White and McMullen take the spoils as Alloy Repair Centre ST Title Contenders Falter

Since Roy White tested Victor Cullen’s ST at the start of last season and some pictures of him were posted of him tackling Campion Corner at the end of the rack in decidedly damp conditions, the ex rally champion’s car control and wet weather prowness have never been in question.
At the recent Mondello Park ICCR meeting, the stars aligned. Despite a fine weather forecast, competitors arrived at a rain soaked Mondello, with quite a bit of fog and no sign of conditions getting any better before qualifying. Step forward Mr White. His Murray Motorsport/Arbelos car was, perhaps unsurprisingly, on pole for most of the session and more of a surprise was his fellow front row occupant. John Elliffe sold his ST at the end of 2023 in order to build a brand new car. By his own admission, he has struggled with setup on the new car and wasn’t happy with it so far the season. A little birdie told me that the car may have visited LOH Motorsport in the weeks preceeding the Leinster Trophy meeting and we can assume by John’s pace that they found and eliminated the problem. He was a delighted P2. First of the title contenders was Victor Cullen in third with Michael languishing down in an unaccustomed sixth. Bobby Turley was fourth with Tim McQuaid fifth. New additions to the grid for this round were Jack Conachy and Derek Graham and both went well in qualifying on their class debut.
Unfortunately a tyre log paperwork issue meant that series leader Ross Barnes was relegated to the back of the grid, giving him plenty of work to do in the opening race.

Conditions had improved for race one but the track was still far from dry when the Alloy Wheel Repair ST competitors lined up on the grid. White made a great launch and was matched inch for inch by Elliffe, the pair’s getaway aided by the two Beacon Hospital cars getting tangled at Campion Corner. As the pack approached 7A for the first time, it was the leader who had to judge the braking area and unfortunately it was not as grippy as he had anticipated. He slid slightly wide and in a flash Elliffe was through. White was immediately back on the attack though and a good run through Lola the following lap gave him the run he needed to slice past and regain the lead into 7A. All this allowed the LOH/Beacon duo to close right up again with Victor defending heavily from Michael. Impressive newbie Derek Graham was right with them and matching the leader’s pace too. Then it was McMullen, McQuaid, Brendan Fitzgerald and Conachy. Unfortunately Michael Cullen slowed suddenly with gearbox issues, heading for the paddock in the hope of changing it ahead of race two.

As White began to ease away out front, Victor in third came under pressure from Derek Graham who didn’t look anything like an ST newbie on his first outing in his newly built car. Darragh McMullen was also in close attendance with Tim McQuaid holding station just behind.
At the flag then, it was a delighted Roy White who took his first win, with an equally happy Elliffe in second. Victor had gone uber defensive on the final tour and so he led a train of STs across the line to take the final podium place.

As ever, the top six were reversed for the second race and that put McQuaid on pole position with McMullen alongside. McQuaid made a great start but was matched inch for inch by McMullen, who went in later on the brakes into Castrol and turned across the bows of the pole man.

After a little elbowing, the pair ran side by side on the exit, with McMullen emerging in the lead. This delayed them both slightly though and Graham got a great run, momentarily considering a run around the outside of them both at Campion Corner. He thought the better of it though and tucked in behind as the pack streamed down to Turn Three for the first time.
As they came back into view coming up the hill towards the main arena, Michael Cullen had already claimed five scalps in his rush to get back to the sharp end By the end of the opening lap, McMullen had a healthy lead with McQuaid, under pressure from Graham who had Victor Cullen on his bumper. Elliffe was next up but was only to get as far as Castrol before a territorial dispute with Barnes saw him sent off into the kitty litter. He managed to extract himself but was right at the back as they headed through Campion Corner for the second time.
At the end of that lap, Graham got the switchback on McQuaid coming out of Southside and got the job done on the brakes into Castrol to move up to second. A few lengths back, Victor was holding off Barnes, Fitzgerald and Grimes Jr, who almost did them all at Turn Three with a Senna-esque run around the outside!
A late lunge from Barnes saw him displace Victor on the International loop, with Fitzgerald following him through and, as this happened, Michael Cullen appeared in the train, having somehow passed eleven cars in two laps. The two Beacon cars ran down the main straight door to door and as they rounded Castrol, incredibly, Michael’s car slowed, for the second time that day, with gearbox issues.
Graham set fastest lap as he closed up to the rear of McMullen out front. McQuaid was a lonely third, well ahead of Barnes, Fitzgerald and Grimes Jr, while Jack Conachy was next up, having sliced by Farrar into 7A. Graham piled the pressure onto the leader, getting alongside on occasion, but McMullen’s staunch defences were not to be breached. McQuaid closed the duo down as they went to battle and all three crossed the line together, McMullen with the lights ablaze, delighted to be the latest winner of the Leinster Motor Club’s O’Reilly Trophy.

The Alloy Repair Centre Fiesta ST Championship returns to Mondello Park for the final ICCR meeting of 2024 on October 20th, when the Championship will be decided. Don’t miss it!

Images from Cregor Elliott/LNP