By Willis Marshall
Kildare rider Thomas Lawlor was crowned the D&GW Irish 250cc Short Circuit Champion for 2012, after an incident packed final round at Mondello Park at the weekend.
Going into the final round at the weekend, Lawlor trailed series leader Nigel Percy by 23 points, and solid finishes in the three 250cc races for Percy would have been enough to take the Championship on his D&GW Racing backed 250cc Honda, while Lawlor would have needed top three placing in every race to be in which a shout of the title.
Race1: Drama unfolded from the very start of race one on Saturday when Nigel Percy was ruled out of the race at the start line when his clutch went on his 250 Honda, and in the end, throwing open the Championship once again. Lawlor took his chances in race one and took the win and 25pts with Castledawsons Nico MaWhinney second and Cookstowns Richard Glasgow third.
Race2: In the first of Sundays two final races, Nigel Percy knew that he needed to get back on the podium to stand any chance of keeping Lawlor at bay, but the Kildare rider had other plans of his own and he himself knew that if he finished in front of Percy in the final two races, the title was his. Cookstowns Richard Glasgow was making all the moves at the front and in a controlled manner took the second race win from Lawlor and Percy. Nico MaWhinny crashed out unhurt in race two but took no further part in the days racing.
Race 3: In the final race for the title, the difference was six points in Lawlors favour with the Kildare rider knowing that a runner up sport would be good enough for the overall Championship. Percy on the other hand had to win the race and make sure that he had someone between himself at Lawlor at the line. But as in race two, Glasgow was making all the running at the front and went on to win with Lawlor second and the Champion for 2012, while Percy limped home in third place.
Final Championship Standings.
1 = Thomas Lawlor Honda 250pts
2 = Nigel Percy Honda 240pts
3 = Richard Glasgow Honda 226pts
4 = Nico MaWhinney Honda 167pts
5 = Ciaran Donnelly Honda 102pts
6 = John Ella Honda 70pts
7 = Ronan Shanahan Honda 59pts
8 = Tommy Henry Honda 56pts
9 = Trevor Reid Yamaha 50pts