Race Report

DALY AND MULLINS SHARE OPENING SPOILS

Despite the difficult economic climate, Formula Libre Ireland had a large grid for the opening round of their 2011 Championship. Dan Daly qualified on pole position; a formality you might think in Formula Libre? Not this time, as Sylvie Mullins was less than a hundredth of a second off in his immaculate Gould. Eugene Heary Junior’s Rothmans liveried Reynard was next up just ahead of Donal Griffin in his slightly older chassis with Rover V8 Power. Despite having blown an engine in testing, Stephen Daly had stayed up late building a new one and was quickest 2 litre car, just ahead of Peter Dwyer’s beautifully re-liveried Dallara F399.

Dan Daly lined his trusty Reynard 92D up on pole position in perfect weather conditions but unfortunately he was alone on the front row as mechanical woes prevented Sylvie Mullins from making the grid. When the lights changed Dan made no mistakes to lead away but Donal Griffin made a great start to take second, running close to Dan in the early stages. Eamonn Matheson’s Ninja made an incredible start to vault up to third from a lowly grid position, wowing the large crowd with its incredible straight line speed. Donal Griffin kept the pressure on up front, keeping Dan in sight until half distance. As his Reynard began to smoke slightly on left handers, Donal fell back but was still well ahead of Heary Junior in third. As Matheson retired with mechanical problems, Eugene Heary Snr moved up to fourth in his newly acquired ex John Downey AJR engined Reynard 93D. Eugene Senior is of course a hugely experienced racer having previously run at the front in Vees and Unos in years gone by. At the flag then, it was Dan Daly taking the first Libre win of the year, with Donal Griffin holding on for second and Heary Junior in third. Stephen Daly was first two litre home despite being not completely happy with his hastily rebuilt engine, ahead of Dwyer with the impressive Martin Daly taking eighth overall and the final two litre podium step in his Formula Renault.. Further back Jim Larkham, Philip Shields on his first visit to Mondello and Stanley Watson were having a great scrap before Watson pitted with problems.

When the cars lined up for race two, Sylvie had managed to trace the electrical problem in the Gould and happily he lined up with the rest. Predictably, the hillclimb machine was extremely quick off the line and despite Dan Daly’s best efforts, Sylvie led down into turn one in front of a capacity crowd. Dan’s efforts to stay in touch early on were as spectacular as we have come to expect, the Reynard using all the kerbs and a little bit more on some occasions! Sylvie was on a roll though as he gradually pulled away, setting fastest lap of 51.810 on lap six as he got into his stride. Heary Junior was again running in third, with Griffin retiring in the early stages whist behind whilst Peter Dwyer was matching Heary’s times in fourth. Meanwhile a superb battle raged for fifth. In three very different cars, Heary Senior, Matheson and the improving John Daly were very closely matched with Martin Daly gradually latching onto the back of this trio as he became more familiar with his Formula Renault machine. Mullins it was, then, who took the win from Dan Daly, who predictably kept pushing until the very end, with Heary Jnr completing the podium. Dwyer was a lonely fourth whilst Heary Senior won the battle for fifth just ahead of Matheson with the spectacular Martin Daly right there in seventh. This meant that Dwyer was the first two litre home, from Martin Daly and Gary Graham in his ex Formula Ireland Van Diemen, Stephen Daly having dropped out with a few laps to run.

A fantastic first day out for Formula Libre Ireland and it can only get better with more drivers and cars set to join the fray as the season progresses.

Click here for championship table

Link to the results: www.mondellopark.ie/results

2012 Calender

April 15 - Mondello Park National
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April 28 - Kirkistown
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May 12/13 - Bishopscourt (non championship)
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May 26 - Kirkistown
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July 1 - Mondello Park National
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August 18/19 - Phoenix Park (non championship)
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September 8/9 - Mondello Park International
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September 29 - Kirkistown
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