Published Wednesday, 01 February 2012
Anybody who lives in Northern Ireland cannot fail to recognise that 2012 is the year of the Titanic, with major strides being made to promote Northern Ireland as the place to visit in 2012 and beyond.
So it is very pleasing to report that motorsport is also doing its bit this year by bringing three major Championships to these shores.
Each one will represent a different sector of the sport, bringing a welcome financial boost to various local economies and in turn highlighting NI through their own media outlets across Europe and beyond.
So it was my pleasure last Thursday to attend the launch of the 2012 Circuit of Ireland Rally, which this year incorporates a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and through Eurosport's coverage will put Northern Ireland in to the homes of around 80 million people globally.
The gathered media stood in the very room the Titanic was designed and learned that this theme will rightfully be reflected at the start of Circuit's schedule.
At 16.00 o'clock on Good Friday, 120 competitors will be flagged away from the ceremonial start being held outside Belfast City Hall. The competitors will then pass within the shadow of the Titanic Memorial on their way to a super special, which will be held on vacant ground under the backdrop of Samson and Goliath.
Intriguingly it was also mooted that we could see two cars hanging from the cranes on the day.
The main body of the stages will be centered around the counties of Armagh, Down and Antrim will see the return of the very popular Saturday afternoon power stage around Lisburn's council offices.
A second announcement this week details that top flight karting will be returning to Nutts Corner on the 11th & 12th of August, when it becomes the venue for the traditional Formula Kart Stars Series 'summer holiday'. FKS is the only karting championship in the world supported by Bernie Ecclestone (Formula One Managment) and Lewis Hamilton.
A spokesman for FKS commented "Everyone at Formula Kart Stars could not be more excited to be going to Nutts Corner in 2012. It has been a number of years since the championship last visited the circuit and since then the Eastwood family have done an incredible amount of work to improve the facilities and make the track one of the best anywhere in Britain.
The circuit owners have been loyal supporters of Formula Kart Stars over the years and I know that the Nutts Corner weekend will be the highlight of the season. From the youngest drivers in our championship in the MSA British Cadet Championship right the way up to the new Senior Rotax class, everyone who comes out to watch Formula Kart Stars in action will definitely be seeing some of the stars of the future."
Nutts Corner will form rounds 9 & 10 of the 12 round UK series and for 2012 retains its popular double header format of timed qualifying two heats and a final on each day which has proved extremely popular with competitors since its introduction in 2010.
Lastly County Down's kirkistown Race Circuit will play host to a raft of UK race series this year, most notably hosting the first round of a new pan European Formula Ford Super Series, a four round championship which takes in the uk's Brands Hatch circuit, Croix en Ternois in France and the historic Monza Circuit for the final round.
Other visitors include two saloon championships from Scotland and the last weekend in June see's the British Sprint Championship sharing the track with the Irish Sprint and Hillclimb Championship.
Kirkistown's racing session kick starts into life again on the 31st of March with other activities detailed on www.kirkistown.com