Thoroughbred Sports Car Club of Northern Ireland

Fun Events

Tulip Runs and Treasure Hunts

So the story goes, Tulip Runs were invented in Holland, where there is not much opportunity there for Hillclimbs, but we don't really believe that. Far more likely, they are named after the type of route direction given to navigate round the course - some of them look like Lowry-drawn tulips.

The course is on public roads, so is untimed and needs no special insurance, with the route marked out in distances and directions at junctions. Inexperienced drivers usually set off with the family on board, the spouse reading the map. Those who have done it before borrow somebody else's family and survive the day!

After each leg there may be a little test - blindfold driving, perhaps, or throwing the old boot (wellington variety!) - or maybe a cryptic clue for a landmark or a question on the local topography to be answered en route, with which the family can help. Or not, as the case may be. Whatever, the course sets out to be interesting, and those with the least mileage and the most answers right win the prize at the barbecue at the end.

Track Days

Held three or four  times a year at Kirkistown Race Track, these days out have proved to be highly popular - it is an opportunity to to take a normal road-going or any other car and sink the wellie under very tightly controlled and safe conditions. Many members use the opportunity to set their car up for serious track events. It is NOT head-to-head racing - in fact, both overtaking and lap-timing are forbidden and infringement of this condition could lose us our insurance policy.

Anyone who is a member (it is possible to join on the day) and is able to drive the car to a reasonable standard is eligible to drive - you don't even have to be old enough to hold a licence - and your motor insurance policy is void, so any damage is down to the driver. One passenger per vehicle is permitted, but a height restriction of 1.4m - 4ft 7ins - applies.

Safety is of primary importance. Helmets, long sleeves and seat belts must be worn by both driver and passenger, and windows wound up. An ambulance is in attendance, as is a rescue vehicle with qualified Marshals, but the most damage to date has been caused through over-enthusiastic use of the gearbox and the odd case of terminally slipping clutch. Grids of four cars with similar capability are set up and started at safe intervals. There are various techniques used to gain space, so it means that you are able to take all parts of the circuit to the limit, sooner or later. Two  laps, then a slowing down lap, then it's back to the pits or the queue to wait for the next run.

Normally, you should get at least five or six runs during the day's event, so it is a very reasonable cost-per-run for a crack at a real racing circuit and an opportunity to develop driving and control skills.

Karting

Resulting from a member's suggestion and now an annual event, Kart Valley is taken over for the evening of sheer perversity, being able to take the tyres to the limit on somebody else's vehicle!

An opportunity for needle, or to experience the hardest of suspension with your derriere a hairsbreadth off the track, it raises the pulse rate as much as a full-blown racing car can!