Race Report
STEPHEN DALY TAKES CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Our best entry of the season assembled in Mondello Park for the Leinster Trophy weekend, the highlight event of the domestic season. Dan Daly brought his Illmor powered Reynard out for the big occasion, and just nicked pole from son Stephen in the last seconds of a wet qualifying session. Transmission trouble scuppered him converting that to a win in race 1, but not before he had lowered his own lap record while building a cushion to a fast charging Sylvie Mullins who had started from the pit road. It was Ken Fildes though who came through to win from Donal Griffin and John Daly in F1, while in taking another F2 win, Stephen Daly confirmed himself as overall champion for 2011. Peter Dwyer and Martin Daly were race 1 runners up in F2. Race 2 was stopped and ultimately abandoned to enable the rescue crew extract Dan Daly from his inverted Reynard at Lola bend. We're happy to report that Dan is recovering well from relatively minor injuries and we wish him a speedy return to full health.A combination of the season's blue riband event and the last Magic Bullet Breezemount championship event attracted 19 entries for the Leinster Trophy meeting on the Mondello Park International circuit. Rain had stopped as the cars went out to qualify but the track was still wet, and although Stephen Daly needed to do little more than turn up to clinch the overall championship title, he made best use of his advantage in the conditions to top the time sheets and would no doubt have stayed there had he not spun and stranded himself half way through the session. Drama ensued as the times came down on a drying track, and he was only just shaded by Dan Daly on the last lap of the session. This pair were the only ones under the 2 minute mark with the ever competitive Ken Fildes next up just over a second back. Paul Heavey spent most of the session on the pit road trying to cure a misfire, but like Stephen he used the conditions to his advantage to take an incredible fourth fastest on his last lap, and looked good to repeat his giant killing performance from the previous year should conditions prevail. Donal Griffin and Peter Dwyer were next up from Formula Renault twins Martin Daly and Fergus Faherty. John Naylor went well first time out in his 2 litre Zetec engined FF2000 Tiga lining up in front of Gary Graham, while the bravery award in the conditions must go to Jonathan Fildes as he debuted Stanley Watson's mighty Chevy V8 engined Reynard. Jonathan's considerable talent was brought to bear as he struggled for grip on old tyres, but the sound of the car was awesome and evoked memories of the Formula 5000 days for those of us old enough to remember!
All eyes were on the pit lane as the grid got away for Race 1 where Sylvie Mullins and Michael Roche lurked having missed the qualifying session. Mullins' progress had the spectators enthralled as he sliced his way through the pack to emerge in fourth place at the end of the first lap behind Dan, Stephen and Ken Fildes. He made that second a lap later and looked set to worry the leader who was circulating at lap record pace as he sought to build a gap. Disaster struck though on lap 4 as a cracked brake disc spun him into retirement leaving Dan comfortably in front though he too would retire 3 laps later with differential failure. This promoted Stephen into the lead, but a penultimate lap wobble dropped him to third behind Ken Fildes and Donal Griffin though he took second back from Donal on the last lap. A popular win for the effervescent Ken Fildes meant that Donal Griffin, John Daly and Dan Daly took the F1 class awards, while Stephen Daly confirmed himself overall Magic Bullet Breezemount champion in taking the F2 class win on the day from Peter Dwyer and Martin Daly. The ever present and consistent Gary Graham took fourth in F2; his mid season shunt no doubt denying him a finish much further up the championship table. Philip Shields had a difficult time losing his qualifying session as the team recovered from a wrong turn with wet set up and having also started from the pit road made steady progress to finish on an unfamiliar circuit.
The second race was stopped and ultimately abandoned on lap 2 to enable the rescue unit extract Dan Daly from the remains of his car. Dan had been on a charge after a delay at the first corner dropped him to the back of the field when the Reynard turned left where the road starts to go right at Lola bend. The impact was colossal and the spectacle frightening as the car barrel rolled along the top of the bank disintegrating as it went. That Dan survived is testament to modern safety features and to the paramedics who attended him, and it's good to report that he's recovering well. The championship awards presentation will take place in November where Daly father and son will be crowned as their respective class champions.
Click here for championship table
Link to the results: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=715839
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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