ITCC Championship Finale Preview

Ciaran Denvir, Honda Civic, takes the chequered flag at round two at Kirkistown in March. Photo: Barry Cregg.

Looking ahead to next weekend's Leinster Trophy meeting at Mondello Park, it is hard to believe that the final round of the 2019 ITCC championship is upon us. It has been a very quick year ( no pun intended ), and one that has brought close racing throughout the grid up and down the country. It also has seen the emergence of two new northern stars both of whom have dominated at the Kirkistown meetings in March and June.

Ciaran Denvir, Honda Civic, on his way to winning round one at Kirkistown in March. Photo: Barry Cregg.

The ITCC rookies carried their Northern Ireland Saloon Car Championship form over from last year and made others stand up and take notice. Ciaran Denvir's double race win at that first meeting certainly was no fluke, as it was backed up at rounds three and four at Bishopscourt with a win and a second place. Stephen Potter also made the southern drivers lives difficult by taking his second double at Mondello Park in July, as well as finishing on the podium on four out of the five other races. Only for mechanical problems which prevented him starting round four he might have made it five out of five. Keith Campbell has been the only southern driver who has managed to win this year with a great display of driving in his faithful Volkswagen Corrado at the last round in Mondello Park. Maybe his track knowledge helped him somewhat, as it was his northern rivals first visit to the county Kildare track. However we will have to wait and see if this was the case next weekend.

Stephen Potter, Honda Integra, leads Ciaran Denvir, Honda Civic, on his way to winning round five at Kirkistown in June. Photo: Barry Cregg.

While not wanting to tempt faith, each round has been dry which is quite unique for a championship held in Ireland! If it does break and conditions are wet it will certainly help add an extra element to the championship finale. Ciaran Denvir has a twenty-four point lead of fellow Honda driver Stephen Potter, going into next weekend. This is effectively like having one hand on the trophy, but anything can happen in motor racing and bringing it home is not always as easy as it seems. A bad qualifying could lead to being stuck down the pack and increase the chances of getting caught up in somebody else's accident, driver error and also a mechanical fault are all situations that could take turns the table around. Potter finished ahead of Denvir in boths races last time out in Mondello Park, so on paper it looks like he has the edge at the track. If it is a repeat he can only hope that enough people are between him and his fellow county Down man or that something forces Denvir to have a non finish.

Keith Campbell, Volkswagen Corrado, on his way to a double win at Mondello Park at rounds seven and eight in July. Photo: Barry Cregg.

In Class 'B' Keith Campbell has already taken the title after his double race win last time out. In second place Robert Savage who drove so well in round seven still needs a good performance to seal the runners up spot in the championship from Gareth Hayden. While the championship is decided, the battle for second and third is surely one not to miss.

Tony Gallagher, Honda Civic, on his way to winning round one at Kirkistown in March. Photo: Barry Cregg.

In Class 'C' it is even more tight at the top, with only nine points separating the top two men Tony Gallagher and Daniel Faherty, in the championship. Just like Class 'A' the top two are driving Honda cars which highlights the reliability and performance of the Japanese manufacturer. Both men shared the spoils at the opening meeting by taking a win and a second each. It rounds three and four at Bishopscourt in May, it was Faherty who took both wins but Gallagher was there to take the runners up spot in both rounds. For the second visit to Kirkistown, both men took a win away with them but in race two Faherty finished third which gave Gallagher a slight edge in the championship table. At the last round in Mondello Park, Faherty struggled with gearbox problems but managed to take two third places but Gallagher did the double to increase his championship lead. Again anything can happen in the final two races and with the two men closely matched it will be exciting to see who comes out on top in a closely fought year long battle.

Daniel Faherty, Honda Civic, on his way to winning round two at Kirkistown in March. Photo: Barry Cregg.

