Last weekend`s home rally action started with the Fivemiletown Spring rally, comprising of forest stages in the shadow of Glennod and Teiges Mountains, in the desolate though beautiful area stretching towards Monaghan. Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan in their Lancer were the start to finish winners, best of the 80 starters over the 8 special stages. Sleet and snow early in the day made the going difficult for the crews. Martin Cairns was the No.1 seed, but his Subaru developed a little noise in the engine at the start, and he elected not to proceed. This left Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan first on the road. Desi was on his first forest outing with his Subaru and he really struggled initially, saying, ``I`m not in the race at all, sweeping the road, struggling to keep her (the car) pointing the right road!`` In a much more positive frame of mind was Andrew Purcell, who was driving an Evo 9 after struggling for several seasons with an older Evo 6. Waterford man Andrew remarked at Fivemiletown service, ``I`m loving my new toy, but trying not to attack the hedges!`` Andrew was co-driven by Cork man Liam Brennan, who despite being heavily strapped up after hurting his back during the week, was still laughing and joking! Josh Moffett was expected to be the pace setter but his Lancer was side-lined in the 2nd stage when the engine ceased, or cut out. His brother Sam was a non-starter. Gareth Sayers was lying 2nd at the half-way point, and commented that he wasn`t going hard enough. Enda McNulty was 3rd and he reported on just how slippy it was, and admitted his Subaru had been off the road several times on the first four stages.

Young Jon Armstrong, fresh from his trip to the Latvian Rally where he was driving his R2 Fiesta, was driving a newly acquired Impreza N, and despite intercom difficulties, and Jon having to change his driving style for 4WD, was lying 4th. Paul Britton was 5th despite fuel pressure difficulties with his Lancer. Adrian Hetherington was 5th, and best of the Escorts, Adrian 11s ahead of Frank Kelly. Frank was driving Shane Cullen`s 2 litre Escort for the day, and said that it was a really nice car. However one sensed that Frank didn`t want to bounce his friend`s Escort off the scenery in his efforts to catch Hetherington! The latter did remark that the chicanes were very tight, and conditions were definitely slippy.

Through the afternoon stages Andrew Purcell strengthened his grip on the lead to take the victory by 30s from Desi Henry. The latter was a bit more settled through the afternoon stages and his position was helped by the retirement of Gareth Sayers, Enda McNulty and Jon Armstrong. All three put their cars in various ditches.

The weather in the afternoon was a bit kinder, but the stages were not, with rocks and ruts making the going difficult. Paul Britton overcame the fuel pressure problems with his Lancer, and with Niall Burns co-driving finished 5th. Adrian Hetherington was an impressive 3rd and `best Escort driver`. Frank Kelly retired the Shane Cullen Escort in stage 6 with an electrical problem. Frank did try wiring the fuel pump direct, but to no avail. He did say about the Escort, `A good hard hitting car, just needs a few adjustments and it will be a front runner`. Gareth Mimnagh in his older model Lancer came through well to take 4th and won GpN and Niall Henry, also in a Lancer, 6th. Adrian Heatherington and Paul Britton had their SS5 times adjusted after they stopped at the Gareth Sayers accident in which thankfully the crew were unhurt.

In overall terms, the spotlight was on the rally in relation to safety in all departments, particularly in keeping spectators and press away from dangerous areas. The organisers, the Omagh Motor Club seemed to do a very thorough job and certainly we did not hear of any `incidents`. Even the No.1 seed Martin Cairns and his partner Claire helped to marshal a stage when the decision was taken not to compete because of the noise in their Subaru engine. As a final note, Gary Nolan who took the top 2wd award dropped us a little note after the rally praising the organisers that read as follows: ``To be fair to Omagh MC, very well run rally, very little hanging around, really good tough stages. It may only be a clubman`s event but it`s always one of the toughest and hardest fought`.

