JOMO Engineering Rounds 13 & 14 – Leinster Trophy Weekend Report

Whelan takes Dunboyne trophy in thrilling season finale.

Competitors from the ITCC took to Mondello Park over the weekend of the 17^th September JOMO Engineering sponsored   jewel in the crown of Irish motorsport – the Leinster Trophy Weekend. Having all but being handed the trophy for his second successive ITCC champion Martin Tracey was looking to reclaim the Dunboyne Trophy that he won at the corresponding event last year and probably expected to see the trophy again soon after dropping it off to race control to join the trophies from the other classes competing over the weekend. However having publicly stated that beating Tracey was his aim a returning John Whelan also had his eyes on the prestigious trophy and was not going to let the Enfield man have things his own way.

The weekend’s action kicked off for the ITCC on Saturday evening with a rain affected qualifying session. The weather had been yo-yoing between torrential downpours and sunshine all day long so few, if any, of the session run on Saturday actually got a completely dry track. The commentary team upstairs noted that the wet conditions may hinder Martin Tracey in the rear-wheel drive Sierra RS500 and I am sure some of his competitors hoped they were right but Tracey, ever the professional, picked his moment and set the fastest time of the session right at the death as the track was beginning to dry. However it could not have been any closer as John Whelan in the Bikez.ie Peugeot 306 was a mere 0.144 behind the Enfield man’s time. Having recently moved up to the Super Touring Class Eric Carroll made an early impression by slotting his Honda Integra onto the third slot on the grid with a time of 2:08.094 just ahead of the ever entertaining duo of Ciaran Timmons and Phil Brennan. A returning Brian Sexton brought home his Frankenstein ‘Nonda’ Pulsar complete with Toyota paint and Mitsubishi wheels home in sixth ahead of a gaggle of Hondas led by Tom Fahy and Gareth Hayden with the main Touring car driver, in the absence of Danny Calnan, Keith Rabbitt at its rear in fourteenth.

When the lights went out to mark the beginning of the first race on Sunday Martin Tracey made his usual flying start, leaving the field behind him. Phil Brennan also had a great start as he jumped from fifth up to third by the time the cars exited the newly renamed Ford corner but it was Brian Sexton who drew the most attention as he hung on around the outside of corners to take positions. With Brennan having to deal with a swarm of Honda’s behind him all looking to relieve him of his position Whelan was freed up to set off in pursuit of Tracey who had built up an early lead. Lap after lap the Peugeot ate into the gap between it and the mighty Ford until Whelan had the two time champion within his sights. The commentary team upstairs questioned whether Tracey was backing off to give himself something to do but a quick glance at the timing screen showed the Westward Engineering man was pushing hard but as the only man to dip into the 1.53’s Whelan was pushing harder. The speed of the self-built 306 was immense as the Sierra struggled to pull away on the longer International loop – an area of the track where it normally excels.

Behind the battle for the lead there were a host of similar duels shaping up. After rectifying some braking issues uncovered during Friday testing (with minimal help from some ginger tosser in a VW jacket) Phil Burdock’s new K20 powered EK Civic looked impressive as he performed a last of the late braker manoeuvres down the inside of Ford corner to pass Brian Fitzpatrick. Having run impressively early on Eric Carroll soon succumbed to Brian Sexton who was going hell for leather in the freshly painted Nonda – unfortunately the Kildare man was pushing a little too hard. Taking a large chunk of kerb at Dunlop Sexton snapped a rose-joint and was forced to park up on the gravel at the outside of the corner. Having being comfortably running in third place at the time he was understandably disappointed and I am told that the air was a nice shade of blue as he watched proceedings from the comfort of the tyre wall.

Having fought gallantly to keep the Honda’s behind him a slight touch from Gareth Hayden pushed Phil Brennan off line allowing both the Integra driver and Phil Burdock through. Burdock actually came off better as after Sexton’s retirement he found himself in third place and with a very wide car as he held off a hard charging Hayden. The Urban Performance/Buddyclub car was not looking particularly healthy as it smoked more than your average race reporter while it was out on track, yet it still seemed to have the pace. However towards the end of the race the car received a black and orange ‘mechanical defect’ flag and driver Barry Rabbitt was forced into the pits. I am not sure what Rabbitt said to the marshals but after a momentary chat he and the car were back out on track and almost inadvertently decided the outcome of the race.

As the race leaders came towards Dunlop corner for the final time they encountered Rabbitt who slowed down to let them by but Tracey and Whelan had almost hit the braking zone for the corner before they actually caught the Integra driver and were forced to go either side of Rabbitt around Dunlop. Having taken the tighter, inside line Whelan initially had the advantage in the drag race to the line but Tracey just about managed to pip him to the chequered flag with 0.317 separating the two drivers after over fifteen minutes of racing. The next driver to round Dunlop was Burdock who was all set to take a podium position on his first outing in his new car when the diff failed agonisingly close to the finish line leaving Hayden to claim the third step on the podium. Hayden was followed home by Ciaran Timmons and Phil Brennan who as usual had fought a ding-dong battle in the closing stages of the race with the Honda driver getting the advantage at the death. Having impressed early on Eric Carroll came home in sixth place ahead of his sparring partners from his time in the Touring class; Roberts ‘New Daddy’ Savage and ‘Stormin’ Norman Fawcett.

