O'Donovan and Tohill share the spoils at the opening Weekend of the Partsforcars.ie IRX 2023

Patrick O'Donovan, right, Proton Iriz, leads Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, centre, and Michael Leonard, Ford Fiesta, left, during the Supercar final during round 1 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Barry Cregg

Reigning Irish rallycross champion Derek Tohill took his maiden win of the new season at Mondello Park in county Kildare on Sunday. The all new look Partsforcars.ie IRX series saw a bumper supercar entry with former champion John McCluskey making a return to the sport in a two car team with Kildare circuit racer Michael Leonard. Both men driving Ford Fiesta’s similar to Tohill’s and being run by the Murray Motorsport team are a welcome addition to the series this year.

The rise in popularity of the sport in recent times is encouraging to the die hard rallycross fans who hark back to the days of old in the late 1980’s and late 1990’s when rallycross was the one of the most exciting motorsport to watch.

 Michael Leonard, Ford Fiesta, leads Patrick O'Donovan, right, Proton Iriz,  during the Supercar final during round 1 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Jack Cregg

This year’s series has a new format which sees the nine round championship compacted into five weekends over the year with four being double headers and one overseas trip to Pembrey in Wales. For the first round on Saturday, competitors had a new track layout. Turn 3 on the racing circuit was now added in. This gave drivers a chance to really stretch the legs of their 600bhp supercars.

Visiting from the UK for the first two rounds at the weekend was Patrick O’Donovan in his Proton Iriz RX. The British rallycross champion was no stranger to Mondello Park having competed during the British round at the county Kildare circuit last year. Not only was the entry of twelve supercars wetting the fans appetite but the chance to watch the British and Irish champions go head-to-head was also a bonus.

 Patrick O'Donovan, right, Proton Iriz, leads Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, Michael Leonard, Ford Fiesta, , Tommy Graham, Ford Fiesta, and John MCCluskey, Ford Fiesta, during the Supercar final during round 1 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Jack Cregg

The top two did not disappoint and over the two days battled it out tooth and nail. Both winning their semi-finals on Saturday and lining up on the front row together to battle it out for round one of the championship. However they had not accounted for Michael Leonard who had been making steady progress during the day. As the first three entered turn one O’Donovan tried to sweep round the outside of his two rivals but was pushed wide by Tohill and Leonard who got ahead on the inside. Leonard held the field behind exiting turn 3 and settled into the lead. As the race ran on it looked like his rallycross debut was going to end in victory, but as he exited the joker lap section on the final lap O’Donovan got past narrowly but ran wide and Leonard got back past on the run to the final corner. 

Patrick O'Donovan, Proton Iriz, leads Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, during the Supercar final during round 1 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Barry Cregg

Tohill could only watch from a distant third place uncharacteristically off the pace of the front two. As the O’Donovan and Leonard exited the final turn O’Donovan took the inside line and won the drag to the line to take round one of the series. An exciting end that warmed up fans on a bitterly cold day.

 Michael Leonard, Ford Fiesta, during the Supercar final during round 1 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Barry Cregg

Sunday brought sunshine and eager to make up for the day before Tohill was out to take the top spot. O’Donovan however was in flying form taking victory in the heats, butTohill was not far behind. Leonard, McCluskey and local man Tommy Graham were also there in the hunt if anything happened the top two. There was a different track layout this time as it was back to the normal rallycross track using the famous ‘hole in the hedge’ corner this time out. As the lights went out to start the supercar final it was O’Donovan who got the better start and lead into turn one but running slightly wide gave Tohill the invitation to take the inside line and make his way past on the run to turn two. He led on the exit and had to drive inch perfect to keep O’Donovan at bay. This he duly did and no matter how hard the British champ tried he could not find a way by the Irish champ. 

Patrick O'Donovan, right, Proton Iriz, leads Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, John McCluskey, Ford Fiesta, and Michael Leonard, Ford Fiesta, ,during the Supercar final during round 2 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Barry Cregg

Patrick O'Donovan, right, Proton Iriz, leads Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, John McCluskey, Ford Fiesta, and Michael Leonard, Ford Fiesta, during the Supercar final during round 2 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Jack Cregg

It was a hot paced race and the front two pulled clear of the rest of the field easily. Sadly Leonard had to retire with mechanical trouble. A shame for the local man on his debut weekend. McCuskey took third position and drove well for someone only getting back into the sport after a long layoff. Turn one is a fast righthander after the main straight and when the gravel has been cleared back after the opening laps, it allows corner speed to be carried much higher. It was a sight to behold seeing the Ford and Proton drifter through it with their turbos whistling overtime as the power was being put down.

Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, leads Patrick O'Donovan, right, Proton Iriz, during the Supercar final during round 2 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Barry Cregg

Derek Tohill, Ford Fiesta, on his way to winning the Supercar final during round 2 of the Partsforcars.ie IRX Championship. Picture: Barry Cregg

Once Tohill got the first couple of laps over he began to pull a slight gap and gave himself enough of a cushion on the final lap to take the joker lap in comfort. He crossed the line 1.5 seconds ahead of O’Donovan to take the win with McCluskey in third. A great opening weekend which saw a brace of new machines and driver come out with more due to come out in the next rounds again at Mondello Park on the weekend of the 3^rd and 4^th of June.