After years of trying, BTCC finally made it to Ireland. Following on from Silverstone last time around, rounds 9 and 10 of the 2001 British Touring Car Championship came from Mondello Park, just down the road from Dublin.
As a brand new circuit, none of the drivers had ever driven at Mondello Park before, so surely qualifying would throw up some surprises?
Round 9: Sprint Race
But true to form in the 2001 season, Yvan Muller put it on pole with Jason Plato completing the front row of the grid, with the two Egg Sport Vauxhalls in row two. Soper, Luby, and Eaves made up the Touring Car grid as the Alfa 147s didn’t make it over to Ireland.
In the Production class, however, Simon Graves put his Honda Accord into P1, followed by the Peugeot of Simon Harrison, whose teammate Roger Moen had to start at the back of the grid following an engine change.
The stage was set for the first sprint race in Ireland. As the lights went green, Muller and Plato were side by side going into the first corner, but it was Muller who came out on top with the inside line.
Bennett made a great move on teammate, Thompson, into the first corner and came out in third position.
In the production class, Graves locked up into the first corner which gave Jackson an opportunity to get past in the Ford Focus.
But Jackson overcooked it into the following corner, ending up sideways, taking out Graves in the process of recovering. Jackson was still running, but conceded first place to teammate Howell in the aftermath, and then started sliding backwards down the pecking order.
Unlucky for Graves after his great qualifying session, as he slid across the grass and rejoined at the back of the pack.
Back in the Touring class it was Dan Eaves all over the back of Phil Bennett, who had lost his third place to Thompson. The Peugeot and Vauxhall were swapping paint codes through several corners, but Bennett stayed in front.
Roger Moen, who had started at the back of the Production grid, had made it through the field and was challenging Jackson for fifth. He made a move stick to take the position, but Jackson responded by bashing into him.
After a spine-breaking trip across the grass, Moen kept the position, and Rob Collard also passed Jackson, whose day was going from bad to worse.
And Jackson’s teammate, Howell, was also having a bad time as James Kaye executed an excellent move down the inside to take first in the Production class.
Pyper was up to third in the Alfa 156, and made short work of overtaking Howell into second as Graves retired in the battered Accord.
Back at the front of the Touring class, Muller and Plato were pulling out a huge gap on the rest of the field. Muller was setting the pace, with Plato pushing him hard.
But it wasn’t to be Plato’s race, as two laps before the end he picked up a puncture.
He wanted to retire but with a small Touring grid this weekend thanks to the Alfa’s not making it, his team made him limp home to the pits to ensure he picked up some precious points.
But weirdly enough, not long after, Phil Bennett also suffered the same fate in his Egg Sport Astra. A front right puncture.
The cause? An aggressive kerb on the exit of Paddock bend.
Yvan Muller took the win, with James Thompson in second. A good day for Steve Soper as he picked up third thanks to the two punctures in the Vauxhalls.
James Kaye won the Production race, followed by Howell and Moen. Pyper slipped to fourth after an unforced error saw him go across the gravel on the last lap.
Sprint Race Results
| Position | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Time | Best |
| 1 | Yvan MULLER | Vauxhall Motorsport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 15 | 28:33.193 | 1:48.006 | |
| 2 | P | James KAYE | Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell | Honda Accord | 15 | 8.221 | 1:53.092 |
| 3 | James THOMPSON | Egg Sport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 15 | 9.378 | 1:48.718 | |
| 4 | Steve SOPER | Peugeot Sport UK | Peugeot 406 Coupé | 15 | 15.557 | 1:49.312 | |
| 5 | P | Gareth HOWELL | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 17.776 | 1:53.679 |
| 6 | P | Roger MOEN | HTML | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 19.611 | 1:53.518 |
| 7 | P | Gavin PYPER | GA-Janspeed Racing | Alfa Romeo 156 | 15 | 28.363 | 1:53.560 |
| 8 | Kurt LUBY | ABG Motorsport | Lexus IS200 | 15 | 32.52 | 1:49.897 | |
| 9 | P | Simon HARRISON | HTML | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 33.867 | 1:54.079 |
| 10 | Dan EAVES | Peugeot Sport UK | Peugeot 406 Coupé | 15 | 39.383 | 1:50.594 | |
| 11 | P | Mat JACKSON | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 46.685 | 1:54.420 |
| 12 | P | Tom BOARDMAN | Tom Boardman Racing | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 1:01.484 | 1:55.685 |
| 13 | P | Rick KRAEMER | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:02.428 | 1:55.869 |
| 14 | P | Richard MEINS | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:15.301 | 1:57.006 |
| 15 | Phil BENNETT | Egg Sport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 15 | 1:27.327 | 1:48.886 | |
| 16 | P | Annie TEMPLETON | Tech-Speed Motorsport | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 1:48.755 | 1:58.552 |
| 17 | Jason PLATO | Vauxhall Motorsport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 14 | + 1 LAP | 1:48.014 | |
| R | P | Rob COLLARD | Collard Racing | Renault Clio | 12 | DNF | 1:53.892 |
| R | P | Simon GRAVES | Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell | Honda Accord | 7 | DNF | 1:53.417 |
| R | P | Toni RUOKONEN | Cranfield Automotive Management | Mitsubishi Carisma | 6 | DNF | 1:55.890 |
| R | P | Paul O’NEILL | Tech-Speed Motorsport | Peugeot 306 GTi | 2 | DNF | 1:56.200 |
| R | P | Colin BLAIR | GA-Janspeed Racing | Alfa Romeo 156 | 1 | DNF | 2:09.524 |
Round 10: Feature Race
After winning the sprint race, Yvan Muller was on pole once again with Jason Plato alongside him. Phil Bennett out-qualified James Thompson to take third on the grid.