Top Ten:-
1st Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan (Lancer) 30.08
2nd Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 30.38
4th Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 31.28
4th Gareth Mimnagh/Barry McCarney (Lancer) 31.10
5th Paul Britton/Niall Burns (Lancer N) 31.13
6th Niall Henry/John Rowan (Lancer) 31.38
7th Gerard McFall/Conor O`Loan (Lancer N) 31.47
8th Oran Donnelly/Paul Hughes (Escort) 31.54
9th Raymond Mason/Michael Johnston (Lancer N) 32.03
10th Marc Johnston/Colin Harkness (Lancer N) 32.19

Class Winners: Cl.1 James McGovern/Neil McGahey (Corolla GT): Cl.2 Gareth Mimnagh/Barry McCarney (Lancer N): Cl.3 Shane McGirr/Brian Hoy (Escort): Cl.4 Adam Bustard/Matthew McKenna (Fiesta R2): Cl.5 Hugh McQuaid/Enda Geraty (Escort) Cl.6: Oran Donnelly/Paul Hughes (Escort) Cl.7 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) Cl.8 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Impreza WRC) Cl.9 Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan (Lancer)

Meanwhile on the Sunday, Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan took their Focus WRC to a hard earned but clear victory on this difficult Birr Rally. This made it a memorable month for the pair, having won the Galway International Rally a few weeks ago. Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy in their Subaru made a slow start but were rewarded for a gritty fight back with 2nd place overall and the top bonus points for the fastest time on the inaugural Irish `Power Stage`.

A possible unforeseen consequence of the Power Stage 3 points bonus is that Garry now leads the series after this first round of the new Triton Showers National Rally Championship, and not the rally winner Donagh Kelly. Four times former National Champion Niall Maguire, with fellow Monaghan man Enda Sherry co-driving, was in the hunt from the word go and was 4th after stage 1, and eventually finished 3rd on the rally and on the Power Stage. Declan Boyle was 2nd on the Power Stage, 0.1s slower than Garry.

Weather conditions were bleak at the start of the rally, indeed were for most of the day. Defending National Champion Declan Boyle was slightly cautious on the opening stage, while Donagh Kelly attacked. When asked at the finish of that first 13.5km Tullacommon stage how he had got on, Donagh commented `Adventurous`!` Declan Boyle was fastest on stage 2, Kelly in stage 3, Boyle through stages 4, 5 & 6 to move into the lead. However Boyle`s Subaru sustained a puncture on stage 7 and he had to stop at an awkward place, losing a lot of time. That was game over for Boyle in terms of winning. He did earn 2 points on the Power Stage.

Garry Jennings` Subaru suffered misted up windows on the opening stage, probably as a result of heavy overnight rain, and Garry dropped over 20s. He battled back for the rest of the day, upping his pace all the way, culminating in that fastest final stage time. Many of the top drivers had a difficult day. Roy White, runner up in the National series last year, made a slow start as he MG S2000 windscreen de-mister did not work. He then retired anyway when the differential of the MG lost a tooth in SS3.

Frank Kelly`s Escort crashed off a straight piece of road in stage 3 when something broke in the axle/differential. Craig Breen had just taken the lead of the Modified section by a few seconds from Chris Armstrong, when Craig`s Escort was side-lined with a broken driveshaft in stage 7. Chris went on to win the category. John Stone`s Skoda WRC suffered a puncture on the opening stage and he was out of the picture for the rest of the day. Series sponsor Kevin Barrett made a miserable start with spins and overshoots in his Impreza WRC. Kevin recovered to finish 6th. His son Paul was well on the group N pace throughout and in a close finish was 3rd in Gp.N, just pipped by Brendan Cumiskey in his newer model GpN Impreza, while Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath came steaming through the order to take the category at the end.

Darren Gass, who had not competed on a rally for 7 months, was well on the pace until his hired McKinstry Impreza WRC suffered a drive breakage. Simon Chapman was heading for 7th o/a when his Proton Satria sustained a broken radiator at the final stage chicane. No such worries for Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan who made the most of the difficult weather and road conditions. They reckoned that perhaps they should have picked a more open pattern tyre for the middle loop of stages, but apart from that it was a copybook run.

One notable non-starter was Peadar Hurson. The reason was that his co-driver Damian Connolly was otherwise occupied as his wife Majella gave birth to a baby boy, Jack, just before the rally. Peadar could of course have taken a different co-driver, but he didn`t really want to do that. There will be plenty more rallies and the main thing is that baby and mother are doing well.

