Alex Dunne adds the coveted “O” Plate to his IRL win
Coming for pedigree motorsport genes, 9 year old Alex Dunne took another important win when he clinched the “O” Plate Cadet final at Watergrasshill in County Cork.
Running his “IRL” plate, which he won in June this year, Alex was one of the quickest drivers during Saturday testing, on a dry circuit. Race day on Sunday, however, was wet and Alex had never driven the Watergrasshill circuit in these conditions. During the heats, Alex and father Noel (Dunlop Supercar Champ) worked hard to improve the crucial setup and by the prefinal, Alex was happy with the kart. Despite an off track excursion, when he was hit by another competitor, he recovered to sixth, but crucially, he also had the fastest lap.
Starting fourth in the final, Alex was in the lead by lap three and got the head down to open a gap to his fellow competitors, which he held all the way to the chequered flag to claim his second big win of the year.
The O Plate is a winner takes all meeting which is held once a year and the winner is then entitled to run the “O” (denoting the Irish Open Champion) as their number until the event runs again the following year. Alex’s next race is this coming weekend at Nutts Corner before he goes to the UK to take on some of the best karters in the world at the PF International Circuit in Lincolnshire.
The only question is, will he choose to run his IRL Plate or his O Plate?
