The Fiesta ST class, backed by West Dublin based Alloy Repair Centre may not have the huge grids of the smaller Zetec class, but the arrival of a number of new drivers have swelled the 2.0 hatchbacks numbers to around the 20 mark, making it bigger than most other classes out there.
Charlie McKillen bought the ex Roy White car over the winter and has been setting the pace in the early part of the season. It was he who topped the timesheets when the chequered flag waved to signal the end of qualifying, but only just! Derek Graham, sporting new backing from GT Gasworks, was a mere .013 behind with the BYD Galway/Lewis Motors car of Tim McQuaid just another .1 off! Having reshelled his car over the winter, Trevor Farrar was flying and would start alongside McQuaid on row two. Michael Graham was fifth and had the impressive Daniel McDonald for company on the third row.
John Elliffe and Chris Jones were next up, from Jonathan Kirwan in the the beautifully turned out Gino’s ice cream car (above) with Oran King rounding out the top ten. Adam O’Mahony only managed three laps in qualifying and would start right at the back, meaning the Ballybunion Bullet, as he is known, had a lot of work to go.
Just before the grid headed to assembly, the heavens opened and it was a decidedly damp track that greeted them as they subsequently left the pitlane. McQuaid in particular, must have fancied his chances when he saw this, the championship leader having already carved out a reputation as a rain master in these cars. When the lights went out, Graham made a great start and immediately chopped across the bows of McKillen, with McQuaid following him through as well. Farrar’s partsforcars.ie car had also rocketed away and was challenging McQuaid for second as the pack came into Castrol Corner for the first time. He actually managed to get ahead just before the apex but light contact from McQuaid was enough to send him slightly out of shape and cost him time. Chris Jones was also challenging McKillen and ITCC refugee McDonald was in the mix too. McKillen composed himself though and, having swept around the outside of Farrar at Campion, was on McQuaid’s tail as they came back towards the main arena. As they approached Bridgestone though, things were about to get a lot worse for the poleman. The off camber corner was greasy and it caught him out, the resultant moment landing him in the kitty litter. He used his head though and managed to get the Tradebid car back onto the tarmac but the pack was long gone.
Up front, Graham was holding McQuaid at arms length, the pair having opened a gap to Farrar, with Michael Graham next up ahead of McDonald. O’Mahony, as predicted was on a massive charge and after just one lap was already up to ninth! McQuaid though, soon showed his usual wet weather form and closed right in on the leader. With the rain not abating, there were some great displays of car control through the field as every pushed as hard as they dared. Farrar was going nicely in third and matching the leaders for pace, from Michael Graham, McDonald and John Elliffe. When Graham Jr got sideways at Southside, he held it well but was delayed enough to allow the flying pair of McDonald and Elliffe through. Next up, incredibly, with the headlights ablaze, was O’Mahony! Up front, McQuaid was starting to give Graham the workover but the Northern Ireland driver, typically, remained unruffled. McKillen meanwhile, set a succession of fastest laps and he tried to catch the pack after his earlier indiscretion.
Elliffe was using his head and tracking McDonald without making him defend and this resulted in them both closing down on Farrar. Just when they got to him, Farrar got sideways at Campion and, although he hung onto it, it slowed him enough for McDonald to breeze by on the way to Turn Three. Elliffe tried to get past also, but Farrar was having none of it, until the end of the Birrane Straight where he untypically locked up and slid into the gravel. With his car right in the firing line, the red flag and chequered flag flew together to end the race.
Graham it was then, who took yet another Mondello Park win, from McQuaid and the incredibly impressive McDonald, in only his second race meeting in a Fiesta ST. Elliffe was fourth and , incredibly, O’Mahony was fifth, having started right at the back! Michael Graham was next up from Oran Graham, Chris Jones, Jonathan Kirwan and Matthew Devereux. then it was Pauric McGinley, Christopher Grimes, Charlie McKillen (who set fastest lap), Jason McGeehan and David Deery.
Thankfully Race Two was a far drier affair and with the top six finishers from Race One being reversed to form the front of the grid, it was Michael Graham who would start from pole. He had a danger man alongside however, as by virtue of his race one charge, O’Mahony would start P2. Elliffe and McDonald were on row two, from McQuaid and Derek Graham. Oran King and Chris Jones were on row four, ahead of Jonathan Kirwan and Matthew Devereux. In the absence of Seamus Kelly, Pauric McGinley was the first of the Donegal based Kelly Motorsport squad, from Christopher Grimes and Charlie McKillen who undoubted had plans to charge towards the front in an effort to minimise damage to his title aspirations. Then it was David Deery Trevor Farrar and Niall Nolan.
Michael Graham made a great start to lead the pack away, with O’Mahony moving across to tuck in hehind him. Elliffe was third fromMcDonald who already had Derek Graham, who had beaten McQuaid off the line, breathng his neck. McQuaid wasn’t done though slicing down the inisde at southside to take fifth place back. Predictably McKillen was on a charge from the off and was ninth by the end of the opening lap, moving to eighth with a lunge down the inside of Oran King at Turn Three. At the same time, McQuaid had a go at McDonald down the inside of the same corner. Perhaps a touch optimistic, the move didn’t come off and the resultant damage meant McQuaid was out on the spot. Derek Graham closed up on McDonald and managed to get down the inside to take fourth at Southside. All this inside the first two laps.
Michael Graham was looking good out front, setting fastest lap early on, but disaster was to strike as his car ground to a halt on the exit of Castrol, leaving him no choice but to stand by and watch from the sidelines.
This left O’Mahony leading from Elliffe, Graham, McDoanald, and this train already had McKillen on the back! Graham replicated his move at Southside to take second away from Elliffe.There followed a territorial dispute on the straight when McKillen, having effected the switchback on McDonald coming onto the main straight, found himself getting the big squeeze. Contact was made but thankfully they separated and what could have been a big one was avoided. O’Mahony was right on the limit and, obviously keen to score his first win, was visibly trying but the experienced Graham, headlights ablaze, kept closing the gap. At Turn Three, the leader didn’t quite get to the second apex and this allowed Graham to get alongside on the way up the hill. Door to door the pair approached the Esses and Graham just managed to get around the outside far enough to have the line into Nordic Spirit, taking the lead on the exit. 
O’Mahony wasn’t finished just yet though and had a look into Southside, forcing Graham to defend. He then switched to the inside on the exit and got enough of a run to grab the lead back as they crossed the line. Elliffe meanwhile, was defending well from McKillen who was climbing all over him to try and take the final podium place. Graham managed to wrest the lead back at Campion and now it was O’Mahony’s turn to pile the pressure on, with Graham having to defend. In the closing stages, Graham managed to ease away a little bit and O’Mahony, his tyres best their best, was hauled in by the charging McKillen, who had displaced Elliffe with a slightly physical move into the Esses. McDonald managed to slice by the unsettled Elliffe one corner later.
So it was GroundHog Day for Derek Graham as the chequered flag waved and as the Graham family pointed the truck for the North on Sunday evening, they did so with two winners trophies and the title lead onboard! O’Mahony was second with Charlie McKillen third.
All this means that Derek Graham moves to the top of the standings, with Tim McQuaid, despite his DNF, still very much in touch. Charlie McKillen is still third, from Michael Graham and Daniel McDonald. O’Mahony is sixth from the much improved Chris Jones, Trevor Farrar, Matthew Devereux and all the rest.
The Alloy RepairCentre Fiesta Championship returns to Mondello Park this weekend for the third TengTools ICCR race meeting of the year.
Images from Marc Quinlivan Photography
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