Successful Autocross event in Cloughjordan

Birr & District Motor Club hosted their Autocross at Oxpark, Cloughjordan by the permission of Kenneth Grant.

Clerk of the Course David Percy and his team had a long and tricky track set for 44 competitors, where the event would be a counting round of the Shannon Trophies Grass Surface Autocross Championship and the CJN Plant & Barrett International Transport Munster Autocross Championship.

There were multiple classes to cater for the wide variety of cars, buggy’s and specials. Among the large entry of drivers, ten Juniors were taking to the track to hone their skills and improve their times. For some of these Juniors, they are the third generation to jump in behind the competition wheel.

A large number of spectators came to view the action, chat with the drivers and view the cars/buggy’s up close. After two competitive runs of the track were completed, the track was altered and a further two runs of the track took place. The fastest time from the morning would be added to the fastest time from the evening, but penalties were incurred for striking a red flag or passing on the wrong side of a flag.

Once the last time was logged, it was Nathan Moloney in his Berrisford Special who had topped the timesheets, repeating the win he claimed here last year.

At the prizegiving, Birr & District Motor Club Chairperson David Forde welcomed everyone and noted it was great to see such a turnout. He thanked them for supporting the event. He also thanked the Motorsport Ireland Safety Shane O'Callaghan, Motorsport Ireland Steward Elaine Shinnors for ensuring a safe day, the Marshals and Kenneth Grant for the use of a fantastic field and hoped everyone had a good day.

Clerk of the Course David Percy addressed the gathering to note how lucky the day was with the weather and also hoped everyone had a good day. He thanked everyone for turning up and looks forward to seeing them again next time.

The Classes were the first to be presented their awards:

Class 1 was led start to finish by Robin Donovan, followed by Jenna Mulcaire and Sebastian Szopa.

Class 2 saw Joe Downey and Patricia Denning double-drive their Peugeot 106 where it would be Joe who would take the class win.

Class 5 was won by Henry Jennings.

Class 6 had Barry Whyte take the win from Willie Cavanagh and Trevor Hogan. Ian Byrne won Class 7.

Class 8 was won by Chloe Anderson from Katelyn Long.

In Class 9A, Anthony Dineen edged out Emma Long for the win. Class 9B, Mikey O'Connor claimed the win followed closely by William Cavanagh Jnr, Finn Gardiner Hynes, Conor Fogarty and Jack Cavanagh respectively.

Class 10 was won by Ronan Shanahan from James O'Keeffe and James Last.

Class 11 was taken by Peter Whyte.

Class 12 had Liam Whyte take the win from Blake Manning.

Class 13 was won by Mark Keegan.

The Ladies Award was presented to Zara Moynan in her Austin Mini, and the Spirit of the Event was awarded to James O'Keeffe for all his hard work throughout the day helping competitors who were having mechanical problems.

For the Overall Awards, the Fastest Time of the Day from the Super Saloon Classes was presented to Mike O'Connor Snr with his Mitsubishi Evo 7.

The Overall Fastest Saloon was Birr & District Motor Club President, Pat Horan. Pat was competing in his Peugeot 208 R2 and as the highest placed Club Member from the Saloon Classes, he was also presented the Tom O'Reilly Memorial Cup.

Finally, it was time to present the Overall Fastest Time of the Day, where dominating the timesheets all day was Nathan Moloney. Alongside the Overall award, Nathan was presented the Billy Cavanagh Memorial Trophy. On behalf of the Cavanagh family, John Cavanagh presented Nathan with the trophy, congratulating him on doing the double. Nathan was invited to say a few words and spoke to thank Kenneth Grant for the use of the venue, the marshals and Clerk of the Course David Percy, noting it was a good day out and hopes to see everyone at the next one.

Also hosted at the event, was a Fundraiser for Cloughjordan No.1 National School where €313.43 was collected. All the funds raised will go towards upgrading their school grounds. Thank you to everyone who donated to this great cause.

Next up for Birr & District Motor Club is their Endurance Trial. This is the final round of the Motorsport Ireland Endurance Trial Championship. It will be held on 22nd September with the Headquarters for the event returning to Ballingarry Community Centre.

Further details on the Autocross, and other Birr & District Motor Club events can be found on their website www.birrmotorclub.com and on their social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, and X).