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Mondello Park
April 12th
Historic Class Race Two
By Gary Fox
Jackie Cochrane made it three wins from four starts this season with another commanding performance in the Historic class at Mondello. Cochrane started alone on the front of the grid after the retirement of Alan Kessie following a gearbox failure in his Gryphon during the first race of the day.Vinny O’Reilly managed to make it back on the track for race two after carrying out emergency running repairs to his Austin Healy after a collision with a Mini at the end of race one.
David Kelly in the Lotus Elan and Simon Doyle in the TVR Tuscan made up the second row of the grid.O’Reilly showed no ill effects of the collision when a daring run into turn one resulted in him jumping up a number of places to fourth spot Kelly from Greystones in Wicklow signalled his intentions early when he made an early break for top spot, trying first to find space on the inside before darting to the outside of Cochrane’s Tiger but massive acceleration from the 4700c engine wouldn’t yield to the 2000cc Elan There was early drama when a red flag on lap four meant the race was briefly suspended.
A track inspection carried out by the Mondello track team, found an oil spill on turn three. Fortunately the spill was off the racing line and some quick work by the track team allowed the race to get underway after a short break. As drivers assembled back on the grid to await further instructions, a decision was reached to re-start the race with original grid positions This meant track officials had to work frantically to shuffle the cars back into the original starting positions but Vinny O’Reilly and Clive Brandon suffered the loss of a number of places as they had made huge inroads up the race field before the red flag. The delayed 18 minute race got back underway with 14 minutes still left on the clock.
David Kelly and Simon Doyle got a second chance to rein in the rampant Cochrane in the Tiger but Cochrane slammed the door shut on Kelly as he darted up the inside as yet again the Tiger had too much pace for the chasing pack. It was a case of history repeating itself, as Cochrane’s unrelenting dominance showed no signs of abating even after the disruption of the delay and his luck continued when Doyle’s TVR Tuscan only lasted half a lap of the restart and he was forced to retire early. Pamela Cochrane was also an early casualty after the restart and she parked her MGB in the grass halfway down the main straight. Doyle’s retirement left Edmund Cassidy and Vinny O’Reilly to battle it out for third spot. Mark Byrne sought to make it a three way race, pushing his Austin Mini to its maximum but he was unable to reel in the pair.
The delay had little visible effect on Cochrane in the Tiger and he began opening up a large gap from the pursuing Kelly in second, taking the opportunity to extend his lead to a massive ten seconds by lap five. Further down the field, Kevin Flanagan in the Mini and Richie O’Mahony in the bright purple Porsche enjoyed a private battle for eight spot. Superb driving from Flanagan in the Mini briefly managed to hold off the Porsche before eventually ceding to the much quicker car. With Cochrane’s win now a formality, focus switched to the emerging battle for third spot. The vast power of Edmund Cassidy’s Tiger Sunbeam was put to the test by the brave driving of Vinny O’Reilly in the Austin Healy. O’Reilly used every inch of the Mondello circuit to twice outmuscle Cassidy, on lap 10 and 11.The ensuing duel saw spectators captivated as O’Reilly snatched third spot after what can only be described as a complete display of driving skill by the man in the Austin Healy.
Despite directly competing against the 4900cc of the Tiger Sunbeam, he managed to manoeuvre his 1430cc Healy into third spot. The defining move of the race came when O’Reilly, who had lost position to the Tiger three times on the main straight, dived into the Dunlop turn for the last time. As both cars lined up side by side for the last time, O’Reilly held his nerve and position in the dash for the line to take the chequered flag for third spot. Overall classifications saw Jackie Cochrane take the win in Group A, with Vinny O’Reilly taking top spot in Group B with Nino Forte victorious in Group C .and David Moloney was victorious in Group D next race for the hrca will been in Mondello on the 9th May 2009
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