Formula Vee Rounds 2/3
Paul Heavey and the Leastone team made a return to victory lane at Bishopscourt last weekend, marking his first win in over 15 years. With it being his first visit to the former air force base, Heavey needed to maximise his track time during Saturday’s untimed practice session. Still not 100% comfortable by the time qualifying rolled around, Heavey placed his Total JH004 on the outside of the second row for Race 1.
A solid start was helped by the absence of one of the front row starters but by lap 3, Heavey had elevated himself to 2nd before managing to snatch the lead for the first time on the following lap. A brief back and forth between him and reigning champion Anthony Cross took place over the next few laps before Heavey took the lead for the final time on lap 7.
It was not an easy run to the flag however, as he was subject to intense pressure from Cross over the remaining 5 laps. Heavey had to draw on all of his racecraft knowledge to hold position and seal a popular win.
Race 2 saw Heavey come back to earth with a bump, when another good start was of little use when he spun on the opening lap and dropped all the way to the back of the pack. Such was the length of time he spent recovering the lurid spin, Heavey was a long way off the back of the pack.
Despite the delta, he did his best to stage somewhat of a comeback, benefitting from a level of attrition to pull himself up to 7th place overall when the race was cut short with a red flag on lap 8.
‘All in all, a good weekend. Great to get a win during my first visit to Bishopscourt, even if it was offset by a silly mistake in race 2! I really enjoyed the battle with Anthony for the lead in race 1, it was good hard racing and it was nice to be battling up the sharp end again’ said Heavey post race.
Heavey’s next outing will be at Anglesey on June 15/16th, where he will be looking to take part in day 2 of the event, as he will be fulfilling team management duties at rounds 3 and 4 of the Monoposto championship at nearby Oulton Park on the 15th.
