Clady Circuit

Clady Circuit
Clóidigh

County Antrim , Northern Ireland
Route type:	temporary racetrack
Opening:	1922
Decommissioned:	1952
Time zone:	UTC ± 0
1922-1939
Route data
Important events:	Ulster Grand Prix
Route length:	33,000  km (20.51  mi )
Curves:	over 10
Records
Track record: ( motorcycle )	12: 17.8 min. ( Dorino Serafini , Gilera , 1939 )
1947-1952
Route data
Important events:	Ulster Grand Prix
Route length:	26.501  km (16.47  mi )
Curves:	over 10
Records
Track record:	9: 21.0 min. ( Leslie Graham , MV Agusta , 1952 )

Coordinates: 54 ° 39 ′ 51 ″  N , 6 ° 6 ′ 23 ″  W.

The Clady Circuit ( Irish Clóidigh ) was a temporary motor racing circuit set up on closed public roads in County Antrim in Northern Ireland .

The course was driven in various routes from 1922 to 1952 and served as the venue for the Ulster Grand Prix , the largest motorcycle race in Northern Ireland.

Routing

The Clady Circuit was first used in its original form in 1922. The motorcycle enthusiast and politician Thomas Moles achieved through his commitment that a Road Races Act was passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly , which made the first event of the Ulster Grand Prix possible on October 14, 1922. This decision allowed the public roads that made up the Clady Circuit to be completely closed to private traffic for the duration of the races .

The route was 20.5 mi (33  km ) in length  . The start and finish were near Loanends Primary School on the seven mile long, bumpy and south-east running Seven Mile Straight , which still today connects Antrim and Belfast as the B39 . At Clady Corner the route turned west and ran on today's A52 over Ballyhill , Nutts Corner and Dundesert Bridge . The slope portions of the still partially in the early days with there took advantage of grass -covered runway of the Royal Air Force - airfield of Aldergrove (now Belfast International Airport ). It turned north at Thorn Cottage and passed through Aldergrove to Greenmount . After a short, northeastern stretch over Recktory to Muckamore , it then led back to the southeast on the Seven Mile Straight .

After the Second World War , a version of the runway that was shortened to 16.467 mi (26.501 km) was used from 1947 to 1952. The western part around Aldergrove was no longer used. Instead, you turned north at Nutts Corner and returned to the original route from Recktory .

run

In the early years, both motorcycle and automobile races were held. The most important race held, however, was always the Ulster Grand Prix , which was held from 1922 to 1952 with the exception of 1940 to 1945, when there were no races because of the Second World War.

The Ulster Grand Prix quickly gained considerable importance in Great Britain. In 1935 , the FICM Grand Prix was held with the event for the first time . At this Grand Prix, which was held annually as part of a different national Grand Prix, the titles in the European motorcycle championship were won. Arthur Geiss ( DKW , 250 cm³), Wal Handley ( Velocette , 350 cm³) and Jimmie Guthrie ( Norton , 500 cm³) won the titles.

In the 1938 and 1939 seasons , when the European Championship consisted of several races, the Ulster Grand Prix was also part of the European Championship.

After the Second World War, the European title was awarded again in 1948 as part of the Grand Prix. It won Maurice Cann ( Motoguzzi , 250 cm³), Freddie Frith (Velocette, 350 cm³) and Enrico Lorenzetti (Motoguzzi, 500 cc).

In 1949 the FIM launched the motorcycle world championship . Up to and including 1952 , the championship runs around the Ulster Grand Prix were held on the Clady Circuit. From 1953 the Grand Prix moved to the nearby Dundrod Circuit .

The record winner of the races on the Clady Circuit is the Irishman Stanley Woods , who celebrated a total of seven first prizes on various makes before the Second World War.

Serious accidents

A total of seven racing drivers had a fatal accident on the Clady Circuit. The most serious accident occurred on 15 August 1951. The Italian Moto Guzzi - works driver Sante Geminiani , Gianni Leoni and Enrico Lorenzetti circled in training the 250-cc class close to each other the course. After a few laps, Geminiani and Lorenzetti drove into the pits unnoticed by Leoni to swap their machines. After about four kilometers alone, Leoni noticed that his teammates were missing and, probably worried that an accident might have happened, he decided to turn back and drove the slope in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, Geminiani and Lorenzetti had left the pits and were on the track at full speed. The two were not ready for the oncoming driver, so a collision was inevitable.

Sante Geminiani and Gianni Leoni probably both tried to avoid them, but drove in the same direction and hit their heads at a speed of about 100  km / h . Geminiani was thrown about 40 meters through the air and was dead on the spot. Leoni got up a moment after the accident, but then collapsed unconscious and died the same day in a hospital in Belfast . Enrico Lorenzetti, who was driving about 100 meters behind Geminiani, was still able to brake and only drove to the scene of the accident at low speed. He got away with minor injuries.

Despite this tragic accident, the Moto Guzzi team did not withdraw from the Grand Prix. The following day, works driver Bruno Ruffo won the 250 cc race for the Ulster Grand Prix.

Records

The record lap time for the original 20.5  mi (33  km ) route is 12: 17.8 minutes, which corresponds to an average speed of 100.03  mph (160.98  km / h ). It was set up in 1939 on a 500 cc Gilera by the Italian Dorino Serafini .

The lap record of the post-war version is 9:21 minutes with an average speed of 105.94 mph (170.49 km / h). It was reached in 1952 by Leslie Graham on a 500cc MV Agusta . The racing record for the shortened route variant is an average speed of 99.79 mph (160.6 km / h) and was set in 1952 by Cromie McCandless on a 500 cc Gilera.

References

Web links

• Clady - Road Racing Circuit (1922-1939). theracingline.net, November 8, 2003, accessed September 15, 2013 . 
• Clady - Road Racing Circuit (1947-1952). theracingline.net, November 8, 2003, accessed September 15, 2013 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Ian Morrison: The Guinness Motorcycle Sport Fact Book . Ed .: Guinness. 1st edition. London 1991, ISBN 978-0-85112-953-2 , pp. 148 (English).
2. ^ ^{A b} Eddie McIlwaine: 10 things you didn't know about the big event . In: The Belfast Telegraph . August 17, 2008, p. 15 (English).