The new Mondello Park winter Rallycross Season kicks off this Sunday (October 17th) with round two of the 2010/11 Motorsport Ireland Rallycross Championship, writes Fergus Brennan. More than 80 cars will line up for the County Kildare Motor Club event headed by an impressive Supercar field made up of of ten cars.
The event will also be a celebration of Ireland's first ever European Rallycross Champion, as Dubliner Derek Tohill returns from his European travels to demonstrate his ERC Division 2 winning Fiesta for the first time in Ireland.
In the Supercar field, reigning champion Tommy Graham with his Fiesta is joined by former Irish champions Chris Evans (Opel Astra) and George Tracey (Citroen Xsara), with both make a welcome return to Mondello after more than a year's absence. Also on the entry list is UK Visitor 'Mad' Mark Watson with his Xsara, the three-car Bunclody Motorsport team with their Subaru Imprezas, and three Mitsubishi Evos for David James, David Dempsey and John Kelly.
Fifteen cars will contest the modified division led by the Coyne brothers while there are also strong entries in Stockhatch and the Rallycar class. With a number of drivers no longer eligible due to the age restrictions, entries in the Junior category are down slightly but a quality field of ten cars is set to battle for the newly-announced championship awards of a Ginetta Junior test drive for the top three at the end of the season.
The event is the first of six winter events which will make up the majority of the Irish championship between now and March 2011.