Mondello Park and Sheane Cars were delighted by the performance of the 2012 'Become A Racing Driver' competition winner Timmy Swail at Mondello Park on Sunday as he put in an incredible début performance.
Driving in his first ever Motor Race Swail finished fifth, right on the tail of former Formula Sheane champion and multiple race winner Anton Savage. In addition Swail set a best lap time which was just 0.8 of a second off the best lap of the race winner, Brian Hearty, one of the country's most experienced and successful racers.
Having only had six days between his competition victory and the first qualifying session of his career, Swail arrived at Mondello Park on Saturday having never driven a full championship specification Formula Sheane car. The 24 year old from Wicklow only passed his race licence course on Friday and was thrown straight in to the deep end on Saturday afternoon to attempt to qualify for Sunday's race.
Qualification proved no obstacle for the novice as his performance meant that he would start sixth of the fifteen runners for Sunday's race. An excellent start on Sunday saw him running fifth for much of the race matching the lap times of the drivers around him. Towards the end he moved up to fourth due to the retirement of the second placed car but was then passed by Savage putting him back to fifth again. Having dropped behind the experienced racer, Swail used this as an opportunity to learn from the expert and by following Savage's lines improved his best lap by half a second.
After the race an overjoyed Swail expressed his delight at the result saying, “I came here hoping for top ten. I can't believe that things have gone this well. It's fantastic to be almost on the pace so quickly. When you take Hearty's times away, as he was head and shoulders above everyone else today, I'm only a couple of tenths away from the next fastest guys. I'd like to thank David Sheane for giving me such a great car and everyone at Mondello Park who have helped me to make such an amazing start. I can't wait for the rest of the season now”.
Swail's prize for winning the 2012 Become A Racing Driver competition will see him compete for the remainder of the season in Formula Sheane, free of charge and the next outing for the newcomer will be round 2 at Kirkistown, County Down, on May 26th.
The search for the next 'Become A Racing Driver' champion will begin very soon and details of the competition can be found on the Mondello Park web site.