Great Irish Roads: A series by motoring historian Bob Montgomery
No 8 - Dundrod Circuit
Awestruck in this Theatre-of-the-Giants Dundrod weather, the locals call it. Lines of sombre grey clouds marching across the rolling countryside. They seem to fit with the reputation of this place.
Seven and a half miles of sweeping road-circuit which in its day brought the cream of the world's racing drivers to Ulster. A formidable challenge, it claimed the lives of several of them . . .
I've come to Dundrod near Lisburn, Co Antrim, and in the hills to the northwest of Belfast where between 1950 and 1955 the famous Tourist Trophy and Ulster Trophy Races were contested.
Although I've often traversed the mile or so of the circuit formed by the B101 from Lisburn to Antrim town, I've never had the opportunity to drive around the full circuit which today has hardly changed from that used 50 years ago.
In fact, the only significant change is the by-passing of the Leathemstown Bridge - and, of course, the motorcycle fraternity, who return here annually for the Ulster Motorcycle Grand Prix, now avoid the notorious hairpin by using a less severe link only about 50 yards distant.
Given that this is a series of public roads in daily use, it's only possible to circulate at the speed of the flow of traffic. But that's more than enough to transmit the character of this place. And that character is formidable.
From the start/finish area with its empty motorcycle grandstand named in memory of the great Joey Dunlop, the road takes us through a series of fast sweeping corners over the mile to Leathemstown cross roads where the circuit joins the B101 road. Already the essential character of the circuit is apparent. It's fast, VERY fast.
The B101 sweeps past the old Leathemstown Bridge and into the first of the crests and dips which were such a feature of this section of the circuit. Lough Neagh visible in the distance, it was here at Deer's Leap, one of the route's double brows and dips, that the accident occurred in 1955 which brought motor racing here to a close.
It's easy to imagine a 1950s Grand Prix car here - but hard to imagine just how fast it must have been over these brows. There's the house visible in the famous shot of Mike Hawthorn in the Jaguar D-type in the 1955 Tourist Trophy Race.
At Cochranstown Corner the road swings to the right, away from the B101, followed soon by Quarterlands Corner and then Ireland's Corner. These right- and left-hand corners take us onto what I think is the most impressive part of the circuit with its two-mile series of long sweeping uphill corners running through Jordan's Cross and on to Wheeler's Corner, a right hander and the highest point on the circuit which is followed by a 1/4 mile straight.
From Ireland's Corner to Wheeler's fills me with awe. The thought of a 1950s Grand Prix car or a Mercedes 300 SLR, all skinny tyres and four wheel drift, making its way at full speed through these sweeping bends is staggering. The smallest mistake was liable to have permanent consequences for a driver.
It's a humbling reminder of the way an earlier generation of racing drivers accepted the risks inherent in the sport in the days prior to the safety crusade of Jackie Stewart and others. Modern drivers have a lot to be thankful for.
At the end of the straight from Wheelers is the sharp right hand corner called Tornagrough where several fatal accidents occurred. It's followed by another tight left-hander and a short downhill run to the Hairpin - this section caught many drivers out and even the great Fangio arrived going backwards at the Hairpin in one Ulster Trophy Race. From the Hairpin, there are a series of right and left sweeps before the long, very fast Quarry corner and another left sweep back to the start area.
Dundrod is a truly awe-inspiring reminder of the risks inherent in 1950s motor racing in the top echelons of the sport.
It's remarkable to have the opportunity to drive over this virtually unaltered circuit today and recall the great races and the brave drivers who drove over this circuit in its short heyday some 50 years ago. It's an experience which serves to adjust one's perceptions of motor sport in that era.
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