Derek Tohill takes the fifth round of the Irish Rallycross Championship in the Super Final from Noel Greene and Thomas O’Rafferty, and the Supercar Final from Thomas O’Rafferty and Noel Greene.

Derek Tohill took top honours at Round 5 of the Parts for Cars Irish Rallycross Championship at a breezy and slightly overcast Pallas Karting in Tynagh, Galway.

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Heat 1 saw five Supercars line up on the grid with a welcomed return from the 2013 Irish Rallycross Champion, Andrew Morris. But unfortunately, technical gremlins took hold and he was forced to retire during the first lap of Heat 1. We hope to see the Impreza back in action in Round 6 at Mondello.

As others struggled with mechanical issues and outright pace, the OMSE Fiesta of Derek Tohill bolted away at the front to win all 3 heats. Tohill expressed his love for this tight, twisty and very grippy track after Heat 3, seeming very content with his “Solberg Style” soft suspension setup heading to the Finals.

Tohill’s closest 2 competitors came in the form of Thomas O’Rafferty in his older Mk3 Fiesta Supercar and Noel Greene in his freshly prepared Mitsubishi Mirage Supercar which is still in the development stages.

Thomas O’Rafferty said on the pre-grid of heat 3 that he was struggling to find any of the traction and grip that the OMSE Fiesta of Tohill clearly had bucket loads of, noting the scrubbed tyre walls on his car.

Noel Greene had intermittent power issues in Heat 2, which then seen his team set about changing the injectors at the lunch break to try resolve the issue for Heat 3. The change worked and the Mirage was back on full chat in Heat 3 as he went 2.5 seconds a lap quicker.

The grid for the Supercar Final seen Tohill on pole with O’Rafferty and Greene to his right and Willie Farrell’s Subaru making up the second row. As the three cars charged to the first corner, Tohill put his nose just in front of a very hard launching O’Rafferty. And the trend continued from their as the Parts for Cars Fiesta gapped the pack to take a very comfortable 19 second win from O’Rafferty, Greene & Farrell whose Subaru unfortunately retired on the first lap.

© GM&RS/ERC24

JUNIORS
The Junior category provided great racing all day, proving once again you can have fun in Rallycross what ever you are driving! The 3 Heats saw 3 different winners, Heat 1 Morgan Quinn, Heat 2 Ben Mullins and Heat 3 Shane Duggan.

Tynagh seen the RX debut for Christopher Grimes Jnr, whose father participates in a Modified Vauxhall Nova. Christopher set some very consistent lap times throughout the day, with more seat time we hope to see him join in the fight at the front!

The Junior Final didnt disappoint, as the 3 heat winners entered turn one, it was pole man Duggan swapping paint with the grey car of Quinn. This allowed Ben Mullins to make a move for second place pushing Quinn back to third. As the race progressed Quinn made a great move to pass Mullins on the outside of turn 1. Morgan then began to hunt down the leader, Duggan. Heading onto the final lap Quinn had closed the gap right down and made a questionable move down the inside of Duggan on the final corner to cross the line first. In a moment of rage, Duggan then retaliated after the chequered flag pushing Quinn into a small spin at turn 2.
The actions of both Junior drivers booked them an appointment with the Clerk of the Course, were the issue was resolved and the result stood due to Duggan’s actions after the finish line.

SUPERFINAL
The weather took a turn for the worse as the cars packed out the grid for the Superfinal. The 3 Supercars of Tohill, O’Rafferty & Greene made up the front row, followed by an army of Modifieds. The wet conditions further played into the hands of Tohill’s spectacular Fiesta, the car soaking up everything Galway could throw at it! The modified Opel/Vauxhalls of Coyne and Ryan shadowed the Supercars of O’Rafferty and Greene for most of the race! But the surprise came at the last corner, when O’Rafferty’s Fiesta was pipped at the post by Greene’s Mirage, taking second place by just 0.099 of a second!

Results
Super Final
1. Derek Tohill
2. Noel Greene
3. Thomas O’Rafferty

Supercar Final
1. Derek Tohill
2. Thomas O’Rafferty
3. Noel Greene

Modified Final
1. Willie Coyne
2. George Tohill
3. Patick Ryan

Stockhatch 16v
1. John Ward
2. Paul Nolan
3. Leigh Anne Sedgwick

Stockhatch 8v
1. Ciaran Murphy
2. Damien Farrell
3. Adrian Farrell

Fiestas
1. Dan McDonnell
2. Keith Kerrshaawe
3.Ronan McDonnell

Juniors
1. Morgan Quinn
2. Shane Duggan
3. Ben Mullins

Rallycars
1. Patrick Donoghue
2. Peter O’Brien
3. William Cecil