Leonard and Graham win in Ireland. Cross Car leads the way in Belgian finale.

19 November / Mondello Park hosted a double-header weekend of Irish Rallycross Championship action. Michael Leonard Jnr. (Ford Fiesta) breezed through the first day of racing as top qualifier among the eight Supercar starters, winner of the final and then winner of the overall Superfinal at the end of the day. In the second day the Supercar field was in pieces, only four starters of which Leonard was again best in the heats. Just three cars made the final and now it was Tommy Graham (Fiesta) who moved ahead to take the win, later repeating the feat in the Superfinal. Jason and Darren Bleasdale took their Vauxhall VX220s to Mondello where the local challenge was led by John Ward in a similar car, although he was a non-starter in the Modified final. Jason Bleasdale took the win ahead of his brother, Willie Coyne (Opel Corsa) takimg third place ahead of Peter McGarry. Open to Fiestas and Minis, the Junior category had seven starters with Toby McGuire (Fiesta) the best of them. Se Og Martin won the Buggy class, in Open Clubman Michael Connell (Mini) took the win ahead of Nicole Drought (Renault Clio) and Michael Duke (Peugeot 106). Oisin Keane won the Fiesta final and John Lynch was best of the Rally Car field.

In the second day of racing Jason Bleasdale again won the Modified final, Derek Tohill taking second place at the wheel of McGarry’s Volvo C30 – which he raced to keep his title hopes alive – and easing Darren Bleasdale down to third place. Michael Connell was again best of the Open Clubman field, John Lynch repeated his Rally Car class win and in the combined Fiesta/Retro category Brendan Stone took the win in his Subaru Impreza, Keane best of the Fiesta runners in third place. McGuire was another double winner, topping the Junior final again while Jack Newman (Speedcar) won the Buggy class. In the Superfinal Tohill took second, splitting Supercar runners Graham and Leonard.

19 November / The Belgian RX season closed at Mettet where a double-header weekend was run, the first day of racing running into darkness. The increasing profile of Cross Car in the Belgian series was borne out by a 32-car entry that included drivers from a handful of countries. Heat wins went to Tim Braumuller (Mygale XC04), Tom Heindrichs (LifeLive TN11) and Kobe Pauwels (Mygale XC04). Pauwel, Heindrichs and Nathan Ottink (LifeLive TN5) were the winners in the three semi-finals and Pauwels then bagged the final victory ahead of Ottink and Heindrichs. The Cross Car Junior field was small in comparison, just four starters with Jorden Genten (Kamikaz K3) the winner. The Supernational+ category did not run its final so the classification was based on the intermediate with top qualifier Kristof Bex (Volvo S40) awarded the win. Nick Neyens (Ford Escort MkII) won the Supernational- final and Yenthe Putzeys (Opel Corsa) beat Nick Vanalken and Yves Teelen to win in Super1600. Mark Van Eyken won the Superbuggy class, Luca van Hoof took RST honours and Pascal Wathlet (Semog Revolution) won the ‘open’ Kartcross class.

In the second day of racing Cross Car was again closely fought, Pauwels and Heindrichs sharing the heats and each winning their semi-final. Frenchman David Meat (LifeLive TN11) won SF3 and then split the two Belgians in the final, Heindrichs the winner and Pauwels third. Notable, but down in 19th place on day one and 17th on Sunday, was RX3 star Jens Hvaal. Lucas Cartelle (LifeLive TN5) won the Junior Cross Car final, Bex won Supernational+, this time the class going the full distance and racing in a final. After retiring from the first heat on Saturday, Steve Volders bounced back to win Supernational- on Sunday. Putzeys won again in Super1600 Bjorn Versluys (Trackline) won the Superbuggy final and Jean De Greef (Semog Bravo) was best in ‘open’ Kartcross.

This weekend / Nothing to see live this week but hours of racing across various online platforms to watch again.

pics: World RX, Red Bull media pool, IRX, Belgian RX