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Race Report

Stephen Doyle emerged victorious after a flawless performance in the first Porsche championship race of the season to take place at Mondello Park. Doyle held off the challenge of Robin Titterington’s Porsche GT3, with Bob Cameron finishing third in the distinctive pink Porsche GT2.Heavy rain over the Naas course before and during the morning qualifying session meant conditions were less than ideal.

As the morning progressed, track conditions improved considerably, as the rain stopped and the circuit began to dry out as a clear racing line emerged. Robin Titterington coped best with the early wet conditions and lined up on pole with Stephen Doyle alongside him in second for the first race of the day at a very overcast and dark Mondello Park.

The affectionately known “Pink Pig” of Bob Cameron from Kilbarrack was further back in third and Mark Gilmartin in fourth. Vinny O’Reilly made the leap from Historics to Porsche following his heroics during the last meeting at Mondello. Ivor Murphy completed the field sitting last on the grid after he missed out on qualifying.

Doyle signalled his intentions early; when a lightening start off the line saw him snatch the lead from Titterington going down into Honda corner. The leader’s dominance was evident as early as the end of lap one when he opened up a gap of 1.8 seconds from this closest challenger.

Doyle’s standing start first lap was remarkably quicker than his best time in qualifying which highlighted the difficult weather conditions during the morning session. By lap two Doyle had opened up further by 3.2 seconds from Titterington chasing in second spot.

The Porches benefitted massively from the continuing drying of the track and conditions were reflected in the quickening lap times. At the start of lap five, the gap between Doyle, Titterington and Cameron was considerable as the race struggled to ignite interest in the watching crowds with Doyle cantering into what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

Back in the mixing pot of the chasing pack, Jim O’Reilly, Greg Simpson and Philip Jones, were enjoying a three way battle for fifth spot. Stephen Doyle broke the magic minute on lap six as the track continued to dry but Robin Titterington took up the challenge thrown up by Doyle as he recorded a fastest lap of 58.758 on lap seven.

Despite starting from the back of the grid, Ivor Murphy was pushing hard in his efforts to reel in the group of O’Reilly, Simpson and Jones. Doyle’s pace was unrelenting as he continued to push his 996 GT3 to the limits as he began targeting back markers as early as lap nine when Ivor Murphy appeared in his sights.

At the back of the field, Vinny O’Reilly was left to chase down Brian Corbett in the Porsche 911. Clever use of traffic and efficient track management allowed Doyle to keep extending the gap from Titterington who, despise best efforts was unable to close as the leader held a 3.7 second gap by lap 10.

Doyle and Titterington encountered heavy traffic over the next few laps as they began cutting through the field, Doyle lapping seventh, sixth and eventually fifth spot by lap 12. Cameron in the Porsche GT2 began pushing hard in the closing stages, recording an impressive time of 58.746, but a slight mishap on lap 13, effectively ended any hopes of taking second spot from the dominant Titterington.

Ivor Murphy and Jim O’Reilly went head to head and more accurately bumper to bumper in the closing laps as O’Reilly fought to hold off the blue Porsche that was climbing all over his rear view mirrors. Doyle from Delgany completed a flawless race as he finished a whopping eight seconds ahead of Titterington in second.

Murphy and O’Reilly continued to push to the very last corner, with Murphy almost spinning off as he attempted one last effort to get past in the final turn but the defensive manoeuvring of O’Reilly saw him maintain seventh spot.

Bob Cameron finished 21.7 seconds behind Titterington in third spot with MarkGilmartin another 55.8 seconds back in fourth.

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