Mondello Park (12th April)
Historic's Race 1:
Jackie Cochrane established that he is the driver to beat in this year’s Historic class with another flawless performance to record his second victory of the season. Clear blue skies and warm spring sunshine greeted race fans who arrived early at Mondello Park on Easter Sunday for the first race in the Historic class. A wide variety of cars lined up for this the second day of the season with the invitational Minis ensuring a large grid of 21 cars lined up on circuit. The Mondello circuit was in pristine condition for the Bank Holiday weekend meeting organised by the Leinster Motor Club. Due to their invitational status, the Mini class were not competing for Championship points and started at the back of the grid. A number of Minis ran on slicks which ensured some extremely quick times and competitive racing. Cochrane in the Tiger Sunbeam was again the man to catch in qualifying and he took pole position followed by Alan Kessie in the Gryphon with David Kelly in the Elan back in third. Stephen Doyle who produced an outstanding performance to record an unlikely but well deserved race victory on the opening day of the season was absent from the Mondello circuit but is expected back for the next date on the racing calendar. Cochrane started on pole but saw his lead snatched by the determined Kessie who blazed off the grid and led down into turn one. The Gryphon opened up a marginal lead after one lap, allowing him to remain out of the reach of the incredibly quick Sunbeam. Pamela Cochrane and Clive Brandon duelled in the opening laps, but Cochrane held off the emerging threat from the Lotus Europa. The sheer pace of the Tiger proved too much for Kessie on lap three as he was unable to hold off the raw power of 4700cc Tiger compared to his 1700cc Gryphon. The straight line speed advantage of the Tiger allowed Cochrane to blitz down the long main straight and reclaim the lead. Despite the difference in engine size, Kessie, with a deft display of driving skill, remained in touch with Cochrane, pushing the Tiger to its maximum. The fight with Kessie almost saw Cochrane break through the magic minute lap time in Mondello, running just 0.86 over the minute. The frantic pace of the leading pair meant they began encountering traffic as early as the fifth lap with the battle for top spot becoming more intense. David Kelly in the Lotus Elan was unable to stay with the Kessie and Cochrane battle and he slipped back to 11 seconds off the pace by lap five. At the halfway point, Kessie continued to make life extremely difficult for Cochrane and just when it appeared that the pressure was becoming too much for the leader, disaster struck for the Gryphon with Kessie forced to retire with a broken gearbox. David Kelly was 17 seconds down on the Tiger by this stage and was unable to bridge the yearning gap and provide any challenge to Cochrane as he romped to victory unchallenged with his characteristic headlights blazing through the warm haze created by the searing sunshine at the Kildare circuit. Back down the field, the race for third spot was developing into a titanic battle between Simon Doyle’s TVR Tuscan and Clive Brandon. Doyle’s race was to come to a premature end however, when he came to an abrupt halt on lap 11 with a visit to the gravel trap at Honda corner
The Mini of Albert O’Donnell and Viny O’Reilly in the Austin Healy both went into the gravel at Dunlop corner, narrowly avoiding major impact. Earlier in the race, O’Donnell had been setting the pace for the Mini group but collected O’Reilly on his way off the track as he just pushed marginally too hard in his attempt to edge out O’Reilly. In the end it was once again Jackie Cochrane from Armagh taking overall race victory and the honours in Class One with David Kelly in second spot in race classification. Clive Brandon in the Lotus Europa enjoyed victory in Class Two. Back in Class Three, Niño Forte took the honours. With Class Four going to David Moloney.
Historic's Race 2:
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 Vincent 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 Viny 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 Viny 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 Class 1, with Viny O’Reilly taking top spot in Class 2 with Nino Forte victorious in Class 3.and David Moloney was victorious in class 4 next race for the hrca will been in Mondello on the 9th May 2009.
Uno's:
Robbie Redmond added his name to the list of potential Uno Championship contenders with a terrific win at Mondello on Easter Sunday. Chris Lenehan from Kilcullen went quickest in morning qualifying to claim pole for this, the second race of the 2009 season. The 1300cc Uno’s provided some thrilling racing with 12 cars lining up on the grid, a bumper grid for the class. Robbie Redmond from Celbridge and Chris Lenehan set the early pace and by lap two held a commanding lead from the chasing pack. Honda corner was to prove to be the biggest challenge to the Uno drivers and a chain of events which begun with Paul Thornton sliding into the gravel on lap three led to the introduction of the safety car. Following Thornton’s meeting with the gravel, Sabrina O’Reilly stalled at the apex of the turn, leaving the Uno stranded on the racing line leaving race officials with little choice but to deploy the safety car. Mark Twomey nearly joined O’Reilly and Thornton in the Honda corner graveyard but he managed to keep going after a brief flirtation with the gravel trap. Both Uno’s had to be removed ensuring the safety car remained out for a number of laps which bunched up the field, removing any advantage built up by the early pace setters. Three laps after it emerged on track the safety car retreated back to pit lane and racing resumed after the prolonged delay. The irresistible attraction of Honda corner to the Uno class continued when it welcomed its third Uno of the day when Colin Clinton ended his race there on lap 11Derek O’Sullivan was involved in a number of contentious incidents during the race, including a heavy collision with Mark Twomey as they emerged from Dunlop corner on the very last lap. Twomey struggled back onto the track but came agonisingly close to a finish line, stopping short with the line in sight, a little over 30 yards away. O’Sullivan was later excluded from the race after overtaking under the safety car period. By the conclusion of the race, turn one was littered with the wreckage of three Unos who lay testament to the frantic and competitive standard of racing on display today. Following an extended clash with Lenehan, Robbie Redmond took the win from Val Thompson in second spot.
Story: Gary Fox
Photo: Terry Holmes
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