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WATERFORD RACEWAY ROUND 11

The Pike 10 November 2024

Waterford Raceway reached the end of its 2024 championship season (round 11) with a special cup day in memory of Jamie Egan, with trophies for all classes sponsored by the Egan family, in addition to the regular class trophies that were sponsored this time by Tom Murphy Car Sales of Waterford.

As the pits filled up, earlier in the morning than usual, due to the daylight constraints, the most welcome sight was the arrival of the green 413 Starlet, not seen since the epic battles we used to enjoy between the Egan sisters. The car would be used in the first Class 2 heat by Pat Nolan, later featuring in a lap of honour with a motorbike escort, before the final round of racing. The forecast of a mild, and mainly sunny day, fortunately proved true, but only after a very misty and drizzly start had everyone worried. With the main priority being to get through the programme to the main cup races, the three round of heats ran through non stop, with the day’s racing all completed in very good time. A slightly smaller entry than at October’s double-header saw 49 cars in the pits, two of these being “backup” cars, with three shared cars bringing the total entry to 50. Rather unfortunately, we lost one of these before the start when Rookie Junior Cayden Leahy had an accident while unloading his car – we hope his hand quickly recovers.

Results through the three rounds of class racing were influenced to an extent by the track being very slow to dry out after the damp morning, with quite a few drivers getting their tyre choice wrong as it proved unexpectedly slippery. CLASS 1 only brought out two of the six potential entries, with Shane Hickey taking a clean sweep of wins, although Conor Fitzgerald was getting closer to Shane’s pace in every race. CLASS 2 saw Wayne O’Shea struggling with an unusually tail-happy Micra, leading to a spectacular first heat battle with Darragh Healy hanging on in front until Wayne finally got a run on him exiting the last corner to snatch it by a bumper. Pat Nolan took third in Jamie’s car before switching to his regular Starlet, battling with Darragh’s similar Fiat-powered car in the second race, with Wayne this time getting away to catch the Class 1 leaders. A slight mishap in the third race saw Wayne retiring as Darragh held off Pat. This gave Darragh the overall win from Pay and Wayne.

CLASS 3 was very close for the championship between the two rapid Cork-vased starlet-Honda drivers Jason Murphy and Tommy Daly. Tommy got the better of Jason in the closing stages of the first race, with Jason’s older car, in the hands of Co Meath driver Sean Coss, taking third from Wexford’s Sean Foley. Second time out Jason’s car sounded very off song and he dropped back as Tommy won, chased by Sean Foley, with young Sean Coss putting up another good performance in third. It all went wrong in the final as Tommy and Jason tangled on the first lap, with enough damage to sideline them both from the restart. Sean Foley caught and p[assed Sean Coss for the win, giving the Wexford man the overall win.

Like Class 3, CLASS 4 featured four of the iconic Irish Hot Rods, the Honda D Series-powered Starlets, but they were joined by Killian Swayne’s very quick ex-Jason Ryan Micra and, after the best part of two years plagued by engine problems, Killian finally got the result his persistence deserved, with a runaway win in the first race. Kieron Murphy took second with the Wexford trio of Craig Kinsella, Kieran Cooney and Andy Foley battling for third. A couple of incidents behind him left Andy Foley unchallenged his race two, with Killian Swayne coming from the back to second. Killian was missing from the final though, and early leader Kieron Murphy spun just after losing the lead to Kieron Cooney, bringing out a red flag. Kieron Cooney then held off Craig Kinsella in a close duel after the restart. Craig was the overall winner, from Kieran and Andy.

CLASS 1B saw some fraught action, with Stephen O’Shea in the thick of it. In the first heat Stephen held the lead as Ross Ryan, Callum Swayne and James Deane fought over who would attack Stephen on the outside – taking the inside line from Stephen isn’t an option. It all got too close heading into the last couple of laps and James was sent thudding into the top bend tyre wall as the red flag flew to give Stephen the win from Ross, with Callum Swayne picking up a penalty that dropped him behind class debutante Aoibhe Fitzgerald, looking very good on her move up from Juniors as she raced with Adam Rooney. James Deane led away in the second race and was soon out on his own as the battle developed again behind Stephen O’Shea. Killian Swayne, after dropping out of the first heat, led the attack and finally did the impossible by stealing Stephen’s inside line. Unfortunately as the rest of the pack tried to follow, Stephen was given a hand onto the slippery grass, which propelled him hard into the armco. Another red flag left James the winner from Killian, Callum, Ross and Aoibhe.

The 1Bs finally managed the full distance in race three, with Killian Swayne leading all the way, while Callum was the only one to succeed in passing Stephen round the outside to take second. Stephen’s car finally succumbed to its punishing day, leaving James Deane holding off Ross Ryan for third, with the impressive Aoibhe Fitzgerald close behind. Overall, James took the win from Ross and Killian.

