Irvine breaks Richardson’s winning streak as Patch MINIs entertain at Mondello Park

POB Racing’s Leo Richardson was understandably confident ahead of qualifying for rounds 5&6 of the Patch Tyre Equipment Junior MINI Challenge. Having won every round thus far, he had a strong lead in the title standings.

When the chequered flag waved to signal the end of qualifying though, it was Kyle Irvine’s name at the top of the timesheets, with Richardson in second, just two tenths off.  Logan Hoey, Jayden McBrearty and TJ Taaffe were third, fourth and fifth respectively, and all three posted times within a tenth of Richardson, indicating that we were in for another exciting afternoon of Junior Tin Top racing at Mondello Park.

The Patch liveried cars made for a formidable sight as they lined up for Race One with See It Live getting a great drone shot of the biggest grid ever in the class as they got ready to go for Race One. When the lights changed, Irvine got a great start, but alongside him, Richardson stalled and the capacity grid had to take avoiding action. By the time the cars from the back of the grid got to the stricken car, they had already picked up plenty of speed though and as Alex Watkins jinked right, he made light contact with Travis Mawhinny. This unsettled the rear of Mawhinny’s car and he veered across the track and collected the hapless Megan Daly, before making contact with the bank.

Understandably, the red flags were out immediately and the grid made their way around the International Circuit to gird up for a second time.  This gave series leader Richardson a second bite of the cherry as he was able to reassume his position on the front row. Irvine led down into Castrol for the first time but Richardson was late on the brakes and his Mount Merrion Cars machine sat round the outside of the leader, giving him the inside line for Campion Corner, where he reassumed his usual position at the front of the pack.  Hoey had made a great start too and was in a solid third. McBrearty was fourth until a well timed move from Taaffe stole the place away at the second part of Turn Three.  then it was Fildes, Finnegan, Phayres, Heapes, Joe Richardson and all the rest.

McBrearty got down the inside of Taaffe to take the place back into Bridgestone and a great exit saw him alongside Hoey for third as they climbed the hill up to Lola for the first time. In a move that lasted, door to door, all the way from Lola to Birrane’s Bends, McBrearty finally usurped Hoey, with Taaffe and Fildes all over the back of both of them as a result.  All this meant that Richardson had made a break from everyone, except Irvine who was glued to his back bumper as they completed the opening lap.

As McBrearty got the head down in  his The Stables Motorsport Centre backed car, he began to reel in the lead duo, lapping within a few tenths of the lap record in the process. Within two laps, the lead pair became three and McBrearty didn’t waste any time. A dive down the inside  into 7A sent Irvine wide as he gave racing toom and as they came back up the hill, McBrearty was second.  Taaffe, Hoey and Fildes were staying in touch with the leaders despite the fact that they were scrapping hard too.

Further back, there was a great battle between Daniel Heapes and Harry Phayres, with the duo swapping places regularly, the live stream capturing it all from the drone, giving great entertainment.  Finnegan was starting to fly and as the pair did almost an entire lap side by side, he eased up behind them and split them with a dive into Southside Motor Factors.

Back at the front Richardson and McBrearty were visibly pushing in the closing stages but they were so closely matched that the gap remained static. At the flag then, it was Richardson to make it an incredible five in a row, from McBrearty, Irvine, Taaffe, Fildes, Hoey, Phayres, Heapes, Joe Richardson and Martin Finnegan.

Race two promised to be equally interesting and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Irvine made a super start from pole to shade Richardson as they went under the Alfa Romeo bridge but Hoey, from the outside of row two, had made a blinder and was drawing level as they approached Castrol. He braked as late as he could and got around the outside of Richardson, slotting into second as they went through Campion. McBrearty had also made a good start and was alongside the series leader on the way to Turn Three. On the exit of three it became obvious Richardson was in trouble and by the time they got to Bridgestone, he was falling down the pack.  Irvine , meanwhile, was unable to shake off the attentions of Hoey, with McBrearty, Taaffe and Fildes all on the lead train too.

As the race progressed, Hoey came under attack from McBrearty, which allowed Irvine to begin to ease away. Perhaps mindful of this, McBrearty lunged down the inside for second into 7A. Hoey gave him racing room but went back at him as they climbed the hill up to BIrrane’s Bends. Predictably, this closed up the whole train and allowed Irvine to increase his lead to just over two seconds.  Hoey almost got it back with a dive down the inside into Castrol but couldn’t quite make it stick on the exit. Fildes, meanwhile, had got by Taaffe and was holding a watching brief on the battle. McBrearty got into a groove and began to chip away at the gap to the leader. A succession of fastest laps brought him right onto the bumper of the leader on the final lap but Irvine stayed calm and unrattled to hold on for a very impressive win. Hoey was third, just holding off a late race challenge from Taaffe, who had displaced Fildes in the closing stages. Joe Richardson, Martin Finnegan, Nathan Sweeney, Mawhinny, Phayres, Harry Dowling, Leah McManus, Alex Watkins and Ryan Donnelly who was enjoying his first car race, and improved all day long.

 

If you would like more information or are thinking of joining the Patch Tyre Equipment Junior MINI Challenge, Click this link: Junior Mini Challenge – Irish Championship Circuit Racing

Images from Marc Quinlivan Photography.