Formula Sheane Electrify In Action Packed Pembrey Racing

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Rounds 3 and 4 of the Formula Sheane championship kicked off last weekend in the challenging but fast Pembrey race circuit in Wales. The weather was great all day Friday for practise and Saturday morning there was a heavy rain which soon dried up to make a perfect day for close Formula Sheane racing.

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Qualifying was very close throughout the session with Brian Hearty setting the fastest laps from the start, however Hearty’s time was contested strongly by both David Parks and Kevin Sheane. Brain Hearty took P1 on the grid for race one but only barely from David Parks who was five thousand of a second off Hearty’s time.  This lap was set on the final lap just as the flag came out.  The final qualifying positions for race one were:

  1. Brian Hearty
  2. Dave Parks
  3. Kevin Sheane
  4. Richard Kearney
  5. Robbie Allen
  6. Niall O’Flynn
  7. Chris McCabe
  8. Charlie Linnane
  9. Leslie Shaw
  10. John Linnane
  11. Ray McKenna
  12. Mark Dunleavey

Race One: 

The cars lined up on the long straight after a warm up lap and both the drivers and the tension was palpable.  The red lights came on and then quickly off and the 12-strong grid of Formula Sheanes were away. Dave Parks took the early lead getting the jump on Brian Hearty, Kevin Sheane also had a good start. The first corner is a very tight hairpin which can be fraught with danger when approached by a grid of Sheanes contesting a podium position. There was one casualty in the first corner which, unfortunately was Niall O’Flynn, despite the incident Niall was okay and the race went on.  As the race, progressed Kevin Sheane continued to put more and more pressure on the leader Dave Parks and they both started to pull away from the pack. Back the grid a little Brian Hearty had a mechanical problem. Mark Dunleavey had a great drive to come from last and fight his way past some very talented drivers.  It would be wrong not to mention Chris McCabe as one of the most determine and talented.  McCabe had a great race also but in the end Dunleavey got by.  Dunleavey finished 3rd in race one.  In the scholarship championship Leslie Shaw, Charlie Linnane, John Linnane and Ray McKenna had a great race. McKenna showing great pace as a new comer, all weekend. Shaw had a lead over John and Charlie Linnane, the talented father son duo, and as the race went on he extended that gap more and more using some great focus and skill and then took the win in the scholarship championship. The final finishing order for race one was:

1: Dave parks

2: Kevin Sheane

3: Mark Dunleavey.

Race Two: 

Race two was going to be hard to watch for mechanics for the first few laps after getting a taster of how tight some of the corners were in Pembrey and when there is 12 extremely tail giddy cars coming into the same corner at once it’s always going to be exciting.

The lights went and it was Dave Parks who got away in front but as the cars came into turn one there was a massive incident where Robbie Allen ended up taking flight over Charlie Linnane. The race was immediately red flagged.  Thankfully all drivers who were involved walked away without a scratch and Charlie Linnane was even able to restart the race. The cars lined up again as Allen’s car was removed from the dangerous spot in turn one and the lights came on once again. Dave Parks once again got the start and led into the first corner. Parks and Kevin Sheane had a very close battle until due to a collision with a kerb Sheane was forced to retire from the race. As the car was in another dangerous spot, this meant that the race was red flagged again. There was a quick vote among drivers whether the race should finish on those positions or not but the drivers decided to continue.  This time Richard Kearney got the jump off the line and got away at the front of the determine pack. Dave Parks managed to get back down the inside of Kearney and took the lead once more. Kearney then glanced in his mirrors Brian Hearty was all over him. As Hearty and Kearney got caught up in a battle Parks managed to pull a reasonable gap and with only a lap to go. Hearty got by Kearney to finish second. the final order for the top three was:

1: Dave Parks

2: Brian Hearty

3: Richard Kearney.

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Bob Parks Trophy Race:

The cars once again lined up on the grid for the final time in Pembrey Race Circuit. This race was to be a reverse grid format and a 5 second head start for the top 5 grid positions which meant Ray McKenna, Charlie Linnane, Leslie Shaw, John Linnane and Chris McCabe would start 5 seconds early. The lights went out and the first five drivers flew off the line. Shaw was leading by turn 3 and giving the others a hard fight to get past. The other drivers were let go and they scampered quickly to catch the rest. Eventually they caught up and it made for an amazing spectacle, as there were three cars wide going down the straight and more behind trying frantically to find a way through or set the cars up for an overtake into turn one. Kevin Sheane then took the lead followed closely by Dave Parks seeing both drivers battle from the back of the grid to work their way through the talented field of drivers. Unfortunately, Sheane was forced to retire due to mechanical problems. This meant Parks had the lead but Kearney was going to make him fight for it. Both drivers had an amazing few laps of constant overtaking and a serious display of skill. Four laps from the end the unfortunate Parks was forced to retire due to a throttle issue despite trying to continue just using the ignition switch.  It was Kearney who was leading now but not by much from Niall O’Flynn they battled two and fro for the rest of the race as Kearney crossed the line first, however, due to a penalty it was Niall O’Flynn who took the win after a very impressive drive.

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A great weekends racing was had and a very entertaining weekend also onwards now to rounds 5/6 in two weeks in Mondello Park.

 

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