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Changeable weather for round 3&4 2021 championship


Aug 2021 30

Anthony

 

August 14th & 15th saw plenty of action at Waterford raceway with round 3 &4 of the 2021 championship being run along with numerous cups being up for grabs for all the drivers. Saturday, which was kindly sponsored by SLB Manufacturing, wasn’t very favourable for spectacular racing due to the constant wet conditions. However the near 60 drivers in attendance were not to be outdone and drove competitively if a little cautious throughout the day .

In the rookies Cole McGann handled the conditions the best to take the win on the day with Conor Burke 2nd and Davan Leahy taking 3rd. With the high numbers in the production junior class, it was again split into 2 groups. A great battle ensued throughout the day in group A with Ted Mc Grath taking the win after being pushed all the way by Ross Ryan while Toby McGuire took the final step on the podium. There was some very experienced drivers in also in group B which came to the fore as Eoghan Burke took to the top step on the podium with Nathan Graham 2nd and Ryan Hickey 3rd. Darragh Walsh made light work of the greasy track conditions  in Class 1 as he took the honours ahead of Davy Banville (2nd) and Darragh O’Shea 3rd. Class 2 honours went to the evergreen Pat Ryan who beat Eddie Baldwin and Mick Boland over the course of the day. Jason Ryan was top man in class 3 as he held off the challenge from Michael Baldwin (2nd) and Luke O’Donovan (3rd). . The class 4 drivers were struggling with the conditions as they were running on slicks but Padraig Smiddy just did enough to grab the win ahead of Peadar Wall and Kevin Condon. Paul Weston got the better of the returning Pat Smiddy to take the win in class 5 while in the stocks PJ O’Sullivan was again the man to beat with Joe Dilworth 2nd. Finally the 1B class saw Peter Keohane driving the most consistent as he climbed to the top of the podium with Nathanya Houlihan 2nd and Richie Power 3rd.

With rain continuing to make race conditions difficult it was decided to postpone the big race of the evening for the Tony Dunphy cup until Sunday with a better forecast being suggested.

After a miserable night, Sunday morning did look much brighter and with the track drying quickly it was decided to have the postponed Tony Dunphy cup race as the 1st race of the day. The 20 lap race was just a lap or 2 too short for the charging higher powered cars of Jason Ryan (2nd) and Kevin Condon (3rd) as Darragh Walsh held his nerve with some great driving to take the chequer flag. Great credit is due to Darragh in his 1st season as a senior driver and surely 1 to watch over the next few years. After the excitement of the cup race, it was once again back to the regular 3 rounds of championship racing which was kindly sponsored by Abbeyside Tyre Centre as well as having other cups up for grabs for all classes throughout the day. Cole McGann was once again in top form in the rookies, taking the raceday win as well as the rookie cup. The ever improving Daniel Fitzgerald took 2nd on the day and Eoin O’Brien was 3rd. Eoghan Burke stepped up to group A in the production juniors and showed he blonged there with some great driving to take the raceday win and the junior cup ahead of Ted McGrath and James Deane. Ryan Hickey had another consistent day in group B and improved on the previous day to take the win ahead of Darragh Healy and Kian O’Sullivan who took a creditable 3rd on his first day out at the Pike. Paddy Sullivan was looking more comfortable on the drier track in class 1 and he held off the challenge of Davy Banville (2nd) and Darragh O’Shea (3rd). Eddie Baldwin and Pat Ryan swapped places on the podium from the previous day in class 2 with Mick Boland settling for 3rd once again.

After getting caught out in the wet conditions of Saturday, the ever competitive Ronan Bennett got his car sorted and out on track once again on Sunday but had to settle for 2nd on the day behind Jason Ryan with Luke O’Donovan, for the 2nd time over the weekend, standing on the final step of the podium. Class 4 was a repeat podium from Saturday with Padraig Smiddy (1st), Peadar Wall (2nd) and Kevin Condon (3rd). Paul Weston once again took the class5 honours. It was Alan Houlihan’s day in class1B as he took the win ahead of Nathanya Houlihan (2nd) and Peter Keohane (3rd). In the cup race it was Richie Power who went home with the bragging rights while great drives from Damien Bennett and Jonathon McGovern saw the finish 2nd & 3rd respectively. PJ O’Sullivan was favourite to take the stock cup but Joe Dilworth had other ideas and held off PJ’s strong challenge to take the raceday win as well as the cup. The final race of the afternoon was another big 1 with the Maura Walsh cup at stake. Padraig Smiddy drove a great race to navigate his way from the back of the grid, through the traffic and be the first to see the chequer flag and secure his first cup win . Paddy Sullivan had no answer for the higher powered car and settled for 2nd with Darragh O’Shea 3rd.

 

The club wish to thank everyone for their support over the weekend which helped make it such a success.

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