Formula Vee - Mondello Park - 18th April

The Leastone team endured a difficult weekend at Mondello during rounds 2 and 3 of the Irish Formula Vee Championship on 18/04/2026. Harry Fagan continued to gain pace as he transitioned from karts to cars, but the weekend ended on a particularly sour note, with Harry sustaining an injury that will keep him out of the cockpit for the foreseeable future.

Following a challenging test day that saw changeable weather and inconsistent track conditions, Harry continued to chip away at his pace, qualifying 2^nd in class and 11^th overall for both of Saturday's races. The team continued to work on a handful of niggles on the no. 95 JH004, most of which related to gear selection and stability under braking.

Harry made what is now becoming his trademark strong start and managed to slip inside the top ten in the opening laps, while maintaining a solid 2^nd in the rookie class. Following the hectic start to the race and subsequent spreading of the field, this turned into a solitary 9^th place for Harry, which allowed him to focus on a steady race rhythm while continuing to build on his limited seat time.

He achieved his first national-level top ten finish, and although he initially placed second in the Rookie class, he was later promoted to first after the original class winner was disqualified later in the day due to an incident involving Harry.

Again, Race 2 saw Harry make a good start and he was battling hard inside the top ten in the first few laps. That is when it all started to go wrong. A clutch problem dropped him well off the pace and, while Harry was circulating slowly, as the field came up to lap him, one of the front runners misjudged the closing speed on the main straight.

This resulted in a sizeable rear impact to the JH004 and, while Harry extricated himself from the car, it was clear that he was in some discomfort. Following consultation with the track medical team, he travelled to hospital for further evaluation, where it was discovered that he had fractured four vertebrae.

As a result, Harry will be absent from the upcoming round at Bishopscourt, but with youth on his side, he's eager to get back behind the wheel as soon as he can. In an impressive display of support from the racing community, RTA Virtual Motorsport set up a fundraising page for both Harry and Sean McClements to assist with covering the costs of the damage to both cars, which has received an overwhelming amount of support across the motorsport scene.

Overall, it was a disappointing weekend. However, considering the severity of the Race 2 crash, everyone was relieved that both drivers were able to walk away, albeit with Harry's back injury. The team is now focused on supporting Harry’s recovery and looks forward to welcoming him back into the cockpit when he is ready to hit the track once again.