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WATERFORD RACEWAY ROUND 10

The Pike 13 October 2024

The second day of the October double-header saw the Waterford Raceway team in the familiar position of having to chase through the programme to beat the threatened weather. Although a planned early start didn’t quite work out by the time everyone was signed on and scrutineered, a rapid turnaround of races saw the climax of the day, the Tom Murray Memorial Shield, completed in plenty of time to get everyone at least on the road home before the heavy rains came.

With a few casualties and other absentees after Saturday’s hectic session, and only a couple of new arrivals, the eventual turnout was slightly reduced, with 51 entries using 48 cars.

Again the JUNIOR PRODUCTIONS started the day, with one addition to the field being Aaron Murphy, who started the year in the Rookies. The first race was led by Jamie Eager, sharing the Wicklow team’s surviving Micra with his brother after damage to his regular car on Saturday. Jamie was still safely ahead when the red flag came out after a spin for Cillian Rooney, at which point Cole McGann was just passing Conor Hoey for second, with Sean Ryan, Eoin Robinson, Jack Roche, Faddy Fitzgerald, Ben Fitzgerald, Aiobhe Fitzgerald and Jack Nolan all scrapping behind them.

Second time out, Wexford’s Jack Nolan, on his first Pike weekend, was released from the back of the grid for the first time, and starting up front he led more than half the race before he was inevitably passed by Cole McGann. As Cole went on to a dominant win, Jack Nolan held onto second from Jack Roche, with Ben Fitzgerald, Sean Ryan and Aoibhe Fitzgerald fighting for third. The third race saw another red flag, with thee cars tangling and Jack roche ended up in the wall, but they all restarted except Eoin Robinson, who’d already pulled off. Paddy Fitz and Aiobhe both had turns in the lead before Jack Roche hit the front. Cole had already carved through the rest of the traffic though, and he took over for the second half of the race, winning from Jack, with Aoibhe holding off the bumper trailing Sean Ryan for third. After Ben Fitzgerald ploughed into the tyre wall with a lap to go, Jamie Eager took fifth from Conor Hoey, Jack Nolan, Paddy Fitz and Aaron Murphy, with Cillian Rooney retiring. The overall win went to Cole, from Jack Roche and Jamie Eager.

The LADIES and JUNIOR MINI classes again raced together, with the battle continuing between Chelsea Eager’s Micra and Katie Egan’s Starlet. This time Chelsea won all three races; Katie spun out of the first to give Chelsea a big advantage, but in the other two races Katie pushed Chelsea every inch of the way. The two BMW Minis were evenly matched and battled all day, but were in different classes with Aiofe Healy taking third overall in the Ladies, while Dean Deasy won the Juniors.

Eleven ROOKIES lined up, with Rory O’Connor again looking in a class of his own, quickly reaching the front despite an ever-extending start handicap. The first race was stopped a lap early, with Ruby McCarthy hitting the wall after defending third place well. James Leahy had taken second and Luke O’Connell, Cayden Leahy and Anna Fitzgerald were next up, followed by Sean D’Arcy, Tom Robinson, Molly Walsh, Katelyn O’Connell and Ronan Sisk, whose replacement for his car wrecked last month looked a bit off song. Race 2 came to an early halt, with Tom Robinson leading from the rapidly closing Rory O’Connell; the reds came out when Luke O’Connell ended up in a vulnerable spot, but as the pack tried to anchor up, Molly Walsh and Ruby McCarthy both got hit hard from behind. No serious damage was done and Molly led the final race away before Rory shot past and disappeared into the distance. Molly and Ruby raced side-by-side for second, but Cayden Leahy had a good run out of the last corner to beat them both to the line, with Luke O’Connell, Anna Fitzgerald, James Lehy, Tom Robinson and Sean D’Arcy all right behind, while Ronan Sisk and Katelyn O’Connell completed the runners. Rory took the overall winner’s trophy from Cayden and Anna.

CLASS 1B once again provided some of the day’s closest racing. The new up and coming star of the class, Stephen O’Shea, shook off Dylan Eager’s challenge to lead the first heat all the way, withstanding all the pressure from Killiam Swayne while young Callum Swayne joined in on the last lap, just stealing second from his dead as the leaders crossed the line three abreast, with Dylan Eager and Darragh Healy both fighting for the same bit of tarmac, while Adam Rooney and Nicky O’Leary had their own battle. Second time out Nicky briefly held the lead but Killian was soon past and this time kept his son at arm’s length, winning from Callum and Darragh. Nicky was eventually sidelined by what sounded like a gearbox full of neutrals, as Stephen, Dylan and Adam chased the leaders home. Nicky was missing from the final, and Adam didn’t last long with a very tired sounding engine in the hard worked family Micra. Dylan Eager led, and managed to hold the gap and take the win from the battling Callum, Stephen and Killian, while Darragh Healy had to switch to Paddy Fitz’s car as the Jack Roche car he usually borrows had had enough. Stephen O’Shea was a popular overall winner, for once relegating Killian and Callum Swayne to second and third.

