Irish Rallycross Championship
CategoryRallycross
CountryRepublic of Ireland Ireland
Inaugural season1982
ClassesSupercars, Modified, Production, Rallycars, Buggy, Fiesta, Junior
Drivers' championDerek Tohill (2019)
Official websiteWebsite
Facebook Page

Irish Rallycross Championship, IRX, PartsforCars Irish Rallycross Championship is a Rallycross championship in the Republic of Ireland.

The championship is regulated by Motorsport Ireland who are the governing body of Motorsports in the Republic of Ireland.

History

The Irish Rallycross Championship was formed in 1982, all rounds running in Mondello Park. The event attracted a round of European Rallycross Championship to Ireland in the early 1990s.[1]

2022 season

With COVID-19 restrictions effectively coming to an end, a full season went ahead in 2022. Championship consisted of 7 rounds, all of them in Mondello Park rallycross circuit.[2][3]

Calendar

Round Track / Event Date
1 Mondello Park Rallycross 13 February
2 Mondello Park Rallycross 6 March
3-4 Mondello Park Rallycross 4–5 June
5 Mondello Park Rallycross 30 October
6 Mondello Park Rallycross 13 November
7 Mondello Park Rallycross 11 December

Results

Class Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 2022 Championship
Superfinal Derek Tohill Derek Tohill
Supercar Derek Tohill Derek Tohill
Modified Philip Kelly Peter McGarry
Open Clubman & Fiesta Zetec Keith Kershawe Jason McConnon
Rallycars Patricia Denning Shane Mulligan
Buggy Padraig Leeson Conor Shaw
Autocross - -
Junior Joshua Power Joshua Power

2021 season

The season started late due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Championship consisted of 5 rounds, all of them in Mondello Park clockwise rallycross circuit.[4]

Calendar

Round Track / Event Date
1 Mondello Park Rallycross 11 July
2 Mondello Park Rallycross 8 August
3 Mondello Park Rallycross 31 October
4 Mondello Park Rallycross 14 November
5 Mondello Park Rallycross 12 December

Results

Class Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 2021 Championship
Superfinal Derek Tohill Tommy Graham Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Derek Tohill
Supercar Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Derek Tohill
Modified Alan Crockett Peter McGarry Peter McGarry Philip Kelly Philip Kelly ?
Production / Open Clubman Keith Kershawe - - - Ken Power -
Rallycars - - - Thomas O'Rafferty Keith Power -
Buggy Jake O'Sullivan Jake O'Sullivan Jake O'Sullivan Padraig Leeson Padraic McHale ?
Fiesta Zetec Michael Ryan Christopher Grimes Jnr Michael Ryan Ben Mullins Michael Ryan ?
Junior Loughlin Farrell Damien Farrell Loughlin Farrell Loughlin Farrell - Loughlin Farrell
Retro RX Davy Aiken - - - - -

2020 season

On 12 March all motorsports events were postponed in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.[5] On 20 March, Motorsport Ireland issued a statement that all motorsport events are suspended until 1 June 2020,[6] and later the remainder of the season was cancelled.

Calendar

Round Track / Event Date
1 Mondello Park Rallycross - Clockwise 8 March
2 Mondello Park Rallycross 19 April Cancelled - COVID-19
3-4 Mondello Park Rallycross 18–19 July Cancelled - COVID-19
5 Mondello Park Rallycross 4 October Cancelled - COVID-19
6 Mondello Park Rallycross 8 November Cancelled - COVID-19

Results

The Rallycars class was absent this season. There were total of 48 cars on the grid for the round 1, with Modified being the largest class - 12 cars. Last year's overall champion Derek Tohill did not start in his Supercar Fiesta, but rather in a 2-wheel drive Fiesta in Modified class, and finished third. Round 1 winner was Tommy Graham.[7] All other rounds were called off and the championship was cancelled.

2019 season

The official 2019 championship media launch took place on 17 February 2019 in Mondello Park. Leo Nulty started the proceedings, stating that the championship is in its best position in many years.[8] PartsforCars was announced as the main championship sponsor, along with sponsorship from Diamondbrite, IPRS, Rigs 4 Gigs and MRCM Roofing.

Round 1 event on 3 March was cancelled in the afternoon after the first semi-finals race due to adverse weather conditions (snow).[9] However, the results were to stand.[10]

On October 15 Mondello Park have announced that the penultimate two rounds scheduled for 19-20 of October will not take place because participant entry numbers are too low for the championship event to go ahead. The entrant numbers have been dropping throughout the season despite organizers' efforts to revive the championship. The Motorsport Ireland Rallycross Commission met the following week in order to make a decision in relation to the final event of the season on 24 November.[11][12] On 7 November Motorsport Ireland announced that the last round of the season will go ahead, incentivized by lowered entry fees, and the first time ever “race into the night” as the finals would run under floodlights.[13]

Calendar

Round Track / Event Date
1 Mondello Park Short Circuit Rallycross 3 March 2019 Event cancelled mid-way, but results stand
2 Pallas Karting Track - Rallycross @ Tynagh[14] 7 April 2019
3 Mondello Park Reverse Short Circuit Rallycross 19 May 2019
4 Mondello Park Modified Reverse Short Circuit Rallycross - "Retro Mania" 20–21 July 2019
5-6 Mondello Park Short Circuit Rallycross 19–20 October 2019 Event did not go ahead, numbers too low
7 Mondello Park Short Circuit Rallycross 24 November 2019

Results[15]

The Production Class featured three cars in Round 1, one car in Round 2 and none from Rounds 3 onwards.

