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http://blog.askracing.com/?p=326
Having shaken down the newly rebuilt engine of my ASK Davrian Imp saloon at Classic Car Live (and enjoyed a great battle with Paul Gray’s 911 in the process!), it was bundled into one of ASK Racing’s trucks headed for the Anglesey circuit in North Wales. Whilst I love the track and the Imp is always fun to drive, I suppose I didn’t really fancy my overall chances against some of the quicker machines on the entry list. Col Rooney had also persuaded some of the UK Imp racers to come along and join in the fun so I was looking forward to seeing how we compared to them though. I know the track pretty well so didn’t bother with testing. In qualifying, I was delighted to be able to run with Clive Brandon’s Lotus 47 and Billy Crosbie’s Lotus 7 Series IV. I managed to get by Clive and was happy with the way the car was going. We still had a slight brake issue but the new engine, built by Dan Rooney, seemed to be an absolute screamer, pulling almost 9k in 5th on the way to Rocket hairpin. I was delighted when the times came out and I was third overall, well ahead of the other Imps and right up with the big boys. Gave the car a quick polish and off to the assembly area for race one. Unfortunately, the clutch slip off the line, which we had suffered from before reared its ugly head once more, meaning I was sixth into turn one as the pack headed away. Once up and running though, the car was flying and I quickly made up the places. John Cardoo, as ever, was flying in his immaculate Mini but luckily for me, was geared a bit short for the long back straight, making him a sitting duck on the run to Rocket, whereas most of the rest fell to the superior braking of the lightweight Imp. Clive Brandon was at this stage out in front having misjudged the start slightly. ( I say slightly but the 5 second board has since been renamed the “Clive second board!”) But with Imp screaming its head off I began to haul him in. Within a couple of laps, I was on his tail and the fun began! For about five laps we battled, side by side. On a number of occasions I got the nose ahead but the superior power of the twin cam Lotus outdragged me on the following straight, especially on the last hairpin (we were running the full circuit). On the run to the last corner, Clive defended and I got ahead again coming out of the hairpin. Clive again drove by on the following straight but later this time. As we approached the last corner, we both went in late and the back end of the Lotus got out of shape. Clive nearly hung onto it but eventually it went around, I turned across the back of him and took the flag. I couldn’t believe it; I always wanted to win an HRCA race outright in the Imp but knew it would have to be a special set of circumstances for it to happen as there are a lot of really quick machines out there, and the guys who drive them are not as relaxed on track as one might imagine! Needless to say, the celebrations in the ASK pit and then the circuit bar went on until the early hours and it is fair to say fun was had by all! Dan Rooney was also there and I think after the way his engine performed, he might have a few enquiries from UK based customers shortly! (The only thing better than Dan’s engines are his stories- the man is a legend.) Team boss Alan Kessie took two further wins making it a great weekend for the team & the best race weekend I have had in a while. Thanks to everyone from ASK Racing and of course Dan for the screaming engine! Unfortuantely Col Rooney had a terrible weekend in the Imp previously raced so sucessfully in Ireland by his father . He was beset with clutch problems but hopes he has now sorted this and plans to join the HRCA grid again at the Leinster trophy round in September. The steel bodied 998cc Imps which guested in Anglesey may also make a trip across the water. As all but the quickest Midget drivers can testify, these Imps are not slow!
Ginetta Juniors also made the trip to Wales and despite the fact that the grids
Jake Byrne took a win in Anglesey and is now joint series leader.
have not really grown, provided some great racing in their three races. Andy O’Brien qualified on pole and led away but a kamakazi manoevre at Rocket by Andrew Watson, coming from fourth(!), caused chaos with Jake Byrne and O’Brien contacting heavily- poleman O’Brien retiring on the spot. This left Sean Doyle leading with Byrne’s battle scarred machine recovering to second. Watson crossed the line third but unsurprisingly was removed from the revised result sheet due to his part in the early race shunt! In their wake, Andrew Clark’s L’Ecrivain car was involved an a terrific scrap with the vastly improved Megan Kessie’s Elf example, with Clarke just hanging on for a podium and Megan claiming a career best of fourth. Jake Byrne has fastest lap in race one and this put him on pole for race two. He drove a textbook race to take an challenged win with teammate Sean Doyle never too far away. In their wake, O’Brien and Watson had charged up through the grid to third and fourth respectively but when O’Brien challenged Doyle for second on the last lap, Watson pounced and stole the final podium position! O’Brien made up for a disappointing weekend with an impressive win in race three with Watson coming out tops in a great scrap with Doyle and Byrne for runner up spot. This class really needs a few more entries and having spoken to some of the parents, they are apparently quite a bit cheaper than karts to run. There are also a few cars available ready to go and I believe there are deals to be had!
