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| Philip Sheane, Sheane, on his way to winning the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
With only a week between rounds four and five it was a busy week for Formula Sheane competitors to get their cars ready for the fifth and sixth rounds of the championship. This would see them cross the border for the first time to Kirkistown Racing Circuit in county Down just outside the small seaside village of Kircubbin located on the shores of Strangford Lough. Winner of the last two rounds Enda O'Connor would not be out this time but back after missing last weeks races was Richard Kearney. Sadly Paul McLoughlin was also unable to start still having problems with his engine after it blew in practice the previous weekend.
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| Philip Sheane, Sheane, on his way to pole position for the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
It would be between Richard Kearney, Derek Roddy and Philip Sheane but with the long straights and high speeds of Kirkistown reliability would also play a key role. Like in Mondello Park qualifying is as critical in Kirkistown although the tow would play a part on the straights here as it is hard to overtake if the guy in front defends well. If Kearney had any luck, he used it up in round one when he limped home to take a podium after a rose joint failed. Ever since then it has all been bad and this round again was no exception. Illness forced him out last week and after qualifying this time out he again had to withdraw after his clutch gave up on him. A gutted Kearney explained, " The clutch began to slip at the start of qualifying and it got worse so there is no point in going out. I'm just sick, we have a spare but even if we got it changed, I don't know if there is any other damage done."
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| Philip Sheane, Sheane, leads Derek Roddy during the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
It was Philip Sheane who took pole position after only arriving at the track that morning after a 4am start from his home in Balinroe. A great achievement as it was his first time racing this car at the track and with no testing it shows the talent that the Wicklow man has. Derek Roddy who has been chipping away in the last couple of rounds lined up alongside him.
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| Philip Sheane, Sheane, on his way to winning the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
As the lights went out Sheane powered away and easily lead the field into turn one. Roddy made a poor start and was lucky not to drop down the field but held on to stay in second as the exited turn two. Sheane had already opened a gap of over a second with his driving pinpoint accurate. It looked to be set to grow further as by lap three it was up to two seconds. Roddy however began to get his act in line and put in the times having the gap to the leader setting the fastest lap of 1.01.870 seconds in the process.
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| Derek Roddy, Sheane, on his way to second place during the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
It all came undone a couple of laps later as Roddy outbraked himself going into the hairpin at the end of the back straight. This gave Sheane the breathing room he needed. Try as he might Roddy could not get the lost time back. It was a case of reeling of the final laps to bring the car home and take the win. This Sheane duly did and deservedly so, with a clean precise display of driving. Behind the first two , rookie Chris Dunne stayed out of trouble and drove superbly to take his fist ever podium in single seater racing. His times improved as the race went on and as the Kirkistown circuit is new to him he pulled clear of his rivals in the scholarship class of Riche Adams and Tom Foley. To add to the result Dunne now leads the scholarship championship. A mistake on lap three saw round one podium finisher Mark Keenan drop to sixth but a race long battle with Richie Adams and Tom Foley saw them swap places during the race but Keenan's experience won out as he came home in fourth.
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| Chris Dunne, Sheane, on his way to third place during the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
A relieved as much as excited Sheane spoke of his win after the race, " I'm glad to get the win it wasn't as easy as it looked as Derek was catching me after the first few laps then the gap went up again so I'm guessing he made a mistake somewhere. It's nice to get the win as we only came up this morning and got no testing in yesterday as it was a last minute decision to come due to work commitments".
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| Richie Adams, Sheane, leads Mark Keenan, Sheane, during the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| Tom Foley, Sheane, leads Mark Keenan, Sheane, during the fifth round of the Formula Sheane Chamopnship. Kirkistown Racing Circuit, Kircubbin, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| National Podium from left, Derek Roddy,2nd, Philip Sheane 1st, and Chris Dunne.3rd. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
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| Scholarship Podium from left, Derek Roddy,2nd, Philip Sheane 1st, and Chris Dunne.3rd. Photo: Barry Cregg. |
Results:
National Championship
1st Philip Sheane
2nd Derek Roddy
3rd Mark Keenan
Scholarship Class
1st Chris Dunne
2nd Tom Foley
3rd Richie Adams
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