Liam Doran took his first British championship win in the opening round of the 2009 Kumho Tyres MSA British Rallycross Championship at Mondello Park in Ireland on Sunday (March 8).
Even though he has only a single year of experience in the championship’s headlining Supercar class under his belt, Doran has been tipped as a favourite to win the British title, a position strengthened by a pair of wins in winter events at Lydden in January and February. Those two events were the first in which Doran raced his Ford Fiesta ST Supercar, but the 21-year-old from Sittingbourne, had to adjust his driving style in the early stages of the Irish event on Sunday.
“The events at Lydden were to gain more experience in the car but also to prepare for the European championship race that is there at Easter, because of that we ran the car on European-spec tyres which have a crossply construction. This was the first time I’d driven the Fiesta on the British championship Kumho and because it’s a radial tyre the handling characteristics are completely different. It took me a while to adjust my style and it wasn’t made easier because the weather was changing all day,” said Doran of the day in which the County Kildare circuit experienced snow, hail, rain and some sunshine.
Doran set fastest time of the day during the second qualifying heat, but was slowed by the conditions in his other two heats and started fifth on the grid for the Supercar A final. Derrick Jobb (Fintona) started on pole position, defending British champion Lawrence Gibson (Banbridge) alongside him with home track favourite Eddie Kinirons (Naas) third. Pat Doran (Winkleigh) started from fourth place, sharing the second row of the grid with his son, while Andrew Morris (Bunclody) and Tommy Graham (Prosperous) were joined on the back row by B final winner Steve Hill (Aylesbury).
Kinirons led the way, chased by Jobb and Liam Doran who climbed to third place in the first lap. Jobb passed Kinirons at the end of the third lap to take the lead, Doran then moving up to second early in lap four. In the last lap Doran passed Jobb to win the race and secure pole position for the Superfinal.
Fending off Jobb’s challenge in the dash to the first corner, Doran led the Superfinal from start to finish, easing away from his rivals to record a clear win. “I had no problems in the Superfinal, I didn’t see anyone else after the first corner,” said Doran.
The event was a successful one for the Doran family’s Hydrex team as Pat Doran (the 2005 British champion) grabbed second place in the last lap after his race-long duel with Jobb ended when the latter crashed out. Hill continued his strong progress in the late stages of the race by passing Gibson to reach third place.
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