RCCARS.ie Ireland

Bickerstaff is Champion

Inaugural Irish Touring Car Series Huge Success

The third & final round of the Garmin/Sqeez backed Irish Touring Car Series took place in Fermoy, Co.Cork over the weekend where Alan Bickerstaff took victory to become the 2008 Champion at the controls of his Associated TC5. With Rounds 1 & 2 of the RCCAOI sanctioned championship run outdoor on tarmac, the title deciding leg moved indoors to carpet where once again it was Bickerstaff who set the pace in qualifying to maintain his 100% TQ record. The Round 1 winner secured pole ahead of the Xray of Graham Kenny and Round 2 winner Stephen Hill driving a Hot Bodies.

Needing victory in Leg 1 of the final to secure the inaugural ITC Series title, Bickerstaff did just that winning from Kenny and Hill. In Leg 2 the newly crowned champion again broke clear of the pack but a mistake dropped him down the order leaving Kenny to take up the lead. However with two laps to go Bickerstaff was all over the rear of the leader’s car and the pressure forced Kenny to make an error allowing the new champion passed to take his fifth leg win from the six that made up the 2008 Series. The final podium in Fermoy was how it also ended up in the overall championship standings with Kenny claiming Vice Champion honours and Hill taking third, their efforts each rewarded with a Garmin Sat Nav and a Dublin Crystal trophy.

The first National Championship for 1:10 electric touring cars for a number of years, the new Irish Touring Car Series has been a huge success with 41 drivers registering points in the standings. The organisers would like to thank all the competitors for their support and also the many people who helped make the series happen. The host clubs - Ulster Model Car Club (Round 1), Dublin Model Car Club/ORCA (Round 2) and Fermoy Model Car Club (Round 3). Our sponsors - Garmin for the superb overall prizes, Sqeez for keeping all the competitors refreshed at each event, Xceed for supplying the Dublin Crystal trophies and Red RC for the international coverage of each round. There are also a number of individuals who need to be thanked for their behind the scenes efforts - Keith Dempsey the RCCAOI Touring Car Rep, Alan Bickerstaff for his invaluable input & support, Martin Kenny for his assistance with the timing of each race and Dave Boylan for his all round support.

We hope everyone enjoyed the 2008 Irish Touring Car Series which has set a great foundation for EP Touring Car racing in 2009. See you all again next year and well done Alan on becoming our worthy champion.

Overall Results
Round 3, Fermoy

A Final
1. (1) Alan Bickerstaff - 2 [1 1]
2. (2) Graham Kenny - 4 [2 2]
3. (3) Stephen Hill - 6 [3 3]
4. (4) Jonathan Dunn - 9 [4 5]
5. (6) Mark McCracken - 10 [6 4]
6. (5) Keith Dempsey - 13 [5 8]
7. (7) Gary Jes - 13 [7 6]
8. (8) Pat Kelly - 15 [8 7]

B Final
1. (1) Oisin O'Briain - 3 [2 1]
2. (3) Thomas Jes - 5 [1 4]
3. (2) Martin Kenny - 6 [3 3]
4. (4) David Curtis - 10 [8 2]
5. (7) Nick O'Connor - 10 [4 6]
6. (5) Pat Healy - 12 [7 5]
7. (6) Alan Hynes - 13 [5 8]
8. (8) Colm Gaffney - 13 [6 7]

C Final
1. (5) Conor Fenton - 3 [1 2]
2. (3) John Fenton - 4 [3 1]
3. (2) Niall Madigan - 7 [4 3]
4. (1) Gavin Keane - 10 [2 8]
5. (7) Kieron Hynes - 10 [5 5]
6. (4) Rudolf Brinkman - 11 [7 4]
7. (3) Lee Carter - 13 [6 7]
8. (8) Nick Parkinson - 14 [8 6]

D Final
1. (5) Richard Carter - 3 [2 1]
2. (4) Mark Rice - 5 [1 4]
3. (3) Richard Meany - 6 [4 2]
4. (2) John McCabe - 6 [3 3]
5. (1) Robert Boylan - 10 [5 5]

Final Championship Standings
Top 10 (full listing attached)
1. Alan Bickerstaff - 4 points
2. Graham Kenny - 8
3. Stephen Hill - 9
4. Keith Dempsey - 15
5. Jonathan Dunn - 15
6. Andrew Rennick - 21
7. Scott Kenny - 25
8. Gary Jess - 26
9. Mark McCracken - 31
10.Graeme Nelson - 34

Regards,

ITC Series Race Team

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