Formula Libre attracted a superb 26 car entry for the Leinster Motor Club’s blue riband event of the racing season, and a rain shower shortly before Saturday’s race meant an agonising tyre choice for the drivers on a wet but drying track. Sylvie Mullins having qualified fastest but docked 5 grid places for flag infringement made a blistering start on slicks to lead into turn 1 while pole sitter Dan Daly lit up his wets and was swamped by son Stephen and Paul Dagg. The unfortunate Dagg though out braked himself into Turn 1 and promptly ended his race in the gravel trap.
Sensational opening laps in the tricky conditions saw Paul Heavey make full use of his advantage in the greasy conditions by moving up to fourth while Jonathan Fildes having started from the pit road made his way up to ninth by the end of lap 2 before spinning at the esses. Mullins set the early pace but Daly had made the better tyre choice and shadowed the sliding Gould until making his move on lap 2. The pair circulated fairly closely, Mullins looking like he could challenge at times, but struggled to get the power down out of the corners allowing Daly to pull away gradually towards the end. Stephen Daly had a lonely race in third while Paul Heavey, Robert Butler and an on form Peter Dwyer had a good scrap for second in 2 litre. Ken Fildes had a disappointing run with wet tyres that were past their best, he slipping back as the race went on but he still finished third in class from Eamon Matheson, the turbocharged Mission always a handful in wet conditions.
Mick Roche, John Downey and Cormac O’Brien finished behind the recovering Jonathan Fildes, the latter 2 having their moments in the tricky conditions also. David Cassidy and Dean Laffey had steady races both drivers moving up places during the race, while John Daly, having qualified well, spun on the opening lap and struggled to make progress thereafter. Dermot Nolan and Jack Frost had difficult races as well, Jack coping with a malfunctioning throttle while Libre’s first female driver Deirdre Delaney gained valuable experience bringing her FVJ to the finish. Martin Daly, long time karter and brother of Dan’s made his Mondello car racing debut in Bob Copeland’s F Renault and acquitted himself well, while Pat Casey had to retire from midfield when his GM engine’s ECU gave trouble.
Sunday’s weather was better, but the drama started on the warm up lap when puffs of smoke suggested all was not well with the Gould. Mullins took up his pole position however with Daly alongside and at the green light the pair of them blasted off as one. Mullins held his advantage through turns 1 and 2 but with the car now smoking heavily Daly drew alongside on the run to turn 3 and moved ahead. Mullins brought the Gould to a halt on lap 3 fearing major damage should he have continued, a loose oil union turning out to be the problem. This moved Paul Dagg into second from Ken Fildes, Ken having a much better run on slicks, but Stephen Daly kept him honest throughout, another impeccable performance from the youngster in the relatively underpowered Renault. Dagg’s misfortune continued however, a flat battery causing a misfire which led to his retirement on lap 6. John Downey has been steadily improving as he gets mileage in the Reynard, and had moved up from tenth to fourth when a sticking throttle coming to turn 2 on the penultimate lap necessitated an escape down the old circuit to prevent an off.
The officials, curiously in the circumstances, subsequently disqualified him for taking a shortcut. Peter Dwyer had another good run to second in 2 litre from the consistent Robert Butler with John Daly taking third spot on the over 2 litre podium. Paul Heavey won a close call with Martin Daly for Magic Bullet driver of the weekend for 2 excellent drives in the little 1 litre F 5, though there were many noteworthy performances over the weekend, especially from the many Formula Renault drivers that have swelled the ranks.
The Magic Bullet championship goes to the final 2 rounds in Kirkistown with Daly father and son in commanding positions in both classes, but the battle for outright honours is still very much open …