Dundrod Circuit

Last updated

Dundrod Circuit
Dundrod Circuit.svg
Location Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Time zone WET (UTC+0)
WEST (April–October, UTC+1)
Coordinates 54°34′51″N6°05′05″W / 54.58083°N 6.08472°W / 54.58083; -6.08472
Opened1950
Major events Grand Prix motorcycle racing Ulster Grand Prix (1953–1971)
RAC Tourist Trophy (1950–1951, 1953–1955)
Sidecar World Championship
(1953–1954, 1956, 1969–1971)
Dundrod 150
Killinchy 150
Length11.910 km (7.401 miles)
Turns25
Race lap record3:15.316 — 136.415 mph (219.539 km/h) [1] (Peter Hickman, BMW S1000rr, 2019 Ulster Grand Prix)

Dundrod Circuit is a motorsport street circuit used for the Ulster Trophy for Formula One and Formula Two cars from 1950 to 1953, the RAC Tourist Trophy for sports cars between 1950 and 1955, and for the motorcycle Ulster Grand Prix from 1953 onwards. It is situated near the village of Dundrod in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. The nearby Clady Circuit also in County Antrim was used for the Ulster Grand Prix between (1922–1952) before moving to the Dundrod Circuit. [2]

Contents

History

The Dundrod Circuit (Irish : Dún dTrod) in Co Antrim, first used in 1950 for the RAC Tourist Trophy automobile race and the Formula One (non-championship) Ulster Trophy (1950–1953), was 7.416 mi (11.935 km) in length and later amended for the 1965 racing season to 7.401 mi (11.911 km) with the addition of the Lindsay Hairpin. For the 1953 racing season the Clady Circuit was abandoned for motor-cycle racing and the Ulster Grand Prix as part of the FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship and was moved to the nearby Dundrod Circuit in Co Antrim. The circuit comprised public roads closed for racing including a section of the secondary B38 Hannahstown Road between Glenavy and Hannahstown, Co Antrim, the secondary B101 Leathemstown Road from Leathemstown Corner to Dundrod and the B154 Quarterland/Tornagrough Road from Cochranstown to the road junction of the B38 Upper Springsfield Road/Hannahstown Road at the Lindsay Hairpin. After 1955 cars stopped racing there due to no less than 3 fatalities during the 1955 TT race and safety concerns with the narrow, high-speed nature of the circuit, and since then it has only been used for motorcycle racing.

The photo below shows the original much tighter hairpin, with the modern hairpin, known now as the Lindsay Hairpin, being slightly further back up the road.

Speed and race records

Original Hairpin NI-UGP hairpin bend.jpg
Original Hairpin

The lap record for the Dundrod Circuit is 3 minutes and 17.928 seconds at an average speed of 134.614 mph (216.640 km/h) set by Dean Harrison riding a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R during the 2017 Ulster Grand Prix. [1] The race record for the Dundrod Circuit is an average speed of 133.180 mph (214.332 km/h) set by Bruce Anstey during the 2017 Ulster Grand Prix. [1]

The lap record for the RAC Tourist Trophy on the Dundrod Circuit is 4 minutes and 42 seconds at an average speed of 94.67 mph (152.36 km/h) held by Mike Hawthorn driving a Jaguar D-Type set during the 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy. [3] The race record for the RAC Tourist Trophy on the Dundrod Circuit is 7 hours, 3 minutes and 12 seconds an average speed of 88.32 mph (142.14 km/h) for 84 laps (622.96 miles/1002.518 km) during the 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy race held by the works Daimler-Benz entry of Stirling Moss/John Fitch driving a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.

