September in Ireland has become synonymous with the awarding of the highly desirable Leinster Trophy, this year again being granted to Formula Vee. The highly popular series didn’t disappoint at Mondello Park last weekend and turned out in strong numbers for this historic occasion.
Formula Ford frontrunner Jordan Kelly made a welcome return to the championship, focused on adding his name to the illustrious roll of honour that includes many former Formula 1 drivers. Kelly made his intentions clear in qualifying, as he was four seconds clear of the field in the wet session. Early retirement in race one, however, allowed series returnee Gavin Buckley to take a fine victory, before Kelly went on to set the record straight in race two with a winning margin of over 5s.
Sunday afternoon’s headline race was then a masterclass from the Donegal driver, a lights-to-flag victory by over 9s over Sean McClements ensuring Kelly’s name was etched into the history books alongside greats including Eddie Jordan, Mika Hakkinen and Ayrton Senna.
Despite its unique regulations, Future Classics continues to grow in popularity, with a grid of over 20 well-presented cars delivering plenty of action throughout the multi-class field. In Super Futures, Mark Johnston (Renault Clio) and Kaleb Shanley (Honda Civic) resumed their on-track battle from the previous event, the pair sharing victories over the two races, this time without any barrier time penalties impacting the final result. In the Future class, Mark Gibbon’s splendid Opel Corsa powered him to a pair of victories on Saturday.
The Junior Mini Challenge is easily one of the success stories from Mondello Park in recent seasons. Aimed at 14-17 year-old drivers, grids have now started to exceed 20 cars and the top five from qualifying were separated by under a second. TJ Taaffe took the spoils in race one despite some very close attention from Jayden McBrearty.
Taaffe triumphs as Irish Junior Mini series goes from strength to strength
Photo by: Michael Chester
Championship leader Kyle Irvine was keen to make up for a disappointing opener, in which he was fifth, in race two. A race-long battle with good friend Taaffe was thrilling to watch, with Irvine taking the win just 0.125s ahead of Taaffe and McBrearty.
Irish Legends never fails to disappoint with the unique ball-draw grid format often setting the scene for some exciting racing. Father and son, Michael and Robert Barrable, shared the victories in races one and two, before a superb charge from seventh on the grid in race three earned Jamie Moylan a well-deserved win.
Fiesta Zetec has been achieving record entries in 2026 and the action on track is equally impressive. Reigning champion and current points leader, Sean McGovern, kept his charge very much on course by converting his pole for race one into a superb victory. With the top-six finishing positions reversed for race two, it was fan-favourite Samuel Doyle who took the win after a thrilling battle with Alan Dawson.
Eddie Peterson headed home a strong 14-car entry in SEAT Supercup Ireland in race one. With a reversed top-eight setting the order for the sequel, it was another father-and-son pairing – this time Michael and Victor Cullen – locking out the front row. It was Cullen Jr that really had the bit between his teeth, taking a lights-to-flag victory and with it lifting the Holmpatrick Trophy, notably won in 1961 by his grandfather, Des.
Victor Cullen won Holmpatrick Trophy, 65 years after his grandfather Des’ success
Photo by: Michael Chester
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– The Autosport.com Team
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