TOMMY CUNNEELY of Celbridge won the 1996 Bridgestone Formula Opel Championship, the premier league in Irish motor racing.
Saloon and Formula Ford drivers will argue that their classes are more competitive, racing is closer and it attracts bigger entries. Be that as it may, the two-litre Formula Opel racing cars are the fastest in the country, and the championship rightly deserves to. be called the "premiership".
The title went all the way to the last race of a busy season, and Cunneely won the championship from twice winner Michael Edgar. Jason Pollock looked certain to run away with the series, until he fell foul of the scrutineers or more correctly he fell foul of himself. The engine used by the Carrickfergus driver was deemed to be illegal, and for not adhering to the strict regulations of the formula, Pollock has been banned from racing until 1998.
Without detracting from Cunneely's championship success, the driver of the year was Wayne Douglas, literally in a class of his own. The Ulsterman won the Formula Vauxhall (nee Opel) B-Championship in Britain last year, but as happens all too frequently, this undoubtedly talented driver was unable to move up the racing scale into Formula Three or Formula 3000 - simply because he just could not raise the major sponsorship required even to scrape into one of the higher formulae, not to mention buying his way into a top team.
Rather than sitting on the sidelines, the former Irish champion returned to local racing and immediately established himself as the class of the field. From a late start he finished third in the championship, his big win being at Phoenix Park. However, he was beaten by Cunneely in the televised Leinster Trophy, the prestige race on the Mondello calendar.
Five drivers started the final Ford of Ireland Championship round each with a chance of winning the top prize in Formula Ford 1600 - Alan Ring of Castleisland, Co Kerry, Mark MeKenna of Swords and Northerners Derek Hayes, Chris Paul and Jeff Wright. Ring emulated Damon Hill's victory and World Championship success in Japan, the Kerryman leading from start to finish to emerge a most worthy champion.
McKenna was so close but a single point made all the difference between first and second. Jeff Wright (Bangor) was third, ahead of Derek Hayes (Dungannon). Chris Paul and veteran George McAlpin showed better form up to mid-season, Paul winning the Formula Ford Festival at Mondello, but they fell behind in the points from July onwards.
The DHL Star of Tomorrow was won by Richie Ryans (Armagh), beating Bjorn Schiller (Sligo) for the title in the final fling. Up-and-coming Mark Cullen (Limerick) and Mark Kershaw (Dublin) are young drivers to watch in the future. Schiller scored five wins to take the pre '90 series, well in front of Colm Barrable and Noel McIntyre and Vinny Hayes won the pre-85 series from Geoff McConville.
Formula Vee was again well supported. Brian Hearty (Dundalk) won the Keatingstown Developments Championship by one point from Pat Donegan (Kells). Naas-based Hugh Maguire won the Brief Couriers Championship and Paul Dagg won the Mondello/Sheane Formula Vee Cup series.
The star of the year was undoubtedly Co Wexford's Philip Kehoe, who abandoned Formula Ford for budgetary reasons to win five races in succession driving a Sheane. The Wicklow-built Sheanes were again the backbone of Formula Vee, but Ray Moore drove his Leastone to victory in the British Formula Vee Championship - a great success indeed for Moore, and Leastone designer constructor Paul Heavey of Kilmeague, Co Kitdare.
Michael Cullen is the established maestro of the "tin tops", the popular name given to the racing saloons or touring cars. He won the Dunlop championship for the second successive season driving an Opel Astra, having come from behind to beat fellow Astra driver Gordon Kellett in the final round.
After a great start to the year, Jonathan Fildes lost out through unreliability and a roll, and as the Peugeot driver slipped down the points scale Joe Foley pushed into third.
Mark Turley (Dublin) held off the Northern challenge of Roy McKane to win the Dunlop Fiat Uno Cup. Not only did Alan Byrne (Naas) win the Fiat Ritmo Championship, but he also won the coveted Dunlop Sexton Trophy, one of the major prizes in motorsport. Byrne scored 144 points to beat Turley (135), Cullen (134), Cunneely (112) and Gordon Kellett (105).
The Ulster broadcaster and journalist, Richard Young, powered his Cougar V8 to his third Dunlop Hillclimb Championship success. On 81 points Young beat Padraig Forde of Loughrea on 77 points, with previous championship winner Jenny Kennedy third on 75.
Awards for the Dunlop, Fiat and Opel Championships will be presented at the RIAC Motorsports Awards Night in Fitzpatrick's Killiney Castle Hotel on Saturday, January 4th. Already the Formula Ford and Formula Vee awards have been presented
The haphazard method of issuing results of races and championships, which applies to most classes with the exception of the various Dunlop-sponsored championships, is unsatisfactory. And information on important issues and topics is not generally forthcoming. For instance, what is the position regarding Formula Ford for 1997, is it to stay 1600 (Kent engines) or go 1800 Zetec? Watch this space, as they say.
