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Added: 31 Dec 2012 |
Category: 2012 Oval Racing |
2012 - #47 – Tullyroan Oval – 30/12/12 |
The final meeting of 2012 and just like 2011 my 47th meeting of the year, with a personal target of 50 remaining illusive.
It already seems like there has been a lifetime of racing at Tullyroan, but this was the first festive meeting, with the big van bangers getting their seasonal outing and the Robins holding their Irish Championship.
Festive meetings can be a bit hit and miss in terms of car and spectator turnouts, but despite the forecast of rain and gales, there was a good turnout in most of the classes, if anything the ProStocks numbers would be the only class you’d have expected more cars out in, and I think there was 15 of them out.
It looked at the start of the meeting as though we might be lucky enough to get a dry day, but what started out as a few spits of rain got heavier as the day went on, and became one of the wettest meetings there has been at Tullyroan, at the end of a year when we’ve had quite a bit of luck with weather on race days.
Following a minute silence for commentator Big D, the Lightning Rods got the meeting under way, with a respectable turnout of cars which included Spedeworth visitor Robert Gamble. Heat one went the way of Francis Rafferty, before Gary Beggs picked up the heat two win and David Hearst went on to take the silverware in the final.
Jay Jay McGonaghie led off the Robins Irish Championship with Rab Stewart soon taking the lead before Ian Bolton took the lead by mid distance and went on to take his fourth Robins Irish Championship title, leading home Billy McClean in second and Rab Stewart in third.
There was no fewer than 16 van bangers in action from which Kieran McIvor won the feature race and the allcomers before David Wright won the Destruction Derby which ended with a spectacular head on involving Wright and Stefan McClelland.
The 2.0 Hot Rods included former F2 Irish Champion Gavin Fegan in a borrowed Tigra. The heat win went to Wayne Woolsey who came out top in a three car battle with Ed Litter and Mark Madill. Leigh Nicholl took the early lead in the final before spinning backwards into the wall on turn three while under pressure from Nigel McCauley. McCauley pulled out a gap on Ed Litter in second until they started lapping backmarkers. As McCauley caught up on Fegan, Litter touched the back of McCauley’s car spinning him on the exit of turn four. Litter then took up the lead with Adam Hylands and Wayne Woolsey battling for second. McCauley rejoined well down the order, but spun into the wall in turn one a few laps later bringing out the yellow flags, at which stage Litter was excluded from the race leaving Hylands in the lead. Hylands held off Woolsey in the closing laps to take the win with Shane Murray third.
In the Junior Productions there was a debut for Graham Fegan Jnr, the son of former F2 European champion Graham Fegan, who looked to quickly get to grips with racing, before spinning and collecting a marker tyre on the infield. Fionn Donnelly took the Junior heat win before Jordan Robinson took the final win.
The ProStocks may have been down on numbers, but their opening heat had a great final lap with Deborah McCann leading as they took the last lap board before being pushed wide by Stafan McClelland who himself was pushed wide in the final bend by Robert McIlroy who took the win. McClelland went on to take the win in the final.
Car Turnout: approx. 95 cars/vans (16 Big Van Bangers, 10 Reliant Robins, 20 2.0 Hot Rods, 12 Junior Productions, 23 Lightning Rods, 14 ProStocks)
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More Photos on TullyroanOval.com |
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