Mondello National Circuit – Rounds 11 & 12 Reports

Brennan makes it to the top step while the Touring class has a surprise leader.

Word: Paul Healy

Pics: Paddy McGrath

After the mini heatwave we had enjoyed the day before the dull, drizzly conditions that greeted competitors and fans alike as they pulled the blinds on Sunday morning could have put a dampener on proceedings but instead we were treated to the best days racing from the most exciting series in Irish motorsport. Fields for both classes in the championship were bolstered with drivers like Tom Fahy and Stephen Maher making long expected returns, a familiar face in a new car as Barry Rabbitt entered the Touring class in brother Keith’s DC2 Integra and the debut of rally driver Jack Newman in his 1600cc Honda Civic. Unfortunately we lost our first competitor during scrutineering with the cage in Denis Callanan’s Nissan Silvia following foul of the officials. Considering the cage passed scrutineering this could look like inconsistency but it looks like Callanan was just the unfortunate victim of a clampdown following a series accident during testing on Saturday that saw one of the Stryker competitors hospitalised for three days.

The drizzle was still in the air as the drivers took to the track for the mornings qualifying session but it was not enough to force a last minute change to a wet set up. However with a light shower breaking out midway through the session it all came down to being on track at the right time. Experienced drivers like Barry Rabbitt had been watching the times get lower in preceding sessions and knew that a dry line was forming so those who went out hard and fast early on were rewarded. Main benefactor was Phil Brennan, who having posted a time of  1:02.170 would line up on pole position with the Honda Integra of Ciaran Timmons for company but more importantly with main rival, Martin Tracey behind him. Tracey’s time was actually bettered by both Danny Calnan and Barry Rabbitt which when you consider that the Integra driven by Rabbitt is little more than a road car with race suspension is no mean feat. Rabbitt’s time of 1:05.181 saw him take pole in the Touring class ahead of the competitors fighting for championship honours.

With the rain having stopped and a clutch of other classes acting as rain sweepers the track was perfect as the drivers took to the grid for the first race of the day. Having hastily sorted a problem with his K20 engined Pulsar Brian Sexton lined up at the pit exit ready to attack the Mondello circuit once the lights went out. Engine revs rose as the five second board went out and then all hell broke loose. Brennan got the better start from the front than Timmons and lead the field on the run down to Honda. The man to watch though was Barry Rabbitt who having managed to jump the E36 Compact of Stephen Maher and the eagerly anticipated M3 GTR of Mark Gilmartin off the line then contacted with the Sierra of Martin Tracey as the drivers funneled through the first few corners, dropping the championship leader to the back of the field. Without the menacing Cosworth looming large in his mirrors Brennan probably thought he was in for an easy race but Timmons had other ideas. With a comfortable gap over Brian Fitzpatrick in third the two were free to start what would turn out to be a race long duel with both drivers giving their all to be the first one over the line. Timmons Integra proved a good foil for Brennan’s M3 powered BMW with the race leader forced to deploy a defensive strategy to keep the yellow Honda at bay. The rear wheel drive BM seemed particularly susceptible coming out of Dunlop corner but Timmons just couldn’t find a way past even when presented with his best opportunity as the two drivers picked their way through backmarkers. In the end Brennan was able to open up enough of a gap towards the end not to have to contend with a last gasp dive and took his first and thoroughly deserved race victory in the series.

Having dropped to the back of the field Tracey responded in the only way he knows how – turn on the high beams, wind up the ‘adjustable boost’ and drive the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 absolutely on the ragged edge.  There are few sights in Irish motorsport than the Westward Engineering car going at full tilt and few cars that can hold it back when Tracey really, really wants to get past. Such was his pace that the Enfield tuner set a new lap record for the ITCC with a time of 59.614 in his pursuit of the front runners but in the end he had to settle for third place, some four seconds behind his prey but fourteen seconds clear of Stephen Maher in fourth.

After his early coming together with Tracey the Hankook/Ticketfriend Integra of Rabbitt had a decidedly quiet race with only a passing move from Maher to keep him interested. Along the way though Rabbitt broke the barrier time between classes meaning he would start the second race of the day as a Super Tourer. He would not be alone though. Having blown his gearbox in Saturday practice Norman Fawcett’s weekend looked compromised, especially with qualification putting him in tenth in the Touring class, a long way behind Robert Savage. As the lights went out he could but sit and watch as Savage and fellow Integra driver, Erick Carroll, streaked off into the distance and started a fifteen lap dice.

