Dublin driver Neil Shanahan (19) in a works Van Diemen RF99 and Matthew Gilmore (16) of Belfast will contest the British Formula Ford Zetec Championship this year at the wheel of a works-supported Van Diemen R99 and for which he will have works Scholar (Ford) engines.
Gilmore won the Formula Ford 1600 Championship in 1998 and is one of the youngest drivers to win car races, not to mention winning a championship.
He is currently doing business studies in the Belfast Institute, but is taking a year out to pursue a professional motor racing career. "I'll go back to studying if it doesn't work out," says Gilmore.
The Formula Ford Zetec and Ford Fiesta Championship races will run as support events to all the British Touring Car Championship rounds to make an exciting package, along with Renault and Vauxhall support races. Michael Cullen (Dublin) will contest the Ford Fiesta series for a second consecutive year, and is seriously chasing championship honours with a new team.
He was seventh last year and won one race. The '98 championship was won by former British Motocross Champion Alan Morrisson from Killyleag, Co Down, who also won six races in the series.
BTCC race dates for 1999 are - April 4th/ 5th, Donington; April 17th/18th, Silverstone; May 2nd/3rd, Thruxton; May 15th-16th, Brands Hatch; May 30th-31st, Oulton Park; June 19th20th, Donington; July 3rd/4th, Croft; July 17th, Silverstone (night races); July 31st/August 1st, Thruxton; August 14th/15th, Knockhill, Scotland; August 29th/30th, Brands Hatch; September 11th/12th, Oulton Park; September 18th/ 19th, Silverstone. The average attendance at BTCC rounds last year was 30,000.
The withdrawal of Castrol finance from Irish motorsport in '99 came as a major shock, particularly to rally champion Austin McHale and Cliff Dempsey Racing. McHale is hoping to rally a Toyota Corolla WRC in association with Toyota Ireland, commencing with the Circuit of Ireland at Easter.
To find a replacement sponsor (for Castrol) will no doubt be extremely difficult.
Cliff Dempsey Racing, the Ashbourne-based team run by Cliff and Michelle Dempsey, has scored Formula Opel Championship wins with Castrol-liveried cars driven by Wayne Douglas, Michael Edgar and Donal Loughrey. Cliff Dempsey Racing will continue with different sponsors to provide a very professional service in Irish motor racing.
It will be strange and indeed sad not to see the familiar Castrol green, red and white colours in Irish rallying and racing this year. The money normally allocated to Irish motor-sport goes to the Castrol-backed Team Toyota in World Championship Rallying.
The World Rally Championship commences with the 67th Monte Carlo Rally, starting from Monaco on Sunday and running through to Wednesday evening. The new Ford Focus WRC makes its debut in the hands of Colin McRae and the relatively unknown Frenchman Simon Jean-Joseph, who will be navigated by Belfast-born Fred Gallagher. The works Fords will run in the distinctive colours of Martini Racing.
