The www.AA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship rolled into Mondello Park circuit for the first time in the Championship's history for Rounds nine and ten of the 2001 season. The circuit attracted the biggest crowd it has ever had as Irish spectators flocked to see the high profile series. The racing action was as hot as ever and fans did not leave disappointed!

Round Nine - Sprint Race

Yvan Muller capitalised on his pole position start by defending his BTC Touring lead from team-mate Jason Plato. The Frenchman had, however, a lot of ground to make up if he was to catch the BTC Production category. They started 45 seconds behind the Touring cars but with one less lap to run, had a good chance of maintaining position throughout the short 15 lap race. The tight, twisty track meant that overtaking manoeuvres were tricky and Muller had 15 Production cars to get past if he was to win the race outright.

After a good start, the Championship leader emerged from the HP Hairpin narrowly ahead of Plato. The ABG Motorsport Lexus of Kurt Luby didn't get away as well and lost fifth position to the Peugeot of Dan Eaves. The four Astra Coupes clearly set the pace with the two Vauxhall Motorsport cars dominating the Team Egg Sport Astras of Thompson and Bennett. Bennett ran into problems on lap 11 when he missed a gear, which forced him wide on the exit. The Team Egg Sport driver picked up a puncture to the front right in the process and nursed his car back to the pits on lap 12 for a tyre change. It didn't take the Peugeot of Steve Soper long to catch Bennett and overtake him on lap 12.

Further problems arose for Vauxhall when Plato slowed dramatically. A broken small bracket was to blame but more was to follow, when it later emerged that the Oxford based driver suffered a slow puncture from the damaged bracket and was forced to pit. He was unable to make any further impression on the field.

Plato's problems promoted Steve Soper to third and Peugeot were on course for their first podium of the season. The second Team Egg Sport Astra Coupe of James Thompson secured a comfortable second place in the Touring Class but the race belonged to Yvan Muller, who caught and passed the entire Production field to take the chequered flag.

Muller said: " I was surprised I didn't touch the car between the warm up and the race and the balance was quite different as I had more understeer than before but the gap between myself and Jason was pretty much the same as the warm up. I'm really pleased, as the circuit has greatly improved from when I was here two years ago. It's clean, the corners are good and the rhythm is good. It's hard on the braking though and I'm a bit concerned about the brakes for the Feature Race but we'll see what happens!"

A jubilant Steve Soper was pleased with Peugeot's progress. He said: "We're getting there. Obviously, the Vauxhalls were handicapped but our car ran fine and it's been consistent all morning which is encouraging."

The BTC Production cars produced their now legendary display of action and excitement, thrilling the crowds from the off. New recruit Simon Graves was on pole in the Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell Honda Accord but was swamped with pressure from the off when the GR Motorsport Ford Focus of Mat Jackson nudged ahead at the HP Hairpin. An ensuing battle developed which saw both cars off the track at the exit of Sport Ireland bend. Jackson's team-mate Gareth Howell took the lead, with the Honda Accord of James Kaye in second and the greatly improved JA Janspeed Alfa Romeo of Gavin Pyper close behind. All eyes, however, were on the HTML Peugeot of Roger Moen. Moen was forced to start from the back of the grid after an engine change but was driving a brilliant race, which pushed him up to fifth position by the end of the first lap.

The second Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell Honda Accord of James Kaye, which was carrying success ballast, took the lead on lap 10 and began to build a gap between himself and the remaining Production contenders. The question was could he build enough of a lead to hold off Muller? The Frenchman was at this point impressively weaving his way through the Production traffic and a BTC Touring outright win looked on the cards. The BTC Production battle for second and third position between Pyper and Howell ended in disappointment for Pyper when he out braked himself, resulting in the Alfa Romeo dropping substantially down the order. Harrison managed to retain his position and finished the race in second, with Roger Moen driving the race of his life to claim third.

Kaye said: "Coming here today was a complete breath of fresh air. Everything about the place is good. There are places to overtake, there are tarmac changes, corners and undulations. The car seemed really well suited to it all and we even got the fastest lap. Great!"