Savage and Carroll have crossed swords before and a last corner bump at a previous round aside are always entertaining to watch as they seem to have the measure of each other but also obviously a lot of respect for as close as the racing between the two is it is also very fair. The dicing between the two though did mean that their lap times were a little bit slower than they might have been and it was this that Fawcett was able to use as he clawed his way through the pack and began to close the gap on the pair. Finally catching up he looked to have taken but a watching role as it was Carroll doing all the attacking but when Savage suffered his own gearbox gremlins it was ‘Stormin’ who was the first to take advantage as he sailed past the two cars. Savage’s misery was compounded when, with fourth gear having decided to vacate his gearbox, Carroll finally managed to make the move he had been trying for thirteen laps. Between Norman’s chasing and the Savage/Carroll battle all three drivers had obliterated the barrier time between classes meaning they, along with Mark Nangle in the Subaru Impreza, would become Super Touring competitors once the chequered flag came down. This means we will not be treated to a final weekend shootout between Fawcett and Savage but the ITCC Sporting Regulations (and in particular paragraph 1.7, subsection F) are clear in this regard. Nonetheless the controversy will rumble on until the final rounds in September but the benefactor of all this is Danny Calnan who now holds a commanding lead in the class.

After a quick splash and dash during lunch it was time to settle in for the second race of the day and if round eleven was exciting it paled in comparison to round twelve. Despite the fact that his Honda engine would not engage Vtec Brian Sexton still appeared to have trouble getting the power down and could not take full advantage of the pole position in the reverse grid race. Before he had reached Honda corner he had been passed by the BMW’s of Phil Brennan and Stephen Maher and had a fight on his hands to hold off the gaggle of Honda’s swarming over him like flies. A brief battle between Timmons and Rabbitt was brought to an end when the power deficit in Rabbitt’s car became obvious as Timmons, ironically in Rabbitt’s old Tuning Factory Teg, drove away from him with ease. A quick dice with Tom Fahy ensued before Rabbitt finally managed to dispatch the somewhat stricken Pulsar of Sexton. When you consider that the ‘Nonda’ – with no Vtec and what The Bom described as a brick wall above 5,000 revs his drive is all the more amazing. In the end he finished tenth over all a mere eight tenths behind the Impreza of Mark Nangle and having made life difficult for the drivers who had managed to make it past him.

Martin Tracey had made light work of powering his way through the field and set about bridging the gap between himself and the cars in front. His task was made easier by a safety car period, brought on by Grzegorz Kalinecki in the Sportchip.ie Peugeot 206 entering the gravel trap at Dunlop backwards, allowed him to sit on the bumper of Timmons with Maher and Brennan in sight. The safety car also allowed Fawcett and the impressive Jack Newman to close the gap on Rabbitt and when the lights went out on Mondello’s BMW M3 that was where all eyes were focused. Tin top racing is often said to be the most exciting form of circuit racing as it allows drivers to get door handle to door handle in the fight for the right piece of tarmac and that is exactly what we were treated to. The circuit veteran with the underpowered car versus the rally prepared forestry veteran. On paper it doesn’t make sense but over the course of six laps Rabbitt and Newman, with the occasional cameo from Fawcett, showed why the ITCC has such a large fanbase in only its second season. Newman’s Civic had the power and traction advantage but the organic component of the rival Integra has race craft on his side and he had to employ every element of it to keep the tenacious newcomer behind him, even sacrificing his rear bumper at one point.  In the end though Rabbitt was able to hold on to take a hard fought fifth place by just over half a second with Fawcett a further second adrift.  Former Touring class rival Savage had a torrid time, getting caught up behind the battle between Phil Lawless and Mark Nangle and then not being able to find a way past Brian Sexton.

At the head of the field, having benefited from the safety car period, Tracey wasted no time of dispatching Timmons and Maher. The defensive driving skill Phil Brennan had honed in the earlier round stood him well against the Sierra but the pass was almost inevitable and when it came Brennan tucked in behind the rampant Cosworth and consolidated a strong second place finish safe in the knowledge that World War III was breaking out behind him. Maher and Timmons had provided some of the closest racing early in the season so it was good to have the BMW Compact and Honda Integra going at it hammer and tongs again. The characteristics of each cars means that they both have strong and weak points around the track and because of this you can predict exactly where moves are going to be made. Unfortunately for the Honda pilot Stephen Maher was able to predict these moves just as easily and move to block them before they had truly started and was able to hold on to claim the third step on the podium.