Championship Finale decides Birr Motors Endurance title

Birr & District Motor Club hosted the final round of the 2024 Motorsport Ireland National Endurance Championship recently.

The growing popularity of this grassroots discipline alongside the popularity of the Birr & District Motor Club event made for the biggest entry of the year.

Clerk of the Course (CoC) Tristan Horan were preparing and planning for months for this eagerly awaited event and ran sixteen fantastic Selectives. As this was the Championship finale and with drop scores coming into play, competition was expected to be close, where picking up penalties could leave crews rueing their final placing.

From the early hours of the morning, a feast prepared by Nuala Horan and her team welcomed the marshals and crews to the fantastic headquarters at Ballingarry Community Centre which set them up for their busy day ahead. At Sign-on, all the crews were given Starter awards by Olivia Horan of "Olivia's Mugs & Creations" in conjunction with "Pat Horan Motors".

At the Drivers Briefing, the CoC welcomed all the competitors, including Motorsport Ireland (MI) steward Elaine Shinnors, MI Safety Delegate John Tynan, Competitor Liaison Officer Greg Shinnors, and thanked his deputy Pat Horan, Club steward Bill Ryan and Event secretary Noelle Horan and Olivia Horan for all their help and support.

Of the forty-odd cars entered, the majority were Toyota Starlets alongside Mitsubishi Colts, Renault Clio, Skoda Felicia, Toyota Glanza, VW Beetle, Subaru Impreza, VW Golf, Toyota Corolla, Vauxhall Corsa, Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Micra, and a Seat Ibiza were all set to take on the route. Ahead of them were sixteen Selectives of which eight to tackle in the morning and eight after the lunch break. They varied in length from .950m to 4.35km and with differing surfaces to challenge the crews; tar, concrete, gravel, mud, and grass.

As crews set out on the morning loop, the compact route kept the crews busy. Driver and navigator had to work as a team, navigating the road sections and then tackling the competitive sections (Selectives) as fast as they could while keeping penalty free.

All the Selectives were held on private land and the Club is grateful for the kind permission and generosity of all the residents, farmers and landowners to host their event.

As it was the final round of the Championship, several drivers had a hand on the overall title: Karl O'Donoghue, Shane Maguire, Graham Donoghue and defending champion Robert Howard. In the Navigator Championship race, Ciaran Maguire, Kevin Fagan, and Damian Quinn had their eyes on top spot.

At the lunch halt in Borrisokane after the morning Selectives, the top three crews were led by the brothers Shane & Ciaran Maguire, twelve seconds ahead of Robert Howard/Andrew Stewart, but hot on their heels by only one second was Graham O'Donoghue/Kevin Fagan. For Karl O'Donoghue, a Code Board penalty (1 minute) on Selective 4 saw him drop down the leaderboard.

As the crews left the welcomed lunch halt, it was all to play for heading out onto the next loop of all new Selectives to be repeated twice.

Early in the second loop, on Selective 10, the crew of Graham O'Donoghue/Kevin Fagan would rue a Stop Box penalty (1 minute), which saw them drop eight places and out of the championship title race bar mishaps by the leading crews. Throughout the second loop, several Class B crews although not eligible for Overall honours were vying to top the timesheets, among them David Forde/ Patrick O'Leary, Shane Burns/Dave Ray, and T.J. O'Brien/Paul Reilly.

On checking in at the final control back at the Event HQ, there was plenty of food for the crews to sink their teeth into as they chatted and swapped stories from the day. In short order, the results were finalised, and it was the Maguire brothers from Monaghan Motor Club who had held on to their early lead to claim overall victory. They finished thirteen seconds ahead of last year’s winner, Midland Motor Clubs Robert Howard/Andrew Stewart.

After the final loop of Selectives, the final control saw lying third, fourth and fifth the three Birr & District Motor Club crews of David Forde/Patrick O'Leary, Shane Burns with Dave Ray, and T.J. O'Brien with Paul Reilly, but as they were all running in Class B, they were ineligible for Overall honours. It would be the Birr & District Motor Club crew of Cian Robinson/Cialan Felle who clinched third overall in their Toyota Starlet.

