ST Season ends in style at Mondello Park with wins for White and McQuaid!

Newly crowned Alloy Repair Centre Fiesta ST Champion David Maguire elected to sit out the final two rounds of the series, instead racing a SEAT Supercup at the final TengTools ICCR race meeting of the 2025 season.

The rain came ahead of qualifying, and all eyes were on ST Rainmeister Roy White but when the chequered flag fell, it was another wet weather specialist at the top of the timesheets. Tim McQuaid had already taken a win in wet conditions, so it wasn’t s a surprise to see his BYD Galway/Lewis Motors car snatch the coveted pole position. A great effort from newly recruited Murray Motorsport driver Charlie McKillen meant he would join McQuaid on the front row. John Elliffe was happy in his recently acquired ex Darragh McMullen car and he was third with Roy White in fourth. Then it was Kirkistown winner Derek Graham and 2024 Champion Ross Barnes, who was driving the ex Marcus Hayes car this time round.  Bobby Turley was next up, just ahead of the “Ballybunion Bullet” Adam O’Mahony who was really beginning to get into his stride, having moved up from Zetecs this season.

As the 160bhp machines streamed out of assembly for race one, there was no sign of rain abating. McKillen appeared to get the jump when the lights went out but then lit up the fronts and was outdragged by everyone as they went under the Alfa Romeo Bridge. White managed revs and grip to perfection and it was he who led down into Castrol for the first time. Elliffe had also made a cracker and he had also got ahead of poleman McQuaid on the run to the first corner. Things went from bad to worse for McKillen, as the rear of his car stepped out as he turned in.

He managed to avoid the kitty litter and hung onto it but this dropped him even further into the pack.  Derek Graham had a massive moment through Campion, which he held beautifully, but the loss of momentum meant Barnes sailed by on the way to Turn Three. Graham was back down the inside when they got there though and it was he who arrived back into the main arena in fourth.  At the end of a hectic opening lap then, it was White, with a healthy lead, from Elliffe and McQuaid, a small gap to Graham and Barnes, then Trevor Farrar, McKillen,  O’Mahony and Michael Graham. As Barnes shuffled by Graham, the Alfa Junior Safety Car was despatched as Bobby Turley had parked in the gravel down at Castrol.

Despite protracted efforts from the Rescue Team, the Pannonia Car was well an truly dug in and eventually the race was stopped and the Teleporter despatched from the pitlane to recover it.  Once it was safely back in the paddock, the Clerk of the Course elected to do a Safety Car restart. This is where the SC leads the cars away from the grid in single file and then peels off into the pitlane, meaning the race effectively resumes without the need to re-grid or have a green flag lap etc.

Predictably, White did it all perfectly at the restart, getting great traction out of Southside to cross the line a few lengths clear of Elliffe, McQuaid, Barnes, Graham,  McKilllen, Farrar, Michael Graham, and O’Mahony. McKillen was on the attack and trying everything to get by the tail happy machine of Derek Graham for fifth. He got alongside a couple of times on the run to Turn Three, but Graham managed to contain it, just!

A run around the outside on Southside meant the pair ran the length of the Birrane Straight door to door and McKillen made it stick around the outside of Castrol to finally take the place.

At the flag then it was White, with a good advantage over Elliffe, who just held off McQuaid after a great scrap, with Barnes right there in fourth. McKillen, having disposed of Graham, set fastest lap as he closed down this trio but had to be content with fifth. Then it was Derek Graham, Adam O’Mahony, Trevor Farrar, Michael Graham, Owen Cullen and Seamus Kelly, the rally man making his motor racing debut in horrendous conditions.

All of this meant that Derek Graham would start of pole for Race Two, with McKillen alongside. Barnes and McQuaid shared row two, with Elliffe and White back on the third row. In between races, the sun had made an appearance and happily, the Mondello Park National circuit was pretty much fully dry as the 16 cars lined up on the grid.  Graham made an absolute cracker of a start as poor McKillen, for the second time that day, was swamped by the pack. McQuaid was second, from Barnes, White, Farrar, Elliffe, McKillen, O’Mahony and Michael Graham.

With his self run machine visibly more stable than it had been in race one, the Northern Ireland driver was pushing hard to get away on the opening lap,  a mistake by McQuaid at Turn Three on the opening lap helping his cause. Into Southside for the first time, White sliced down the inside of Barnes for third but Farrar, running right with them, couldn’t get stopped and the resultant hit sent White around. He recovered  but lost a number of places in the process. Next time round, the leader was off! The red machine couldn’t get stopped for the second part of Turn Three and although he managed to get back on track, he had dropped to eighth!

O’Mahony was about to uncork a superb drive, the young Kerry driver having climbed to sixth in his LOH Motorsport car and was piling the pressure on Barnes. A drve down the inside got the job done and the Zetec graduate was up a place, Barnes got it back into the Esses though and Derek Graham managed to get by both of them as he sought to salvage a points haul, having led the race early on.

Out front, McQuaid was driving superbly, setting fastest lap as he eased away from the rest. Farrar running well in second before he became the next victim of the surprisingly slippery Turn Three, allowing Farrar into second and the recovering Graham up to third. After a few efforts, White got the nose of his Arbelos machine up the insde of the John Hayes Cars car of Barnes out of Southside and he finished the job on the brakes into Castrol! O’Mahony, having been bundled back into the pack earlier, was on a mighty charge and he had cruised up to this pair, even having a look to try and follow White though. Just as it looked like the job was done, White ran wide at, you’ve guessed it, Turn Three! This allowed Barnes back ahead and he only just managed to rebuff O’Mahony, with Michael Graham not far away either.

Derek Graham had closed right up to Elliffe but a massive slide mid Turn Three cost him a few lengths. As they started the final lap, Turley slid off at Southside but all eyes were on the battle for fourth.  At the line then it was McQuaid for an impressive win, with Elliffe only just holding off Graham in a drag race to the line with  Barnes taking fourth adetr a great race. He was shadowed across the line by White, O’Mahony, Michael Graham. Then it was Farrar, Chris Jones and Owen Cullen, the class sponsor delighted with a top ten finish despite running a borrowed gearbox with no limited slip differential.

Unfortunately, having made good progress, newbie Matthew Devereux had a major engine failure on the run up from Turn Three and didn’t make the flag. Rally convert Seamus Kelly also made good progress on his first day out in the ex Gordon Kellett car, and was already making plans for 2026!

After a superb season, David Maguire was on hand to receive congratulations on the podium as the 2025 champion. Roy White was runner up in the title chase, only just, from Derek Graham. It is definitely closing up though and with two cars recently landing with new owners for 2026, things are looking bright for the 2.0 one make series. The prizegiving will be at the official ICCR Night of Champions at Lawlors Hotel in Naas on January 17.

Images from Cregor Elliott