English driver James Holman achieved a second-place finish in an Irish Legends Car Championship race at Mondello Park at the weekend (June 9).

He was runner-up in the second heat behind new championship leader Geoff Richardson after a heavy shower had dampened the track.

Earlier, Holman, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, finished fifth in the opening heat and went on to take sixth place in the final race.

To provide an extra challenge, the races were run in reverse direction - anti-clockwise - at the County Kildare circuit.

It was Holman's first full race day of the season, as his opening round at Kirkistown, County Down, in April, was hampered by a throttle issue, and a fifth place in the first race gave him his only points of the day.

"The second race was great - the car was handling beautifully, and I closed in on the leader with two laps to go but I made a small error and dropped back. I'm looking forward to going in the direction where I know I'm quick!

"The final race was a little disappointing. It rained before we went out and I couldn't get the tires to work until the last lap or two. If we had changed the tires on the front to 'wets' too, we'd have been as competitive as the second race."

Holman is racing as part of the Samsport team in the fast-growing Irish Legends Car Championship. A former rookie of the year and championship runner-up in the hotly contested UK Legends Car series, Suffolk-based James switched to the Irish series to save costs.

He finished runner-up in Ireland in 2016 and finished fourth last season, despite missing the opening round due to the birth of his son.

The 2019 series features seven rounds at Kirkistown in County Down and Mondello Park, where James still holds the lap record.

Legends Car racing originated on the US oval tracks, and the cars have an American look, being 5/8-scale replicas of classic US models. Samsport Racing runs a Ford Coupe 1934 replica, with a 1250cc Yamaha motorcycle engine.

The Samsport team is sponsored by Taylor's Antiques, Stillorgan Motors, and Walker Vehicle Rentals, with additional support from British communications agency Weltch Media.

The Irish Legends series returns to Mondello Park for rounds three and four on the weekend of July 13-14.

Notes to editors:

For further information on the Irish Legends Car Championship, see  https://www.facebook.com/irishlegends/

 

Further information:

James Holman - [email protected]

Andrew Weltch - [email protected]

07890 288302