Class Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5-6 Round 7 2019 Championship
Superfinal Derek Tohill Noel Greene Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Cancelled Derek Tohill Derek Tohill
Supercar Derek Tohill Noel Greene Derek Tohill Derek Tohill Cancelled Derek Tohill Derek Tohill
Modified Michael Coyne Willie Coyne Peter McGarry Padraig Leeson Cancelled Willie Coyne Willie Coyne
Production - David Gibb - - Cancelled - -
Rallycars Thomas O'Rafferty David James Thomas O'Rafferty Patricia Denning Cancelled Shane Stanley Thomas O'Rafferty
Buggy Padraic McHale Padraic McHale Russel Woods Russel Woods Cancelled Pat Bellew Padraic McHale
Fiesta Denis McCrudden David Maher David Maher David Maher Cancelled Mark Meenehan Denis McCrudden
Junior Jack Byrne Brendan McCaughan Jack Byrne Brendan McCaughan Cancelled Michael Ryan Jack Byrne
Retro RX - - - Barry McCardle Cancelled David Crockett Barry McCardle / David Crockett

2018 season

The season consisted of 6 rounds, 3 different track layouts and 9 main championship classes.[16]

Class Class Description[17] Winner 2nd place 3rd place
Superfinal Derek Tohill Pearse Browne Michael Coyne
Supercar Modified 4WD cars with unlimited capacity Derek Tohill Michael Coyne Declan Kelly
Super Modified Peter McGarry Michael Coyne Lloyd Spendlove
3A Modified Modified 2WD cars with forced induction and Modified 2WD, normally aspirated cars with engine capacity exceeding 2150cc Peter McGarry Michael Coyne Lloyd Spendlove
3B Modified Modified 2WD, normally aspirated cars with engine capacity up to 2150cc Chris Grimes Willie Coyne David Aitken
Super 1600 Modified 2WD, normally aspirated cars with engine capacity up to 1650cc Kieran Curran
Andrew Twomey
16V Production Standard 2WD normally aspirated cars up to 1650cc and standard 2wd normally aspirated production cars from 1650cc up to 2050cc Ciaran Murphy Derek Lenehan Damien Farrell
Rallycar Class 9 Rallycars up to 1650cc Patrica Denning
Rallycar 9A Rallycars over 1650cc up to 2050cc Jack Deegan David Griffin Jason Keogh
Rallycar 9B Rallycars over 2050cc, 4WD Cars and Turbo Charged Cars Joe Downey Peter O'Brien PJ Doyle
Buggy Russell Woods Owen Skelly Robbie Allen
Zetec as per Motorsport Ireland yearbook appendix 48 David Maher Denis McCrudden Brian Matthews
Junior 14-16 year olds driving standard 1 litre cars Jack Byrne Conor Kehoe Michael Ryan

Sponsors

PartsforCars has renewed the main sponsorship for another year. PartsforCars were joined by new sponsors Diamondbrite, IPRS ltd, Morris Roofing & Cladding Maintenance and Rigs 4 Gigs.

References

  1. ↑ "About".
  2. ↑ "Events".
  3. ↑ "Rallycross – Timing.ie".
  4. ↑ "Rallycross – Timing.ie".
  5. ↑ "Motorsport Ireland Statement on Covid-19". Motorsport Ireland. 2020-03-12. Archived from the original on 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  6. ↑ "MOTORSPORT IRELAND STATEMENT ON COVID-19". Motorsport Ireland. 2020-03-20. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  7. ↑ "IRX Round 1 – Mondello Park – Timing.ie".
  8. ↑ "rally.ie - Stories - 2019 Irish Rallycross Championship". www.rally.ie.
  9. ↑ "rally.ie - Stories - Carlow Rallycross - 3 Mar 19". www.rally.ie.
  10. ↑ http://irx.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IRX-Championship-Points-2019.xlsx
  11. ↑ "Mondello Park Rallycross Championship events cancelled". mondellopark.ie. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "Mondello Park Rallycross Championship events cancelled". www.facebook.ie. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  13. ↑ "Irish Rallycross to "Race Into The Night" at Mondello Finale!". Motorsport Ireland. 2019-11-07. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  14. ↑ "Events at Pallas Karting, Co Galway". www.pallaskarting.com.
  15. ↑ "Rallycross – Timing.ie".
  16. ↑ "2018 STANDINGS – Irish Rallycross Championship".
  17. ↑ "CLASSES – Irish Rallycross Championship".
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