The biggest entry of LADIES for some time saw six cars line up, joined again by the lone JUNIOR MINI entry of Michael Wynn – although one, and later two, of the ladies were in similar BMW Minis. Catherine Walsh came back from her very successful first full season of rallying to make her first Pike appearance of the year and Catherine came through the field to take a last lap win over Aoife Healy, driving brother Darragh’s Starlet as har intended drive, in her other brother Stephen’s green Starlet, went sick. The second heat was led away by Anita Pollard (sorry, Anita Foy!) in her ex-Laura Keegan Mini, with Katie Egan soon passing her to lead as far as the last corner, where Catherine had a good run off the outside to snatch another close win. Maria O’Keeffe, sharing Killian Swayne’s 1B Micra, led Anita away in the final, with a fine battle developing behind between Katie Egan and Chelsea Eager, interrupted by two red flags. At the third attempt, Katie led Chelsea as they chased after Maria and Anita. Once she hit the front Katie held on to win, under extreme pressure all the way from Chelsea, while Aoife Healy took third from Catherine Walsh, who couldn’t quite make up the three-quarter lap handicap she’d earned. Maria O’Keefe and Anita Pollard were chased home by Michael Wynn. Catherine took the Ladies’ class overall from Katie and Aoife.

The ROOKIE JUNIORS had ten cars on track, all very much on the pace and enjoying very close and clean racing. The most recent addition to the group, Keelan Gleason, continued to impress as he led the first race away, but James Curran then took over and held on in front until the last corner, where Luke O’Connell took the inside line to beat James to the line, with Keelan still there in third ahead of birthday boy Tom Robinson, Ruby McCarthy, Emily Sisk, James Leahy, Anna Fitzgerald, Ronan Sisk and Sean D’Arcy. That order was reversed for the start of the second heat and Ronan Sisk led all the way, closely chased by Anna Fitzgerald until the still very slippery track caught Anna out with a lap to go. James Leahy took second from Luke O’Connell and Riby McCarthy just headed Emily Sisk and Keelan Gleason. The final race saw the day’s third winner as points champion elect Anna Fitzgerald led all the way, closely chased by Tom Robinson. Luke O’Connell came from the back to take a close third from Emily Sisk, James Curran, Ronan Sisk and James Leahy, with Roby McCarthy, Keelan Gleason and Sean D’Arcy close behind to complete the evenly matched field.

The PRODUCTION JUNIORS had another fairly full 11-car grid, including Rory O’Connor, the rapid ex-karter making the move up from the Rookies. Conor Hoey made the running in the first race before losing out to Sean Ryan just before the reds came out, with Aaron Murphy in trouble. Cole McGann had just made it up to third ahead of Eoin Robinson. The second race also saw an early red flag, with the slippery surface claiming another victim in Aaron Murphy, who took a heavy shunt into the top bend barriers. Daryl Deane took the win ahead of Jack Roche, while Sean Ryan and Cole McGann had progressed from the back to third and fourth. The final was unfortunately missing Cillian Rooney and Aaron Murphy. Ben Fitzgerald was the early leader before Sherise O’Shea took it up, and Sherise held on under pressure from Ben, who was quickly joined by Cole McGann, Jack Roche and Sean Ryan. Sherise did a splendid job defending her lead as Cole took up the challenge, and although Cole finally hit the front with two laps to go, Sherise didn’t let him get away and took a good second with Sean Ryan breathing down her neck in third. Ben Fitz held off Jack Roche for fourth ahead of Daryl Deane, Rory O’Connor, Conor Honey and Eoin Robinson.

Then it was time for the Jamie Egan trophies, which would be presented later by Anne Egan and Pat Nolan against the backdrop of Jamie’s car, with a great turnout of their family to support them, and pleasingly everyone at the meeting hanging on to show their appreciation.

The Juniors, Rookies and 1B had their cups decided by the points order on the day, also picking up their regular trophies as a bonus. Sean Ryan won the Juniors from Jack Roche and Cole McGann, while Luke O’Connell took the Rookies’ honours from Tom Robinson and James Curran. In 1B James Deane was the winner from Ross Ryan and Killian Swayne.

The LADIES had their own cup race, which was led for half its distance by Maria O’Keeffe in the 1B car. When she was finally caught, Katie Egan and Chelsea Eager came past her on both sides at once, and Chelsea then held off Katie for the rest of the race, with Catherine Walsh catching up to make it a splendid three car battle in the closing stages, although Chelsea couldn’t be budged as she headed for a well deserved win after her very impressive debut season at the Pike. Maria held onto fourth from Aoife Healy, now in her Rallycross Mini, with Anita in the other Mini pulling off near the end.

The main JAMIE EGAN CUP race was one of the Pike’s always spectacular 20-lappers for all the modified class cars, with 11 cars taking the start. Conor Fitz set off with a good lead over Shane Hickey, with Shane taking 15 laps to catch him, by which time the excellent handicapping was coming into play again, with Craig Kinsella and Kieran Cooney right with Shane. As soon as Shane took the lead, he had Craig on his inside and Kieren making a spectacular move round the outside to pass them both. As they came up to lap Sean Coss in the pits bend, Sean was sent spinning, but the battle continued to the flag with Kieran holding off Craig and Shane. In the close action though Kieran had pickrf up a penalty, promoting Craig to win the cup (so it stayed in Wexford!) from Shane and Kieran. Andy Foley came home fourth ahead of Conor Fitz, with Darragh Healy and Tommy Daly completing the finishers after Sean Foley, Wayne O’Shea and Kieron Murphy retired.

A great end to a good season’s racing at the Pike. The traditional Christmas meeting is due to be revived on 29 December, although it’s unlikely that we’ll manage to get to that, so we look forward to another successful season for Waterford Raceway in 2025.