ITCC Leinster Trophy Weekend Round Up

Drummerboy08

With the 2013 Touring Championship signed, sealed and delivered to Erik Holstein, many would have billed the ITCC Leinster Trophy weekend as a quiet affair. However, with the re-emergence of a certain Peugeot 306 driven by Johnny Whelan, Eoghan Fogarty making a return to the Mondello Park grid in a very quick Honda Integra, and Robert Savage with his newly rebuilt race engine, and the introduction of Kevin Doran in a very fresh Honda CRX, maybe things wouldn't be so clear at the top this weekend! In the Touring class however, it was all still to play for, with Norman Fawcett and Owain Drought in with a chance to claim their stake on the ITCC trophy.

A lot of people expected Holstein to set the pace in qualifying, however a loose front splitter caused enough damage to an oil cooler to force the Bavarian car to the side of the track on an out lap. This opened the door to Whelan and he certainly impressed, setting some very good times around the International track. Gareth Hayden showed his return to form from previous years, looking like he was up to a challenge this weekend, while Gary Cardiff showed a big improvement in his pace. A lot of cars seemed to suffer with mechanical gremlins, causing Savage, Doran, and Holstein to retire from the session. The session was to finish with Whelan taking pole position, followed by Fogarty and Cardiff to round out the top three. In Production Class, the battle for pole was closely fought, with Drought, Mijatovic and Fawcett all within less than half a second of each other. This is how the session was to end up. The returning Keith Rabbitt was struggling for pace with the 1600cc Integra on the bigger Kildare track, but still stuck in with Radford, Keane and Murtagh. Andrew Twomey had the stockhatch grid to himself, so P1 was inevitable! All of this mixed in with the Mondello GT class on the same circuit meant it was difficult enough to find some clear air in which to set a good time.

With the cars lined up on the grid for the first ITCC race, most spectators expected the Yellow Peugeot to lead into turn 1, however Erik Holstein has certainly figured out how to lauch the BMW off the line from the 3rd row of the grid, to lead from early on. Fogarty got the jump on Whelan to take second place, with Hayden and Savage battling it out slightly further back. Within 1 lap, the Murray Motorsport run BMW was almost disappearing into the distance, and even when Whelan managed to break free from the Integra of Fogarty, he struggled to catch up. A great fight emerged between the two Tuning Factory Integra's, entertaining many in the stands! Holstein never looked like letting his grip loose on the win, with Whelan and Fogarty rounding out the podium places.

The Touring class grid was where many eyes would be today, with the championship still up for grabs. Mijatovic, Drought and Fawett instantly jumped into a three way battle for the lead, while Jason Hughes had some good racing with the Race2Race Integra of Mark Keane, and the Jomo-run Honda of Ian Radford. At the front, it was getting tighter and tighter each lap, with Owain Drought eventually emerging from Dunlop corner in the lead, with his mirrors full of the Honda's of Mijatovic and Norman Fawcett. A good run of form from Anthony Murtagh in the VW Corrado was probably the most satisfying to see, looking like he's finally banished his reliability demons from the German car. Even a Drought win wasn't enough to deny the Championship to Norman Fawcett, a very consistant season from the ITCC veteran ensuring his name on the Championship trophy for 2013.

With both Championship titles now confirmed, Sunday afternoon's race 2 should be a more relaxed affair, but still expect some great racing, especially with the hint that there's more left in the tank of the Peugeot. Certainly the Honda's of Fogarty, Hayden, Savage, Cardiff and Doran will look to position themselves closer to the BMW of Holstein, just to leave a Japanese stamp on the year! Cars are due to line up on the grid at 14.30 for race 2 on Sunday, so if you didn't make the trip to the Kildare venue today, make sure you do it tomorrow! If you can't make it down, remember that all the racing is also streamed on www.mondello.tv live, so you won't miss out on any of the action!

Drummerboy08

Erik Holstein's dominant win in race 1 on Saturday would have perhaps signalled another big win being lined up for race 2 on Sunday, the Dunboyne Trophy. However the quick changing weather conditions in Mondello Park could have thrown a spanner in the works for the Murray Motorsport run driver. The big question of the day was tyre choice, slicks or wets? Certainly, almost the entire Touring grid left it to the very last minute to make their choice, with many cars still in the air while being called to assembly!

A reverse grid from Race 1 left Gary Cardiff on pole in the GXR Racing run Honda, with the remaining Honda's of Savage, Hayden, Fogarty and Doran all in close proximity on the starting grid. Once again, a great start from the BMW saw Holstein make several places, however 2012 Dunboyne Trophy Race winner Johnny Whelan was in no mood to relinquish his grip on the trophy, sticking closer to the back of the BMW than on the previous outing. The freshly built CRX of Kevin Doran suffered yet another drive shaft failure in the opening laps, leaving the Honda driver stranded once again, while Hayden may have started regretting his choice of wet tyres, struggling to keep in touch with Savage and Fogarty. Perhaps one of the highlights of the race, a fantastic battle emerged between Dublin driver Savage, and Tipperary man Fogarty with both drivers staying very close together for the entire race! A good move by Fogarty saw him put the Gsport Integra onto the podium, but he still had to defend for a number of laps to the chequered flag with the Tuning Factory car of Savage giving everything it had to get the place back. Up front, the very well presented Peugeot of Whelan was keeping in touch with Holstein, but just couldn't seem to manage to close the gap enough to make a move. The Bavarian Bruiser has proven to be a very difficult car to beat, with Holstein once again taking the win to finish off a very successful season, Johnny Whelan had to settle for second place, with Eoghan Fogarty taking the final podium place.

In Production class, Norman Fawcett could certainly look forward to a race with slightly less pressure on the Honda man, after sealing up the 2013 Championship on Saturday, but no doubt would still want to beat the likes of Owain Drought and Zeljko Mijatovic in the final race of the season. Mark Keane would unfortunately not make it to the grid in the Race2Race Integra, suffering mechanical woes in the pit lane on the way to his out lap, while Ian Radford certainly had an eventful out lap, perhaps getting closer to the spectators than he'd have liked in the JOMO run Honda. A very quick start from Tipperary man Drought saw him come from the back of the grid to fight for first place into turn one closely followed by Fawcett and Mijatovic. Keith Rabbitt was certainly out to impress in the 1600cc Deliverit.ie Honda, somehow managing to stick with Jason Hughes to give a great battle to watch mid pack. Radford, perhaps having suffered some underlying damage in his early incident, looked like he was struggling to stay with the rest of the grid, while once again, 2013 Stockhatch Champion Andrew Twomey could cruise to another victory in the Citroen Saxo. Drought extended a comfortable lead out front, and looked very comfortable bringing the Integra across the finish line in First place, while Fawcett and Mijatovic had some great racing, with the 2013 Production Class Champion bringing the car home in second place, with the Tuning Factory Integra of Mijatovic a very close third.

2013 Touring Class Champion Erik Holstein has to be happy with his performances this season, while Production Class Champion Norman Fawcett will look back on a toughly fought battle for the title for years to come with some pride! We'd also like to thank all the crew at Mondello Park for, especially the Marshalls who do a very valuable job, and without them we would have no racing!