McIvor and Watters grab saloon title glory at Nutts Corner

Stars of the Micro F2s at Nuttscorner Raceway.

Two heat races which were won by Kieran McIvor and Scottish visitor Ross Watters determined the grid for the feature final.

With a first a second place finish in the heats it was Watters who earned the right to pole position with K McIvor along side, at the green A McIvor made full advantage of his second row inside starting slot to deal a blow on the pole sitters Watters to take up the head of proceedings.

There was no looking back for A McIvor and he managed to go the distance to take the glory ahead of Kieran and Watters, Luke Grief the outgoing title holder recorded a fourth place finish with Scotland’s David Hughes rounding out the top 5.

Super Saloon Final winner Liam Irwin receives his prize.

The now annual John Griffiths memorial race was the final event of the weekend for the 2L Saloon Stock Cars and with an enhanced prize fund including tyres for the podium finishers this was arguably race of the weekend.

Early dramas claimed the newly crowned Irish Open champion A McIvor as a victim and soon after Kieran was in trouble also after a coming together with Grief.

There was no such problems for Watters who was in charge in front closely followed by Hughes. Hughes made a last bend attempt to unsettle Watters to no avail. Watters took the flag ahead of Hughes and Grief denying the local stars any steps on the podium.

In what was the final F2 meeting before the British showdown next month the rapid single seater’s were in top form once again with a mammoth turnout of cars which featured a sprinkling of mainland drivers taking advantage of some last minute track time.

Former superstox man Mark Murphy was the man to beat in the heat races where he scooped the honours in both events, Billy Finnegan Jnr. was another who stood out in the heats finishing runner up to Murphy in each.

The final was a lively affair with action aplenty, local teenager Bradley McKinstry showed talent way beyond his years, slicing through the field to take second on the road at the flag ahead of Graham Fegan.

Finnegan Jnr was first across the finish line however he found himself penalised by the race steward for a jump start. McKinstry inherited the win with Fegan the runner up.

1300 SALOONS

The 1300 Saloons where on show at Sunday’s meeting , in heat 1 Peter Greer set the early pace from the blue grade with Curtis Greer in hot pursuit from the superstar grade. Peter seemed to have the race under his belt with only 3 laps remaining, although a lap later Curtis made his move to take the flag .

Heat 2 got of to an almost repeat from the previous race with C Greer chasing down the lead pack from the off, only this time it was much earlier on in the race when the 922 (C Greer) machine reached the front and set off to pull a fine gap between himself and second placed Nicky Lowry at the flag.

The final was a much more drama-filled occurrence, with yellows having to be called for an incident between William Stewart, James Crossett and Nicky Lowry, which let Greer close in on his fellow drivers to get a much easier earned victory.

SUPER SALOONS

The Super Saloon class where on display in a support capacity. Liam Irwin struck victory in heat one from the blue grade in what was a very good drive in slippery conditions, with Richard Nicholl following him home in second and superstar driver Aaron McGraw rounding out the top 3.

Nicholl got off to a great start and set the early pace in heat 2 leading throughout as conditions worsened and left his fellow competitors struggling to find grip in their machines.

Irwin almost seemed to have used kangaroo fuel as his car was hopping up the straight throughout the duration of the race. Nicholl took the honours in this heat.

The final was pretty much a repeat of heat 1 with Nicholl leading the pack away for the first half of the race, with Irwin using the proper fuel this time and finding the grip required for a few quick laps helped him to final honours with Nicholl following through in 2nd and McGraw 3rd.

MICRO F2s

Jack Morrow stole the show in the Micro F2 formula with a heat and final double in really tricky conditions for the youngsters of the sport.

Sam Stewart and Morrow won the two heats, to set up an eagerly-anticipated final.

The final race of the day for the youngsters seen Sam Stewart return to the track, all-be-it minus a wing to take his position on the grid.

A more settled race developed in this one with Jack Morrow storming through the grid to take double glory and the chequered flag.