Keith Rabbitt had a remarkably quiet race as he brought his Honda Integra home at the head of the Touring class with. Anthony Murtagh had a much busier race on his way to second place including a genuine ‘brown trouser’ moment as he took to the grass to avoid a spinning Subaru of Mark Nangle, an enthralling race long battle with Norman Fawcett and an altercation with Phil Lawless in the Mazda Mx6.

The second race of the day was the one that the drivers were most looking forward to with the winner taking home the Dunboyne Trophy and etching their name to the prestigious cup. The reverse grid policy of ITCC would see Eric Carroll start the race from the head of the grid with the big guns of Tracey and Whelan starting from the third row. Having failed to repair the damage to the diff on his Civic Phil Burdock was forced to sit out the final shootout of the year. Carroll got a good start but was bettered by Phil Brennan who had managed to get the power of his M3 engined BMW into the Mondello tarmac and headed towards Ford corner at the head of the pack. Gareth Hayden used an extra bit of track at the pitlane exit as he tried to make his way past Carroll and as the drivers funnelled into the first turn he and Carroll collided sending the Sportchip.ie Integra spinning across the track. Norman Fawcett was the unfortunate driver to collect the out of control Honda and both drivers ended up in the gravel on the outside of the corner. Hayden managed to extricate himself from the kitty litter and set off in pursuit of the field but Fawcett was not so fortunate. Having T-boned Hayden, Fawcett had injured his back and the race was red flagged while the medical team went to retrieve him from his car.

With all the drivers reformed on the grid the severity of the collision was apparent as the driver’s door of Hayden’s car was completely caved in and could not be opened. The Sportchip.ie manfully tried to get it open, even pulling the handle off in their pursuit. The marshal and scrutineers were unhappy with the car as in the event of a similar accident Hayden would not be able to get out of the car. With the medical team still out on track the black Integra was brought back to the garage where the team finally managed to open the door but a MacGyver fix to replace the broken handle did not go down well with the powers that be and the car was disqualified on safety grounds.

With Fawcett on his way to Naas General Hospital in the back of the ambulance and the track tided up after the accident the drivers were sent off for another formation lap before the race could get under way again. The long delay did not seem to dampen Brennan’s starting skills as he again got the jump on Carroll to take the lead by the time the drivers weighed anchors for Ford corner. With clear track ahead of him Brennan set about building up a lead before the inevitable onslaught from Messrs Whelan and Tracey but with Whelan having carved his way through the field Brennan’s lead was short lived. Pressure from the Peugeot 306 saw Brennan outbreak himself towards the end of the lap and that was all the invitation Whelan needed. Tracey did not have such an easy time of it. Having caught and passed Barry Rabbitt the Honda driver was able to reclaim the position through the corners and so ensued a tooth and nail fight between the two with the Sierra easing away on the long straights of the International track while the Honda snuck through on the twisty bits. Tracey got a little bit ragged as the two cars entered the Tarzan complex resulting in the Sierra taking an uncharacteristic off-track excursion and when he came back on to the tarmac the differential let go resulting in Tracey parking the car up.

He would soon be followed on the retirement list by Sexton when the replacement rose-joint fitted during the break between races failed resulting in his second DNF of the day. With Whelan streaking off into the distance with one hand on the Dunboyne Trophy Phil Brennan found himself with long time combatant Ciaran Timmons for company. These two drivers are a joy to watch as the strengths and weaknesses of their respective cars are perfectly matched and the two drivers have battled it out so often that they know each others driving style. It was initially disappointing not to see Timmon’s much talked about ex-BTCC car on track at the weekend but the BMW/Honda battle made up for it as the two drivers slugged it out in very close but very fair racing with Brennan managing to hold on and take a deserved second place. Sexton’s retirement promoted Denis Callanan up to fourth place and all seemed to be going well for the Nissan Silvia driver until the dying stages of the race when the rear end of the powerful Silvia began to revert to drifting style and Tom Fahy was able to take advantage and relegate Callanan to fifth. Barry Rabbitt seemed to have a torrid time behind the wheel of his Integra as despite being involved in battles all day the car was never really on the pace with the fastest time of the experienced driver being some two seconds off most of the front runners. Despite this he still finished ahead of Robert Savage who was probably thankful of the break from a screaming newborn baby.

With a second corner incident taking out both Anthony Murtagh and Philip Lawless all Keith Rabbitt had to do to take his second victory of the day and wrap up a second place in the Touring Class championship was to keep his Integra on the track. In the end he finished comfortably ahead of Cian Carey and Paul Donnan.

In the end John Whelan came over the line a mere 2.3-seconds ahead of Phil Brennan but with his fastest lap being over half a second quicker than anyone else it really was a dominant display that saw the driver of the Peugeot 306 he built with his son claim the Dunboyne Trophy. Makes you wonder how the final results in the championship would look had he not been beset with gearbox troubles early in the season. Even if the car had of been available it would have taken a minor miracle to deprive Martin Tracey his second ITCC crown and congratulations must go to the Enfield based tuner for his skill, consistency and lights on, balls out driving when chasing the pack. The RS500 Cosworth really is a joy to behold when in full flight!