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Round 7 & 8 – 2010

TRACEY FINISHES IN STYLE; MAHER IS ROOKIE CHAMPION

Words: Stephen Errity

Images: Ed Fahey

Martin Tracey had another perfect day at the final two rounds of the 2010 Irish Touring Car Championship. As well as being crowned the series’ inaugural champion, the Westward Engineering man won both of the day’s races and also won the Leinster Motor Club’s prestigious and historic Dunboyne Cup in the second race. In the rookie cup, Stephen Maher capped off a great first season of racing with a double victory and championship honours in the Rookie Cup.

QUALIFYING

A shortened qualifying session saw many drivers only complete one flying lap on an International track that was still damp in parts from overnight rainfall. Brian Sexton set what was by far the session’s quickest time on his third flying lap, a 1:52.404, but unfortunately he came to a halt on the main straight shortly afterwards with suspected crank failure. Martin Tracey would therefore take effective pole position for the first race of the day after clocking a time of almost 1:53 dead. Former Dunlop Supercar champion Johnny Whelan was making his second appearance in the ITCC this year in his distinctive Bikez.ie-sponsored Peugeot 306, and lined up third. Barry Rabbitt was complaining of serious handling problems in the Tuning Factory Integra that prevented him from challenging for pole, while behind him, Philip Burdock did better than he expected on old tyres to take fifth place ahead of Honda Integra pilots Jonathan Brady and Tom Fahy. Thomas O’Rourke had just finished rebuilding the engine of his Opel Astra the previous night and was running his first-ever laps on Mondello’s International layout, having last raced here before the extension was built! David Walsh had run road tyres on his Nissan Silvia last time out, but was now sporting new rims and slicks that helped him to a top 10 grid position. Donal Arundel rounded out the top 10 in his Mazda MX-6, but was lamenting his lack of testing time on the International layout. Stephen Maher went slightly slower than expected in his M3-engined BMW Compact, just behind Keith Campbell in the VTEC-powered VW Corrado, but one driver who exceeded expectations was rookie Gareth Hayden, who was an impressive 13th overall in his near-standard Honda Integra. James Mannion was another driver lapping the International track for the first time in this qualifying session, taking 15th on the grid just behind Danny Calnan. Paul Cinelli managed to get one hot lap in before suffering brake failure, while Phil Brennan was also sidelined with mechanical problems when his Rover 25′s driveshaft gave up the ghost towards the end of the session. Fran Kearns lined up just ahead of Dave Clarke, another driver getting accustomed to the International layout. James Collen’s Peugeot 306 was sandwiched by brothers Phil and Mark Lawless in their pair of Honda Preludes, while 23rd-place qualifier Fergal Bowes put his lack of pace down to old tyres. Paul Fitzpatrick qualified 24th in his second outing in the ex-Ian Beatty Opel Corsa, while race debutant Liam Moran headed Paul O’Brien, who lost time due to misreading gauges and would have to start from the pitlane; another new racer Jonathan Flynn in his Toyota Altezza; and Anthony Murtagh, who was unable to complete an flying lap to to his VW Corrado overheating. Keith Rabbitt started qualifying, but his day was soon over when his MINI’s driveshaft broke

