Super Saloons

Saturday winner Dara Fay in action with his Suzuki Swift

Saturday winner Dara Fay in action with his Suzuki Swift

Comprehensive Report by Jamie O'Rourke

As competitors arrived Friday evening there was some saying it was going to rain, others saying it was going to be dry and with a tight and twisty course laid on by Limerick Motor Club there was a degree of uncertainty about what was going to happen over the weekend. And that degree of uncertainty was confirmed Saturday morning after a tricky practice and first run for everyone, Willy Barrett topped the time sheets to the surprise of some of the bigger machinery.

The day began to dry from Run 2 which gave hope to some of the more powerful cars but Barrett was having none of it, again coming out on top but this time with Russell Stanworth, Brian Kirwan and Dara Fay hot on his heels. Gary Cunningham headed a massive attack on the leader board but continued his Limerick tradition...

As drivers started to settle into the drying conditions there was a big shuffle in the leader board for Run 3. Russell Stanworth beat back the saloons to redeem the glory for the single seaters with Dara Fay close behind in 2nd, Willy Barrett was now demoted to 3rd with Brian Kirwan 4th and Peter McKinley and Neil Dugan joining the party in 5th and 6th.

With the forth and final run starting and the course still drying with every passing car the day wasn't over yet. Dara Fay in the Swift took almost 3 seconds off his run 3 time to take a convincing win of 1.82secs over Russell Stanworth in 2nd. Willy Barrett held onto 3rd, Brian Kirwan in 4th, Neil Dugan overtook Peter McKinley to take 5th, leaving Peter in 6th, Martin Flanagan 7th, Tommy Gardiner in 8th, Johnny Mahon in 9th and Ben O Brien rounded out the Top 10.

Saturday evenings antics are to be discussed by Gary at a later date...

Day 2 started as a different day, the sun was out, the track was dry and inspired by seeing what a saloon could do on this course, everyone was riled up to Top the time sheets. After Saturday evenings disappointment for Russell Stanworth he stamped his authority early Sunday with Peter McKinley over a second back and Neil Dugan another 1.1secs astray. It wasn't such a good start for some of Saturday's front runners though, as Dara Fay broke a wheel, Willy Barrett hit a bale and Brian Kirwan damaged his steering rack, causing them to record no times.

Run 2 kept a similar order, Russell still held a commanding lead over Peter, but 3rd place Neil Dugan had an off in the later part of the course causing unfixable damage meaning he had to sit out the rest of the day.

The top 2 stayed the same for Run 3 but Ben O'Brien started to launch an attack on the front runners taking 3rd with Dara Fay, Tommy Gardiner and Willy Barrett not too far behind.

Run 4 once again marked the last run of the day and the last run of the 2018 championship but still held a few surprises. When the timesheets came out, Peter McKinley had taken top spot taking over 1.3secs off his time to just pip Russell by 0.18secs. Ben O'Brien took 3rd, Tommy Gardiner snatched 4th, Dara Fay took 5th, despite only completing 1 run Neil Dugan held onto 6th, the drier conditions weren't as favourable to Willy Barrett who took 7th, Martin Flanagan finished in 8th, local man John Kennedy took 9th and Johnny Mahon and Jamie O'Rourke tied for 10th place.

Congratulations to all the competitors who took Championship awards this year and I'd like to make a special thank you to all the marshals, organisers and everyone involved in making this event happen in such a short time scale. And of course a massive thank you to our main sponsor Crecora Mills and our associate sponsors, The DPF Clinic, John Kennedy Electrical Instrumentation and Pallaskenry Couriers. Without them this event would never have happened.

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Short Report by Gerard O'Connor

Saloon cars took victory both days of the Limerick Motor Club sprint at Limerick Racecourse, Greenmount 22/23 September 2018. This was a second weekend of motorsport involvement for Paul O'Connell, the previous weekend he had won the BOSS Ireland motor racing championship, this weekend his business Crecora Mills was the title sponsor of the event.

