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| Kirkistown Racing Circuit which is located on the beautiful Ards Peninsula in Co. Down, hosted rounds 6&7 of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| Gavin Buckley, Sheane, on his way to taking his second win of the season and round 6 of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
For the second visit across the border and for the final time this year competitors made their way to Kirkistown Racing Circuit in Co. Down, for rounds 6&7 of the Selco.ie Formula Vee championship.
On the previous visit Philip Sheane bagged his first Formula Vee win to help his championship hopes but a DNF in Mondello Park last time out, put a dent in them so he was hoping for a repeat result at Kirkistown this time out. Speaking to him before qualifying I asked if the engine problems he had at the previous rounds were fixed? " Yeah we have them sorted now and hope to be up near the front again".
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| Jack Byrne, Sheane, leads the field out of turn two on the opening lap of round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
Title holder Anthony Cross bagged a large haul of points in Mondello Park with a win and a second to make up for his non start in Kirkistown earlier this season. Another non starter on the last visit to Kirkistown was Jack Byrne who dominated the previous round and taking the prestigious Holmpatrick trophy in the process, made the trip up north to see if he could continue his fine form.
First up was qualifying and series organizers were praying for a smooth running and no technical issues like the previous trip to Kirkistown. Thankfully all went well and it was Jack Byrne and Anthony Cross who swapped fastest times for pole position. It went to Byrne to fill the first grid place with Cross lining up second. In fact the top six were covered by half a second!
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| Gavin Buckley, Sheane, leads Jack Byrne, Sheane, Donal Downey, Leastone, and Mark Reade, Leastone, during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
Speaking to Byrne after qualifying he was happy but cautious being on pole. " I'm happy to get pole but its hard to pull away from the field here like in Mondello with the tow, but we will see how it goes."
The weather was dry and sunny for qualifying and looked set to remain the same for race one of the day until just as the cars line up in parc ferme the heavens opened and soaked the track. With no time to make any setup changes the drivers took to the track and get used to the conditions on the out lap. It was Byrne who made the best start and led the field into Debtor's Dip. Cross bogged down at the start and was swallowed up by several drivers as they left the line. It is always hard to lead the opening lap in conditions like these as the lead driver is the first encounter anything that could cause problems first.
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| Donal Downey, right, Leastone, overtakes Marke Reade, Leastone, on the outside of turn two during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| Jack Byrne, Sheane, leads Anthony Cross, Sheane, Philip Sheane, Sheane, Jordan Kelly, Sheane, and Donal Downey, Leastone, out of turn two on the opening lap of during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
Byrne held his lead over the opening lap but a mistake at the chicane cost him time and let Buckley through. by the time they got to the hairpin. Buckley began to break away from the field opening a gap on the field while the rest battle behind. Donal Downey mad a great overtaking maneuver on Mark Reade by taking him on the outside of turn two to move up to third. Unfortunately for Reade he spun out trying to fend Downey off dropping him right down the field. Also on the move was Cross who now was up to fifth. Joining the battle for second was Donal Downey, Jordan Kelly, Philip Sheane and JB Farrell. A problem going into turn one for Downey on lap three saw him being passed by Cross, Kelly, Sheane and Farrell.
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| Jordan Kelly, Sheane, leads Philip Sheane, Sheane, and JB Farrell, during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| Jordan Kelly, right, Sheane, overtakes Anthony Cross, Sheane, on the outside of turn two during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
Byrne then looked to struggle under braking and both Kelly and Cross got by at the hairpin on lap four. By lap six he was down to fourth behind Cross and Kelly. Kelly passed Cross into turn two in a great overtake to move up to second. Cross could not respond to the Donegal man who broke clear and began to close in on the leader Buckley. With a three second lead it looked as though Buckley could hold on but the young charger had different ideas and began to take chunks of time out of the leader.
By the start of the penultimate lap he was right on his tail as a backmarker hindered Buckley's advance. He didn't waste time in getting by as he made a bold and brave move into turn two on the final lap going down the inside to take the lead. Yet again Kelly found himself close to taking his maiden win in Formula Vee as in Mondello Park two weeks ago if he could hold on for half a lap it was his.
His clear speed through the chicane which helped him all through the race was his undoing when it mattered as he ran wide on to the grass and lost his advantage to Buckley, letting the Dublin man retake the lead going towards the hairpin. Buckley held firm and took the win. Cross remained in third and added another podium and very useful points to his title hopes. It was very unfortunate for Kelly who really drove well and enough to take the win but only for that slip on to the grass he would have taken the flag. His first win will come soon as he has the pace.
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| Jordan Kelly, right, Sheane, overtakes Gavin Buckley, Sheane, on the outside of turn two during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| Jordan Kelly, right, Sheane, leads Gavin Buckley, Sheane, on the outside of turn two during round six of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
"I was gaining most of the time through the chicane during the race but then I made mistake there and Gavin got by, I tried to get him back at the hairpin but he had the power down the straight."
It was Buckley who won though and speaking after the race he seemed as much relieved as happy to take the win. " I lost 1.5 seconds behind a backmarker on the second last lap and then Jordan came by but he made a mistake at the chicane which allowed me get back past. I was very lucky to be on the grid at all as my throttle cable frayed and was about to break just before qualifying but thanks to Ivan and Adam we got it fixed just before we could get out. So all's well the ends well."
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| Gavin Buckley, Sheane, on his way to taking his second win of the season and round 6 of the Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
It was yet another action packed race that almost brought another maiden victor in very tricky conditions. It also added to the title fight ensuring that it would most likely go down to the final round in Mondello. Before that though was round seven and also the Emerson Fittipaldi Trophy to win!
Results:
Selco.ie National Championship
1st Gavin Buckley
2nd Jordan Kelly
3rd Anthony Cross
VW Spares 'B' Championship
1st Philip Sheane
2nd Ger Byrne
Motorsport.ie 'Star of Tomorrow' Championship
1st Jordan Kelly
2nd Karl O'Sullivan
3rd Donal Downey
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