Formula Vee - Mondello Park International - September 12/13th
After the delight of Silverstone, the Leastone team experienced the other end of the motorsport scale at Mondello last weekend, for Round 4 of the Teng Tools ICCR series. The ICCR package hosted Rounds 10 and 11 of the 2026 Formula Vee championship and the Vees entered the closing stretch of the season tackling Mondellos technical International layout. There was additional excitement added to the weekend, with the Vees also headlining the Sunday programme, with a standalone race for the coveted Leinster Trophy.
Harry McDonnell-Fagan was looking to carry forward the momentum from his recent Silverstone podium and he also had an interesting teammate in the awning for the weekend, as he was joined by team boss Paul Heavey, who returned to the grid to mark the 40th anniversary of his first Formula Vee race.
Race 1
Saturday morning's qualifying took place in damp conditions, leaving many drivers struggling to find clean laps. Harry secured 12th on the grid in the Selco scholarship Leastone, while Heavey endured a frustrating session and was left starting from the rear of the field in 25th position.
Race 1 proved short-lived for both drivers. Harry's race ended before it could properly begin, retiring with a gearbox issue on the opening lap. Paul didn’t fare much better, misjudging his braking into the first corner and unfortunately collecting an unsuspecting competitor.
Race 2
Race 2 offered little in the way of solace for the team. With only a short break between races, there was no way to swap Harry’s gearbox so he was forced to watch from the sidelines.
Paul again struggled getting by Turn 1, although this time he was the victim, as he was tagged by a competitor and forced to stop with a broken gear selector.
The team set about repairing both JH004s and got everything back in one piece late on Saturday night. Or so they thought.
The Leinster Trophy
With the Leinster Trophy grid set from Saturday qualifying, the cars were given a 5-minute free practice session on Sunday morning. 5 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, but it was enough for Heavey to determine that there was more damage than initially thought from the shunt the previous day.
The impact appeared to have transmitted enough force to the internals of the gearbox to render it unusable. It looked like his weekend was over, but in true Formula Vee spirit, Andy Keogh insisted that Paul take his TyreDoctor.ie JH004 for his special weekend.
On the positive side, Harrys new gearbox was running smoothly. He lined up 12th on the grid and settled quickly into a consistent rhythm once the lights went out. However, he was struggling to make the forward progress he expected, as he was suffering from brake issues that limited his confidence in the braking zones.
Heavey again started from the rear of the grid but made good progress in the opening laps, with the TyreDoctor.ie Leastone working well. He had worked his way up inside the top 10 by the final laps, enjoying a tight battle for 8th overall. On the final lap, he tried a move to snatch 8th but ran out of space and lost momentum coming up the hill from Turn 7B. The pass attempt cost him a top 10, as he slipped to 11th at the flag but still thoroughly enjoyed the 15-minute event.
Unfortunately Harry could not work around the issues with brake feeling, and switched to survival mode, focused on bringing the car home. He would follow Heavey home in 12th overall, 4th of the rookies.
While not quite the highs they were hoping for, given the challenges of the day before it was somewhat of a relief to see both cars make the flag. Attention now turns to the final championship round at Kirkistown on September 26th, where Harry will look to finish the year on a high and try secure a top spot in the Rookie championship.
Comments