Fildes Stuns Mondello Park Regulars With Double Victory for Fildes

Irish motor racing star Jonathan Fildes enjoyed a very happy Easter at Mondello Park on Sunday, 8th April, after recording a brace of pole positions and scorching to a double race win during his first ever outing in his father’s Ralt RT4 Formula 3000 car.As part of a busy Easter Sunday race meeting, the event marking the beginning of the 2007 Irish circuit racing season, the 31-year-old from Co. Meath stunned the entire paddock with his outstanding performance in a car he had never driven prior to the first Formula Libre qualifying session of the day.Although Jonathan’s father Ken Fildes had planned to contest the opening Formula Libre event of the season in his glorious Ralt RT4 single-seater, a recent operation on his leg meant he took the wise decision to sit-out the meeting with Jonathan taking his place.After securing pole position for both Formula Libre races, the Irishman scorched to a pair of unchallenged race victories to firmly underline his talent and ability in a car as different as you can imagine from the Renault Clio Cup he normally races in the UK.Winning the first 15-lap encounter by over four seconds and going on to claim a dominant 12 second victory in the second 13-lap race, success at the wheel of the 2.5 litre F3000 machine comes as a major boost for Jonathan ahead of the second round of the ELF Renault Clio Cup season which is just a fortnight away.“The weekend was absolutely fantastic”, he said, “My dad didn’t want to risk banging his leg after his recent operation so I went out in the car without any testing and put it on pole for the first race which was a great boost.“To be so quick in the car having never driven it before was a great feeling and to go on to qualify on pole for the second race and to then win both was incredible. The Ralt is as different as you can get really from my Clio but it’s a superb car to drive.”Jonathan’s pace also ensured there was an air of anticipation within the Mondello Park paddock, his fastest lap of the meeting of 51.106 seconds (80.98 mph) seeing him close to within just two 10ths of a second of the outright National Circuit lap record.“We were within four 10ths of a second of the record during qualifying and after we made a couple of changes to the car I shaved another couple of 10ths off my best time during the first race”, added Jonathan.“Unfortunately the backmarkers in the second race meant I couldn’t quite lap at the same pace but to be so close to the outright lap record on my first time in the car is a great feeling and has given me a big boost ahead of the next round of the Clios a couple of weeks from now.”Jonathan, who is sponsored by Applied Signs & Display, Asgard Taverns, Atari Expo and Barry Evans Plastics, returns to the UK this Wednesday, 11th April, for official ELF Renault Clio Cup testing at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire. The second round of the season follows on 21st/22nd April at Northamptonshire’s Rockingham Motor Speedway.