Motorsport News – July 17, 2019

Advertising enquiries: 0203 405 8110 motorsport-newscouk JULY 17201923

‘Wild mix take to the hill

Chateau Impney report, p29

Porsche Carrera Cup GB regular Karl Leonard also deals

in the Stuttgart marque’s race cars. For a little bit of fun, he

brought one of his cars – a 997 Gen 2 911 – to Mondello Park

for the weekend. He ran with the SEAT Supercup and Irish

Touring Cars, with the Irish Punto Abarth champion

scoring an easy victory at his home circuit. Brother

Michael had hoped to join Karl on the grid, but a

driveshaft failure during Friday testing meant he

never appeared.

The Classic Sports Car

Club’s Special Saloons

and Modsports were

welcome visitors to

Mondello Park over the

two days. Andy Southcott

was incredibly quick,

taking three wins in his

2.2-litre MG Midget. But

Tim Cairns, in particular,

was great to watch as he

chased down Neil Duke’s

beautiful Ford Anglia 105E,

hanging the tail out and

evoking memories of the

Modsports era for many at

the Kildare venue. There

was plenty of paddock

chat about resurrecting

some of the Irish GT cars

for a return to the track,

should the CSCC decide

to return in 2019.

Erik Holstein was as entertaining as

ever in the Fiesta ST races. The champion

showjumper won the opener from pole.

In race two, he charged from sixth to

second before a red flag halted play. With

just two rounds to go, he looks like a good

bet for the 2019 title to add to his Punto

Abarth, Irish Touring Car Championship

and SEAT Supercup titles. The meeting

also raised almost €10,000 for the Irish

Motor Neuron Disease Association with

a mixed Fiesta fun race and an auction.

Predictably, Holstein was first across the

line in that one too.

MONDELLO PARK:CKMC BYLEO NULTY JULY 13-14

FordFiestaST

Race1:ErikHolstein

Race2:Brendan

Fitzgerald

IrishLegends

Race1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6:

PaulO’Brien

GinettaJuniorIreland

Races1 & 2:Matthew

Nicholl

FordFiestaZetec

Race1:WilliamKellett

Race2:CollieBarable

ClosedWheelLibre

KarlLeonard(Porsche

997.2Cup)

IrishTouringCar

Championship

Races1 & 2:Keith

Campbell(VWCorrado)

SEATSupercupIreland

Race1:ShaneMurphy

Race2:BarryEnglish

FiestaTeamRace

Barry-JohnMcHenry

(Zetec)/ BrianFlanagan(ST)

IrishStrykers

Race1:GregKelly

Race2:StephenRoss

BOSSIreland

Race1:FergusFaherty

(DallaraF3)

Race2:PaulO’Connell

(DallaraWorldSeries)

SpecialSaloonsand

Modsports

Races1, 2 & 3:Andy

Southcott(MGMidget)

FormulaVee

AnthonyCross(Sheane)

The 2019 FordFiestaSTseason

hasbeena battlebetween

multipleMondellochampion

ErikHolsteinandimpressive

kartingdebutantAlexDenning.

Denningannexedpolethistimeout

butunfortunatelyretiredonthewarm-

uplap.ThathandedHolsteina relatively

easyvictoryoncehehadshakenoffthe

chargingMichaelCullen.Barry-John

McHenrywasanimpressivethird.

Inracetwo,BrendanFitzgeraldled

beforecomingunderpressurefrom

Holstein,upfromsixth.Aftera few

doorhandle-to-doorhandlemoments,

theredflagsflew,courtesyofDenning

comingtogetherwithDavidKidd.That

leftFitzgeraldtotakea well-deserved

victory,withHolsteinmovingonestep

closertothetitlewithsecond.

PaulO’BrienwonthefirstLegends

race,withIanConroysnatchingsecond

whenGeoffRichardson’slast-corner

attempttowresttheleadcameto

nought.O’Brienalsotookracestwoand

threeandcontinuedhisformonday

twobywinninga furtherthreeraces

withapparentease.

MatthewNichollscoredhisfifthwin

oftheseasonintheGinettaJunior

opener,finishingwellclearofa cracking

battleforsecond.Thatwastoppedby

ChrisGrimescourtesyofaninspired

moveatTurn3 onthefinaltour.Nicholl

repeatedhisforminracetwo,easing

awayforwinnumbersix.

WilliamKellettnettedFiestaZetec

poleinjustthreelaps,andsatinthe

pitlanefortheremainderofthesession.

Hisdominancecontinuedintothe

races,crossingthelinewellaheadof

reigningchampionOwenPurcellinrace

one.Inracetwo,AimeeWoodsledaway

buta midracemistakeatTurn1 allowed

CollieBarrablethrough.Kellettclosed

himdownbut,perhapswaryofhistitle

aspirations,wasunabletopenetrate

Barrable’sdefences.

HOLSTEIN WINS AFTER DENNING RUES LOST POLE

WINNERS

Karl Leonard blitzed the Closed

Wheel Libre race in his Porsche

Carrera Cup machine, with Shane

Murphy holding off Rod McGovern for

SEAT Supercup honours.

Keith Campbell headed the Irish

Touring Car contingent from Stephen

Potter and Ciaran Denvir. In race two,

with Leonard not starting, Brian Berry

led away on his return to the SEAT class.

Murphy piled the pressure on before

running wide at the Esses, allowing

Barry English through.

After a mid-race safety car, Berry

hung on to take the flag but was

adjudged to have jumped the start and

received a 10-second penalty, giving

English the win. In the ITCC section,

Campbell relieved Potter of the lead to

do the double and appeared to be easing

clear. A late race charge from Denvir

meant he closed in the final stages,

with Potter completing the podium.

Brian Flanagan and McHenry took the

honours in a highly entertaining

charity Fiesta Team race, with Daniel

Keelan and William Kellett next up,

from Shane McBride and Gordon

Kellett. Holstein was first ST home

but team-mate Sean Woods, who had

been a hugely popular leader of the

Zetec group for most of the race, was

forced out with a puncture.

Greg Kelly came out top of a fantastic

battle with Stephen Ross to take the

Stryker win, and a new lap record to

boot. Ross took revenge in race two, just

holding Kelly at bay to retain his series

lead. Roger Welaratne drove superbly to

net third in both races.

Barry Rabbitt was in giant-killing

form as ever, grabbing BOSS Ireland

pole in his newly acquired Formula

Renault. Eamonn Matheson got his

usual lightning start though, to grab the

lead from row three. But Fergus Faherty

soon eased past and pulled away. Paul

O’Connell also got by and set about

closing the gap. With a few minutes to go.

Matheson rotated at the Esses to bring

out the red flags. A result was declared

and a delighted Faherty became the first

person to defeat O’Connell in 2019.

In race two, Rabbitt got the jump and

pushed hard but O’Connell was on an

inspired charge, blasting by on the

main straight and easing away for

an impressive victory. Rabbitt was

second with Faherty completing

the podium.

Andy Southcott’s rapid Midget took all

three Special Saloons and Modsports

wins, despite the best efforts of Ian Hall

and Thomas Carey, both of whom ran at

the front on occasion.

Anthony Cross relieved polesitter

Dan Polley of the Formula Vee lead

with an impressive move into Turn 1,

and was unchallenged from then

on. Class returnee Trevor Delaney

was third, in what was an

uncharacteristically tame affair.

Photos: Michael Chester

Victory and a second

place for Holstein