26th Jan 2025: TDC Dave Griffin Memorial MVAT Mondello

TDC Dave Griffin Memorial MVAT Mondello 2025 Results

MVAT League Rd 1– Event Recap

Storm Eowyn, storm Hermenia ….. ya whatever. What many of us will really remember from last weekend’s TDC Dave Griffin Memorial MVAT was Storm Murray.
From the get-go, it was pretty clear that the dynamic duo, brothers Eoin and Niall, were in a league of their own and showed their thoroughbred talent at the hands of the Murray Motorsport EP80 Toyota Starlet. They swept away all competition and finished with a commanding lead, with Niall taking the top honours once again. Eoin followed closely behind and a very well deserved 3rd place for Eamonn Byrne.

Performances like the Murray’s need no words. Eamonn however, a man of lengthy awards speeches, had plenty to say as usual -
‘Thoroughly enjoyed the day it was a tight battle.’

Fortunately some of the other competitors had more battle stories to share after being battered by the elements and competition -

4th Place, Robert Robinson (Yaris T-Sport) -

‘It was a great event and took a lot of commitment from organizers and marshals on such a rough day ..
Grip was hard to find at times and every circuit changed..
I struggled with Niall and Eoin being on class form and Eamonn being a very hard man to beat… as was everyone..
Really enjoyed it and thanks to Bill Griffin motors for their sponsorship..’

5th Place, Brian Kingston –

‘ I came out swinging, quite literally, the tail was wild on the Ignis – pretty entertaining but it cost me 10 secs to Eamonn on the 1st lap of 5 tests. I put more tyre under the rear and was able to claw it back to 3 secs by the end of the 3rd lap. I threw everything at the PowerTest and was stoked to match the fastest time and get within 1 sec of the podium positions, but then disaster with 4 tests to go…. a Rainsport puncture in Rallycross 1, that cost me 25+ secs on the last lap and Robert snuck in front right at the end….. Deflating to say the least, the Mondello podium still eludes me, but I’ll be back! ’

EP80 Starlets
Richard Meeke (6th overall) -
‘Looking out at the rain pouring down I opted to stay dry and leave the narrow tyres on the back of my car. That was the first mistake. Starting on test 5 all went well, I thought I did a good test, right up to the point I saw Niall Murrays time. That was the start of the trend for the day with the Murray Motorsport starlet leaving everyone else for dust with either Niall or Eoin taking FTD on each test. My day continued well until the narrow tyres caused a spin on test 3 (exit kerb of Tarzan 2). I changed these for the second lap and found a huge amount more confidence in the car. Unfortunately for me the rest of the field was also getting quicker as the day went on. Overall a great day was battles for positions throughout the field. A huge thanks to all the marshals for standing out in that awful weather.’

Shane Dunne (7th overall) – continued his trend of appearing out of nowhere, shocking us with his pace and skill and disappearing again, hopefully we see him at some more events this year??

Philip O’Reilly (11th overall) -
‘So what I enjoyed was the tighter nature of the tests, more circling etc. I struggled with grip in the wet, not really sure how I should drive Mondello in those conditions. I managed to stay clean all day penalty wise but spun on Test 1 and Test 2, just overdriving a bit, but had a blast!’

Mick Melady (14th overall) -
‘I was delighted with the changes I made to the car, (tyres and springs) but took me a while to get used to them ….I felt the grip was really good out there despite what others were saying. I struggled with the flat out sections as my car is a bit underpowered’

Dermot Hade (17th overall) -
‘Myself and Graeme loved every minute, the tests were class. The calming methods of the pylons were hard in some cases as they kept the speeds low, but I suppose that’s why they are there . I really loved the PowerTest - a great idea. The best part of the tests today were the box throws, I really loved that.’

MR2’s
A tricky day out for the mid-engined machinery, but with 5 placed in the top 20, they definitely had moments of pace.
Piers MacFheorias (8th overall) -
‘A great event as always, with some new challenges thrown in for good measure. Driving the MR2 towards those on-circuit pylons (needing to be circled) proved exciting and challenging, and was an adventure into the unknown trying to make sure not to make a hash of it. It was a surprising start, needing to do 3 point turns first thing in the morning, and made me feel like a novice, but luckily the driving smoothened out by the afternoon. Test 1 was my favourite test, with a bit of rallycross 1, the circuit and the car park behind the stands. It had a bit of everything and a good reason to consider this as the best event of the year.’

Anthony Freeney (12th overall)-
‘On the first lap it was difficult to execute the 360's before the chicanes on test two, a side wall slow puncture on a new Uniroyal also hindered my cornering, but that improved as we went through the day.’

Craig & Guy McWilliam came home in a very impressive 13th and 16th respectively, clearly the seat time elsewhere is yielding dividends. John O’Reilly rounded out the top 20 with a committed drive.

Boxy Starlets
The bantam-weight bout of the boxy’s provided the biggest fight of the day, with John Nolan barely beating the Munster Maestro Liam Cashman to 9th place. After slugging it out for nearly a half hour of competitive action, they matched each others total times exactly – 1858 secs. It needed 3 levels of tie breaker rules for the judges to raise Nolan’s arm. To top things off, John was also co-winner of the PowerTest, a very impressive feat considering the claimed issues of power loss and sub-optimal tyre choice.
Liam Cashman (10th), took it like the champ he is –
‘John had the Edge - all went well for me - would like to blame the car but Richard in the lesser power Starlet puts that theory to bed!’

Retro
Matt Walsh in his MG BGT was touted beforehand to raise some eyebrows and delivered perhaps the drive of the day, a deeply impressive 15th overall -
‘I'm always up against it in Mondello because the MG just doesn't have the legs against the more powerful machines. But it has incredible grip front and rear, particularly in the wet, so we can punch above our weight on a good day! Coupled with a clean run and no penalties/big mistakes meant we could get a good result.
The conditions obviously were very challenging. The unpredictable surface grip levels around Mondello proved very difficult. But a fantastic day all round!’

MX5’s
Miata drivers probably have too much fun to care about results, but top Jinba Ittai honours goes to Damien Doran (27th overall) -
‘I had just had too much fun! I was struggling to switch my head back after driving FWD all last year but really enjoyed the challenge.’

Ed Holfeld (32nd overall) -
‘4th quickest mx5, balding tyres and an engine running to rich,,, but they are just excuses.... feck it ! I'll hang on to them Very Happy

Great day though...’

Worthy mentions
Alan Auerbach’s Clio 197 was probably the best looking hot hatch on the day, but despite it’s 200hp, he struggled with its weight, lack of diff and ‘chuckbility’ – something to pay note to for anyone thinking of venturing in to more modern machinery….. less is more!

McLaren Gt4 talent Alex Denning came home in 28th place in his MX5 – it would be interesting to hear his perspective on the polar opposites of motorsport disciplines….

Dave Griffin in 46th…. far from the sort of Stryker results he remembers, maybe the event sponsor might have something more competitive on the forecourt for next year?

Last mention to Peter Campbell in the maroon Renault pope-mobile, has there ever been a more unlikely, but eye opening MVAT car? More rosary water needed though…. maybe the next storm will oblige?