The 1971 Ulster Grand Prix held on the Dundrod Circuit was won by Australian Jack Findlay in what was the Ulster Grand Prix's last year as part of the FIM Grand Prix international motorcycle racing calendar. Findlay's victory on a Suzuki was also notable for marking the first 500cc class win for a motorcycle powered by a two stroke engine. [4] [5]

Race lap records

The fastest official race lap records at the Dundrod Circuit are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent
Full Circuit: 11.910 km (1950–present) [6]
Superbike 3:15.316 [7] Peter Hickman BMW S1000RR 2019 Ulster Grand Prix
500cc 4:08.600 Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 500 Three 1970 Ulster Grand Prix
350cc 4:13.600 Giacomo Agostini MV Agusta 350 3C 1970 Ulster Grand Prix
250cc 4:21.400 Kel Carruthers Yamaha 250 V4 1970 Ulster Grand Prix
125cc 4:27.000 Bill Ivy [lower-alpha 1]
Phil Read [lower-alpha 1] 		Yamaha 125 V4 [lower-alpha 1] 1967 Ulster Grand Prix [lower-alpha 1]
1968 Ulster Grand Prix [lower-alpha 1]
Sports car racing 4:42.000 [8] Mike Hawthorn Jaguar D-type 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy
Formula One 4:44.000 [9] Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo 159 1951 Ulster Trophy
50cc 5:17.200 Ángel Nieto Derbi 50 1970 Ulster Grand Prix

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Both riders took the same lap time independently on different years.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Hawthorn</span> British racing driver (1929–1959)

John Michael "Mike" Hawthorn was a British racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1952 to 1958. Hawthorn won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1958 with Ferrari, and won three Grands Prix across seven seasons. In endurance racing, Hawthorn won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1955 with Jaguar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mallory Park</span> Motor racing circuit

Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course was constructed for 1956, with a later extension forming a loop with a hairpin bend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Man TT Mountain Course</span> Motorcycle circuit on the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man TT Mountain Course or TT Course or Snaefell Mountain Course or Elmo’s Mountain Course is a street and public rural road circuit located in the Isle of Man, used for motorcycle racing. The motorcycle TT Course is used principally for the Isle of Man TT Races and also the separate event of the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling for the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT Races held in September of each year. The start-line for the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course is located on Glencrutchery Road in the City of Douglas, Isle of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artie Bell</span> British motorcycle racer

Arthur James Bell was a British motorcycle road racer who became known for his short post-World War II Isle of Man TT career that came to notice with his second-place finish in the 1947 Isle of Man TT on a second-hand 500cc Norton he bought himself on which he led for three of the seven laps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Grand Prix</span> Motorcycle race held in Northern Ireland

The Ulster Grand Prix is a (currently) defunct motorcycle road race which took place on the 7.401 mi (11.911 km) Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Due to the races having the fastest average speed over a single lap of any motorcycle road race, it is the fastest race of its kind in the world. The lap record of 136.415 mph was set by Peter Hickman in the 2019 superbike race, a faster average than the Isle of Man TT lap record, which stands at 136.358mph as of 2024, set also by Peter Hickman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Graham</span> British motorcycle racer

Robert Leslie Graham was a British motorcycle road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing 500 cc World Championship in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob McIntyre (motorcyclist)</span> British motorcycle racer

Robert MacGregor McIntyre was a Scottish motorcycle racer. The first rider to achieve an average speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) for one lap of the Snaefell Mountain Course in 1957, McIntyre is also remembered for his five motorcycle Grand Prix wins which included three wins at the Isle of Man TT races, and four victories in the North West 200. He died nine days after injuries sustained racing at Oulton Park, Cheshire, England in August 1962.

William Raymond Amm was a Rhodesian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1951 to 1954. Amm was a six-time Grand Prix race winner including three victories at the Isle of Man TT when, he died in 1955 after an accident during a race in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg Meier</span> German motorcycle racer and racing driver (1910–1999)

Georg "Schorsch" Meier was a German motorcycle racer famous for being the first foreign winner of the prestigious Senior TT, the Blue Riband race of the Isle of Man TT Races, in 1939 riding for the factory BMW team and the first motorcycle racer to lap a Grand Prix course at over 100 mph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Phillis</span> Australian motorcycle racer (1934–1962)

Thomas Edward Phillis was an Australian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He won the 1961 125cc motorcycle road racing World Championship and was the first person to lap the Isle of Man TT mountain circuit at over 100 mph on a pushrod engined motorcycle. He was also the first person to win a World Championship motorcycle race on a Japanese machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Anstey</span> Motorcycle racer

