Dubliner Derek Tohill was the star of the day at Mondello Park, driving his Parts for Cars Fiesta to clear wins in the two main races, well clear of his opposition.
Tohill, with four National Rallycross titles in a row to his credit, was slow away from the grid in the Supercar Final early in the day, but he took command midway through the opening lap and took the chequered flag eleven seconds clear of former champion Tommy Graham in another Fiesta.
At the end of the day, the Super Final featured all the top performers and Tohill made a perfect start to win this one by twelve seconds. Graham was again the runner up, with another former title holder, Declan Kelly, third in both of these finals.
Callum Devine was the best placed of the Irish challengers in round 3 of the European Rally Championship, Rally Fafe Montelongo in Portugal. After two long days on slippery stages, the Derry driver and his co-driver James Fulton brought their Hyundai i20 home in ninth place, three minutes behind series leader, Alexey Lukyanuk of Russia.
Waterford’s Craig Breen held a top three position for most of the opening day, but suspension damage on his Hyundai caused him to miss several Saturday stages, and he rejoined to do some tyre testing yesterday, eventually being classified eighteenth.
Teenager Oliver Solberg of Sweden and his Ulster co-driver Aaron Johnston also battled in the top three placings on the opening day, but a turbo problem on their VW Polo left them well down the field at the finish.
Below are results from Motorsport Ireland events that took place over the weekend.
MONDELLO PARK SPORTS CLUB RALLYCROSS AT MONDELLO PARK, CO KILDARE (ROUND 2 OF PARTS FOR CARS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP):
SUPER FINAL:
1 Derek Tohill (Ford Fiesta) 4m 01.7s,
2 Tommy Graham (Ford Fiesta) 4m13.9s,
3 Declan Kelly (Ford Fiesta) 4m 26.5s,
4 Thomas O’Rafferty (Ford Fiesta) 4m 28.6s,
5 Peter McGarry (Volvo C30) 4m 29.9s,
6 Philip Kelly (Toyota MR2) 4m 32.4s.
SUPERCAR FINAL:
1 Derek Tohill (Ford Fiesta) 4m 16.9s,
2 Tommy Graham (Ford Fiesta) 4m 27.8s,
3 Declan Kelly (Ford Fiesta) 4m 31.7s,
4 Thomas O’Rafferty (Ford Fiesta) 4m 38.3s.
MODIFIED FINAL:
1 Peter McGarry (Volvo C30) 4m 27.2s,
2 Willie Coyne (Vauxhall Corsa) 4m 41.7s,
3 Philip Kelly (Toyota MR2) 4m 45s,
4 George Tohill (BMW Compact) 4m 55.9s,
5 Chris Grimes (Vauxhall Nova) 5m 07.8s,
6 Kieran Curran (Vauxhall Corsa) 5m 18.9s.
FORD FIESTA ZETEC FINAL:
1 Denis McCrudden 5m 09s,
2 Christopher Grimes Jnr 5m 12.7s,
3 Mark Meenehan 5m 13.5s.
JUNIOR FINAL:
1 Loughlin Farrell (Ford Fiesta) 5m 09.7s,
2 Michael Ryan (Ford Fiesta) 5m 22.1s,
3 Dale Singleton (Ford Fiesta) 5m 25.7s.
BUGGY FINAL:
1 Se Martin Jnr (Buggy) 4m 14.6s,
2 Paul Lennon (Semog) 4m 16.7s,
3 Paul Nolan (Yacar) 4m 18.9s.
RETRO RALLYCROSS FINAL:
1 Davy Aiken (Vauxhall Nova) 4m 48.5s,
2 Joe Cahill (Mini) 4m 51.6s,
3 Brian Keegan (Vauxhall Nova) 5m 14.5s.
RALLY CARS FINAL:
1 Shane Stanley (Honda Civic) 4m 30.5s,
2 Shane Norris (Honda Civic) 4m 47.8s,
3 Coly Loughlin (BMW Mini) 4m 59.5s,
4 Martin Flanagan (BMW 325) 5m 03.7s.
MOTORSPORT IRELAND KART RACE MEETING AT PALLAS KARTING, TYNAGH, CO GALWAY (ROUND 2 OF MOTORSPORT IRELAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP):
Cadet Final and Cadet Novice Final: 1 Jack Buckley, 2 Daniel Kelleher, 3 Tadhg Buckley.
Iame X30 Junior Final: 1 Peadar O’Boyle, 2 Alex O’Grady, 3 Mark Dempsey.
Rotax Max Final: 1 Gerard Daly, 2 Ross McDonald, 3 Sean Purcell.
Iame X30 Senior Final: 1 Sam McDonnell, 2 Josh Mulholland, 3 Robert Cronin.
Tillotson T4 Final: 1 Evan Stapleton, 2 Ryan Nally, 3 Conor Shanahan.
CLARE M C LOOSE SURFACE AUTOCROSS AT BALLYCUMBER, CO OFFALY:
1 Oran Mullan (Casmat) 3m 41.4s,
2 Declan O’Regan (Suzuki) 3m 41.8s,
3 Brian Hassett (Semog) 3m 42.3s,
4 Ray Hassett (Semog) 3m 42.8s,
5 Stevey Lane (Semog) 3m 47.1s,
6 Padraig Egan (Semog) 3m 48.2s.
Class winners: Declan O’Regan, Mike O’Connor Jnr (Suzuki Spl), Alan Shinnors (Lancer Evo), William Cavanagh (Xtrem), Whitby Moynan (Toyota Special), Michael Fitzgibbons (Civic), Dean Murphy (Citroen C2R2), George Shinnors (Peugeot 205), Gerard O’Connell (Celica).