In the Production class, Graves took pole after crashing out in the sprint, followed by Harrison and Moen in the Peugeots.
A rolling start for the whole grid, and everyone made it through the first corner without trouble. But going into turn two, Plato and Bennett had some argie bargie which left the door open for Thompson to pass Bennett.
In the aftermath, Kurt Luby got up the inside of Bennett and almost spun him, but Bennett managed to stay on track despite losing some time. Luby, on the other hand, ended up taking to the grass and slid down the order, rejoining the track with a traffic cone attached to the front grille.
Having taken a bashing by Luby, Bennett had lost a place to Eaves in the Peugeot. Meanwhile Luby made it back to the pits but had to retire thanks to a broken track rod after the contact with Bennett.
In the Production class, Graves and Jackson were battling for the lead, with Jackson having made up a few places from the start. Gavin Pyper followed closely behind, having also had a decent start.
Jackson made a move on Graves after the Accord seemed to drift wide, but having almost made the position, there was contact with the rear end of Jackson’s Focus, which sent him spinning off.
Jackson seemed to come across the front of Graves as they entered the braking zone for the next corner, and Graves held his line.
Pyper in the Alfa 156 saw his opportunity to go for the lead shortly afterwards, and managed to turn-in in front of Graves, taking a little bit of paintwork in the process.
Having looked like he’d made the move stick, he was swerving around on the road ahead of the Honda, and in one of the strangest moves seen so far in the 2001 season, he simply drove into the side of Graves as they headed into the braking zone.
Graves survived again, and it was Pyper that ended up facing the wrong way. Meanwhile, Kaye was making good progress as he overtook Harrison to move up second place. Howell managed to follow, along with Moen. Three places lost in two corners for Harrison.
Back with the Tourers, Muller had built up a big gap on Plato, and Plato was coming under pressure from Thompson. Eaves was still ahead of Bennett, with the Egg Sport Vauxhall unable to find a way through despite being the quicker car.
But Bennett took things into his own hands and smashed into the back of Eaves as they went through Paddock bend. He made it through, but there was some serious looking damage to both the Vauxhall and the Peugeot.
As the pit-stop window opened, Soper was in first, and James Thompson was the first of the Vauxhalls to stop with a view to jumping Plato. A 7.8 second stop gave him a great chance.
Muller made a 7.2 second stop to keep him out in front, and Plato did a 7.1 second stop. Good work from Vauxhall, but that didn’t stop Plato from losing out to Thompson as he rejoined the track, with the Egg Sport man just about making it past.
Meanwhile Steve Soper was in the pits again, with what looked like a terminal problem. Another retirement for them, and it wouldn’t be long before teammate Eaves was retiring as well, in his battered 406.
The battle was back on for second in the Touring class, with Plato sizing up Thompson to retake the position. Some excellent driving from the pair of them, but Plato made it through.
At the front of the Production battle, Graves was still going but with a seriously beaten up Honda. His teammate, James Kaye, made it past to take first position.
But it wouldn’t be Graves’ weekend, as he again had to retire his Honda due to damage.
And it was all change for second place, as Paul O’Neill was making his way through the pack, overtaking Harrison to take the position.
