Clady Circuit situated in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

describes a motor-cycle

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...

used for the

Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a defunct motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race which took place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Due to the races having the fastest aver ...

. The Clady Circuit was used between 1922 and 1939 and an amended shorter circuit between 1947 and 1952.

History

The Clady Circuit, (; i.e. ''Washing river'') first used in 1922 for the Ulster Grand Prix was in length in County Antrim. The original course start line was situated near Loanends Primary School on the secondary B39 Antrim to

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Road. The event held on public roads closed for racing including the secondary B39 ''Seven Mile Straight'' between Antrim and Clady Corner including ''Christy's Brae'', the primary A52 Belfast to Crumlin Road between Clady Corner and Thorn Cottage, a tertiary road north from Thorn Cottage to Greenmount near the town of Antrim (including a section of

RAF Aldergrove Aldergrove Flying Station, also known previously as JHC FS Aldergrove, is a British military base located south of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast, and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is som ...

) and from Greenmount to Muckamore Corner with the road junction of the B39 'Seven Mile Straight.' The Clady Circuit was shortened in 1947 to a length of with the omission of the Aldergrove section from Thorn Cottage to Greenmount. The ''short'' Clady Circuit now ran from Clady Corner to Nutts Corner on the primary A52 Belfast to Crumlin Road and used a section of the primary A 26

Banbridge Banbridge ( ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. It is in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iveagh Upper ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

Road from Nutts Corner to Muckamore House near Antrim. For the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

racing season the Clady Circuit was abandoned for motor-cycle racing and the

as part of the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship was moved to the nearby

Dundrod Circuit Dundrod Circuit is a motorsport street circuit used for the Ulster Trophy for Formula One and Formula Two cars from 1950 to 1953, the RAC Tourist Trophy for sports cars between 1950 and 1955, and for the motorcycle Ulster Grand Prix from 19 ...

in Co Antrim.

Speed and Race Records

The lap record for the ''short'' Clady Circuit is 9 Minutes and 21 seconds at an average speed of set by Les Graham riding a 500cc MV Agusta 4C during the 1952 Ulster Grand Prix. The lap record for the 1922–1939 Clady Circuit is 12 minutes and 17.8 seconds at an average speed of by Dorino Serafini riding a 500cc

Gilera Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera (1887–1971). In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio. History Giuseppe Gilera founded his self-named motorcycle company in 1909 (aged 22) near M ...

motor-cycle during the 1939 Ulster Grand Prix. The race record for the ''short'' Clady Circuit is an average speed of set by Cromie McCandless riding a 500cc Gilera also during the 1952 Ulster Grand Prix.

Sources

{{MotoGP circuits Defunct motorsportsport venues in Northern Ireland Grand Prix motorcycle circuits Sports venues in County Antrim Motorcycle Road Racing Venues

History

Speed and Race Records

See also

Sources