Motorsport: Emphatic win for Dublin's Derek Tohill at Mondello

Dubliner Derek Tohill (Fiesta), title sponsor of the Parts for Cars Irish Rallycross Championship, continued his dominance of the series with an emphatic display in the second round of the series at Mondello Park yesterday.

Winning all the heats in the SuperCar along with the final itself, Tohill was on pole for the Super final. Despite fluffing the start that allowed Nigel Greene (Mitsubishi Mirage) take a brief advantage, Tohill was in the lead in an instant and lap by lap steered well clear of the opposition. By the finish Tohill, who won the opening round a few weeks ago, had over 18 seconds to spare as he took the chequered flag with ease and was followed by Greene and the Corsa of Willie Coyne. There were wins for Owen Murray (Peugeot 106) in the Production Class, the Modified section was won by Ian O’Connell (Lotus Exige) and Patrick O’Donoghue (Peugeot 205) won the Rallycar class.

Elsewhere, in the Clare Autocross at Castlearmstrong in Offaly, round two of the Munster series, Tipperary’s James Lahart (Semog Buggy) punched in the best time on the third and final run to take victory by two seconds. On the opening run, Limerick’s Christopher O’Callaghan (Semog Buggy) was a second faster than the similar machine of Clonakilty’s Paul O’Driscoll. O’Callaghan improved his time on the second run where Brian Hassett (Semog Buggy) slotted into second. However, on the last run they were out trumped by Lahart, who took victory as O’Callaghan and O’Driscoll completed the top three.

Meanwhile, this season’s PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship was launched yesterday at the Vienna Woods Hotel, Glanmire in Cork. The six round series will feature a number of changes along with the introduction of a new junior category.

The main alterations is the awarding of 50% bonus points for the final round, the Fastnet Rally in Bantry, while the Imokilly Rally in July that previously only had half points, will now be awarded full points. The series will as usual begin with the Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally (March 18/19). The new Junior Trophy aims to encourage new competitors through a series of cost effective measures.

The series will have a prize fund in excess of €3,000.

The PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship will consist of the following rounds:

West Cork Rally (March 18/19); Killarney International Rally of the Lakes (April 29/30); Raven’s Rock Rally, Waterford (June 25); Imokilly Rally, Midleton (July 23); Cork “20” International Rally (September 30/October 1); Fastnet Rally, Bantry (October 29).

The Killarney Historic Rally on December 2 is for that category only and will also count as the opening round of the 2018 series.