These final standings would mean in the race for the Championship, the Maguire brothers had won their first MI Endurance Championship title and in doing so in their Mitsubishi Colt had also broken the dominance of the Toyota Starlet in this Championship. Second in the Drivers Championship would be claimed by Karl O'Donoghue, closely followed by Robert Howard. The Navigators would see Damien Quinn take second overall and Kevin Fagan finish third overall.

At the prize-giving, Birr & District Motor Club Chairperson David Forde spoke to welcome the large entry who had taken part in the event. He thanked all the marshals, timekeepers and all who had helped out. He also noted the fantastic job Nuala Horan, and her team did feeding everyone throughout the day, which was enthusiastically applauded by all those present. He went on to say that we must acknowledge the work that the Clerk of the Course Tristan Horan, his Deputy Pat Horan, Event Secretary Noelle Horan, Olivia Horan, Club Steward Bill Ryan and all who had helped to run the event, which all present applauded. “It was a brilliant event, it ran very well and thank you all for coming,” he said.

Alongside the Endurance Trial was a fundraiser for Tommy Donlon, a former Birr & District Motor Club member, popular competitor, and avid marshal. The Club were delighted and humbled at the generosity of those who donated prizes and all who supported the raffle in aid of the Tommy Donlon Fundraising Project. A substantial sum was gathered on the day with further monies from competitors and others pledged to this very worthy cause.

Chairman of the National Navigation Sub-Committee Conor Maguire was invited to say a few words and he spoke to give thanks to CoC Tristan for a great event, the residents, Nuala, and her team for the feed, and thanked the competitors. He noted there were great Class battles throughout the day. He thanked all the host Clubs for running a great Championship, where he said it's been a great year and great competition. He noted there was great event promotion, with existing and new Clubs intending to run in 2025 and 2026 and said to, "Spread the word of a good Championship and a great bunch of people".

On being presented their 2024 Birr Endurance Trial first Overall award by CoC Tristan Horan, Shane Maguire gave his thanks to Tristan and all his team for a great event. He thanked all the residents, marshals and all the Competitors for a great competition.

Birr & District Motor Club wishes to thank all the competitors for supporting their event and for helping to make it such a success. The Club congratulates the Maguire brothers on their Championship victory and the other competitors on their results in the 2024 Motorsport Ireland Endurance Championship.

The Club thanks Ballingarry Community Centre/Knockshegowna GAA, the residents, farmers, and landowners. They are grateful for the hard work of their CoC Tristan Horan, his team, the marshals, timekeepers, and observers who had all contributed to this events great success.

As this hugely successful event came to a close, Clerk of the Course Tristan remarked: "I was blown away by the kind words, and the happy atmosphere from all the competitors. And it has to be said, like all Birr Motor Club events, the people who helped out deserve the praise, not the CoC.

“With such great support, the day of the event is actually relatively easy. An extra special mention however for the ladies of the Club, from Secretary, to PRO, to catering, Marshalling etc, they are incredible".

Class Winners

A1 - Keith Bane/Gary Callanan

A2Beginner - Eoghan Fogarty/Peter Morrissey

A2Novice - James O’Dwyer/Ger O’Reilly

A2Semi-Expert - Martin Nugent/ Paul Tierney

A2Expert - John Cooney/Adam Cooney

A2Master -

‘A’ - Karl O’Donoghue/Evington Hughes,

‘B’ - David Forde/ Patrick O’Leary

‘C’ - Trevor O’Callaghan/Susan Smyth

‘D’ - Laoise Sheil/Padraic Sheil

‘E’ - Declan Burke/Eoin Longworth

‘F’ - Ciaran McGorman/Rossington McGorman

Birr & District Motor Club Members - Becky Hollinshead/Alan Monahan.

For the full results of the Birr & District Motor Club Endurance Trial, head over to the website: www.birrmotorclub.com