Starting Grid

1 Brian Sexton // JOMO Eng Mitsubishi Lancer Evo // 1:52.404

2 Martin Tracey // Westward Eng Ford Sierra Cosworth // 1:53.002

3 John Whelan // Bikez.ie Peugeot 306 // 1:55.057

4 Barry Rabbitt // Tuning Factory Honda Integra // 1:55.261

5 Philip Burdock // B-Racing Honda Civic // 1:55.458

6 Jonathan Brady // Tuning Factory Honda Integra // 1:58.132

7 Tom Fahy // Fahy’s Garage Honda Integra // 1:58.904

8 Thomas O’Rourke // Ferrybank Motors Opel Astra // 1:58.918

9 David Walsh // Nissan Silvia // 1:59.695

10 Donal Arundel // Mazda MX-6 // 1:59.726

11 Keith Campbell // Campbell Engineering VW Corrado // 1:59.849

12 Stephen Maher// S. Maher Construction BMW 3-Series // 2:01.022

13 Gareth Hayden // Sportchip Honda Integra // 2:01.035

14 Danny Calnan // Scanners.ie Honda Civic // 2:03.251

15 James Mannion // Cutting Edge Tiles Honda Integra // 2:03.696

16 Paul Cinelli // Honda Civic // 2:04.035

17 Phil Brennan // Octane.ie Rover 25 // 2:04.106

18 Fran Kearns // Honda Civic // 2:04.352

19 Dave Clarke // VW Golf // 2:04.431

20 Phil Lawless // Honda Prelude // 2:06.429

21 James Collen // Collen Crash Repairs Peugeot 306 // 2:07.850

22 Mark Lawless // Honda Prelude // 2:07.956

23 Fergal Bowes // Peugeot 306 // 2:08.760

24 Paul Fitzpatrick // Opel Corsa // 2:11.083

25 Liam Moran // JOMO Eng Fiat Coupé // 2:14.424

26 Paul O’Brien // Regency Windows VW Scirocco // 2:14.964

27 Jonathan Flynn // JOMO Eng Toyota Altezza // 2:22.815

RACE ONE

Johnny Whelan in third and Thomas O’Rourke in eighth both got cracking starts in the day’s first race, and O’Rourke immediately set about pressuring Barry Rabbitt for third place early on. Up ahead, Martin Tracey was in his familiar leading position, but he had company in the shape of Whelan’s bright yellow Peugeot, which was able to close up rapidly on the black Sierra in the heavy braking zones. Philip Burdock passed Jonathan Brady (who would later retire with engine trouble) in the early stages of the race, and was soon on O’Rourke’s bumper, pressuring the Wexford man for fourth place, which he claimed before long. Behind them, a close midfield pack had formed, consisting of eventual Rookie class winner Stephen Maher, Donal Arundel, David Walsh and Keith Campbell, with Arundel and Walsh in particular having a great dice right to the end. Fran Kearns decided retirement was preferable to carrying on when his Civic started blowing oil smoke, and James Collen also retired shortly afterwards with stuck brakes on his 306. Up front, Whelan continued to harry Tracey and Burdock was now right with Rabbitt, making for two very close, clean and entertaining battles. Rabbitt was struggling with an ill-handling Integra due to a damaged front diff, and Burdock eventually made his way past, leaving Rabbitt to deal with pressure from O’Rourke. Brake failure then put an end to Whelan’s charge, putting him in the gravel at turn three, while O’Rourke finally managed to make a move stick on Barry Rabbitt, putting him into third overall following Whelan’s retirement.

Gareth Hayden put in a stellar performance to take eighth overall and second in the Rookie placings in his Sportchip-prepared Honda Integra SiR. James Mannion was third of the Rookies in another Integra, while Danny Calnan was left wondering what might have been after it took him several laps to get past Paul Cinelli, back after an absence of a few rounds in his yellow Tuning Factory-built Civic. Cinelli headed home Dave Clarke, who was passed by fellow VW driver Paul O’Brien early in the race but later repassed him when the Scirocco hit trouble, relegating O’Brien to the back of the pack. Fergal Bowes overhauled Mark Lawless’ Prelude to take 15th overall and the race’s hard charger award, just behind Mark’s brother Phil in another Prelude. Jonathan Flynn was pleased to finish his first-ever race after a worrying rattle meant he held back in qualifying, while Paul Fitzpatrick came home just ahead of him in 17th. Tom Fahy was probably the most significant retirement of the first race, hitting the bank after a controversial coming-together with Rookie Cup championship rival Stephen Maher. Further back, first-time racer Liam Moran had been having a consistent run in his unusual yellow Fiat Coupé before suffering a puncture, and Anthony Murtagh came off worst in a close battle with Jonathan Flynn, ending up in the gravel at turn three.

Race One Result

1 Martin Tracey

2 Philip Burdock

3 Thomas O’Rourke

4 Barry Rabbitt

5 Stephen Maher [R]

6 Donal Arundel

7 David Walsh

8 Gareth Hayden [R]

9 Keith Campbell

10 James Mannion [R]

11 Danny Calnan

12 Paul Cinelli [R]

13 David Clarke [R]

14 Phil Lawless

15 Fergal Bowes

16 Mark Lawless

17 Paul Fitzpatrick [R]

18 Jonathan Flynn [R]

19 Paul O’Brien [R]

[R] = Rookie Cup driver

RACE TWO

Barry Rabbitt made a great start to race two, getting ahead of Johnny Whelan, but with his Integra still not handling to his liking, it was only a matter of time before the former Dunlop Supercar champion slipped back into second and set about chasing down early leader and polesitter Martin Tracey. O’Rourke then got past Rabbitt, leaving him to scrap it out with Philip Burdock once again as he had done in the first race. But the Tuning Factory Integra didn’t finish this time around, pulling up at Birrane’s bends with a broken oil pipe. Earlier, James Mannion had been the race’s first retirement when a stone holed his oil cooler. Fergal Bowes then found the gravel at Dunlop, but managed to extricate himself and continue. Keith Campbell’s race was compromised when he had to pit briefly due to a loose relay, while Liam Moran demonstrated his lack of rear-end grip with a spin at Paddock corner. James Collen’s unlucky day continued as he was forced to pull up with gearbox failure, but Burdock was having a better time of it as he found a way past O’Rourke. The Astra and Civic stayed nose-to-tail for the remainder of the race, and O’Rourke managed to snatch back the final podium place on the last lap.

The rate of attrition due to mechanical problems was high in this race: David Walsh retired with a blown clutch, the CV joint on Dave Clarke’s Golf cried enough before the 15 minutes were up and Paul O’Brien’s Scirocco suffered driveshaft failure. In the closing laps, the Tracey/Whelan battle reached fever pitch, as Whelan squeezed past Tracey under braking into Dunlop corner. Tracey overhauled him on the pit straight, but Whelan then left his braking a fraction too late for Honda and skirted the gravel, giving Tracey some breathing room. It still wasn’t over, however, as Whelan almost managed to pass again as the duo made their way through the backmarkers. Further back in the top 10, Stephen Maher and Donal Arundel picked up where they left off in the first race and Gareth Hayden battled hard with O’Brien and Danny Calnan to take another strong top 10 finish and another second place in the Rookie classification. Eight place, and third in the Rookies, went to Phil Brennan, who was delighted to take his first ITCC podium and trophy after he and his mechanics spent the morning replacing the Rover 25′s driveshaft. In the race, Brennan had ensured his podium place with a spectacular pass on both Paul Cinelli and Phil Lawless, who battled robustly for the last place in the overall top 10. Anthony Murtagh nursed an overheating car home in 14th place, just ahead of a solid Fergal Bowes and racing newcomer Jonathan Flynn,who made it two finishes out of two on his first weekend. Paul Fitzpatrick also recorded a double finish, while race-one retiree Liam Moran recovered from his earlier spin and came home 18th.

Race Two Result

1 Martin Tracey

2 John Whelan

3 Thomas O’Rourke

4 Philip Burdock

5 Stephen Maher [R]

6 Donal Arundel

7 Gareth Hayden [R]

8 Danny Calnan

9 Phil Brennan [R]

10 Paul Cinelli [R]

11 Phil Lawless