Irish National Hillclimb and Sprint Championship 2017

Galway Motor Club hosted their annual Motorsport Hillclimb Weekend on 22nd & 23rd April, which is based in Ballyvaughan, North Clare. The event was the opening two rounds of the Naylor Engineering National Hillclimb & Sprint Championship 2017.

This year’s Championship takes place over seven weekends, 14 rounds taking in some of the most scenic parts of Clare, Carlow, Wexford, Limerick, Waterford and Donegal.

Reigning Irish Hillclimb Champion Joe Courtney was hoping for a good event to get his championship defence off to a good start. Whilst local Clare man Robert Dwane debuted the ex-Jason Mourant OMS 25 at his first hillclimb ever in a single seater. Reigning Northern Irish Hillclimb Champion Chris Houston in his OMS CF08, also visited the Irish Hillclimb Championship for the first time.

Chris Houston OMS CF08: photo Dermot Kelliher

Robert will be delighted with his first event on Saturday, taking his first single seater win on 49.32s, three parts of a second ahead of Joe Courtney on 50.03s, driving the ex-Tim Mason Reynard. Chris finished 4th overall with his best run time 53.74s.

Day 2 of the Irish Championship saw another great result for Robert and Chris. This time unfortunately Robert was struggling with setup on the bumpier hill and was out driven by the experienced double champion Courtney. After the event Rob said "I'm sure I had another bit left in the car but will need more seat time and experience of different suspension settings".

Robert Dwane OMS 25: photo Dermot Kelliher

Final results yet to be posted on the website, click here to check.

Date: 24/04/2017 | Author: L.Owen