ITCC Round 1 - Mondello

Round 1 of the Irish Touring Car Championship took part recently at Mondello Park

On pole was the former J's Racing CRX, now run by Tuning Factory

Second on the grid was Martin Tracey in the Westward Engineering RS500 Sierra Cosworth

Third was Tomas O'Rourkes Astra

and fourth was Brian Sextons Urban Per4mance Honda Integra

Onto the race and a storming start from O'Rourke saw him jump into the lead...

...chased down by the pack

But it didnt take long for Martin Tracey to take the lead and a sizeable one at that, he was soon lapping the field

but with a few tight battles going on midfield

and more than 1 case of doorhandling going on!

But Tracey was not to be caught and victory was his!

Round 2 is at Kirkistown on April 24th

Time Attack 2009 - Round 2 - Knockhill

Sunny Scotland for Round 2 of Time Attack at Knockhill.....


But it was not sunny the day before as the rain poured down....

Made for some slightly different photos though...

Pro/Club Pro Class

Taking its second win of the season was the RSE Motorsport Evo 7, with Rory Butcher driving to a 51.6 second laptime

2nd was Steve Gugliemi in the Gugliemi Motorsport Elise with a 51.7

If it had been eligible for points Andrew Gallachers AG Motorsport Focus would have been 3rd with a 51.8

3rd place for Tom Ferrier in the Zen Performance Impreza with a 52.0

4th for Olly Clark in the Roger Clark Motorsport Impreza with 52.2


5th went to Robin Duxbury in the Redbrick Racing Evo VIII with 53.4

Flying high Russell Humphrey in the Interceptor Racing Evo 5 didnt finist, but I couldnt resist including this kerb hopping pic

Club Class

Another win for Shane Smith in the Abbey Motorsport / CAT Driver training R32 GTR

But the top club car for many is Mark Pollards 6R4.com MG Metro 6R4

Round 3 is at Silverstone on May 31st

Time Attack 2009 - Round 1

Time for another 5 rounds of Time Attack, 1st stop Oulton Park for an interesting day

Pro/Club Pro/Prototype/Openwheel Class
For the first time since June 2007 it was not a Subaru Impreza on the top step - it was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evloution! Chris Ward in the RSE Motorsport Evo 7 took top honours with a 1.26.8 lap and was in the top 3 times all day

But the Imprezas were never far behind, Olly Clark in the Roger Clark Motorsport Impreza, managed a very close second with a 1.27.1 fastest lap

Another Evo in third, perhaps the tide is turning! Gareth Lloyd in the Car Planet Racing Evo 5 with a 1.29.3

Fourth for Russell Humphrey in the Interceptor Racing Evo 5 with a 1.30.8 - but running in the new ClubPro class, for the not so fast cars, but still more developed than club class cars

Fifth for James Nicholls also in ClubPro with 1.31.8 in the second Car Planet Racing Evo 6. Prior to today, this was the last Evo to have won a Time Attack round overall

But this was the car that had everyone talking. The sole Prototype class car, the AG Motorsport Ford Focus Cosworth of Andrew Gallacher, which had topped 2 of the 4 sessions with a fastest time of 1.27.1, which he no doubt would have beaten if only for a blown diff in final qualifying

When time attack started properly in 2006, these little openwheel cars were the ones to beat - but in 2009 they are having to fight for it. Duncan Cowper in the Dax Rush, with a Suzuki Hayabusa engine with a 1980's F1 turbo, good for 7th over all with a laptime of 1.32.4

Finally Simon Norris could debut Version 2.0 of the Norris Designs Evo 9 SWB 'Bogey' but he had differential carrier failure, but will return

2007 champions Zen Performance were back with pro-driver Tom Ferrier but a few teething problems kept them out of the serious running, but will be onces to watch

Best looker for now, Robin Duxburys Evo 8....

Club Class

An overdue win for Shane Smith in the Abbey Motorsport / CAT Driver training R32 GTR with 1.35.1

2nd for Marcus Webster with a 1.36.8

3rd for Duncan Graham in the RaceDynamix Impreza with 1.37.1

Round 2 will be at Knockhill on May 17th

Time Attack - Round 4 - Brands Hatch - THE FINAL

Wow what a day,what an event, Brands Hatch was the venue for the final of Time Attack and a great event it was, with all 3 championships going to the wire and being decided today. An extra big update was needed to cover it all
Pro Class

There had to be a winner and today it was Phil Glew in the Zen Perfomance Subaru Impreza WRX RA,who set a 49.771 second lap which won the Pro Class and the Pro Class Championship overall

Second was Steve Gugliemi in the Gugliemi Motorsport Lotus Elise with a 50.967 lap

Third was Clive Seddon in the RC Developments Mitsubshi Lancer Evo 6 with a 51.113 lap, this car had the highest overall speed on the day, with 155mph, which for the Brands Hatch Indy circuit is very fast

Having a go today was Mark Luney in the SVA Imports Nissan 350Z drift car,if the 2 way differential had been swopped for a 1.5 or 1 way the car would have been in the Top 10.....

Apart from Gugliemi in the Elise,the only other non-Japanese car in the Pro Class has been Dan Lewis,better known as Renton in the Redline Magazine Ford Sierra Cosworth with a 4x4 conversion

Martin Greens RC Developments Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 - a nice car but a photographic nightmare

Making its debut was John Goodwin's fabulous WGT Developments Mazda RX7 FC3s

Also trying out in the pro class was Martin Hadland in the Reyland Ford Escort Cosworth,which may be seen full time next year

After even more tweaks the Sumo Power 350Z was being driven by ex BTCC driver and now Aston Martin GT racing boss Mark Lemmer

Apart from Ireland, the only overseas entrant in 2007 was 'Trackday' John Terzidis from Greece in the Auto Ergonomics Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8

Club Class

Todays winner and winning the club class forced induction championship was Kev Atkins in the MA Developments Evo 6 with a quite amazing 52.914 lap,which would have been quick enough for 9th in the Pro Class final

2nd overall was Ron Kiddell in the RK Tuning Nissan R32 Skyline GTR

3rd place was David Harrison in his Abbey Motorsport supported Nissan Skyline R34 GTR. This is the old Sumo Power R34 'Ichiban'

1st (again) in the club class normally aspirated was Nadine Geary in the Viper (note the reg plate)

2nd was Jeff Mileham in his AC Schnitzer BMW E30 3 series

3rd was Dixon Cheng in his Honda DC2 Integra Type R, which was enough to secure him the club class normally aspirated championship

Phil Burdock in the vastly improved Burdock Flooring Impreza

Oliver Crawford's Supercharged EP3 Honda Civic Type R,shoots nice flames,but sadly got none on camera,maybe next year....

And finally the trailer for the Motors TV coverage of this round of Time Attack