Leinster Trophy race report.
September would see the final showdown of the 2015
MicksGarage.com Irish Touring Car Championship roll into Mondello Park, and the Kildare venue would see some fantastic racing. With the Super Touring, 2.0 Class, and Production class titles all still up for grabs, the final 2 rounds had all the right ingredients to produce some special moments.
Most interested spectators would have their eyes on the Super Touring battle, with a mere handful of points separating the RAE Autofactors BMW M3 of Eoghan Fogarty and the MCG Autostyling Honda Integra of Robert Savage, but the battle in the Production Class was also very tight with the Sportchip.ie SEAT Leon of Gregorz Kalinecki and the Tuning Factory prepared Honda Civic of Ian O'Driscoll still had it all to play for.
Qualifying was a dry affair and the first session of the day on track, however the Lorna Flood Fitness sponsored Mazda RX7 of Shane Rabbitt paid a visit to the gravel trap at turn one almost instantly brought out the red flags to halt the session early on. With Rabbitt recovered by the Mondello Park track team, the session resumed, as did normal service with Dean Reilly putting in some quick laps to stick his Honda Civic on Pole position for race one.
John Whelan made his first appearance of the season in his now infamous Peugeot 306, but he had to settle on the outside of the front row in second place. Kevin Doran rounded out the top three, while Eoghan Fogarty, perhaps being too cautious, made up the second row. Kalinecki would be the pole sitter in Production class with Ian O'Driscoll unable to match the pace of the SEAT on the International circuit, having to settle for second position.
Round 11
The rain held off for the first race of the day, and when the lights went out Dean Reilly managed to hold his position into turn one to lead the race. Fogarty made up a position into second, but Whelan looked to struggle early on dropping back to forth position, courtesy of a fantastic first corner run by Robert Savage. Kalinecki also held on to lead on the opening lap, but Gareth Jennings slipped passed his Tuning Factory team mate O'Driscoll into second place. Vinny Keogh had an early bath with his Honda Integra being parked up on the exit of the first corner, a frustrating start to his weekend.
Fogarty seemed to have found some more pace in the BMW over the summer break, not allowing Reilly to extend the same lead he did early on during rounds 9 and 10, while Shane Rabbitt looked to be strugging with power issues, later to be diagnosed with a bad engine misfire. Gregorz Kalinecki showed the true pace of his SEAT, hanging onto the coat tails of the faster Super Touring grid during the opening laps, the Honda's of Jennings and O'Driscoll didn't look like they had any response to the speed of the SportChip.ie machine.
John Whelan began to make places back up the grid, first dispatching Kevin Doran, and then went about chasing down Rob Savage. Fogarty looked to have settled into a controlled pace behind Reilly, knowing that a race finish was much more important to his championship hopes than a race win, and was happy once he could keep the Integra of Savage behind him. A puncture would end Whelan's hopes of a podium finish, just about limping back into the pitlane, a real shame as the battle for third place had shaped up nicely, with Whelan, Savage and Doran all in contention.
Ian O'Driscoll pulled up on the International section with mechanical problems, which would all but end his title hopes and promoted the VW Corrado of Anthony Murtagh into third place on the road. Kalinecki looked comfortable throughout the race however, and took his first win of the day, with Gareth Jennings taking second place while Robert Doherty just pipped Murtagh to the chequered flag to take the final podium place.
Reilly also took a comfortable win, while Fogarty took second place and a much needed haul of championship points, while Savage took a relaxed third place eventually, from Doran and Rabbitt.
Mondello.TV footage of Race 1 Results for Race 1
Round 12
The weather for race two took a turn for the worst, to give us the first proper wet race of the season at Mondello Park. Kevin Doran was to take pole follwing a 6 place grid reversal of race 1 results, but fueling issues meant the Civic wouldn't make it to the grid, leaving Owain Drought on the front row on his own, and a big gap for Shane Rabbitt to aim his Mazda into. The Meath man was a little nervous, having never raced the RX7 in the wet before, but he didn't let it show as he took the lead under the bridge, to lead into turn one.
A very rare sight was to be seen in Production class, with Anthony Murtagh leading Gareth Jennings around turn one, the Longford native taking a do or die approach on the last race of the season and going all out in the search for some silverware. Rabbitt pulled out a big gap to Drought within three corners, showing no fear of the very wet tarmac, while John Whelan, determined to made something of his weekend following a race 1 retirement, made up quite a few places from the back of the grid to find himself sitting in third on the opening lap.
The Peugeot driver eventually found a way past the Integra of Drought and began chasing down Rabbitt for the lead of the race, while Fogarty was taking no risks, driving a very cautious race further down the field, knowing all he had to do was bring the car home in one piece. O'driscoll found his way past Murtagh to take the lead, who dropped down the order after trying his hand a some rallycross in the wet conditions. Kalinecki, was driving a similar race to Fogarty, knowing that no risks were required and looked to have some fun for the final minutes of the 2015 Season.
Whelan in his pursuit of Rabbitt had a dramatic spin on the run into turn 3, doing well to catch the car and get it pointed in the right direction, allowing the RX7 some breathing space in the lead of the race. Somehow, the Peugeot began to reel Rabbitt back in again, and was all over the rear of the Mazda in the final laps, but the Dunshaughlin man just hung on to take his maiden micksGarage.com ITCC win in the Mazda, with Whelan settling for second place and Owain Drought coming home in third place.
Gareth Jennings took the Production class win from Kalinecki, with Ian O'driscoll taking the final podium place, and the celebrations started in Park Ferme with Eoghan Fogarty securing the 2015 ITCC Super Touring title, Gregorz Kalinecki confirming the 2015 MicksGarage.com Production Class title, and Robert Savage taking the 2015 ITCC 2.0 Class title.
Mondello.TV footage of Race 2 Results for Race 2
The 2015 MicksGarage.com ITCC season may be officially over, but you can still catch us with an on track display at Japfest in Mondello Park on Sept 27th!
More images from the Leinster Trophy season closer from
Brian Walsh Photos
