TOHILL NEARS IRISH RALLYCROSS TITLE WITH YET ANOTHER MONDELLO PARK VICTORY

Reigning Irish Rallycross champion Derek Tohill took a step closer to securing a sixth crown with victory in the penultimate round of the series at Mondello Park, but the British and European title-winner faced stiff opposition.

Year-long title-contender Declan Kelly missed the event due to transmission component supply issues, a legacy of the problems that had put him out of the previous round two weeks earlier, but another OMSE-built Ford Fiesta joined the fold, as Michael Leonard made a maiden appearance in a car bought from Swedish team Hedstroms Motorsport.

Tohill won the three heat sessions, but Leonard got progressively quicker through the day, leading the final heat race from Tohill in the opening stages, until taking his joker lap on the final tour.

In the Supercar final, Tohill led from the front, having squeezed Tommy Graham in the run to Turn 1, Graham ultimately finishing in second position.

Graham was again in an OMSE Fiesta sandwich in the run to Turn 1 in the SuperFinal, Leonard running wide but hanging onto Tohill’s coattails.

Graham dropped to fourth behind faststarting two-wheel-drive runner Peter McGarry and, with no joker lap at play in the SuperFinal, Graham had to work hard to regain a podium position by the finish, behind winner Tohill and Leonard.