Bruce Anstey is a professional motorcycle road racer. He is a former lap record holder on the world-famous Snaefell Mountain Course with a time of 17 minutes 6.682 seconds, at an average speed of 132.298 mph (212.913 km/h) set during the 2014 Superbike TT Race. Anstey was signed to race for the Padgett's Honda Racing Team having previously ridden for TAS Suzuki Racing, Valmoto Triumph and DTR Yamaha. For thirteen consecutive seasons, from 2002 - 2015, Bruce Anstey managed to secure a top three finish at the world's three most prestigious road races; the North West 200, the Isle of Man TT and the Ulster Grand Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Williams (motorcyclist)</span> British motorcycle racer

John Glen Williams was an English motorcycle short-circuit road racer who also entered selected Grands Prix on the near-continent. He mostly raced as a "privateer" having a personal sponsor, Gerald Brown. Williams died in Northern Ireland, following an accident when racing at an event held on closed public roads near Dundrod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Formula TT</span> Motorcycle racing class

The Formula TT was a racing class for motorcycles from 1977 to 1990 as the official World Cup under the umbrella of International Motorcycling Federation. It was in three engine capacity classes, and was divided into both two and four-stroke engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke Road Racing Rankings</span>

The Duke Road Race Rankings was established in 2002 to analyse and acknowledge the season-long performances of riders involved in a series of motorcycle road racing events held on public roads. It was the idea of Isle of Man-based Peter Duke, son of former World Champion Geoff Duke, who in conjunction with road-racing journalist Leslie Moore, author Mac McDiarmid and archivist Phil Edge, developed a scoring system which would recognise the significance of the individual events. Riders' aggregate performances over a season-long assessment of several road racing events acknowledges the most consistent racer as the ‘championship’ winner. Since Ian Lougher's first-year win in 2002, all big names of road racing have been considered, such as Adrian Archibald, Richard Britton, Jason Griffiths, Darran Lindsay and, more recently, Manxman Conor Cummins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clady Circuit</span> Motorcycle racing circuit in Northern Ireland

Clady Circuit situated in County Antrim, Northern Ireland describes a motor-cycle road racing street circuit used for the Ulster Grand Prix. The Clady Circuit was used between 1922 and 1939 and an amended shorter circuit between 1947 and 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Hutchinson (motorcyclist)</span> English professional motorcycle road racer

Ian Hutchinson is an English professional motorcycle road racer specialising in events held on closed public roads, such as the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Kneen</span> Professional motorcycle racer

Daniel Richard Kneen was a professional motorcycle racer from Douglas, Isle of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1955 RAC Tourist Trophy</span>

The 1955 RAC Tourist Trophy took place on 17 September, on the roads around Dundrod,. It was also the fifth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, however it was the first championship race following the horrendous tragedy at Le Mans. It was also the Golden Jubilee year for the RAC Tourist Trophy. Going into the race, Ferrari were leading the Manufacturers Championship by four points from Jaguar. Victory for the Italian marque would put them in a strong position to win a third successive title.

Patricia Fernandez is an American motorcycle racer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ards Circuit</span>

The Ards Circuit was a motorsport street circuit in Northern Ireland used for RAC Tourist Trophy sports car races from 1928 until 1936, when eight spectators died in an accident. Industrialist and pioneer of the modern agricultural tractor, Harry Ferguson was instrumental in setting up the race. As Northern Ireland's premier sporting event, it regularly attracted crowds in excess of a quarter of a million people.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "MCE Insurance Ulster Grand Prix - MMB Surfacing Superbike Race" (PDF). Ulster Grand Prix . MCUI (Ulster Centre) Timing. 12 August 2017. p. 32. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. ↑ Cook, Alastair (2004). Days of Thunder: The History of the Ulster Grand Prix. Gill & MacMillan. pp. 21–22. ISBN   0-7171-3800-3.
  3. ↑ The Motor. Temple Press Limited. 1959. p. 5.
  4. ↑ Jack Findlay obituary - The Telegraph
  5. ↑ "MotoGP Milestones". crash.net. 22 May 2003. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Dundrod map, history and latest races - Motorsport Database - Motorsport Magazine" . Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Motorcycle Union of Ireland (Ulster Centre) Timing for Ulster GP2019 Superbike Race 1" (PDF). Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "1955 Tourist Trophy" . Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "1951 Ulster Trophy" . Retrieved 7 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.