The modified classes were consolidated into two races; Classes 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, with no 5s or 6s here today. The Class 3 and 4 grouping had spectacular potential with a line-up eight of what we always regard as the iconic Irish Hot Rods, Honda-powered Starlets from Wexford and Cork with one midland interloper! CLASS 3 saw a late return to the track by Sean Foley, who’d been up all night helping his Wexford team mates swap engines and all sorts, but it seemed to have done him good as he was holding Tommy Daly off for second when the first heat was red flagged. Jason Murphy was leading, but his older car, showing very good pace in the hands of young Co Meath driver Sean Coss, ended up in the wall after losing a wheel. Second time out Sean Foley held off Jason for the win, with the rest of the class locked out after being late to the gate. No time for hanging around when the weather threatens the Pike! The third heat saw Sean Foley holding off Tommy for the win while Sean Coss headed Jason Murphy over the line, although one or two flags had flown in the direction of their battle. Sean Foley won overall from the regular Cork contenders, Jason and Tommy.

CLASS 4 confused many who thought they’d seen Andy Foley’s Starlet arrive at the last minute. It was actually Craig Kinsella, whose own car had suffered with no brakes on Saturday, but borrowing one of Andy’s identical looking Starlets (Andy himself had raced in the Open FWD class at Rosegreen on Saturday night) had involved an all-night series of engine, gearbox and clutch swaps. Craig then won a fine battle with fellow Wexford man Kieran Cooney in the first race, with Cork’s Kieron Murphy close behind and Mike Sigerson having problems that brought out the second red flag of that race. Second time out Craig and Kieran Cooney were the only ones to make the grid on time, and Craig won another close battle. The third round saw an usual red flag, thanks to a dog running across the track. Kieren Cooney then led a close fight with Craig and Kieron Murphy until Craig grabbed the advantage when they caught up with a Class 3 batttle in the closing stages.

CLASS 1 amazingly, considering the damage done on Saturday, featured the same five cars. Sean Berresford led the first heat nearly all the way, and looked set for a debut win until his engine cut, letting the rapidly closing Michael Kiersey take the win from Conor Fitzgerald, with Shane Hickey recovering from a first lap moment. Shane was back on top, winning Class 2 as Sean held off Michael and Conor for second. Sean Berrisford’s engine again cut out when leading in the third race, and Shane Hickey had a clear run to second ahead of Conor Fitz, while Liam and Michael Kiersey both had problems. Shane won overall from Michael and Conor.

Wayne O’Shea’s Micra was yet again top of the CLASS 2s, catching up with the quicker Class 1s as he won each race after battling past the three evenly matched Starlets of PJ Foley, Pat Foley and Darragh Healy. Pat got the better of this fight in the first heat, Darragh in the second and in the third PJ just held off Darragh, although Pat (PJ’s uncle) was missing after injector problems on his Fiat engine. Overall, Wayne was the winner from Darragh and PJ.

The TOM MURRAY MEMORIAL SHIELD hadn’t been contested since 2019, although up to then the winners had included many of the Pike’s finest racers. With 19 cars eligible to race, the hard weekend’s racing had taken its toll and eight lined up for the 20-lapper. Sean Berrisford’s Micra was running well again as he held onto the lead for 10 laps, but as Shane Hickey caught him, so did Wayne O’Shea, and Craig Kinsella, making very rapid progress from three-quarters of a lap handicap. Shane briefly grabbed the lead before Craig was through, but then Shane hung on to the quicker car the rest of the way. Craig took the win (the third Wexford win in the last three Cup races), with Shane second, but Wayne dropped out on the last lap, helping Tommy Daly come through to third ahead of Sean Berresford, Kieron Murphy, Sean Foley and Chelsea Eager.

The rain stayed away until the trophies had been presented by the day’s sponsor, Tom Hickey of Express Cabs, leaving everyone looking forward to what promises to be a spectacular season closer on 10 November, hopefully featuring a special cup race in honour of the much missed Jamie Egan.