Race Report

SUPER STEPHEN STEALS THE SHOW

The vagaries of Irish summer weather were evident in Mondello Park on July 24, but the early morning drizzle had stopped by the time the 11 drivers set out for qualifying. Almost immediately a fascinating battle kicked off at the top of the time sheet, not least because Stephen Daly was trading pole with Dan, with Ken Fildes and Eugene Heary Snr keeping them both honest, all circulating within a second of each other. The battle was resolved sensationally in the younger Daly’s favour to much surprise and amusement in the paddock with some interesting racing predicted. Erstwhile F2 class leader Martin Daly and his old karting buddy Fergus Faherty made up row 3 with Ivor Greenwood and Gary Graham next up. John Daly, Jim Larkham and F2 class returnee Mick Roche rounded out the qualifiers.

Race 1 was stopped twice in quick succession, Stephen and Dan having led the 2 starts respectively. Gary Graham understeered into the bank at the esses on lap 1 of the first start, a broken throttle return spring helping him on his way. The second stop was fortuitous for Stephen as drizzly conditions made the track greasy enough for him to slide wide at Bridgestone first time round allowing the whole field by. Not so lucky though next time round was Eugene Heary Snr. who got a tank slapper on coming out of Adelaide and gave the armco on the right hand side an almighty thump. Eugene fortunately escaped with just a dislocated shoulder but the same can’t be said for the car and the team now face a major rebuild on top of Eugene Jnr’s engine problems from Kirkistown; a tough break for them as they had been progressing so well. Stephen Daly reasserted himself in front at the third start, but the drama wasn’t over yet. Coming through Bridgestone on lap 2 Dan ran wide, skating across the gravel trap and into the bank tearing the nearside suspensions off the car in the process. He thankfully emerged unscathed, though resigned to a pointless day in terms of the championship, but his team would have different ideas after he got the car back to the paddock. This left Stephen out front on the track and seemingly in control, but a late surge from Ken Fildes who set fastest lap on his last lap bringing him to just over a second behind the youngster at the flag. A similar late charge from John Daly brought him to within a second of third placed Martin Daly with Fergus Faherty and Jim Larkham rounding out the finishers.

The other superb performance of the day came from the Daly team in turning Dan’s car round again in a matter of hours for him to take up his grid position for the second race. Stephen shot into the lead once again from pole, but it only took a couple of laps for Dan to find his feet again, and feeling all was well with his car he pounced on his son into Dunlop and stayed ahead to the finish setting fastest lap of the day on his way; a fitting testament to a remarkable team effort, which Dan was quick to acknowledge on the podium. The ever consistent Ken Fildes kept Stephen honest throughout, finishing just under a second shy at the flag with Martin Daly, Fergus Faherty, Jim Larkham and John Daly completing the finishers. The unfortunate Ivor Greenwood had yet another day to forget in Mondello, chain related problems with the Radical sidelining him in both races, with Mick Roche also suffering mechanical woes on his return to the fold.

How easily the fickle hand of fate can change things. After an indifferent start to the season Stephen Daly now finds himself in a commanding position at the top of the championship table, while erstwhile leader Eugene Heary Snr and Heary team boss Ben face a major challenge to repair their cars for the remaining races. With testing of his GP2 car going well for Philip Shields it looks likely that the Breezemount team will debut the car at our next event in Kirkistown, but it remains to be seen if both Stanley Watson and Aidan Bagnall will have made sufficient progress to feel happy about running their new cars. Either way, stay tuned for further news!

Click here for championship table

Link to the results: http://www.mondello.ie/car_event/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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