Kirkistown Circuit – Rounds 7 & 8 Reports

Stormin Norman and a fistful of trophies.

Word: Paul Healy

Pics: Paddy McGrath

Despite an ungodly early start, a sat nav that had a worse sense of direction than I do and a co-pilot fresh out of hospital I managed to check into the ‘Fastest circuit in Ireland’ with plenty of time to spare before early morning qualifying. With testing taking place on Friday many drivers had elected to camp over at Kirkistown resulting in a few sore heads emerging from the back of vans, trucks and tents – helped in no way by an on site bar. Despite the late night revelries there was still lots of work to be down before the first session with youngster, Cian Carey, busy replacing a broken flywheel on his Honda Civic and Brian Sextons ‘Nonda’ receiving some last minute treatment from the JOMO team before heading off for its first meeting with the scrutineers before the Pete’s Mobile Mechanics seventh and eighth rounds of ITCC.

This was not only mine but also many of the drivers first visit to the Ards Peninsula and before the trip most of the talk had been about one corner – the infamous Debtors. On circuit maps this corner looks deceptively easy and even during a pre race recce run it did not look that daunting but these thoughts quickly vanished once the cars took to the track. The corner requires a well sorted car and a driver with cajones the size of grapefruits if it is going to be attacked at full gusto. With this in mind it came as no surprise to see Martin Tracey topping the timing sheets with a 1:03.451.  With Brian Moore’s Impreza suffering problems in the paddock Phil Brennan was Tracey’s main challenger in Super Touring – who despite finishing 1.747 seconds behind Tracey would line up alongside him on the grid. Brain Sexton was taking things easy for the first few laps in his K20 powered Nissan Pulsar but when he did begin to open up the taps he popped in a time of 1:08.370 as was all set for more until a catastrophic failure of a spherical joint brought his session to an end.

Keith Rabbitt was the fastest of the Touring class drivers with a time of 1:07.932. However as this time broke the barrier time for the class meaning his second fastest time would be the one to count. As too did Norman Fawcett which meant that the impressive EG Civic of Fran Kearns would line up in pole position. Beside him was ‘Mr. Consistent’  Robbie Savage with Eric Carroll gaining an early advantage over the ever young Danny Calnan, who had a disappointing run but still managed to bring his Civic home ahead of Cian Carey and the Porsche 944 of Michael Larkin.

The long break between sessions gave the JOMO team time to fix Sexton’s car but only after managing to source a replacement from Formula Vee competitor, Paul Heavey. Even with the break work was only finished on the car with seconds to spare but not quick enough for Sexton to take his position on the grid, instead starting from the pit lane.

When the lights went out it was a straight fight between Tracey and Brennan to see who could get into Debtors first and the power of the Cosworth was enough to see the Enfield man claim the position and romp off into the distance. Once he opened up a decent enough lead Tracey backed off, to the speed of a leisurely Sunday drive to take and easy race win. Once clear of the field Brennan did similar only putting on a spurt towards the end when he opened up the BMW hoping to catch the Sierra.

While the Super Touring may have been a walk in the park the Touring class was anything but. Time after time spectators were greeted with the sight of cars running three a breast on the run down to Debtors with many competitors from the other series’ vying for position on the pit wall for the optimum view. Off the line pole sitter Kearns got a poor start and found himself with the choice of grass or back off heading into Debtors. He wisely chose the latter, which dropped him down to sixth. Keith Rabbitt was the braver man into the fast left kink and managed to pass Savage as he had the better line for the corner. Fawcett was crawling all over the back of Savage’s car as they went through Colonial and Fisherman’s, finally managing to pass him after getting a better run out of the chicane before setting off in pursuit of Rabbitt who had already opened up a sizeable gap. A great drive out of the hairpin saw the two drivers side by side on the entry to Debtors but again Rabbitt was the braver man and refused to yield to Fawcett forcing him to back off.

Having started from the pits Brian Sexton was beginning to close the gap between himself and Carey and Larkin. He had picked up the pace after a cautious first lap but on the exit of Colonial the problem that had afflicted him during qualifying hit again meaning he would spend the rest of the day as an interested spectator.

