Carey’s the BOSS as past master Faherty also shines
A tactical masterstroke amid wet weather proved key to 2013 champion Fergus Faherty triumphing in the BOSS Ireland opener at Mondello Park last weekend, while race-two victory handed Cian Carey the 2020 title.
All of the cars headed to the pitlane for rain tyres when the red flags flew on the warm-up lap to signify a wet race. But, upon the start, Faherty dived for the pitlane a second time to return his Formula 3 Dallara to slicks. His choice didn’t look good early on as he lost chunks of time but, when the track eventually dried, he hauled the leaders in at three to four seconds per lap.
He reached the battling duo of Michael Roche and Sylvie Mullins in the closing stages. Having passed Mullins, he didn’t attempt too hard to breach the stout defences of Roche, who had received a 10-second jumped-start penalty, relegating him to third and giving Faherty a superb tactical win. Carey won race two easily in his Dallara F317 from Roche and
Faherty to clinch the title, with rival
Paul O’connell sidelined by a fuel-rail issue with his Dallara after qualifying.
Alex Denning drove superbly in the
Fiesta ST opener to avoid the panel bashing and ease away to yet another win. In his wake, Kevin Doran and polesitter Michael Cullen really went at it for the runner-up spot, with officials harshly excluding Doran for his aggression, promoting Dave Maguire. This left Doran starting last for race two and, with the blood up, he charged to third, smashing the lap record in the process. Having severely damaged his car two weeks ago, Graham Mcdonnell was delighted to win in his hastily rebuilt machine.
Honours were also split in the Zetec category as James Fleming won the opener from 2019 champion William Kellett, with Kellett’s father Alastair clinching the championship by completing the podium. The second race was a fraught affair, with poleman Andy Kavanagh holding on to win despite early pressure, as Michael Barrable was on a charge from eighth on the grid to finish runner-up.
There was no disputing who was the king of the Stryker competitors as Michael Cullen dominated proceedings on a wet track in the opener. As cars flew off in all directions, Cullen crossed the line well ahead of the battling duo of Adrian Deasy and Dominic Ryan. He was even more dominant in race two, breaking the class lap record to boot. The overall winner of both races was Shane Murphy from the
poorly supported SEAT Supercup class.
Jack Byrne took a well-earned Formula Vee win from pole, despite massive pressure from an impressive Jordan Kelly, with Philip Sheane snatching third from Gavin Buckley in the closing stages.
Another, unrelated, Jack Byrne took the opening Ginetta Junior race when early leader Karl O’brien spun at Turn 3. Race two was a processional affair until the final lap when O’brien piled the pressure on Byrne, getting up the inside out of the final corner, with Byrne hanging on for the double by three hundredths of a second.
Rob Barrable charged up from a lowly grid position to shadow the leading duo of his brother Peter and Geoff Richardson in the first Legends race. When they slid wide in unison at Turn 1, he drove by to a popular maiden class victory. In race two, Richardson just denied Barrable a double win on the drag race to the line, before Jamie Moylan triumphed in the finale.