Saturday on the 1.96km tarmac course started in very difficult conditions with wind and rain. The powerful single seater cars found the narrow in places road difficult, allowing the saloon cars to shine. After the first two timed  runs Willie Barrett from Kilfinane held the overall lead with his Honda Civic. As weather improved the single seater of Russell Stanworth from Wicklow moved up the order taking the lead on the third run, but on the fourth and final run Dara Fay in a Suzuki Swift did a flyer time of 95.74 seconds winning the event by 1.82 seconds. Dara said afterwards "Delighted to win my first overall award. Thanks to Limerick Motor Club for a great event and everyone for the best days motorsport."

Day two of the event started with better conditions, the sun was shining and the road was dry, although a cold breeze meant the coats stayed on. Stanworth started well holding the lead for the first three runs until Peter McKinley from county Dublin took his Ford Escort MkII around the course in 93.36 seconds beating Stanworth by a miniscule 0.18 second. Associate sponsor Ben O'Brien from Limerick finished third overall with his BMW 330 and Christopher O'Callaghan from Pallaskenry took a class victory on his 21st birthday driving his mother's car!

The event was the last two rounds of the Naylor Engineering hillclimb and sprint national championship. Jamie O'Rourke from Kilmallock, who took two class wins at the weekend, has taken the class 8 championship victory with his father James second. Declan Gannon from Ballyneety finished second in class 10. Another associate sponsor at the weekend John Kennedy from Ballingarry took second in class 3A with a first and second in his class.

Full Saturday Results

Full Sunday Results

Photos from Caora Dubha

Photos from Rally Through a Lens

Video of all cars on run 2 Saturday by Senan O'Connor of Vantage Point Video

 On board with Neil Dugan in his rear wheel drive Peugeot 205

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Limerick Motor Club Steps into the breach....!

Regulations and Entry Form

Racecourse Sprint Flyer

Following the successes of earlier rounds of the Naylor Engineering Hillclimb/Sprint Championship hosted by Limerick MC in August. The club has been asked to fulfill the date vacated by Laois Mc (due to circumstances beyond their control.)

Limerick Mc are delighted to announce that the fabulous venue at Greenmount Racecourse, Patrickswell, Limerick (just off the M20 Motorway) will host Rounds 13 & 14 of the National Hillclimb/Sprint on Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd September.

There will a 2km loop of flat smooth tarmac in a enclosed venue with great facilities which will offer superb motorsports on the weekend.

Limerick MC committee and organising team would like to thank the Greenmount Racecourse management their sincere gratitude for allowing us to use this super facility.

Entries secretary is:
Elaine Shinnors
087-822 1067
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Update above 3 September 2018

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Extra Event for Club

Two rounds of the Naylor Engineering Hillclimb and Sprint Championship will take place at Limerick Racecourse 22/23 September. This will bring some of the fastest and most spectacular cars Ireland has to offer to Limerick to fight it out to decide this years Championship and with many classes still undecided there will be a lot of drivers pushing to take the spoils.

From Fiat Cinquecentos to full race prepared Single Seater Race Cars and everything in between will be hitting to the track over the weekend and with great spectator access you'll have a first class view of all the thrills and spills as they unfold.

Come see the cars up close and personal, talk to the drivers and watch them in action. This is an event not to be missed.

The Motor Ireland Hillclimb and Sprint committee are copromoting a sprint with Limerick Motor Club on the weekend of 22/23 September 2018. The venue is Limerick Racecourse. The course will be similar to that used at the 2013 Irish Festival of Speed. The loop will be used in the came direction as before, but what was the finish will now be the start and vice versa, this means more of the loop will be used twice compared to 2013.  Arrangements are being put in place for food and prizegiving to be on site.

Click Below for

Regulations

Entry form.

 

Please note this video is from 2013 event. The start and finish are swapped as mentioned above, direction of travel is the same on the loop. The chicane shown is gone as there is now a junction right to the finish. There will be other speed reduction measures on the course.