Alex Dunne adds the coveted “O” Plate to his IRL win.

9 year old Alex Dunne took another important win at the weekend when he clinched the “O” Plate Cadet kart final at Watergrasshill in County Cork.
Running his “IRL” plate, which he won in June this year, Alex was one of the quickest drivers during Saturday testing, on a dry circuit. Race day on Sunday, however, was wet and Alex had never driven the Watergrasshill circuit in these conditions.  During the heats, Alex and father Noel worked hard to improve the crucial setup and by the prefinal, which in karting dictates the all important grid position for the final, Alex was happy with the kart. Despite an off track excursion, when he was hit by another competitor, he recovered to sixth, but crucially, he also had the fastest lap.
Starting fourth in the final, Alex was in the lead by lap three and got the head down to open a gap to his fellow competitors, which he held all the way to the chequered flag to claim his second big win of the year.
The O Plate is a winner takes all meeting which is held once a year and the winner is then entitled to run the “O” (denoting the Irish Open Champion) as their number until the event runs again the following year.  Alex’s next race is this coming weekend at Nutts Corner before he goes to the UK to take on some of the best karters in the world at the PF International Circuit in Lincolnshire.  The only question is, will he choose to run his IRL Plate or his O Plate?

About Alex Dunne:
Alex Dunne from Dublin, but living in Clonbullogue in Offaly, is a 9 year old karter. Son of FF1600 ace Noel, he is the third generation of his family to compete in Irish Motorsport. He has progressed strongly in 2015, having competed in Ireland and the UK, winning the IRL Plate, at Tynagh in Galway in June and going on to win the O Plate in Cork in September. Alex is supported in 2015 by Pony Express. Pony Express was launched in Dublin in 1977. Since then it has grown to become one of the largest companies in terms of the provision of motor cycle courier and van services to the greater Dublin area.Pony Express is a fully computerised operation ‘from orders to billing’.
Currently Pony Express employ 60 internal office staff and have in excess of 250 motorcycles, and vans on the road.

Main image from Marc Quinlivan.

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