The opening weekend of the Formula Ford 1600 NI Championship saw 17 contenders head to the Co.Down circuit for what was always going to be an action packed double header.

The Dawson-Wam sponsored championship is also a feeder series for the Road to Indy shootout where the championship winner will be in with a chance of a $200,000 ticket to the road to Indy in U.S.A

The grid was made up of new and old names to the FF scene with Niall Murray returning in a Bernard Dolan Van Diemen alongside James Roe who was driving Niall’s UK  Championship winning car of 2016 in matching Murrray Motorsport livery. Newcomers to FF who didn’t hang around in picking up the pace were Navan’s Keith Donegan and 16 year-old Dean Macdonald from Scotland.

It was Kevin O’Hara who ticked all the boxes , walking away with pole , 2 race wins and a new lap record!

Qualifying saw O’Hara on pole position by just one tenth of a second ahead of James Roe Jr, with Kildares Jake Byrne taking 3rd.

Race 1 was won by O’Hara but not without challenge having battled between first and second with James Roe Jr from start to finish.British Champion Niall Murray was right in the mix before having a misfire and finishing 9th.

Race 2 saw James Roe Jr get a good start off the line ahead of O’Hara and the battle commenced again .Lap by lap the pair switched positions before Roe unfortunately spun at the last corner. Murray back on full power finished 3rd just ahead of Roe as he recovered from his spin to get back in the mix and finish 4th .

10 seconds behind them saw the battle for 5th place between newcomer Keith Donegan and 2016 Irish Supercar champion Andy O’Brien with Donegan taking the place by less than 2 tenths.

It was O’Hara again who took the chequred flag to finish off a perfect weekend ahead of Alan Davidson in the 85 Mondial car .