particular really boosted his points total.

Third is not that far away either in total points so a good result on Saturday could well see him move even further up the table.

Racing this Sunday and next Saturday and Sunday gets underway at 11am.