King enjoys double success ahead of two international events

NEWMILLS driver Mark King hit top gear during the final round of the McMillan Specialist Cars NI Autotest Championship last weekend when he was not only crowned large saloon champion but he also won the first ever shootout.

The top finishers shootout was run as a trial initiative by the Autotest Drivers Club NI as the top six in the final championship standings went head-to-head over a one test run with the fastest driver earning a magnum of champagne kindly sponsored by Harold Hassard.

After finishing fourth overall in the main event in his Vauxhall Nova, which was enough for him to regain the Large Saloon crown, King continued his fine form in the shoot-out to beat overall champion, Steven Ferguson by 0.8 of a second to claim the inaugural shootout title, while Andy Blair hit a pylon, and the other competitors, Chris Grimes senior, Peter Grimes and Castlederg’s Adam Lowry finished just behind.

“It was really, really good,” King beamed. “It was quite interesting and a great way to finish the season off.

“And even for the spectators, you had the likes of John Lyons and Ken [Irwin] saying it was really good to watch. It’s a one hit wonder, you either go all out or play it safe but when there’s nothing else to play for it’s a bit of fun, so why not go all out!”

While King ruled supreme at the end of the event, 10-times NI champion, Stewartstown supremo Ferguson won the final round of the championship outright from Andy Blair in second and Peter Grimes in third. In the classes, Peter Grimes won class A from Adam Lowry, with Chris Grimes senior third, while Blair won class B from Coagh’s Trevor Ferguson, with Paul Lowther third. Class C was won by Robin Lyons from Andrew Earney, while class D went the way of King. Taylor Gribbon won the clubman class, Robert Robinson clinched the advanced section from Dungannon’s Jordan Burns and Oliver Lamont took the production honours on the day.

Overall it was a good day behind the wheel for the Tyrone drivers who will represent Northern Ireland at the forthcoming Ken Wharton Trophy in England where King feels they have a good chance of more glory on October 12. He will compete for NI A in his Nova alongside the Mini Special of Steven Ferguson, Blair’s sportscar and Robin Lyons’ Mini Saloon, while the B team will be made up of Trevor Ferguson and Castlederg brothers Adam and Jack Lowry, with another driver yet to be named piloting the large saloon.

“You have the top four drivers in Northern Ireland as your team, everybody is top of their pile which is nice to have,” he beamed.

“Confidence is high and that’s for all four of us and the ‘B’ team is strong too and they will be able to compete at the top level.”

Immediately after the Ken Wharton, King will fly to Valencia where he will represent Motorsport UK at the FIA World Games for the second time.