Northern Ireland motorsport: the autumn 2026 events worth putting in your calendar
Kirkistown race meetings, sprints, Targa rallies and club events give NI fans a packed run from late September into December.
Northern Ireland’s motorsport calendar does not go quiet when summer ends. The Association of Northern Ireland Motor Clubs currently lists a busy run of events through late September, October, November and December 2026.
For spectators and competitors, the attraction is variety: circuit racing, sprints, Targa rallies, autotests, trials and cross-country events rather than one single championship dominating the calendar.
26 September: racing at Kirkistown
The next major circuit date on the ANICC calendar is a 500MRCI race meeting at Kirkistown on 26 September. Listed classes include Fiesta/Mini, FF1600, saloons/roadsports, Mazda, Formula Vee and Formula Sheane.
The same date also features kart racing at Nutts Corner on the wider calendar, giving local fans two very different forms of competition.
3 October: sprint action at Kirkistown
On 3 October, the Ulster Automobile Club is scheduled to run a sprint at Kirkistown. Sprint events are one of the simplest ways to understand competitive motorsport: one car against the clock, with outright speed decided by individual timed runs rather than wheel-to-wheel racing.
October stays busy
The calendar lists a NAMC Targa Rally on 3 October, a MCMC stage rally on 17 October and another 500MRCI race meeting at Kirkistown on 31 October. Clubman autotests and trials fill many of the weekends between the larger headline dates.
November and December are not empty either
November includes Targa, autotest, trial and cross-country dates, while late December traditionally provides a final burst of action. The current ANICC calendar lists a UAC Targa Rally on 28 December and a MCMC single-venue rally at Shackleton on 29 December.
Always check before travelling
Motorsport calendars can change because of permits, venues, weather and organiser decisions. Treat this article as a guide to what is currently scheduled and check the organiser or ANICC listing before setting off.
Why NI club motorsport deserves more attention
Northern Ireland has a deep competition culture that extends well beyond headline international events. Club-level rallying, autotest, hillclimb, sprint and circuit racing create a ladder for competitors and give spectators access to machinery and disciplines that rarely appear in mainstream sports coverage.
PureCar’s NI Motoring section will keep highlighting the dates and stories that are genuinely worth a car enthusiast’s time rather than filling the feed with generic event listings.
There is more to watch than stage rallying
One of the strengths of the NI calendar is that a fan can see very different disciplines within a few weekends. Autotests reward precision in tight spaces, sprints reward outright pace against the clock, circuit meetings provide wheel-to-wheel racing, and Targa events put road-based navigation and regularity skills into a different context.
For someone new to local motorsport, sampling more than one discipline is the best way to understand how broad the scene really is.
Check venue guidance on tickets, access and spectator areas before travelling, particularly for rallies and events where public-road access can be tightly controlled.
