A SUNDAY AT MAGNIFICENT MALLORY

The Toyo Tires Porsches have another 3 races to strut their stuff – Photo: Chris Valentine

Even though it’s our one and only visit this season, Mallory Park is a wonderful circuit steeped in club racing history. Sunday will see us add to it with a race day that shared by both Club and guest championships on the deceptively tricky 1.35 mile circuit.

The Club is represented by the Toyo Tires Porsche Championship, as points leader Richard Styrin continues to try and edge closer to yet another title and the #1 on his car once again. A lead of 41 points is what he must defend this weekend from in-form rival Richard Avery, who has clinched 4 wins out of the last 6 races from the previous two meetings. One has to wonder whether he’ll be able to best Styrin once again in another triple header. Also primed and ready to mix it up will be the likes of Nick Hull, Kevin Molyneaux and Garry Lawrence. There’s also a 924 class battle on show with Linda Warren, Jamie Callender and Hugh Peart set to duke it out, while Andrew Baker appears in the sole Production Boxster seen all season.

For single-seater nuts, you’ll love the Monoposto Tiedeman Trophy which caters to any and all forms of “junior” open wheel racing cars. Basically, anything you may have seen any prospective grand prix and star racing drivers compete in through the lower formulas, you’ll find examples of here. From Formula Renault to Formula Ford, F3 to Jedis – you name it and it’s most likely here. It’s a fantastic championship that keeps these cars in commission and extends their racing life even further. A key driver who could be favourite is Neil Harrison in his Dallara F302 chassis from Formula 3.

Track Attack are also in attendance with a trifecta of series out to entertain the spectators. First off, there’s spec racing from the YourIrishShop.com MR2 Race Series. With all drivers piloting the Mk1 1600cc version of Toyota’s classic MR2 sports car, this is a very competitive championship that aims to keep costs down in order to maintain close competition and the chance for anyone to be in contention for victory. An 18 car field is expected to be in attendance for Sunday’s racing.

Staying with Japan, the Justmotorsportads.com Nippon Challenge is back out in force with a fantastic mix of JDM’s finest. With 5 classes covering everything from Honda Civics and Toyota MR2s to Subaru Imprezas and Mazda RX-7s, there’s mass variety here in makes and models. Paul Buckmaster must be one of the favourites along with the trio of Imprezas led by series stalwart Nerijus Zabotka, with Daniel Middleton and Steve Harman for company in GT300. Joining them at the same time will be the Deutsche Marques Cup, where VW, BMW and Opel are represented along with Mark Inman bringing his Vauxhall VX220 as an invitational competitor.

Finally, there’s also action from the Justmotorsportads.com Tricolore Trophy Invitational which, as the name would suggest, dedicated to nothing but France’s finest. Seeing as this is the country that gives us some of the finest hot hatches in the world, you can be sure that the entry is mostly dominated by an armada of pumped up Renault Clios. They’re not the only marque in the mix as Steve Cutts’ Class C Citroen Saxo VTS and Adam Dewis’ Class F Peugeot 206 GTi make sure the other two marques get a look in.

Towards the end of the day, the Nippon Challenge, Deutsche Marques Cup and Tricolore Trophy will all combine together to compete as one grid for their last race. That means it’s Japan vs Germany vs France – who’s got the outright pace to claim bragging rights for their chosen nation?

While there is due to be some rain across the night before, when it comes to race day it’s set to remain dry all day with temperatures reaching 15 degrees maximum around mid-afternoon. Rain isn’t expected at all, so the umbrellas are safe at home on this one. The full breakdown of the day’s forecast via the Met Office can be found at MALLORY PARK WEATHER.

Also, all the information you need for the day can be found at MALLORY PARK RACE DAY.

Scott Woodwiss