Good night for Motor Club as at annual Autocross Championships Awards

A NIGHT of dinner and dancing was had in Gort recently when the Autocross Championships awards night took place in the Lady Gregory Hotel and members of Birr Motor Club picked up a number of awards.

The awards night is a combination of the National Loose Surface, The Munster, The National Grass Surface Championships and also the Mondello Autocross rx championship.

The presentation started with the Tallybrook Civil Engineering Loose Surface Autocross Championship. This consisted of eight rounds with the best six to count of Loose Surface events which took place around the country from March until November last. James O'Keeffe was 3rd overall in his Semog Buggy.

In the overall 4WD Saloons Mike O Connor Snr 1^st, Austin Shinnors 3rd.

In the 2WD Section Pat Horan finished 3rd.

Class 1: Sebastian Sepoza 1^st, Tristan Horan 2^nd.

Class 4: Padraig Forde 1^st, Declan Burke 2^nd.

Class 6: Conor Leenan 2^nd, Lee Hogan 3^rd.

Class 10: Ronan Shanahan 1^st, James Last 3^rd.

Class 13: This was the Junior Class which was dominated by all Bir Junior members bar one, Mikey O'Connor 1^st, William Cavanagh jnr 2^nd, Jack Cavanagh 4^th, Conor Fogarty 5^th.

Moving on to the Shannon Trophy National Grass Surface Autocross Championship which consisted of six rounds from May until the end of August. Birr members dominated the overalls here with both Specials and Saloons.

Specials: Barry Whyte 1st O/A, William Cavanagh 2^nd, Liam Whyte 3^rd.

Saloons: Pat Horan 1st O/A, Robin Donovan 2^nd, Sebastian Sepoza 3^rd.

Mark Keegan was Junior Buggy Champion.

The junior Saloon was also all club member dominated with Mikey O'Connor 1st O/A, William Cavanagh Jnr 2^nd, John Cavanagh Jnr 3^rd.

Great to see the junior Cavanaghs, carrying on the legacy of their families with such strong performances all year.

Connor Leenane won Class 6 and Daniel Clarke won Class 12.

The Munter Autocross Championship is proudly sponsored by Barrett International Transport and CJN Plant Ltd. Mickey O'Connor Snr also took the 1st overall 4WDSaloon award here, while Pat Horan took the overall 2WD Saloon award.

Class 1: Sebastian Sepoza 1^st.

Class 4: Padraig Forde 2^nd, Declan Burke 3^rd.

Class 6: Conor Leenane 2^nd, Alan Drew 3^rd.

Class 13: Mikey O'Connor jnr 1^st, William Cavanagh jnr 3^rd.

Finally the M&L Home Improvements Mondello Autocross Rallycross awards went to:

Class 5: James O'Keefe 1^st, Ronan Shanahan 2^nd.

Class 6: Mark Kirwin 1^st.

Class 8: Conor Leenane 1^st.

Davey Percy and Stephen Caraway also collected clerk of the course awards for the two Autocross events they ran in August and November.

It was a fantastic night of celebration for the Autocross Championships and a great showcase of the Birr club’s achievements!

Between all of their members there was a total of 42 awards won.

It’s impressive to see how many members were recognised across various categories, especially with such strong performances in the Junior classes. It’s clear that the club is deeply rooted in Autocross and continuing to thrive. Congratulations to all of the award winners!

The next event on the motorsport calendar is the Galway International rally which takes place this weekend.

Best of luck to Tom Holton Jnr and club Chairperson Susan Smyth who is navigating for Louise Bourke in a Peugeot 206. Darren Delaney is also Stage Commander on stage Ss10&13 on Sunday. Anyone available to help please get in contact.

Best of luck to all our members.