Cross seals fourth straight Formula Vee crown
Tallaght man Anthony Cross on his way to securing a fourth successive Selco.ie Formula Vee title

Cross seals fourth straight Formula Vee crown

ANTHONY Cross sealed his fourth successive Selco.ie Formula Vee Championship title with a victory in Mondello Park last weekend.

Having recorded a double win at the previous rounds of the series at Kirkistown two weeks ago, the Tallaght man had one hand on the trophy and a finish of sixth last weekend would have been enough to earn him the crown again.

But he was leaving nothing to chance and took pole position, albeit, right at the death in qualifying by 0.300 of a second from Jordan Kelly.

As the lights went out, both front row men enjoyed a good start, but Cross held his line around Turn One to maintain his lead.

Halfway around the second lap it looked as if the front two were starting to open a gap, but as they emerged from the double right hander on the international loop it was Dan Polley who was now in second place.

This, however, allowed Cross to establish a gap which he built upon very quickly and by Lap Four he had a gap of just over a second on the pack behind.

At the half way stage the safety car was brought out, undoing all of his hard work and also that of Gavin Buckley who managed to pull clear in the battle for second.

As the safety car pulled in, Cross led the field out of the final corner and picked up where he left off.

After enjoying a healthy lead, he now had to keep his cool and fend off Buckley who had to win in order to keep his title hopes alive.

But the defending champion never flinched and, while it would have been easier for him to allow Buckley by given that they had a gap over the rest of the field and he would still have won the title, he was determined to land the prize with a victory and he did just that.

“It’s great to win the title again, but it wasn’t easy” stressed Cross.

“There’s a lot of lads out there now on a similar pace. It has been a good year. I won a few races and the Holmpatrick Trophy too which is nice.

“Thanks to dad for his help all year and the championship organisers for getting the show on the road again during Covid.”

Next up is a trip up north to Kirkistown on September 26 for the Emerson Fittapaldi Trophy.

Cross has won that piece of silverware for the last two years and can expect a huge challenge from a field aiming to prevent him making it a hat-trick this year.

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