Garry Newsome wins the first ever Irish Formula Vee race at Silverstone - Round 8 Review
By Evan Dalton, with thanks to Rory Cummins
Garry and Lee Newsome post race | Photos by @RaceDayDori
A handful of weeks ago, the newly upgraded £27 million ‘Silverstone Wing’ pit building played host to the world’s most famous auto racing championship, Formula 1. Intense rivalries oozed through the building as Monaco’s Charles Leclerc ended his winless run in fine fashion, over home hero George Russell.
Garage 7, to be precise, was the humble abode of the reigning constructors champions Mclaren over the course of the Grand Prix weekend. A residence to Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber’s pre-race briefing, Lando Norris’ meetup with various television personalities, with a constant ambience of Zak Brown’s slightly painful PR statements.
Just over a month later, the new tenants moved in. 33 Irish Formula Vee drivers and their teams.
Even just walking down pitlane at the famous venue was enough to raise hairs. There are certain times in sport where competitors stand back and absorb the atmosphere, the opportunity, the unique scenario they find themselves in. This was one of them. Friday testing this race weekend was no ordinary test day. It was the day race fans young and old dreams came true. To drive at a Grand Prix circuit.
A reflective Fergal Begley post race
Once the visors, some tinted due to the constant rays of sunshine, came down on Saturday morning however it was business as usual. The Friday pace setter, who rather resembles a former British Grand Prix winner, Conor Melia, was once again on form and would be awarded the honours of pole position.
The variation of Silverstone being run by the 750 Motor Club this weekend includes the two longest straights it can boast. The Hangar Straight, and newly named Hamilton Straight, both with unofficial distances of 770 metres, would cause not just strain on the four cylinder engines, but also increase the importance of slipstream.
The opening lap saw the returning veteran Gavin Buckley fly away into the race lead ahead of Melia as the field remained rather calm for the opening laps. Kieran Hannan and his chief mechanic turned teammate, Tim Murray, ran within the top five, as well as late entry Jordan Kelly, who was stepping in for his father Brian.
The drafting continued throughout the opening stanza. The returning Garry Newsome worked his way up to third behind Buckley and Melia. Newsome was another driver playing the role of ‘owner-driver’ this weekend, as the Newsome’s have taken responsibility for Simon Rudd’s No.820 car for the year.
Tim Murray leads the field into the 'Vale' chicane | Photos by @RaceDayDori
Murray and Hannan would swap places, with Melia taking his turn at the front of the field. Further back, the typical chaos usually found within the midpack was well and truly underway. A plethora of spins from various runners, as well as some mechanical trouble resulted in Fergal Begley and Paul Sammin fighting for Tyredoctor.ie B Championship honours.
Murray, who can be regularly spotted cycling through paddocks, cleverly used ‘Tour De France’ peloton tactics to solely draft through the field, and took the top spot from Melia. Buckley dropped slightly down the field, to fifth.
The leaders kept bunching up, and it all got a bit too close for comfort into the ‘Vale’ chicane. Hannan, Kelly and Buckley bunched up, with Kelly clipping the rear of Hannan’s car while attempting an overtake on Buckley. He was left facing into oncoming traffic, where he had a perfect view of his next few months' work being set into motion.
Kelly works closely with his brother Owen and James Friel in running Sean McCallion. As Kelly faced the wrong direction, McCallion and Eamon Thornton made contact, causing significant damage for the Derry native, and resulting in an oil spill at the corner, in very traditional Formula Vee fashion.
This oil would catch out numerous drivers, including Murray, Niall O'Mara and Jonny Hollywood. Murray, who was running third at the time, would find himself on the wrong side of the fight for the lead.
As the slipstream snake headed for ‘Stowe,’ Newsome found himself in the race lead. Hannan was able to get past Melia for second, but just ran out of time before a pre-mature chequered flag was called due to a car stuck in the gravel. 1.2 seconds separated the top five.
It is the first win for a Newsome in Formula Vee since Lee Newsome’s Leinster Trophy triumph in 2023. He went on to win the National Championship.
Conor Melia, Garry Newsome and Kieran Hannan on the podium| Photos by @RaceDayDori
Speaking to Rory Cummins post race, Garry emphasised his surprise in becoming the race victor. “It’s unbelievable to be honest, the whole weekend has exceeded expectations.”
“Going into the race it was just, see how it went… we were backwards and forwards, just take your opportunities when they came and keep the head down.”
It was another returning driver who crossed the line to win in the Tyredoctor.ie B Championship class. The No.78 of Sammin, who just stretched his legs at the right point to defeat Begley.
The first billing of Irish Formula Vee action at Silverstone certainly lived up to its expectation.
Full Top 10
Newsome
Hannan
Melia
Buckley
Byrne
Sammin
Begley
P.Lewis
Murray
O’Sullivan
Fastest Lap : 1.17.521 [Byrne]
Tyredoctor.ie B Championship Podium
Sammin
Begley
P.Lewis
Rookie Championship
Fagan
Joyce
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