The battle ensuing between Rabbitt and Fawcett allowed ‘Savo’ Savage to close up on them making for a three way Integra battle. An enthralling fight between the three took place for a few laps until Fawcett got the better run out of the hairpin and was able to pass Rabbitt well in advance of Debtors. Once clear Fawcett opened up a sizeable lead and the way that Savage was hassling Rabbitt it became evident that the Meath man had been holding up those behind him. Eventually Savage made the advantage he had tell with a move out of the top hairpin but he was caught out by backmarkers on the run down to Colonial. This gave Rabbitt the position back but it meant he had to carry more speed through the corner than he would have ordinarily – speed that would see him take to the grass at Fisherman’s, dropping him to third last – just ahead of Carey and Larkin.

Free from battling with Rabbitt, Savage set off in pursuit of Fawcett but he soon had the fast recovering Fran Kearns for company. The baby blue Civic was supremely planted all over the track and appeared to be able to take Debtors and the chicane faster than any car. Fawcett’s Integra seemed to have a power advantage over that of Savage’s with ‘Savo’s car better through the corners. All the while Kearns was chipping away at the gap and when Savage lost it at Fisherman’s, having passed Fawcett through Debtors, Kearns was there to wrap up a great recovery by taking second place. Savage managed to make it back on track to claim third ahead of the hard battling Calnan and Carroll who had fought their own personal battle throughout the race.

The enthralling battles between the Touring class drivers did have a downside however with all but Rabbitt, Carey and Larkin smashing the barrier time between the classes meaning they would be bumped up to Super Touring. However not wanting to destroy what has been the most exciting racing class in years the organisers sought to rectify this. After consultation with Motor Sport Ireland the option of disregarding the barrier time and declaring round 7 as a non points scoring race was put to the competitors who wholeheartedly took the opportunity to continue racing in the Touring class. The abolition of the barrier time would mean that the grid for the second race would be set by the morning qualifying session. Without the barrier time Rabbitt and Fawcett would take to the grid positions determined by their fastest laps.

Despite getting his car running Brian Moore could not complete the required three lap recce run and so loaded his Subaru Impreza onto the trailer for the long drive home. This left Tracey and Brennan as the sole Super Touring competitors and again it was Tracey who got the better start and the two drivers settled into similar drives as in the first race. Having never secured a podium position Brennan would be leaving Kirkistown with two trophies to show for his day’s efforts.

In the Touring class Fawcett got the best start off the line, jumping Rabbitt and opening up the kind of lead over Savage that Tracey had over Brennan. With his tyres shot and brakes worn down to the metal Rabbitt could do little about Kearns who passed him out of the hairpin. Again the Honda of Kearns made short work of closing down the gap to Savage and soon the Meath man had a mirror full of baby blue Civic. Lap after lap the two drivers duked it out with both cars having their advantages at different points on the circuit. Eventually a move down the inside into the hairpin saw Kearns take the position and freed from the battle he began to open up a gap over Savage and set off in pursuit of Fawcett.

The troubles Rabbitt was experiencing with his car really showed up his race craft as with minimal grip and zero braking power he did a great job of holding off constant attacks from both Calnan and Carroll. At times his Integra appeared to be twice as wide as it actually was as he covered the defensive lines when needed and try as they might the battling duo could just not find a way past. That was until Rabbitt went wide on the entry to the hairpin, which allowed Calnan and Carroll through to continue their battle uninterrupted. In the end Rabbitt just nursed his car home to the chequered flag, being passed in the dying stages by Tracey. With the grit between his teeth Kearns was chipping away at the lead of Fawcett and with a few more laps he may have caught the Leixlip native but in the end ‘Stormin’ held on to take the chequered flag and his second victory of the day.

Results Round 7:

Supertouring -

1. Martin Tracey (Ford Sierra Cosworth)

2. Phil Brennan (BMW M3)

3. Norman Fawcett (Honda Integra)*

Touring -

1. Norman Fawcett (Honda Integra)

2. Fran Kearns (Honda Civic)

3. Robbie Savage (Honda Integra)

Rookie Award – Cian Carey (Honda Civic)

Round 8:

Supertouring -

1. Martin Tracey (Ford Sierra Cosworth)

2. Phil Brennan (BMW M3)

3. Norman Fawcett (Honda Integra)*

Touring -

1. Norman Fawcett (Honda Integra)

2. Fran Kearns (Honda Civic)

3. Robbie Savage (Honda Integra)

Rookie Award- Michael Larkin (Porsche 944)

* Norman Fawcett awarded Supertouring trophies in recognition of being third placed finisher overall.

For more pictures of the action check out photographer, Paddy McGrath’s, Flickr stream and also keep an eye on Speedhunters for his view on the days proceedings.