All the Irish motor racing championships for 1997 have been won, and lost, with the exception of the Ford of Ireland Championship for the new Formula Ford Zetec class. Until there is an official ruling on the incident last Sunday in which Noel Dunne spun out of second place and Jeff Wright took the place, the championship remains undecided. This is a most unsatisfactory end to the season, and it will have to be resolved quickly as the first six in the championship are set to compete in the world finals at Brands Hatch on October 18th and 19th, with a free entry and expenses for the Irish champion. In addition to the top six, it is expected that at least another six Irish drivers will compete at the Kent venue in what was previously known as the Formula Ford Festival. Neil Shanahan, 18-yearold Dubliner and tear-away winner of the DHL star of tomorrow series is also racing at Brands Hatch.
Vivion Daly won round 10 of the DHL Formula Opel Championship, but Donal Loughrey's second was good enough for him to win the title for the second time, having won it in 1995. It was a good comeback for Loughrey who suffered severe leg injuries in a crash at Magny Cours in France during the Inter-Nations race also in 1995. Ken Grandon of Cork was third behind the two Dublin drivers, and fifth-placed Jonathan Fildes (Clonsilla) won the `Rookie of the Year' award.
With the Formula Opel regulations stabilised for another year, the class now has a better hope of continuing as the premiership in Irish motor racing in 1998. However, there will have to be bigger grids or Formula Opel will surely be toppled by Formula Ford Zetec.
Over 60 drivers competed in this year's Formula Vee Championships. The championships were won by Brian Hearty (Dundalk), Troy McKeown (Cobh) and Terry Warner (Slane).
Donegal driver Damien Faulkner (Moville) finished third in the British Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship and is set to take another step up the motor racing ladder driving a Formula Renault Sport in the winter series, commencing at Brands Hatch on October 5th.
`Star Wars' was the name of the game in saloon racing as the `panel bashers' pushed hard in every sense of the word for points in the Dunlop Touring Car and Dunlop Fiat Uno Championships, won by Ed O'Connor and Liam Denning, respectively.
The Sporting Trails season for 1997/98 starts tomorrow with the MEC's Rhodes Cup event at Poolaphuca, Co Wicklow. The Erskine twins, Gordon and Phillip, dominated the last season, the winning score of eight by Gordon beating Phillip's four wins. Tomorrow's Carrowdore 100 road races bring down the curtain on the motorcycle road-racing year, the line up includes Joey Dunlop, Robert Dunlop, Derek Young, Denis McCullough, Gary Dynes, James Courtney and Bob Jackson. Endurance racing returns to Mondello Park on Sunday after an absence of 10 years. A maximum of 31 teams of two or three riders each will take to the 1.24-mile Co Kildare track for three hours.
