Irish Formula Vee gets up ‘n’ running!
Formula Vee paid its first visit of the season to Kildare’s Mondello Park race circuit on 11th/12th June last for Rounds 4 & 5 of the E Fox Engineers National Championship.
Dan Polley continued his quick pace in qualifying and put his LOH Sheane on pole position for both races, followed by championship contenders Kevin Grogan and Colm Blackburn. In Saturday’s race Dan got the jump on Grogan and led the field round the 3.5km lap of the international circuit at Mondello Park. Behind the lead pair Colm Blackburn and Paula Moore battled hard for 3rd place before contact on lap 3 ruled them out of podium contention.
Anthony Cross then took up the reins and worked on maintaining a healthy gap back to Gavin Buckley and James Jones. Up front Dan Polley soaked up the pressure from Kevin Grogan and opened up a 3 second gap at the head of the field and held on to take his 4th win of the season.
Anthony Cross saw off the challenge from behind for his first Formula Vee podium, and 1st position in the Crowne Plaza Dundalk B championship race. Further down the field, Conor Molloy continued his winning streak from last month in Bishopscourt and took top honours in the Finol Star of Tomorrow championship for rookies, with PJ Percival and Kevin Cahill rounding out the podium.
In Sunday’s race the tables were turned as Grogan got a great start in damp conditions and took the lead into Mobil 1 corner, followed by Blackburn with Polley in 3rd. Blackburn was showing great wet weather pace and overtook Grogan to take the lead. A collision in the pack brought the safety car out for a lap while the debris was cleared and when racing resumed both Grogan and Polley harried Blackburn and managed to get by on the long run down to Turn 7a as the track was starting to dry.
In a reversal of roles from Saturday’s race Grogan now lead and what followed was a fantastic 3-way battle between the lead trio with Dan and Kevin swapping places several times and Colm keeping the pressure on both. When the chequered flag fell it was Grogan who just held on to take his first win of the season and claw back valuable E Fox Engineers championship points on Dan. Colm Blackburn followed them closely home in 3rd place.
Once again Anthony Cross fought off the opposition to win the Crowne Plaza Dundalk B class, followed by Shane McBride and Mark Reade. Joe Power had a storming drive from the back of the grid after mechanical maladies in qualifying to take top honours in the Finol Star of Tomorrow championship, with Conor Molloy and Ken Browne taking the final podium positions.
Next up for is the Formula Vee Festival on July 9th and 10th. The championship races will be held on the 9th and the very popular festival races on the 10th where much needed funds will be raised for the LauraLynn foundation. Definitely not one to be missed!
Pole Position : Dan Polley 1.54.534
Fastest Lap
Round 4: Dan Polley 1.55.084
Round 5: Dan Polley 1.57.666
VW Spares Highest Grid Mover
Round 4: Gavin Buckley
Round 5: Joe Power
