Sport

Leinster MC celebrates 75 with two day event

LEINSTER Motor Club celebrates 75 years of motorsport with a two day Mondello meeting, featuring the annual Formula Ford Festival…

By MARTIN FOLEY
Fri Jun 14 1996 - 01:00

LEINSTER Motor Club celebrates 75 years of motorsport with a two day Mondello meeting, featuring the annual Formula Ford Festival, plus several of the national championship rounds, including Bridgestone Formula Opel.

Racing at Mondello starts at 1 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. The spectacular Eurocars from the British racing scene return to the Irish circuit along with the V6 cars plus the more powerful V8s.

With their Ford Mondeo lookalike bodies, on special chassis, the Eurocars are evenly matched and racing is invariably very close.

More novelty will no doubt be added by the first Irish appearance of Legends Racing. A round of the British Championship, the Mondello track should ideally suit these strange cars - which are with replicas of pre-war American Ford and Chevrolet coupes. Underneath the glassfibre bodies all Legends are identical, powered by the 125bhp Yamaha FJ1200 motor cycle engine.

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Leinster Motor Club's feature race is of course the Leinster Trophy, which will be run at Mondello Park on September 8th. In recent years, Leinster Club joined forces with Irish Motor Racing Club in organising the Phoenix Park motor races, which this year will be held on August 17th-18th.

The first Leinster Trophy race was held at Skerries in 1934, and was won by Fay Taylor driving a 164 cc Adler at an average speed of 61.20 m.p.h. The Leinster Trophy was held at various road circuits, Tallaght, Wicklow and Dunboyne. In 1967 it was held at Bishopscourt, Co Down, following the demise of Dunboyne for racing, on safety grounds.

The Leinster Trophy found a permanent home when Mondello Park opened in 1968. Other events run by Leinster MC include the Patland Cup motorcycle trial, Leinster 200 and Leinster 100 motorcycle races, Leinster veteran, vintage and classic car rally.

There are no Formula Ford championship races, until June 30th. George McAlpin has a 20 points lead in the Ford of Ireland Premiership over fellow Ulsterman Chris Paul, with Dubliner Alan Kelly only two points behind Paul. Richard Ryan (Armagh) leads Galway's Mike Clyne by four points in the DHL Star of Tomorrow series. Bjorn Schiller (Sligo) heads the pre 90 championship, and Vinny Hayes is the pre 85 leader. Mark McKenna, (Swords) and Mark Kershaw (Brittas, Co Dublin) each scored maximum points recently at Pembury in Wales. McKenna won the Ford, of Ireland round. John Gunning and English driver Richard Parsons raced wheel to wheel for second, the place going to Gunning. Although officially a junior round, Dubliner John Gunning scored his first win since his comeback after 12 years in the DHL race. Again he was pushed all the way by Parsons and John Whelan of Naas. Kershaw (17) took maximum championship points as the only other DHL runner Mark Cullen (Limerick) was eliminated when James Auld of Ross on Wye drove into the 19 year old Irish driver's car at a hairpin bend.

James Long of White's Cross, Cork, scored his first motor race victory in round five of the Kent County, Formula Ford 1600 Championship, held at Brands Hatch. In only his second full sea son of racing, the 26 year old Irishman, is making a name for himself on the British racing scene. He is scheduled to compete in a Formula Renault Sport race at Brands Hatch in August.

The Tarmac Rally Organiser Association has met with the Munster Motor Cycle and Car Club regarding the final round of the Tarmac Rally Championship. The Cork based club has put a new rally organisation together, led by Clerk of The Course Liam Hayes and this year's Cork `20' Rally will be run to the highest standards on October 5th-6th.

The Shell Unleaded Donegal International Rally on June 21st-23rd marks the 25th anniversary of this event. Past winners reads like a who's who of Irish rallying and includes Billy Coleman, Jimmy McRae, Austin McHale, Cahal Curley and Bertie, Fisher, to mention just a few. This year's event starts at 1.00 p.m. on Friday, June 21st, 8.50 a.m. on the Saturday and 11.50 a.m. on the Sunday, and will, as usual, be based in Letterkenny.

The Donegal International is round four of the Tarmac Rally Championship. Bertie Fisher leads on 50 points from Liam O'Callaghan 39, James Cullen 27, Stephen Finlay and Eamonn Boland on 20 each Andrew Newbitt 15, and top Group N driver Trevor Cathers, who ties with Mickey Farrell on 12 points each.

Fisher will be going, for another Donegal win, and, will undoubtedly set a very quick pace at the wheel of his Subaru Impressa, as he did in the Galway and Killarney events. James Cullen of Letterkenny, also a Donegal winner, will be going for a good result in his home event.

He now has Ford of Ireland backing for his Ford Escort RS Cosworth, but will have a tough task to keep pace with Fisher and hold off Toyota Celica drivers Liam O'Callaghan and Andrew Newbitt.

Tomorrow's Dundrod 150 is the fourth road race meeting of the Irish season. The Motorcycle road racers will then compete in the Dundalk, races on June 22nd-23rd, Skerries on July 5th-6th and Fore in Co Westmeath on July 13th-14th. The big meeting of the year, rivalling the North West 200 is the Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod on August 3rd.