Mondello Park race summary

A race of two halves!

Mondello Park, Ireland, Sunday 30th June 2002: It was Kockney Koi Yamitsu's day as the team took a first and fourth place with South African Earl Goddard driving a superb race in wet and difficult conditions to register his first NDS EuroBOSS victory of the season. The 22 year old, in a Benetton Ford HB V8, finished 27.6 seconds ahead of second placed Klaas Zwart driving an Ascari Judd V8. Zwart now leads the Series points standings with an impressive tally of three second places from three races. Local man Noel McIntyre, from Mullingar, made sure his knowledge of the circuit paid-off as he took an impressive third place over Phil Armour, Goddard's team mate-- the battle continued right through to the last corner of the race.

On the first lap Phil Andrews, the winner of the previous two rounds, driving his V10 Ascari Judd, spun at Dunlop corner leaving the way open for Earl Goddard to challenge race leader Klaas Zwart. And challenge he did, closing on Zwart with a series of impressively quick laps, eventually passing the Dutchman as he spun on lap 4.

Zwart had started the race from pole position after an impressive performance in heavy rain. The qualifying session was interrupted by three red flags and it was no surprise when a red flag halted the race as Matthew Mortlocks's Footwork Judd beached on the curb at turn three following a spin. From the restart Goddard immediately demonstrated his intention, racing into an unassailable lead and took control of the race, driving into the distance with an assuredness that underlines his talent. Whilst the challenge for the lead was effectively over, an exciting contest for the runners-up positions ensued. A hallmark of EuroBOSS races is the excitement, as the battles are not exclusively confined to the leading cars. Lap-by-lap Karl Heinz Becker driving a Minardi Cosworth V8 and Martin Kendrick driving a Reynard Judd V8 battled for 8th place, Kendrick eventually taking the line ahead of the German former sportscar star to clinch the extra point.

In the NDS EuroBOSS Masters Colin Stone, driving a RAM Hart, had an emphatic victory moving ahead of Anthony Hansford in the Championship standings after Hansford spun his Eurobrun Judd on the pit straight forcing him to retire.

16 year old Scott Mansell, the Series' youngest ever competitor, made his official debut in his 1991 F3000 Reynard Mugen, formerly piloted by Christian Fittipaldi, and proved that he is both talented and courageous. Starting from an impressive 11th position on the grid having qualified ahead of some of the more powerful F1 cars, he made his way up the field to 6th position before being forced to retire after suffering damage in a racing incident.

Goddard's win has ensured that the battle for the Championship is wide open, all eyes will be on the next round at Most, Czech Republic, on 14th July.

Earl Goddard, Driver, Kockney Koi Yamitsu: "I needed a good finish today and knew that in these conditions I must concentrate on a good start, then use the long race distance to assess the situation and react accordingly. I wasn't sure if my lack of experience on this circuit would benefit Klaas [Zwart] and Phil [Andrews], but when Phil went out of the race and I began to push on Klaas I knew that I had a winning chance. The car was competitive and running well and when Klaas made a mistake I took advantage. When the re-start put us alongside each other on the grid, I decided to change strategy and push hard to see if I could shake him off. I seemed to find more grip around the circuit and used this to extend the advantage.

"At the start of the weekend the car had a few niggles but the team worked very hard to sort these out. By qualifying the car was fine and I knew it was up to me. Securing Championship points was important today, the win is the ultimate and reward for the fantastic effort of everyone at Kockney Koi Yamitsu."

Noel McIntyre, Driver, Westmeath Motor Group: "Today I had the luck of the Irish. I made a bad start and found myself losing two places but as the race progressed I realised that I had the power to close on the Benetton ahead. I used my years of experience at Mondello to my advantage, firstly to close in and then overtake. Despite the weather it has been a great weekend and I am really pleased to be on the podium."

<pre> Race Result

Position  No.     Driver          Car                   Time:
 1        11      Goddard         Benetton Ford HBV8    25:17.58
 2         2      Zwart           Ferrari V12           25:54.94
 3        16      McIntyre        Reynard Ford DFT V8   24:20.85 (+1 lap)
 4        12      Armour          Benetton Ford HB V8   24:24.36 (+1 lap)
 5        18      Stirling        Reynard Cosworth V8   25:18.46 (+1 lap)
 6        19      Kilty           Lola Cosworth         25:48.18 (+1 lap)
 7        27      Stone           RAM Hart Turbo        25:48.27 (+1 lap)
 8        17      Kendrick        Reynard Judd V8       26:07.74 (+1 lap)
 9        10      Becker          Minardi Cosworth V8   24:35.16 (+2 laps)
10         5      Langridge       Footwork Hart V8      24:4768 (+2 laps)

Not classified: 22 Hansford Eurobrun Judd V8 37 Mansell Reynard Mugen V8 4 Andrews Ascari Judd V10 6 Richardson Tyrrell Judd V10 7 Wakefield Benetton Judd V10 9 Mortlock Footwork Judd V10

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