Motormouth’s Mutterings- Global Recovery- no, its not about economics!

The Global GT Lights were always a favourite at Mondello Park in years gone by. Equally matched, fast and they always had close races. As is often the case, politics intervened and the class began to only race out of the country, before all but grinding to a halt in recent times. Happily, now under new management, the class is very much back and raced at the Mondello April ICCR meeting for the first time in many years.

Peter “Max” Drennan has always been the marker in the class, the one we use to judge others by and he was one of only a few able to handle the influx of fast Ginetta drivers a few years back. He now owns the business that runs the class and is already in the process or ordering a stock of spare parts, new bodywork etc. The cars are wearing  a classy sticker pack, with the “headlights” greatly enhancing the look of the machines. A new title sponsor, BAHA Irish Whiskey, was attracted and new drivers showed interest in joining the class almost immediately.

The official return of the series to the Kildare venue was at the ICCR opener, back in April. Cameron Fenton took pole position, but only by a fraction, from Jack Finlay and ITCC/Fiesta Zetec driver Ulick Burke. Burke, after a last minute deal to drive , was frantically replacing  various parts all morning, helped by the class organisers as he chased the cause of a misfire. Drennan was fourth, from Charlie Linnane and Richard Finlay. The first four  were all covered by a tenth of a second, promising some great racing ahead. In the event, Linnane, having got out of shape at the Esses, was collected by Burke, with the Red Flags coming out to clear the stricken cars.

At the restart, Fenton made no mistakes to lead away and, despite the best efforts of Drennan, took the chequered flag for a great win. Drennan was right on his tail, with Richard Finlay completing the podium. Conor May was next up, from Pat Murphy and John Murphy. More frantic work saw Burke’s car making the grid for race two, albeit wearing bodywork from two different cars. As he was about to show though, it didn’t hamper the car’s performance at all!  Fenton, Drennan, Finlay and Burke battled mightily until Fenton retired on lap nine with mechanical issues.  At the flag, it was Drennan, from Jack Finlay and Burke.

The class returned to Mondello for the second ICCR round and series leader Fenton gambled by heading out in qualifying on slicks. The track was drying but, not enough, so Drennan it was who took the all important pole position from Jack Finlay, James Thompson and Charlie Linnane. with the track fully dry for race one, Cameron, on fresh rubber,  charged through from sixth to take the win and the fastest lap.  Finlay was second with Drennan completing the podium. In race two,  Fenton won again, this time by even more, and his fastest lap of 58.1 was over half a second clear of anyone else. Drennan and Finlay once again joined him on the podium.

So impressed was Burke with the little 600cc machines, that he purchased one in the UK, has already rebuilt it and, after an incredible wrap from Keith Rabbitt’s Wrapco company, made the grid last weekend at Kirkistown. Despite learning setups etc, he showed strong pace and will surely be chasing trophies when the class returns to Mondello in September.

ITCC driver Cathal Ward has also purchased a Global, or the makings of one, and he will be on the grid once he gets it rebuilt. Nicole Drought, who has been most of her racing in the UK in recent times, also now plans to join the series. Ulick Burke and the Tyre Brigade team had done some work on the car and when work constraints prevented her from getting to Kirkistown, double Formula Opel champion Donal Loughrey dusted off the overalls and had a go in Thursday testing, coming away very impressed with the cars.

 

Fenton it was once again who set the pace in Kirkistown at the weekend, topping the times from the moment the Globals went on track for testing on Thursday. Unsurprisingly, he took pole position, and was first across the line in the opening race. An impressive Jack Finlay all but matched him though and was just over two seconds behind at the flag, with his fastest lap just a few tenths off that of the winner. Richard Finlay completed the podium. Charlie Linnane was fourth from Joe Christian and Pat Murphy.  Having retired from the qualifying session with a broken gear lever, Ulick Burke had charged to third before spinning out and being collected by Max Drennan.

Race two was a close affair with Jack Finlay piling the pressure on the Fenton Fires machine for the duration. On a number of occasions Finlay used the slipstream to get alongside, and even ahead, of the leader on the run to the hairpin, but each time Fenton was late enough on the brakes to snatch it back. Drennan had run right with the leading duo before a nasty off on the exit of the chicane, with his car making contact with the armco barrier and bouncing back out on the track again. Luckily he was fine, but nobody would have expected the Golfmech driver to be heading South on Sunday evening with no championship points in the bag. The race finished under the safety car so it was a double for Cameron Fenton, from Jack Finlay and Richard Finlay again.

Two more maximum scores give the Greystones driver a healthy championship lead, but there are a number of others keen to take the top step on the podium in 2023, so expect some mighty battles at the front when the resurgent championship returns to the Mondello Park International layout for the Leinster Trophy in September.