Having consistently raised the bar in terms of Irish modified car shows over the past few years Mondello Park is again looking to up the ante with the second running of its celebration of Japanese motorsport and motoring, ‘Mondello Jap-Fest’. The one day show which takes place on Sunday 7th September with support from Irelands leading modified car publication ‘Modified Motors’, will centre on a day of track action combined with static displays and trade exhibitions.
Headlining the track activity will be the final round of the Modified Motors backed Mondello Park Time Attack championship which will be decided at Jap-Fest following a season long battle for supremacy between Irelands top car tuners. For its last round of the season the drivers will have two qualifying sessions to decide the running order for the Final which will be the last on-track event of the day. In the final, the cars will run one at a time, starting with the slowest qualifier and finishing with the fastest, and drivers will have just a single lap in which to set a time, which will be the only one to count towards the results.
Backing up the time attack competition will be a Drift battle between an invited list of Irelands top drift exponents. The drifters will dispense with qualification and head straight for the twin battles with a top sixteen run off, where for the first time the crowd will decide who progresses to the top eight and onwards to the finals.
The Mondello Park drag strip will be back in action for the day with thirty two of Irelands fastest accelerating cars set to light up the circuits’ main straight. The drag racers will have two qualification runs to sort out the line up for the heats and finals which will decide the fastest quarter mile car in the country.
Prior to the competitive track activity commencing the morning will be filled with track day style ‘Track Time’ sessions. These sessions were a very popular addition to last years event and are designed to give exhibitors the chance to put their cars to the test on track before parking them up to display them for the day.
Among the new attractions will be a chance for show visitors to try their hand at the highly skilled sport of Autotesting. The Autotest demonstration has always been a popular part of Mondello events but this year, for the first time, the public will be offered the chance to get involved and show of their ability in one of Mondello’s own Autotest cars. Details of how to get involved will be released through the Mondello Park web site over the coming weeks. A number of other exciting attractions are also being lined up and details of these will be announced in due course.
With some of the country’s most impressive Japanese cars already lining up to fill the Mondello Park paddock and more attractions being worked on by the show organisers, Mondello Jap-Fest 2008 will be a must see for all fans of modified cars and Japanese motorsports.