100th Anniversary of the Road Races Act celebrated in style!

100th Anniversary of the Road Races Act celebrated in style

Last Sunday in Mount Stewart House and Gardens the Ulster Automobile Club displayed 10 cars and 10 Motor Bikes representing each of the decades to celebrate this historic anniversary.

This is a significant milestone in the history of Road Races because this Act facilitated the closing of public roads for the purposes of racing. Currently some of the most famous uses of this legislation include the North West 200, Tandragee 100 and Armoy Road Races for motorcycles. Special thanks to Will Corry Senior who arranged all the motorbikes and to Ray McCullough’ the Dromara destroyer for his appearance on the day.

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Weather or not – Menzies strikes again!!

Wallace Menzies - Fastest driver 'up the Hill' for the past two years

Wallace Menzies clearly demonstrated why he is the current Avon Tyres British Hill Climb Champion by setting the Fastest Time of the Day on the Simon Brien Residential UAC Craigantlet Hill Climb, netting him the News Letter Trophy. (Pic A) His driving skills also resulted in him collecting the Dunlop Trophy (Pic B) for his Class 15 win and taking a ‘clean sweep’ by winning both rounds 3 and 4 of the Avon Tyres British Hill Climb Championship at the weekend. Nichola, Wallace’s wife received the Noble Trophy for the second year in a row as the fastest lady up the Hill. (Pics C&D) Congratulations to them both!

The battle for the overall win was intense as the rain continued to fall throughout the day making traction of the start line and on some of the corners a challenging prospect, however the big man from Alloa in his Gould GR59-M set the Fastest Time of the Day (Pic E). Given the conditions, only 5 seconds off the current hill record of 39.12s (jointly held by Scott Moran and Dave Uren) this was a magnificent result. Second place driver Alex Summers in his DJ Firestorm (Pic F) followed by 0.17 seconds who in turn was 0.54 seconds faster than Scott Moran in his Gould GR59J (Pic G).

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Fisher & Noble Master the Glens!!

Fisher & Noble Master the Glens!!

Wastewater Solutions Circuit of Ireland International Rally goes to the wire. The final four stages of the ‘Circuit’ produced superb performances by winners Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble in their VW Polo R5 to claim the coveted UAC Circuit of Ireland Trophy. 11.6 seconds separated them from Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes, (winners of the UAC Easter Stages Rally in 2018), in their Hyundai i20 R5 who had set the fastest times on stages 4 and 7 over the two days and were leading the event going into the final stage.

Callum Devine and Shane Byrne had set 3 of the fastest times on stages 2,3 and 6 on day one but were not able to repeat their performance given the blistering pace on day 2, finishing a further 30.3 seconds behind to claim third place. Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson pushing their Ford Fiesta Rally 2 to set fastest times on stages 1 and 5 led the rally at the end of day 1, however their rally ended with engine failure after stage 9 on day 2.

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The Crème de La Crème are on the line at Craigantlet!!

The Crème de La Crème are on the line at Craigantlet

The Ulster Automobile Club (UAC) are thrilled to announce that when entries closed, the best drivers and machinery in the UK will be coming to Northern Ireland to ‘battle it out on our Hill’. Six months ago entries filled within 6 minutes of entries going live; this year we took a little longer, somewhere in the region of a half a second, the difference between the winner and 2nd place on this amazing event.

We are extremely delighted to continue our relationship with Simon Brien Residential, our generous title sponsor, competitor and avid supporter of motorsport.  Simon commented, “Craigantlet is highly regarded by local competitors and our friends in the British Hill Climb Championship as one of the fastest in the series.

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Fast & Furious it is!!

Entries for the 2022 Wastewater Solutions Circuit of Ireland International Rally have now closed and we are delighted to announce that the cream of the crop have decided to take the ‘Fast & Furious’ challenge at Easter.

A full house of 91 entries, marking the 91st running of the oldest Rally in Ireland will tackle the 11 superlative stages, covering over 120 stage miles during Good Friday and Easter Saturday.

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Thompson Triumphs at UAC Autotest

The second round of the McMillan Specialist Cars Northern Ireland Autotest Championship was hosted by the Ulster Automobile Club at Ferguson’s Yard in Stewartstown on Saturday 26th March. It was Manorhamilton’s David Thompson in his Vauxhall Nova who was the man to beat at this event, taking the win by a minor 3.2 seconds from the reigning NI Champion Steven Ferguson.  Chris Grimes had to settle for third place overall after touching a pylon early in the day resulted in a five second penalty being imposed.

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ANICC McMillan Championship Autotest 2022

Our ANICC McMillan Championship Autotest was held in Norman Ferguson’s Yard in Stewartstown on Saturday. The Club really appreciate the continued support from Norman and his family on this event and a really big thank you to them for the use of their premises.

Thanks are also due to all the marshals and officials from The Autotest Drivers Club, Stop Astride, Enniskillen, Dungannon and Cookstown Motor Clubs who made sure the event was a safe and fabulous success.

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Northern Ireland Autotest Championship on 26th March 2022

Northern Ireland Autotest Championship on 26th March 2022

Round 2 of the McMillan Specialist Cars NI Autotest Championship and Challenge will be held on Saturday 26th March at Fergusons Yard, 30 Ballyblagh Road, Stewartstown BT71 5PA.

This event will also include a Production Car Autotest at the same venue. Come and enjoy a great show of driving skills and craic! 

Championship & Challenge UAC Regs March 2022
Production Car UAC Regs March 2022

The Circuit is Back

The 2022 Circuit of Ireland International Rally will be the third round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the second round of the European Celtic Trophy Rally Championship.

Planning is well under way to celebrate the 90th anniversary of this iconic event and at 0900 on Friday 15th of April 2022 the event will start from Ballymena Livestock Market where the service park will be located for the weekend.

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Simon Brien Residential Craigantlet Hill Climb 2022 – Regulations now available.

Simon Brien Residential Craigantlet Hill Climb 2022 – Regulations now available.

We are delighted to announce that Simon Brien Residential are continuing with their generous support for the Craigantlet Hill Climb on Saturday 30th April 2022.

The ‘Hill’ hosts rounds 3 and 4 of the Avon Tyres British Hill Climb Championship and round 2 of the ANICC Millers Oils Hill Climb Championship.

Regulations can be accessed and downloaded below.