I was in Donington a week later to see the Irish Vees in action and unsurprisingly, they didn’t disappoint! Thanks to Ian Sowman and Vee co-ordinator Trevor Gray, I was drafted in to help with the commentary and so had the best seat in the house! Having caught up on Saturday’s action where Moore led but in his own words “fell asleep” and was passed by O’Hara in the latter stages, I knew the Sunday race would be a cracker. Moore led away from pole and immediately established a strong lead as fellow front row occupant O’Hara came under attack from the pack. He managed to fight them off however, and began to close Moore down. By mid race O’Hara, recently announced as a nominee for the Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year award, had taken the lead from the reigning champion and eked out a small gap. Newcomer Ian Campbell was on a mighty charge though, displacing Moore and closing down the leader before snatching the lead with an aggressive move round the outside into Redgate. O’Hara fought back and retook the place but Moore then ousted them both in what was becoming a cracker of a race! On the last lap, O’Hara was closing on Moore and bringing series leader Lee Newsome with him. O’Hara’s black Leastone appeared perfectly placed to gain a tow from the leader as the trio approached Coppice for the last time. They encountered a backmarker though, which bunched them up. This meant O’Hara’s plan was scuppered as they came onto the back straight. Newsome though, got a good run and with a beautifully timed tow, he passed O’Hara and was almost alongside Moore as they approached the braking area for the chicane. Moore, unsurprisingly though, had it all under control to cross the line ahead with newsome pipping O’Hara for second. A back on form Dan Polley was fourth with fastest lap and looked capable of challenging the leaders had he not been delayed by the spinning Campbell mid race. Campbell recovered to fifth though and really marked himself out as one to watch in what is his debut season remember. As ever, when the Vees go on tour, there were plenty of stories from the Saturday night spent at the circuit. With the Redgate pub recently demolished for some reason, out heros spent much of the evening in the smaller paddock bar. The unfortunate girl who was left in charge was unsure how to change a keg so a delegation of vee drivers stepped in to help…. having assured the poor girl that she might get electrocuted if she tried to change the keg, they changed it for her, also helpfully telling her that the first ten to fifteen pints were slop and could not be sold! At some stage during the evening Cregor exited the bar to nip back to the paddock to collect something. It is a bit of a walk so one of the drivers offered him a load of “his” bike. Cregor duly mounted the BMX and pedalled off up the paddock, wherepon the bikes real owner appeared out of the bar looking for his mount….
Barry-John McHenry on his way to an Abarth Double at Mondello. Rumour has it the celebrations are still going on...
Back at Mondello, which unfortunately clashed with Anglesey, Barry-John McHenry scored his debut Abarth win from pole and followed it up with another one later the same afternoon. There are few bigger race fans in the paddock than Barry-John and I would have loved to been there to shake his hand afterwards but hopefully there will be a few more before the end of the season! Barry Hallion and Gary Cunningham shared the spoils in Punto 1400s, but not before they had fought off the attentions of impressive UK visitor Mark Snelling in his unusual Uno powered Punto! In their wake, young Coilin Clinton added to his unbeaten Uno tally despite the appearance of a few competitors this time round! As in 2010, the Fiat Motorsport Club have begun a big push to attract a large grid for the Leinster Trophy meeting in September. They will be joined by the visiting UK Fiats for this one and there is also talk of inviting a few Cento Challenge competitors too, should there be room on the grid!
Martin Treacy was again unchallenged in ITCC despite the best efforts of the impressive Phil Brennan and Gareth Hayden. Seems a shame that none of the potential rivals to the immaculate Westward RS500 have materialised thus far this season. No sign of Tomás O’Rourke, Johnny Whelan, Brian Sexton, Ciaran Timmons, Philip Burdock or Barry Rabbitt at the last round making the Super Touring class look very weak. The action in the Touring class though, remains as close as ever, with the battling Integras of Rob Savage, Stormin’ Norman Fawcett and Eric Carroll never giving an inch as they vie for the class win.
Rob Barrable pushing hard as he charges towards a top ten finish in Ypres.
Motorsport Ireland’s Young Rally Driver of the Year Rob Barrable continues to impress in his Skoda S2000 with a string of impressive results. He travelled to Belgium last month to compete in the GEKO Ypres Rally, his first time competing on an IRC round. Rob wasn’t fazed by the big names and was 8th and 5th on the first two stages causing a major stir amongst the works teams. Unfortunately an off on the third stage lost him a lot of time and he dropped to 24th. An incredible fightback brought the Skoda Ireland supported crew up to 10th by the finish which netted them an IRC point for Skoda! Unsurprisingly, this has put Rob on the IRC map for some of the works teams and he has already been contacted by Skoda Motorsport about competing in two more IRC rounds, possibly with the car in works colours. As ever, Rob seems remarkable calm about proceedings even though he may well be on the cusp of an international career! He returned to Irish stages last weekend to win the Sligo Stages rally, defeating some of the top WRC cars in the process and he is one of the favourites for the ALMC rally this coming weekend too!
Mondello’s next meeting is July the 24th and should be a great day out with seven different classes racing on the same day and most championships beginning to get interesting too. A week later Adare hosts the first Irish festival of Speed which looks like a great event. Celebrating the 75th aniversary of The 1936 Limerick grand Prix, the main event will be a sprint around the grounds of Adare Manor but there will also be displays of almost every type of car and bike, an Aerobatic display, a Concours D’elegance and much much more. Full details are available on www.irishfestivalofspeed.com
See you there!
Leo
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