Birr & District Motor Club Autotest Round-up

Last Sunday, May 25th saw the Birr & District Motor Club host the third round of the Motorsport Ireland National Autotest Challenge & Championship. It was the second event of the year for the club. Gerry McLoughlin took on the role of COC for the event which made a return to Garahys Garage in Birr, a venue renowned for its fantastic facilities and welcome. A huge debt of gratitude must be paid to Kieran, Ethna and their team, for once again spoiling all who attended, with their famous hospitality.

The action kicked off on Sunday morning after all competitors gathered for the safety briefing. There were two separate sets of tests; one for the challenge competition and one for the championship.

All the crews set out to compete on the their tests in group fashion, each test repeated four times. It was fantastic to see some new faces getting involved, including Malcolm Lyons in his newly built car.

 It was Liam Cashman who took the overall Challenge award, and Adam Lowry who took the overall Championship award.

The final placings from the day are as follows:

MI CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Driver                                         Total             Position

Adam Lowry                                593.7            1

Peter Grimes                              596.6            2

Guy Foster                                  630.6            3

Chris Grimes                               635.6            4

Jack Lowry                                 636.9            5

Damien Doran                             652.7            6

MI CHALLENGE RESULTS

Driver                     Class            Total             Position

Liam Cashman        E                  508.3            1

John Nolan             F1                520.4            2

Brian Kingston         F1                528.4            3

Anthony Freeney     C                  548.5            4       

John McAssey        F1                560.7            5

Damien Philips        D                  586.1            6

Patrick O Leary       B1                605.1            7

Colm Garahy          F1                610.7            8

Eric Conlan             F1                615.3            9

Don Giles                A                  618.3            10

Declan Burke          F2                654.9            11

Susan Smyth          B1                683.8            12

Keith Grant             J                  695.8            13

William Kelly           F1                742.3            14

Malcolm Lyons        C                  906.9            15

Deirdre Kelly           F1                924.5            16

Photo: Liam Cashman (Overall Challenge Winner), C.O.C Gerry Mc Loughlin and Adam Lowry (Overall Championship Winner)

There was also a special award given to two very deserving Birr Club members:

"The Spirit of the Event Award" was given to Ger Conroy and Pius Hennessy, for coming to John Mc Asseys rescue. When John broke down on the way to the event, the two hero's towed him to Garahys so that he could compete, fair play guys!

Ger Conroy & Pius Hennesey receiving their award from John Mc Assey with motorsport legend Ken Irwin

Huge thanks to the CoC, all the marshals, timekeepers, and observers for all their hard work, who, despite the rain showers did an excellent job. Thank you also to the officials, steward, secretary, results team, set up team, the Garahy family and the competitors who all put in such a mighty effort to make this day so successful and enjoyable for everyone. Best of luck to all the competitors in the next round.

And don't forget, Birr & District motor clubs next event is the Tom O'Reilly Memorial Car Treasure Hunt on the 4th August. We look forward to seeing you all there!