Byrne Baby Byrne! - Round 2 Victory for Wicklow’s Jack Byrne

Jack Byrne and daughter Eabha on the podium, alongside Gavin Buckley | Photos by @RaceDayDori


By Evan Dalton 

After failing to make the start in the season opener, Jack Byrne bounced back immediately to take his first Irish Formula Vee victory of the season on Saturday in Mondello Park. 


The No.97, now racing in his 13th season of Irish Formula Vee completed a commanding drive from the front in the Kildare sunshine, after earning pole position in a qualifying shootout for the ages. 


“It feels great,” said Byrne post race. “Had a tough one in Kirkistown, so it’s great to get back out and get running.”


Qualifying was hotly contested, with the fastest lap honours being traded throughout the session. Jack Byrne ended up snatching pole position from defending champion Gavin Buckley and the latest race winner Sean McClements. Only 0.022 seconds separated Byrne and Buckley. 


Lights out saw Byrne lead into the first corner, but a flying start from SM Racing’s Conor Melia off row two saw him challenge Buckely into turn one, trying a brave move around the outside. Melia tried to hold it on the inside of turn two but Buckley had the grip and kept the place. A poor start for McClements saw him fall to fourth, and under pressure from Sean McCallion. 


Jack Byrne leads Gavin Buckley, as Conor Melia tries to overtake the champion around the outside. McClements follows behind | Photos by @RaceDayDori


McClements regained his composure on the first lap, and found his way into the slipstream of Melia, completing an overtake down the inside into turn one. The two young stars of Formula Vee now had to try to catch the veterans in front. 


Further down the order, history had been made. No.88 is most associated in modern Formula Vee with Jonny Hollywood, but today it was being worn proudly by Kamto Chukwureh. Chukwureh, winner of the RTA Virtual Motorsport Formula Vee Scholarship, was battling closely with Pat Sheppard and Brian Cowan, but in starting the race he became the first person of colour to race in an Irish national circuit racing class. 


Kamto Chukwureh makes history as the first person of colour to race in an Irish national class | Photos by @RaceDayDori


Early problems plagued the Tyredoctor.ie B Championship leader Lee Flynn, whose car began slowing just two laps into the race. The highs of Kirkistown would unfortunately not be repeated for the Kilkenny native, who retired from the race.


Flynn wasn’t the only one with early issues. Contact between McCallion and Fergal Begley saw damage on the exhaust of McCallion, which hampered his pace and saw him fall to the back.


This paved the way for Niall O’Mara, who found a rare gap in the middle of the field, and settled into a comfortable drive. 


Problems for Sean McCallion saw him fall to the back in race one | Photos by @RaceDayDori


Up the front, McClements and Melia pushed on to try and make a move on the top two, but just could not get a good enough look into turn one. The same could be said for Buckley, who just had Byrne out of arms reach. 


Despite the chasing trio praying that Byrne would make a mistake, it never came. A composed and error free drive saw the Annacurragh man equal his 2025 win total at a very early stage. 


“I was lucky I got a great start. The mirrors were full of yellow and blue and kept the pressure on the whole time, I wasn’t able to get a breather at all,” said Byrne. “A win is more than was expected, happy days.” 


O’Mara drove superbly to claim his first Tyredoctor.ie B Championship race victory by over 10 seconds. “After 4 years I’m starting to figure this thing out,” exclaimed a jubilant O’Mara. 


He was followed home by Begley, who despite still having some teething issues with his new Sheane chassis, picked up good points. Colin Lewis followed behind.


In the rookie championship, McClements took the on the road victory but was later excluded from the meeting due to an incident in race two. Rookie honours went to Leastone Racing’s Harry Fagan, with Chukwureh in second. 


Full Top 10 : 

  1. Byrne 

  2. Buckley

  3. Melia

  4. Hannan

  5. O’Mara 

  6. Begley 

  7. Lewis

  8. Fagan

  9. Chukwureh

  10. Rudd 


Fastest Lap : Jack Byrne [1:01.167] 


Tyredoctor.ie B Championship Podium : 

  1. O’Mara

  2. Begley

  3. Lewis 


Rookie Championship : 

  1. Fagan 

  2. Chukwureh

Comments

  1. Christy Morrin22 April 2026 at 14:06

    Great report and great driving by all in Formula Vee.

    ReplyDelete

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