With Harrison’s Peugeot bouncing around all over the track, Howell also made it through in his Focus. But his joy would be short-lived, as he made an unforced error and slammed into the barrier.
With Harrison back into third, he had another yellow Ford Focus to worry about in the form of Mat Jackson, who cleanly made it past, up the inside.
Into the final lap and Muller took the win, with Plato in second and Thompson in third.
In the Production class it was James Kaye with the win, second position for Paul O’Neill, and third for Mat Jackson. Harrison picked up fourth.
After a great weekend of racing, it was Yvan Muller extending his lead at the top of the Touring Car championship.
Next up – Donington Park for rounds 11 & 12.
Round 10 Results
| Position | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Time | Best |
| 1 | Yvan MULLER | Vauxhall Motorsport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 15 | 54:50.315 | 1:47.614 | |
| 2 | P | James KAYE | Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell | Honda Accord | 15 | 8.221 | 1:53.092 |
| 3 | James THOMPSON | Egg Sport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 15 | 9.378 | 1:48.718 | |
| 4 | Phil BENNETT | Egg Sport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 30 | 19.791 | 1:48.443 | |
| 5 | P | Gareth HOWELL | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 17.776 | 1:53.679 |
| 6 | P | Roger MOEN | HTML | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 19.611 | 1:53.518 |
| 7 | P | Gavin PYPER | GA-Janspeed Racing | Alfa Romeo 156 | 15 | 28.363 | 1:53.560 |
| 8 | Kurt LUBY | ABG Motorsport | Lexus IS200 | 15 | 32.52 | 1:49.897 | |
| 9 | P | Simon HARRISON | HTML | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 33.867 | 1:54.079 |
| 10 | Dan EAVES | Peugeot Sport UK | Peugeot 406 Coupé | 15 | 39.383 | 1:50.594 | |
| 11 | P | Mat JACKSON | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 46.685 | 1:54.420 |
| 12 | P | Tom BOARDMAN | Tom Boardman Racing | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | 1:01.484 | 1:55.685 |
| 13 | P | Rick KRAEMER | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:02.428 | 1:55.869 |
| 14 | P | Richard MEINS | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 15 | 1:15.301 | 1:57.006 |
| 15 | Phil BENNETT | Egg Sport | Vauxhall Astra Coupé | 15 | 1:27.327 | 1:48.886 | |
| 16 | P | Annie TEMPLETON | Tech-Speed Motorsport | Peugeot 306 GTi | 15 | + 1 LAP | 1:58.552 |
| R | Dan EAVES | Peugeot Sport UK | Peugeot 406 Coupé | 24 | DNF | 1:49.480 | |
| R | P | Gareth HOWELL | GR Motorsport | Ford Focus | 21 | DNF | 1:54.437 |
| R | P | Tom BOARDMAN | Tom Boardman Racing | Peugeot 306 GTi | 16 | DNF | 1:55.786 |
| R | Steve SOPER | Peugeot Sport UK | Peugeot 406 Coupé | 11 | DNF | 1:49.069 | |
| R | P | Toni RUOKONEN | Cranfield Automotive Management | Mitsubishi Carisma | 8 | DNF | 1:56.646 |
| R | P | Paul O’NEILL | Tech-Speed Motorsport | Peugeot 306 GTi | 2 | DNF | 1:56.200 |
| R | Kurt LUBY | ABG Motorsport | Lexus IS200 | 0 | DNF | N/A | |
| NS | P | Rob COLLARD | Collard Racing | Renault Clio | – | DNS | N/A |
Touring Car Driver’s Championship Standings After Round 9 & 10 – Leaders
| Driver | Points |
| Muller | 143 |
| Plato | 116 |
| Thompson | 111 |
| Bennett | 79 |
Touring Car Team Championship Standings After Round 9 & 10 – Leaders
| Team | Points |
| Vauxhall Motorsport | 106 |
| Team Egg Sport | 93 |
| Peugeot Sport UK | 20 |
| ABG Motorsport | 18 |
Production Car Driver’s Championship Standings After Round 9 & 10 – Leaders
| Driver | Points |
| Kaye | 108 |
| Harrison | 107 |
| Moen | 78 |
| Jackson | 59 |
| Howell | 56 |
Production Car Team Championship Standings After Round 9 & 10 – Leaders
| Team | Points |
| Team Kaliber Sport with Barwell | 77 |
| GR Motorsport | 75 |
| HTML | 59 |
| GA Janspeed | 32 |