Northern Ireland

Observe the Sons of Ulster: Paris-Madrid 1903

County Down, Ireland: September 1916 Responding to deft touch, the Sopwith Strutter prescribes a shallow arc from Carnalea. Barely above the telegraph wires. No conscious check of bearing – instinctively the pilot dips a wing, and there… K and the children are at the homestead. Waves, and kisses blown. Banking right over Helen’s Bay. Swinging […]

Racing Daydreams - Colin Johnston - Ards TT - BBC

Featured Northern Ireland Sports Car Racing

Race to Disaster – The Ards TT

The phone vibrated on my office desk. A glance to see the notification… email… subject line, “TT Film”. Curious, I locked the work laptop and read the message… it was about the Ards TT. Dear Colin, I came across your website in the course of doing some research for a film I am making for the BBC […]

Featured Myths & Curios Northern Ireland Sports Car Racing

Caracciola’s Over-Blown 1930

H.M.S. Catherwood’s central works, Donegall Road, Belfast. Friday, 22 August 1930 The driver retrieved a half Woodbine from his top pocket. “You still here, cub?” “Aye… til the death. Told me to stand here til I got somethin’.” “Wha? Like pleurisy?.. don’t think that would make the morning paper.” The Bo Peep flared on first […]

Featured Northern Ireland Sports Car Racing

“Read All About it!” – The Morning ‘Paper That Saved British Road-Racing

It’s easy to think that ‘disruptors’ are a modern phenomenon. People who refuse to accept that their idea can’t & won’t revolutionise their field of expertise… or their part of the world. But what are Wallace McLeod & Harry Ferguson if not ‘disruptors’? Men of vision and, more importantly, action! You will likely have heard […]

Myths & Curios Northern Ireland

Keeping One Eye on the Past

A nation that keeps one eye on the past is wise. A nation that keeps two eyes on the past is blind Unknown So reads the wisdom on the wall of The Garrick Bar – a Belfast institution. It has seen a lot of laughter & tears from the corner of Chichester Street and Montgomery […]

Grands Prix Northern Ireland Sports Car Racing

C’était un Déluge

We’re lucky to have a lot of motorsport heritage in Northern Ireland. We don’t make enough of a fuss about it. To that end – to make a start – here’s a look at Dundrod. Epic, terrifying, bloody quick Dundrod. Scene of many motorcycle battles, but also the Ulster Trophy for Formula One & Formula […]

Northern Ireland Rallying

Michèle Mouton, Dragon Slayer – Belfast 1985

Here’s Michèle Mouton with her fire-breathing Audi quattro in Belfast, 1985. That’s it… that’s the blog. More?.. Oh, OK… The 1985 British Midland Ulster Rally – round 4 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and round 5 of the Shell Oils British Open Rally Championship – was a two day blast around Northern Ireland. As […]

Featured Northern Ireland Sports Car Racing

The 1955 Tourist Trophy, Dundrod

One of the many peculiarities of 2020 is the upending of the international sporting calendar. While we are worried & discombobulated, dealing with ‘the new normal’, fettling our Zoom background – wondering how we will pay the rent – the ‘powers that be’ have been scrambling to stage their marquee events. So, we find the […]

Featured Northern Ireland Sports Car Racing

The 1929 Tourist Trophy – Mercedes versus Bentley, in the Belfast Rain

It’s 90 years since the greatest racers did battle in Belfast. 17th August 1929 saw ‘Tim’ Birkin’s blower Bentley challenge the works’ Mercedes-Benz of Rudi Caracciola, in the rain, for the Tourist Trophy. There was a time when a Grand Prix car, a Le Mans racer, an endurance rally machine were one and the same. […]