Tiedeman Trophy - Pembrey - 5th October
Max Hart rounded out his successful 2019 with a brace of podiums at rounds 3 and 4 of Monoposto's Tiedeman Trophy at a sodden Pembrey last weekend. Hart was joined by David Heavey, who returned to the cockpit for the first time in 2 years, securing a pair of top 6 finishes overall.
Qualifying saw the driest conditions of the weekend, even though the track remained slightly greasy following solid rain throughout Friday. Max took advantage of the tricky conditions by jumping quickly out of the box and securing his time early on, sealing an impressive front row grid slot. Heavey similarly pushed early on, still shaking off the rust, to line up on the outside of the 3rd row for Race 1.
The heavens decided to open shortly after qualifying end, meaning that full wets were the order of the day when the green flag flew for the first of the days races. Following two formation laps, Hart struggled to get his 1000 off the line but quickly made amends by recovering all lost ground with a typically aggressive first corner by the Wicklow man. Heavey had the inverse, with a good initial start but then getting boxed in at turn 1 and dropping back down the order.
At the head of the field, Max began harrying the lead F3 car for the overall lead and despite the delta in machinery, he maintained pressure up to the mid point of the race, when the leaders came upon the tail end of the field. Given the difficult conditions, the spray made navigating the back markers particularly tricky and Hart lost touch with the leader during this process. Even still, he managed the conditions with aplomb and secured yet another MonoMoto 1000 class win and an overall podium to boot. Further back, Heavey struggled with the conditions and maintained a lonely 6th place on his run to the flag but sealed a class podium on his return to the cockpit.
Conditions remained much the same for Race 2 and the Leastone 1000's lined up in 2nd and 6th once again. This time round Hart made a much better start but it was clear from the early stages of the race that a set up change had gone the wrong way and he was struggling with grip on the wet circuit and dropped to 4th place overall. Heavey had gone the same direction but had jumped to 5th place on the opening lap, trying in vein to hold onto Max's coat tails.
Once tyre temperatures came up somewhat, Harts situation improved slightly but at that stage the field had spread out significantly and he settled into a steady rhythm to secure 4th place overall and with it, second in the MonoMoto 1000 class. Heavey may have lost touch with his teammate in the early stages of the race but did well to hand onto 5th place for the majority of the race, despite the close attention of the MonoMoto 1400 class leader. At the beginning of the penultimate lap, he was passed at the hairpin, despite a yellow flag, resulting in another 6th place finish overall but he was happy to grab another class podium to round out the weekend.
That wraps up a successful first year of UK racing for Max, who will now turn his attention to interviews for the Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year award, which will take place in early November. The final rounds of the Tiedeman Trophy will see Brendan O'Brien return to the cockpit for rounds 5 and 6 on Anglesey's coastal circuit on November 17th, where he will be joined by team boss Paul Heavey who will take over Max's Selco Hygiene 1000.
