Much More GP Success

Following on from the success of the 2009 Irish GP, the 9-11th July 2010 saw the meeting return to the outstanding facility at Ballymoney Northern Ireland, this time part of the New Much-more UK GP Series which has already visited Stonehaven in Scotland and is set to visit Carlisle on the 13th-15th August.
The meeting followed the same format as the other rounds with Friday comprising of open practice, Saturday, the Pro-stock championship and Sunday the Modified championship.

The Northern Irish Schumacher Team descended upon a rather damp track early on Friday morning for plenty of practice, as the weather forecast for the weekend was for showers, we decided to get out on the damp track and get some valuable information that proved very helpful later in the weekend. The weather finally cleared up in the afternoon which provided us a chance to gather some knowledge on the events Much-More VQ control tyre, which proved fast and consistent. After a few small changes to the front of the car to improve balance on the new tyre we were ready to retire for the day and look to qualifying.

Saturday – Pro Stock Championship
Saturday kicked off with 1 round of superpole, followed by 3 rounds of qualifying and 2 finals. Early morning saw a damp but drying track, with most drivers opting for a treaded wet tyre it was Mark Gilliland who dominated with the three fastest consecutive laps followed by Alan Bickerstaff and Stephen Creswell. Mark’s dominance in superpole was short lived as he struggled on the control tires as the track got dryer throughout the morning. Alan Bickerstaff would lead the pack through qualifying ahead of Graham Kenny, Keith Dempsey, Mark Gilliland and Scott Kenny.
The first leg of the finals again was a damp affair with Alan Bickerstaff leading the pack in the opening laps only to suffer a motor failure allowing Graham Kenny to take the win ahead of Mark Gilliland and Keith Dempsey.
The Second leg of the Finals was a very wet affair with many drivers opting to sit out the second leg of the finals. In the A final it was the Schumacher Mi4LP of Scott Kenny who took the Leg win ahead of Keith Dempsey and Mark Gilliland, Graham Kenny came home 4th giving him enough points following his leg 1 win to take the overall top step on the podium. With Scott Kenny securing 4th and Mark McCracken Securing 6th.

Pro Stock A-Final results
1- Graham Kenny (Schumacher/Gm Racing)
2- Mark Gilliland (Tamiya/Gm Racing)
3- Keith Dempsey (Tamiya / Speed Passion)
4- Scott Kenny (Schumacher / GM Racing)
5- Michael Byrne (Associated/LRP)
6- Mark McCracken (Schumacher/Speed Passion)
7- Stephen Creswell (XRAY/ LRP)
8- Alan Bickerstaff (Associated/Novak)

Sunday – Modified Championship
After  the success of pro-stock the team were hopefully for a good performance in Sundays modified championship.  A new track layout greeted  the driver in the morning, along with a drissy of rain but the weather soon cleared up and the rest of the day was a dry affair. After Saturdays disapointing result Alan Bickerstaff was keen to clinch the modified title and the order of the day was to Alans liking. TQ’ing all three rounds ahead of Graham Kenny, Andrew Rennick  and Stephen Creswell.
In the First leg of the A-finals Alan was off to a strong start, a mistake by Graham Kenny saw Alans closest competion come from Andrew Rennick of rennicks modeltune, and Niall Cochrane.
The second leg of the A-finals Alan again was clear of the pack followed by Andrew rennick and Graham Kenny, But his luck was to run out on lap 19 along with Andrew Rennick who suffered an unsoldering motor connection leaving Graham Kenny to take he Win in leg two followed impressively by Young Tomas jess, who drove a Stunning Final to come from 8th on the grid and finish 2nd in leg two, and narrowly miss out on a place on the podium.

With lots of drivers tied on points in was Alan bickerstaff who took the overall win 1 point ahead of the Schumacher of Graham Kenny.With Dan Rowland’s and Tomas Jess both tied on points it was Dan rowlands who would take  third place overall.

Modified A-Final Results
1- Alan Bickerstaff  (Associated/Novak
2- Graham Kenny  (Schumacher/GM Racing)
3- Dan Rowlands (T.O.P / Much-more)
4- Tomas Jess (Schumacher/Nosram)
5- Keiran Smart (T.O.P / Much-more)
6- Andrew Rennick ( Associated/GM Racing)
7- Niall Cochrane (XRAY/LRP)
8- Stephen Creswell (XRAY/LRP)

Congratulations from all at Schumacher!