DONNELLY TROPHY WIN FOR DAVID MCCULLOUGH
Sunshine and blue skies can be unusual at this time of year but Kirkistown had both for the traditional Martin Donnelly Trophy season-closer, and with all but one of its local championships undecided it was always going to be an exciting day.
Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Vee always excel at the Northern Ireland circuit, and both lived up to their reputations with all the races won by paper-thin margins.
The local FF1600 final rounds came ahead of the Martin Donnelly Trophy itself, and the first fell to season-long leader Matt Round-garrido and his Team Dolan-run Medina Sport JL17. He crossed the line clear – but only just – of David and Ivor Mccullough to clinch the title and secure the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout ticket. Will Herron placed fourth while Alan Davidson should have been in the mix but for a spin at Colonial which dropped him to 18th, although he did have the consolation of setting fastest lap.
Perhaps spurred on by this Davidson was in superb form for the second domestic race. In the mix at the start, he found himself spending several high intensity seconds regaining the track after being shuffled onto the grass at the ultra-fast Debtors Dip left hander to fall to eighth, but his comeback drive was mighty. He set another fastest lap en route to a win. There was no such luck for new champion Round-garrido though. A strong whack from the pursuing David Mccullough meant the Medina was left stranded with only one driveshaft in place. While Mccullough recovered to place fourth behind Davidson, Ivor Mccullough and a very on-form Herron, Round-garrido was left to console himself with the knowledge that his title was secure and he would be starting from pole in the Martin Donnelly Trophy Except he didn’t. The business of rebuilding the Medina’s rear-end took longer than expected meaning Round-garrido found himself in the unfamiliar role of spectator.
With the Medina absent from the pole slot, Noel Robinson found himself all on his own on the front row. However, the Mccullough brothers were very keen to keep him company and duly did, creating a three-way battle which lasted all the way to the finish with Robinson the meat in a Mccullough sandwich, the much improved David Mccullough taking the honours. For the full 21 minutes the trio stayed very close together, eventually passing the flag just 0.5s apart. Davidson might have been involved at the end but for a mechanical problem which meant he was stuck in third gear for the last few laps.
Defending MDT champion Kevin O’hara, who had earlier decided to miss both the Northern Irish rounds – in spite of qualifying on pole – in order to concentrate on the main race, found himself relegated to the back of the pack after a first lap misadventure dropped him down and eventually led to retirement.
Once again Formula Vee put on a great show, the first race developing into a four-car dogfight which lasted throughout the 12 laps. By the end it was Anthony Cross by 0.1s in front of Lee Newsome, Dan Polley and Gavin Buckley in very close attendance as just 0.5s covered all four.
The second encounter, with the Emerson Fittipaldi Trophy up for grabs, was a similarly intense encounter won by Polley, again by only by 0.1s, from Jimmy Furlong and Cross after 15 laps.
Not to be outdone, Andrew Armstrong and James Turkington put on an equally intense display of Saloons racing, with Armstrong’s BMW M3 just ahead of Turkington’s SEAT Leon at the finish of the first race. However, Turkington – who had clinched the title back in July – was absent from the second saloon race, heading instead for Brands Hatch to watch big brother Colin in BTCC action. This left Armstrong to win.
Among the feisty Ford Fiestas, Paul Stewart was a man on the move, taking the first of three races – the one held over from August – ahead of Ricky Hull and Eorann O’neill.
In the second, with a much larger entry, Brendan Fitzgerald took the top spot ahead of Malcolm Mckeown and Stewart. Mark Stewart won the third race ahead of Conor Mulholland as Hull was demoted to third, having been penalised one second for missing out the chicane in yet another race where the top four were covered by less than one second.
Jerome de Sadeleer took full advantage of dramas and success penalties for title contenders Steve Burgess and Dominik Jackson to take victory in the opening two races of the Radical Challenge Championship triple-header held at Rockingham’s final Motorsport Vision Racing-organised meeting.
Burgess and Jackson set the pace before the mandatory pitstops in race one and their enforced handicaps enabled reigning SR1 Cup champion de Sadeleer to grab a lead he would never lose. Burgess salvaged third behind Brian Caudwell despite struggling with a lack of pace. An additional five-second penalty for exceeding track limits left Jackson fifth.
De Sadeleer’s win in race two came after an incident-strewn contest. Two safety car periods had already disrupted the early part of the race before leader Burgess was spun into retirement by Jackson on the 10th tour. Jackson would later be penalised for his part in the collision in an event that would be brought to a premature end by a four-car shunt along Steel Straight.
Burgess was out of luck again in race three when differential problems forced him to retire while lying fourth. Conversely, Jackson made amends for his earlier frustrations by taking victory ahead of Mark Richards and de Sadeleer, setting up an intriguing title decider at Silverstone in a fortnight’s time.
The trio of F3 Cup encounters may have yielded only eight starters, but there was no shortage of drama. After being spun around at Yentwood on the opening lap of race one, championship leader Cian Carey’s recovery drive came to an abrupt end when an ambitious lunge on Shane Kelly at Deene resulted in contact, forcing both drivers into retirement. Former category champion Chris Dittmann, deputising for Phillip Jeans, scored a dominant win from pole.
Hywel Lloyd bounced back from an off in race one to take second behind Dittmann in the second contest before going one better with a lights-to-flag win in the finale ahead of Carey after Dittmann had slid wide at Deene on the opening lap.
Kyle Reid admitted he was overwhelmed after a win and a second place in the opening pair of Mini Cooper Challenge Pro/am contests secured him the title. Reid took second in race one behind first-time winner Toby Goodman before inheriting the second event spoils when student Goodman was handed a 10-second penalty for a jump start. Simon Walton was another driver to score his maiden triumph in the series after claiming the race three honours, while Goodman and Reid battled their way to second and third respectively. Two wins secured the Am class crown for Alex Nevill.
In the Cooper S ranks, Jono Davis bagged a hat-trick to ensure he ended the year with six straight wins. Daniel Butcher Lord impressed with a brace of seconds, while Will Fairclough banked the finishes he needed to guarantee the championship.
Recently crowned Lotus Cup UK & Elise Trophy champion Craig Denman powered to victory in the first event after poleman Joe Taylor tumbled down the order after an off at Yentwood. After fighting his way back to second, Taylor made no such error in race two, storming through to the front by Yentwood on lap one from ninth of the grid before taking victory ahead of Denman and Mackenzie Walker.
A faultless opening race performance was enough to guarantee the Production BMW Championship title for David Graves. After claiming the runner-up spot in the first contest, Will Davison recorded an untroubled success in race two ahead of Nigel Innes.