2011 IRISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS 3 & 4: ANGLESEY CIRCUIT, WALES
Welsh Wins For Tracey and Rabbitt – Norman Fawcett and Keith Rabbitt take Touring class spoils
Words: Stephen Errity Photos: Ed Fahey
Race One
In the Super Touring class, Philip Burdock took an excellent pole position for the first of the day’s two races, and established a commanding lead on the first lap. Off the line, second-place qualifier Stephen Maher was soon passed by 2010 title contenders Martin Tracey and Barry Rabbitt. The long back straight at Anglesey gave Tracey plenty of opportunity to open up the Westward Engineering Sierra Cosworth, but Rabbitt managed to re-take second position several times under braking for the tricky Rocket corner. Maher, too, snuck ahead briefly at the Corkscrew during Lap 3, but was soon repassed by the black Sierra.
The race had begun in light rain, but several drivers had elected to start on slicks, hoping for a quick improvement in the weather. And although it never completely stopped raining, it did ease off noticeably during the course of the 20-minute race, which left wet-tyred runners like Rabbitt struggling for pace. On lap three, the Tuning Factory CR-X driver was passed by both Tracey and a recovering Maher.
The latter held third place until lap 11, when his BMW’s air filter came loose and forced him into a heartbreaking last-minute retirement. Tracey, meanwhile, set off in pursuit of leader Burdock, who had looked comfortable in the early stages of the race but now came under increasing pressure. This manifested itself in two mistakes that saw the orange Civic go straight on at Rocket and let the charging Tracey through to take the lead, and his second win of the season. Burdock held on to mantain his strong run of podium finishes, crossing the line second ahead of Ciaran Timmons’ Honda Integra. Timmons drove a storming race from seventh on the grid, passing first Brian Moore’s Impreza on lap six, then snatching fifth from Gareth Hayden on the next tour. It then took him four laps to chase down and pass Rabbitt, whose wet tyres were by now well past their best.
Brian Moore was reasonably satisfied with his seventh-place finish, although his tail-happy ByDesign Kitchens Subaru Impreza sometimes struggled to get the power down, which saw him lose places to both Phil Brennan’s slick-shod BMW 325i and Gareth Hayden’s Sportchip.ie Honda Integra over the course of the race. After the race, Brennan lamented that his tyres only came good towards the end, as he felt confident of being able to chase down Rabbitt for fourth within another few laps.
The Touring class win in the first race went to rookie ‘Stormin’ Norman Fawcett, who had started the race from sixth on the class grid, but made up an amazing four places on the first lap. He then settled into a race-long battle with Keith Rabbitt, who was debuting his new Tuning Factory-built Honda Integra racecar at this round. Fawcett got ahead briefly on lap five, but Rabbitt fought back and it took another move from Fawcett on lap eight to finally make it stick. There was some contact between Rabbitt and Touring class polesitter Danny Calnan, who had made a great recovery after losing a lot of places on the first lap, and would go on to finish second. This left the way clear for Rob Savage to take third in Touring in his DC2 Integra. Rabbitt eventually finished fourth, just ahead of Mark Nangle’s Subaru Impreza, and Anthony Murtagh, who wrestled his ill-handling VW Corrado to sixth in class, ahead of Eric Caroll’s Integra. Brian Fitzpatrick finished eigth after spinning his Civic early in the race, and Nissan Silvia pilot David Walsh was the final Touring runner home in ninth.
