Local kart stars gear up for the Ulster Cup race meeting

This Saturday, June 29, sees the first of the ‘major’ kart race meetings take place at Nutts Corner Circuit (Dundrod Rd, Nutts Corner). when the Ulster Karting Club hosts the Ulster Cup meeting.
Lisburn area drivers Daniel Harper, Jack Young and Jack McGaughey and Belfast's Amy Long helped launch this year's Irish Kart GP at Nutts Corner.Lisburn area drivers Daniel Harper, Jack Young and Jack McGaughey and Belfast's Amy Long helped launch this year's Irish Kart GP at Nutts Corner.
Lisburn area drivers Daniel Harper, Jack Young and Jack McGaughey and Belfast's Amy Long helped launch this year's Irish Kart GP at Nutts Corner.

In an effort to cut costs of racing the Ulster Cup is now a one day event but still comprises all the challenge of the original two day meeting and to some extent is a trial ahead of the Irish Kart Gran Prix in August.

Ulster Championship meetings are about racking up points in heats and finals so drivers can to some extent drive with some conservatism depending on their position in the series.

The Ulster Cup though is more akin to a British Championship round where drivers must push right from the first heat to be in with a crack at pole position for the final race, something similar to the Irish Kart Gran Prix.

With three heats and a final all on the same day, reliability of machine and driver is paramount too since there is little time between races to fix any issues.

The recent round of the Ulster Championship also saw the club launch this year’s Irish Kart Gran Prix which will be on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th August at Nutts Corner Circuit. Once again the IKGP will be Ireland’s largest race meeting of the year with drivers visiting from all over the UK to try and take the prestigious GP plates.

This years Ulster Karting Club promoted meeting will also have something of an environmental involvement as the event will be supported by L’Derry’s Power Chron Energy who are leading the way in Renewable Bio-mass Energy in Ireland and have supported karter Reece Barr in his rookie Cadet year and his recent move into Mini Max.

Looking slightly further ahead, the CDMC Kart section promoted ‘NW’ plate will be on July 6 at the Portstewart paddock for the NW200.

Racing gets underway at 10am with the Ulster Cup final just after lunch. The Ulster Karting Club re-vamped website (www.ulsterkartingclub.co.uk) and the North of Ireland Karting Association website (www.nikarting.com) detail more information on the sport, including how to try out karting.