Potter steals the show at Kirkistown for ITCC rounds 5&6

(22-06-2019; Stephen Potter, Honda Integra, leads Ciaran Denvir, Honda Civic, on his way to winning the Techit.ie ITCC race one at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)     

For rounds five and six of the Techit.ie Irish Touring Car Championship saw the drivers make their second appearance at Kirkistown race circuit in county Down. The grid was again somewhat depleted after championship contenders Jay O’Reilly and Ulick Burke were non-starters. Burke’s Honda Integra lost fouth gear in practice on Friday and O’Reilly unable to get his car ready in time front his accident in Bishopscourt last month. Also missing were brothers Keith and Shane Rabbit due to ECU and transmission problems. There was some good news however, as joining the grid for the first time this year was Owain Drought who impressed straight away by putting his beautiful GSport ran, VW Golf on the second row in qualifying. Main championship contenders Ciaran Denvir and Stephen Potter head the front row with Potter putting his Honda Integra on pole by over half a second.

(22-06-2019; Stephen Potter, Honda Integra, leads Ciaran Denvir, Honda Civic, on his way to winning the Techit.ie ITCC race one at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)    

At the last visit here in March Denvir took the double and was hoping to repeat the same feat this weekend. “ I had a good qualifying but have new tyres on for the race so I hope that will help close the gap to Stephen.”

22-06-2019; Stephen Potter, Honda Integra, leads Ciaran Denvir, Honda Civic, on his way to winning the Techit.ie ITCC race one at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown, Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)  

Once the lights went out both white Honda’s got the jump on the field and Potter led into turn one. From the exit of turn two the front row men opened a gap of four car lengths to third place man Stephen Traub in his Honda Civic. Once clear Potter and Denvir battled it out. While Potter was strong on the second half of the lap Denvir was better on the first half but just could not find a way by. Potter opened up a half a second by lap six but a lap later it was bumper to bumper again. Then the backmarkers came into play and Potter used them to his benefit brilliantly and broke away. Then drama for Denvir at the beginning of the last lap when a right front brake pipe burst, leaving him with only the handbrake for stopping power.

   

“ I was having a good battle with Stephen but he got through the traffic better than me and then the front right brake pipe burst so i had to use the handbrake on the last lap. I was lucky it happened then and not earlier.”

Potter took the flag comfortably from Denvir with Drought making his way up to third in a fantastic debut race. The win for Potter, his first this year gave him a good boost for race two.

“ I am delighted with that result, it was a good race and Ciaran pushed me all the way until we caught the traffic where i got a gap on him, then his brakes went!”

(22-06-2019; Stephen Potter, Honda Integra, leads Ciaran Denvir; Honda Civic; on his way to winning the Techit.ie ITCC race two at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown; Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)

Race two began in the same way as the first with Potter getting the holeshot. This time however he gapped Denvir by half a second by the end of the first lap. From there he increased his lead each lap without an answer from Denvir. It wasn’t from trying though, but a costly mistake on lap four at the hairpin when Denvir outbraked himself going into the corner allowed him to drop further behind Potter.

Owain Drought lay third from lap one but never made an impression on the front two, but still in all it was an impressive first outing. Potter cruised home to win by 21.065 seconds to take the double and to put his name into the championship hat.

(22-06-2019; Owain Drought, VW Golf, in action during the Techit.ie ITCC race one at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown; Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)

(22-06-2019; Daniel Faherty, Honda Civic, on his way to winning Class C during the Techit.ie ITCC race one at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown; Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)

(22-06-2019; Tony Gallagher, Honda Accord, on his way to winning Class C during the Techit.ie ITCC race two at Kiriskistown. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown; Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)   

The spirit of ITCC award went to Alan Donnelly after trying to replace an engine and wiring loom until 3am after misfortunes in practice on Friday. He just ran out of time but endures he will be back out at the next round. Driver of the Day went to Owain Drought after scoring two podium finishes in his first outing.

(22-06-2019; Owain Drought, VW Golf, won both the Driver of the Day award and Class B. 500 Motor Racing Club of Ireland Ltd. Championship Car Races. Kirkistown; Co. Down. Photo: Barry Cregg)

The next round brings the driver south of the border for the first time of the year to Mondello Park on the 13/14 of July.

Results by class:
Race 1

Class A
1st Stephen Potter
2nd Ciaran Denvir
3rd Andrew Armstrong

Class B
1st Owain Drought

Class C
1st Daniel Faherty
2nd Tony Gallagher
3rd Adrian Dunne

Race 2
Class A
1st Stephen Potter
2nd Ciaran Denvir
3rd Andrew Armstrong

Class B
1st Owain Drought

Class C
1st Tony Gallagher
2nd Adrian Dunne
3rd Daniel Faherty