Feature Race

The afternoon Feature Race produced yet more close racing for the visiting Irish crowds. The flying start to Hewlett Packard bend saw poleman Yvan Muller retain his position to win the race, followed closely by team-mate Jason Plato.

Muller executed a faultless drive and pushed extremely hard for the first two thirds of the race. He built up a sufficient lead, which allowed him to ease off towards the end of the race. His Sprint Race concerns about the brakes never really materialised as he went on to explain:

"The balance of the car was a lot better in the Feature Race than it was in the Sprint Race and I was quite surprised about this. I started to break a little earlier than in the Sprint Race because I had built up quite a good lead and wanted to conserve my brakes. I'm a bit concerned about Donington because I didn't have a great race there last time but we are all in the same boat. All in all, I have enjoyed the weekend."

James Thompson profited from a first lap incident in which Kurt Luby's Lexus IS200 scooped up Phil Bennett's Vauxhall Astra Coupe and punted him back along the track. Bennett lost two places and as a result Thompson moved up into third behind Plato. The race was on as both drivers fought for second position and it was a battle that in the end was settled by the pit stop strategy. Thompson pitted on lap 11 ahead of rival Plato, a decision that paid off when Plato pitted on lap 14. Thompson was then able to claim second. This was short lived however and five laps later Plato reclaimed his place behind race leader Muller in an overtaking manoeuvre at Hewlett Packard bend. Thompson went on to finish third overall.

The weekend's activities see the flamboyant Frenchman extend his Championship lead once more. He now leaves the Emerald Isle with 143 points, a 27 point lead over team-mate Jason Plato in second with 116 points.

Plato commented: " It was a good race. My strategy was wrong because we should have stopped one lap earlier but it was my call and I made a mistake. It hasn't been a particularly good weekend for me and I haven't performed as well as I would have liked. I will leave Mondello knowing that the team did a great job and I messed up. Roll on the next rounds, I have had my fair share of bad luck this year and it has to stop, and I tell you what, it is going to turn around!"

Team Peugeot Sport (who earlier on in the day experienced their first podium visit) were unable to extend this good fortune in the afternoon. Mechanical problems forced both drivers to retire from the race but progress has clearly been made by the Midlands based outfit this weekend.

In the BTC Production category, Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell were in celebratory mood after Kaye repeated his Sprint Race performance and put the Honda on the top step of the podium for the second time in the day. The success ballast that Kaye was carrying clearly didn't hinder the cars performance and he later explained he found it to have no disadvantage at this circuit as he easily promoted himself from sixth position into first.

Kaye commented: The car was so good over the curbs and the corners and the brakes were great, in fact it was all fantastic. The team did a brilliant job working on the engine to modify it after the free practice session. Honda are fully behind the team and together we have produced a great car".

The prize for the most ecstatic driver of the day went to Tech-speed's Paul O'Neill who drove the race of his life to bring his Peugeot 306 home in second position. This is the second time in as many weekends that Paul has been on the podium, having claimed third in the Sprint Race at Silverstone.

He said: "We seemed to struggle in qualifying but this Peugeot 306 is fantastic. I was battling with the best of them and I am starting to realise that you can put my name up there with them now. I am one of the top six drivers in the BTC Production class and my confidence is growing at every race. I think I may have had the luck of the Irish with me this weekend. It has been fantastic."

GR Motorsports Matt Jackson claimed third position in his Ford Focus. The car clearly suited the circuit, producing a lot of torque which is a characteristic of the Zetec engine. It is fair to say that the Peugeots had more power but being on a tight, twisty circuit, more power does not necessarily result in a win.

Jackson added "We did OK here, but not brilliantly - I am not too happy about things but third place is a lot better than a non finish. It is a long championship and I just need to keep building the points."

Kaye now leads the BFGoodrich Tires BTC Production Championship by just one point (108) over nearest rival Simon Harrison (107 points).

The next rounds of the www.AA.com MSA British Touring Car Championship takes place at Donington Park on 30 June/1 July.