Mondello likely to get BTCC date

BTCC boss Alan Gow visited the circuit - situated about 45 minutes from Dublin - on Monday, while Vauxhall star Yvan Muller sampled the track in his Triple Eight-run Vectra.

Gow is enthusiastic about the prospect of a race in Ireland, and hinted that there could be one as early as next year.

'There is certainly a desire to race here,' he said.

'We're looking at the calendar now and anything's possible.

'We just need to have a good look at it and work with the circuit to make sure everything is sorted out.'

Mondello Park is in the middle of extensive work to bring the track up to par for its FIA Thoroughbred Grand Prix round in August. That work would also benefit the BTCC.

Muller gave the track the thumbs up.

'Not bad,' he said. 'It's quite an interesting circuit - lots of corners and quite bumpy.

'There are a few safety issues, but nothing really important.

'There are three, maybe four points where it would be possible to overtake.

'It could be good. It's quite different to any other circuit on the calendar - there's no time to cool down.

Once you've finished one corner you're into another.'

Circuit boss Martin Birrane is also keen to capture a BTCC round.

'The TOCA package [the BTCC and its support series] is great,' he said, 'and would be ideal for our circuit. I think it would draw a big crowd.

'At the moment we are just talking about it. It's nothing definite, but we do want them to come.'