Results (Super Touring class)
Pos Driver Car
1 Martin Tracey Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500
2 Philip Burdock Honda Civic
3 Ciaran Timmons Honda Integra
4 Barry Rabbitt Honda CR-X
5 Phil Brennan BMW 325i
6 Gareth Hayden Honda Integra
7 Brian Moore Subaru Impreza
DNF Stephen Maher BMW 3-Series Compact
Results (Touring class)
Pos Driver Car
1 Norman Fawcett Honda Integra
2 Danny Calnan Honda Civic
3 Rob Savage Honda Integra
4 Keith Rabbitt Honda Integra
5 Mark Nangle Subaru Impreza
6 Anthony Murtagh VW Corrado
7 Eric Carroll Honda Integra
8 Brian Fitzpatrick Honda Civic
9 David Walsh Nissan Silvia
Race Two
The top six finishers in the Touring Class had their positions reversed for the start of the day’s second race, but this proved little impediment for Barry Rabbitt, who made a demon start from third on the grid and was into the lead by the end of the first lap. Polesitter Gareth Hayden threw it all away with a big off at Church corner, but fortunately didn’t hit anything solid and rejoined well down the field. Philip Burdock also got into trouble on the first lap, shaving the barrier with the rear corner of his Civic and dropping to the back of the Super Touring pack. Second-place starter Phil Brennan initially held his grid position, but by lap three he had succumbed to both a charging Martin Tracey and Ciaran Timmons, obviously fired up from his podium in race one. Brennan then drove consistently for the rest of the race, holding off the challenge posed by Stephen Maher until lap 13, when the two BMWs switched places at the Corkscrew. Brian Moore, meanwhile, made up two places off the start but then repeated his race one performance by falling back down the order, losing places to both Maher and a recovering Hayden in the course of the 16-lap encounter.
A cursory glance at the timesheets will tell you that Martin Tracey started sixth and finished seventh, but this doesn’t tell the full story of the Meath man’s race. Tracey began by carving through the field in his customary manner, and was up to second place behind Rabbitt by lap two. The battle mirrored that of the first race, with Tracey having the legs on the back straight, but Rabbitt making up time under braking. The Westward Sierra got ahead on the back straight on the second-last lap, just as both cars came up to lap Touring class driver Anthony Murtagh. The Corrado driver moved to the right to let the leaders past, but on the entry to the left-hander at Rocket there was contact between Rabbitt and Tracey that resulted in the Sierra spinning off. Rabbitt kept going to take the win and the chequered flag on the next lap, while Timmons, Maher, Brennan, Hayden and Moore all made up a place as the Westward car got going again. Behind these, Burdock struggled with his Civic’s handling after his lap one off and came home at the back of the Super Touring field.
The Touring class once again provided close and exciting racing further down the field. Murtagh suffered an early setback when he spun off on lap two, while Brian Fitzpatrick’s Honda Civic retired on lap three. Mark Nangle briefly lost his second position off the grid, but had soon clawed his way back up to challenge Keith Rabbitt for the lead. The battle came to a head with contact on lap five – Nangle would retire shortly afterwards, but the younger Rabbitt brother led fellow Integra drivers Rob Savage and Eric Carroll home to make it an all-DC2 podium in the second race. Norman Fawcett had also threatened for a podium in the early stages, but his race came to an early halt in the pitlane on lap seven due to engine probelms. David Walsh’s Nissan Silvia seemed much more at home in the drier conditions of race two, and he duly improved on his race one result with a fourth place finish in the class, just ahead of Danny Calnan, who was suffering from incorrect gear ratios for the Welsh track that saw him hitting the rev limiter for much of the back straight. Murtagh’s aforementioned spin meant he spent most of race two playing catch-up, but he held it together to make it two sixth place finishes for the day.
Results (Super Touring Class)
Pos Driver Car
1 Barry Rabbitt Honda CR-X
2 Ciaran Timmons Honda Integra
3 Stephen Maher BMW 3-Series Compact
4 Phil Brennan BMW 325i
5 Gareth Hayden Honda Integra
6 Brian Moore Subaru Impreza
7 Martin Tracey Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500
8 Philip Burdock Honda Civic
Results (Touring Class)
Pos Driver Car
1 Keith Rabbitt Honda Integra
2 Rob Savage Honda Integra
3 Eric Caroll Honda Integra
4 David Walsh Nissan Silvia
5 Danny Calnan Honda Civic
6 Anthony Murtagh VW Corrado
DNF Norman Fawcett Honda Integra
DNF Mark Nangle Subaru Impreza
DNF Brian Fitzpatrick Honda Civic
IRISH TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 