History made at Birr Autocross Champs
Birr & District Motor Club hosted the largest entry of the season for the finale of the - Tallybrooke Civil Engineering Ltd. National Loose Surface Autocross Championship and the CJN Plant Ltd. and Barrett International Transport Munster Autocross Championship.
49 entries tackled the track set by Clerk of the Course Stephen Carway, Deputy Clerk of the Course Noelle Horan, and their team. The Club is grateful to Paddy Kelly for his kind permission to host the event at Dereen Sand & Gravel in Montpelier and are thankful for all the help from Paddy and his team to prepare the site.
From early morning, competitors were arriving to the venue eager to take to the track and set their best time out of three runs. Once the competition got underway, the spectators and Marshals were treated to a wide variety of Saloons, Buggys and Specials battling it out for the last Championship points.
There was special interest in the times of Cathal Mulcaire, who was making history competing in both a Buggy and a Saloon at the same event and he was aiming to be top of the timesheets in both.
The weather kept mainly dry for the fast and technical track, and the Drivers capitalised on the drying conditions to set faster times. Thanks to the hard work of the Marshals and the Starter team, there were minimal delays as the large number of drivers completed their runs and gathered for the prizegiving.
Birr & District Motor Club Chairperson David Forde welcomed everyone to the prizegiving and noted that the entry was outstanding. He thanked Paddy Kelly, Stephen Carway, Noelle Horan, the Marshals, Ambulances, Timekeepers, MI Safety Delegate Dermot Kelleher, MI Steward Eamonn Barrett and all who had helped out. He invited those present to give a round of applause in appreciation for all their hard work.
The Club was delighted to give a donation to Paddy Kelly to a charity of his choice. Paddy thanked the Club and said the donation will be matched and given to Crescent Comprehensive School who do great work. Paddy was delighted at the turnout for the day, along with the great interest in the event and hopes to see everyone again next year.
Clerk of the Course, Stephen Carway said the event worked as everyone had worked together; competitors, marshals, the organisers, and it was all completed in daylight. He thanked Noelle, noting she did most of the work and invited Noelle to say a few words. Noelle said it is a fantastic team, everyone works together. She thanked everyone for their support, their help and noted it was a great event with the biggest entry of the year.
Chairperson of the Motorsport Ireland Autocross Commission, Brian Keegan was asked to speak to the large group and said that we've come to the end of another successful year of Autocross; Grass, Gravel, Mondello Autocross. He thanked the large number of entries for supporting the Birr event and noted there has been great entries all year. On behalf of the Commission, he thanked everyone.
Brian was delighted to announce that the Motorsport Ireland Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards takes place next month and the Motorsport Ireland President, Aiden Harper has invited the Junior Championship winners to attend. Brian thanked the sponsors of the Championships and confirmed that the Autocross Awards will take place in early 2025 at the Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort. He hopes all will be able to attend.
Clerk of the Course Stephen Carway presented the awards.
Overall Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) in the 4WD was Michael Fitzgibbon. On being presented his award, he thanked Noelle, Stephen, all in the Club, the Marshals and Competitors for a great event and hopes to see all again next year.
History was made at the Autocross as Cathal Mulcaire was successful in his bid to clinch the Overall FTD in both the Saloon and Buggy classes. He was asked to say a few words, where he thanked the Club, the Marshals, and noted that Noelle had the event well-advertised, and it was nice to see so many out and hopefully this will carry into next year with more good entries.
Class Results
1 - 1st - Adam Grace, 2nd - Tristan Horan, 3rd - Conor O'Connell
2 - 1st - Mike Casey, 2nd - Martin Bond, 3rd - Gráinne Caplis
3 - 1st - George Shinnors, 2nd - Pat Horan, 3rd - Patricia Denning
4 - 1st - Padraig Forde, 2nd - Declan Burke, 3rd - Gerard O'Connell
5 - 1st - James Lowry, 2nd - Mike O'Connor Snr.
6 - 1st - Joe McHale, 2nd - Alan Drew, 3rd - Trevor Hogan
8 - 1st - Jake Lynch
9 - 1st - Anthony Dineen
10 - 1st - Declan O'Regan, 2nd - Ray Hassett, 3rd - James O'Keeffe
11 - 1st - Dean Murphy, 2nd - Eoghain McMahon, 3rd - Anthony Whelan
12 - 1st - Mike O'Connor Jnr, 2nd - James Last
13 - 1st - Mikey O'Connor, 2nd - Finn Gardiner Hynes, 3rd - William Cavanagh Jnr.
Birr & District Motor Club - 1st - Ronan Shanahan, 2nd - Conor Leenane, 3rd - Sebastian Szopa
The two sets of Championship results are currently posted as provisional. Upon being finalised in the coming weeks, they will be published on www.birrmotorclub.com.
Next up for Birr & District Motor Club is their final event of 2024, the hugely enjoyable Christmas Turkey Chaser Autotest on December 28th. For more information on this or their other Club events, head over to their website (www.birrmotorclub.com) or social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X).