Following on from the opening rounds of the championship in March and the David and Goliath battle between a Honda Civic and a SEAT Supercopa, all eyes would be on the MicksGarage.com ITCC grid on Sunday at Mondello Park. Some new faces would appear at the Kildare venue, notably saloon car veteran Michael Cullen, and Vinny Keogh making his return to the series having made his debut last year driving a Fiat Punto Abarth.
The hangover from the venue's timing system failing on Saturday would mean that no official qualifying session could take place on Sunday morning, instead there would be a practice session at least allowing drivers to get a feel for the Mondello Park tarmac. As a result of the failure, the cars would line up on the grid for race one in current championship positions, which meant that Kevin Doran was on pole for race one with Eoghan Fogarty alongside for company.
The SEAT Supercopa still seems to be proving difficult to manage off the line with Rod McGovern getting bogged down early on in the Brian Berry car, allowing Niall Quinn to challenge into turn one from the third row of the grid. At the front it seemed to be business as usual for Doran who got a fantastic start but Fogarty did seem to match the Honda into the first corner. Owain Drought would be the cork in the bottle for the first few corners with a host of SEAT's in line behind him, McGovern eventually making a move stick around the outside of turn 3.
In Production Class it would be Gregorz Kalinecki on the front row of the grid with Robert Doherty alongside. Kalinecki seems to have had the same issue as it's SEAT relatives in getting the car off the line, and he got swamped as the pack passed under the bridge. Doherty led into turn one with Stephen Dunne and Ian O'Driscoll challenging into the first corner for second position while Vinny Keogh hung around the outside, perhaps hoping to make the most of some early contact. Early contact a few laps in would force Brent Hughes to early retirement in his Honda Civic, and ultimately end his weekend with suspension damage beyond repair.
Kevin Doran got his head down for the opening few laps carving out a slight advantage, and it took a couple of laps for McGovern to find a way past Fogarty in the ex-Holstein M3. Eventually Niall Quinn picked his moment and also made his way past and began working his way back up to the rear of McGovern's Supercopa. It wouldn't be long before McGovern, Quinn and Michael Cullen were holed up behind the Honda of Doran, but the Monaghan man was soaking up the pressure like a sponge.
It was very clear that the SEAT has a big advantage with huge mid corner grip, however the Honda managed to out run the Spanish machines down the main straight. McGovern made the most of his advantage with a move around the outside of Dunlop corner, and left Niall Quinn to work on the Civic. Contact on the following lap on the exit of Dunlop corner would cause Doran to spin off, luckily just avoiding big contact with the Armco barriers. Barry English and Michael Cullen would make the most of the contact and that would be the result across the chequered flag, with Rod McGovern taking the win.
Race two was to be a slightly spicier affair, again with a Honda on pole position but this time in the shape of Owain Drought with Doran on the outside of the front row. Once again Doran made the most of the SEAT's inability to get a quick launch off the line, and stormed into an early lead. Rod McGovern and Michael Cullen traded places at Dunlop corner, and Cullen quickly set off after Fogarty and Doran. Big contact between the SEAT and the BMW exiting turn 3 caused a big off for Fogarty in the RAE Autofactors backed BMW which brought out an initial safety car, but a red flag soon after.
While Fogarty and his car were recovered and the barriers repaired, the remaining cars reformed on the grid. With just 8 minutes left on the timer at the restart, it would be a relatively short sprint to the finish line. Doran would again lead the pack into turn 1 with Michael Cullen getting left behind on the line, even getting passed by some production class cars. Doran made the smallest of mistakes on cold tyres around turn 2 causing him to run wide and onto the grass, allowing a slightly sideways Niall Quinn to take the lead on the run down to turn 3, with McGovern finding his way past also. Ian O'Driscoll led the Production class pack on the first lap with an impressive run from the line, with Robert Doherty and Stephen Dunne giving chase.
Barry English made a move stick up the inside at Dunlop corner on Doran to take third place, with Michael Cullen getting a slightly better run out of the corner and making it past the Honda also. The two Murray Motorsport team mates went door to door around turn 2, with contact causing English to run off the track and collected Kevin Doran in the process, ending his weekend early. A spectacular engine failure for Robert Doherty also put an end to his race, leaving Kalinecki and Dunne to battle amongst themselves for position. More contact for Michael Cullen, this time with team mate Barry English caused a big spin on the run into turn one, narrowly avoiding a big impact between the two cars.
Ultimately Niall Quinn would be untroubled at the front of the grid for the remainder of the race, taking his first win of the season with Rod McGovern and Barry English making it an all SEAT podium.
Review of rounds 1 & 2
