Siltex Safety Zetec Battle Goes Down to The Last round after Leinster Trophy Thriller

Sean McGovern and William Kellett both took 32 points away from the Leinster Trophy ICCR meeting  after two typically close and exciting races, leaving Mondello Park as joint championship leaders.
McGovern  it was who had snatched pole position in a rain soaked qualifying session. Jason O’Connell was next up with William Kellett and Peter Barrable on row two. Barrable was happy that he had traced his misfire issue on Friday’s test day but was concerned that it had reappeared late in qualifying. Mark O’Donoghue, driving Aidan Mulready’s car was on row three with a disappointed Dave Maguire in sixth. Kelsey Kirby was delighted to be seventh, continuing the progress she has showed in 2024.

As ever, the Rookies were close, with Mark Daly pipping series leader Toby Maguire to pole. Jordan Flanagan was third ahead of Michael Moynihan (in only his second race meeting) and Sam Doyle.
On a greasy track, it was Peter Barrable who matched revs to grip to perfection and he rocketed off the second row and down the outside of the front row occupants to grab the lead in his Airport School of Motoring car. With his misfire not completely gone though, he was powerless to stop McGovern driving by on the way to 7A, the poleman having got a good run through Lola corner. Kellett tried to follow him through but was a touch late on the brakes and went wide, the ensuing moment almost losing him the place to O’Connell.. At the end of the first lap the first three had made a slight break with Maguire beginning to harass O’Connell. Mark Daly led the Rookies, from Sam Doyle and Alex McCann.
Maguire managed to grab fourth at Turn Three with O’Donoghue right in the mix too. As Rookie Championship leader Toby Maguire, pulled off with gearbox issues, guest driver Danny Mullins was beginning to make good progress on the drier track.
Eduardo Gonzaga had been going well but when the rear let go at the first apex of Turn three, there was nothing he could do to stop the Levin car parking in the gravel trap, meaning the Safety Car would be sent out to slow the pack until he was towed clear. When the BMW M2 Safety Car pulled in, the first four crossed the line as one and suddenly Maguire was back in the game. Barrable tried to grab the lead at turn three but as the door closed me clipped the rear of McGovern. Barrable backed out and unsurprisingly McGovern held on to the ensuing moment without losing his lead. Just as it looked like we were in for a typical Zetec cracker, Mick Kehoe got his immaculate Donegan Auto Services out of shape at Birrane’s Bends. He initially appeared to catch it, but when it flicked back the other way, he couldn’t avoid the gravel trap, where the car dug in and rolled, albeit gently. This meant an immediate red flag and with just over a minute to run, a result was declared, giving McGovern the win from Barrable, with Kellett having held off Maguire for third. O’Connell and O’Donoghue were fifth and sixth respectively, with Mark Daly taking the Rookie honours from Sam Doyle and Danny Mullins, who had made great progress on his first race weekend.

As Neil Murphy led the pack around the formation lap for race two, in his Siltex Safety Zetec “Safety Van”, the track was almost completely dry.
Mark O’Donoghue, having come home sixth in race one, started from pole and he made no mistakes to lead the capacity pack down to Castrol for the opening time. William Kellett had also made a cracker and sat around the outside of O’Connell to grab second as they rounded Campion Corner. As they exited Lola for the first time, Kellett used the tighter line to get up the inside of the leader and gradually eased past as they came down into 7A. Right behind them, O’Connell found himself dive bombed by the red cars of Maguire and Barrable, with both somehow managing to scramble by. As O’Connell fought back into Birrane’s Bends, an opportunistic McGovern sliced down the inside of both.

Maguire, no doubt mindful of the title positions, was on a charge and, after a brief excursion at Nordic Spirit Corner, got the head down and began to close down the two leaders.  As soon as he was with them, he launched a decisive move down the inside of O’Donoghue to take second into 7A and almost immediately was right with the DMC Consultancy car of Kellett.

McGovern, meanwhile, was also on a charge, getting down the inside of O’Donoghue into 7A, which was fast becoming THE place to make moves in this race! This drove them both wide though and Peter Barrable, who was close behind,  was never going to need a written invitation to slice up the inside of both before 7B! Three, as everyone knows, doesn’t go into two and the unfortunate O’Donoghue found himself being sent wide, with Alan Dawson then taking another place from him on the run up to Birrane’s Bends. Just behind this group, Kelsey Kirby’s “Chocolate Garden of Ireland” car was leading Andy Kavanagh’s moreMILES machine and the Mondello Park team building car of class returnee Darren Lawlor. Next up, and leading the Rookies, was Sam Doyle, from the immaculate car of Keith Lenihan.

 

Kellett, meanwhile, was composed up front and try as he might, Maguire just couldn’t find a way past. At the flag, an ecstatic Kellett took the flag, a maximum points haul and of course added his name to the prestigious Dunlop Cup! Maguire was next up with Barrable having closed up to them both towards the end. Next up was McGovern, from Dawson, O’Connell, O’Donoghue and a delighted Kelsey Kirby, continuing her recent run of top ten finishes. Andy Kavanagh was ninth and Darren Lawler rounded out the top ten.
Sam Doyle took Rookie Honours from Mark Daly, with Danny Mullins just taking the final podium position after a drag race to the line with Adam O’Mahony!

Images from Cregor Elliott

The final two rounds of the 2024 Siltex Safety Fiesta Zetec Championship take place at Mondello Park on October 20th. It is a one day meeting and both Zetec titles will be decided on the day. Get your tickets HERE.