Birr Stages Top 10:
1st Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 1.00.12.7
2nd Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 1.00.51.4
3rd Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 1.01.16.8
4th Kevin Kelleher/Ray Fitzpatrick (Impreza WRC) 1.01.41.7
5th Steve Wood/Keith Moriarty (Impreza WRC) 1.03.08.7
6th Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.03.57.7
7th Chris Armstrong/James Fulton (Escort) 1.04.01.7
8th Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Lancer) 1.05.00.6
9th Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O`Kane (Impreza N) 1.05.11.9
10th Brian Brogan/Damian McGettigan (Escort) 1.05.15.3
11th Paul Barrett/Declan Tumilty (Impreza N) 1.05.41.3

Class Winners: Cl.1 Pauric McGee/Shane Barry (Civic) Cl.2 Richard Tannahill/Aileen Kelly (Peugeot) Cl.3 Kev & Jane Price (Civic) Cl.4 Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Lancer N) Cl.5 Graham &Tom Scallon (Lancer EvoX) Cl.7 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) Cl.9 Neil Phelan/Joe Hearns (Escort) Cl.10 Simon & Brendan Greene (Escort) Cl.11F Tommy Kelly/Ger Foley (Civic) Cl.11R Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden (Escort G3) Cl.12 Marty Toner/Sharon Clarke (Sunbeam) Cl.13 Chris Armstrong/James Fulton (Escort) Cl.14 Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Escort) Cl.15 Martin Donnelly/Brian Doherty (Corolla WRC) Cl.16 Juniors: Vincent McSweeney/Michael Kearney (Civic) Cl.20 Paul Manton/Paddy McCrudden (Impreza) Cl.18 Historic: Niall & Conor Keane (Sunbeam)

Looking forward to this weekend, the Valvoline MI Forestry Championship will get off to a belated start with the Carrick on Suir based Wm Loughman Rally. C of C Barry Duggan has laid out a compact route and judging by his pace last weekend Andrew Purcell may be hard to beat on this, virtually his home rally. What was to have been the opening round of the Championship in Donegal was of course snowed off, and has been rescheduled for March 21st. This does mean a clean sheet of paper though for points and for the crews it will be all to play for. Josh and Sam Moffett in their respective Lancers, Desi and Niall Henry, Subaru and Lancer, former Champion Mick O`Brien in his Focus WRC are just some of the top drivers who should be in the thick of the action through the six special stages. There is a question mark over Josh making the rally as his Lancer is not yet sorted following the problem in Fivemiletown. No doubt preparation supremo Gerry McGarrity will pull something out of the bag before the weekend. The Juniors will have an extra incentive as David Moynihan from EARS M/Sport Irl is putting up a prize of two gravel Kumho tyres for the best Junior crew on each round.

On the weekend after Carrick on Suir the spotlight shifts to Ballina for the Mayo Stages. CoC Pauric Roche has laid out a very interesting route, utilising some of the coastal roads towards Killalla and Ballycastle. It is many years since the rally was out that direction. It is very scenic, very exciting terrain, and there is even a brilliant wee café in Ballycastle village, Mary`s Cottage Kitchen, for a cup of tea during the recce! The rally is on an opt-out year from the Triton Showers National Championship, but Pauric reports that entries are coming in well, but of course he would like a whole lot more.

Mayo Stages is scheduled for March 8th, and then one week on it is West Cork time. The Clonakilty based event, even at this point, already has a total of 177 entries. 134s in the main field, plus 18 Historics and 25 juniors, so there is every indication that the rally could be oversubscribed. The event is round 2 of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Tarmac Championship. And current Champion Declan Boyle has his entry in, as has Jonny Greer (Citroen DS3R5). Daragh O`Riordan has committed to wheel his Fiesta WRC out, Donagh Kelly, who won the rally last year and is currently on the crest of a wave, plus the top contenders after Galway, are expected to be in Clonakilty for St Patrick`s weekend.

Even before this 2nd round of the Tarmac, details of the 3rd round, the Easter Circuit of Ireland, are being released. The rally is not just a round of the Tarmac, but of course is European Championship and also NI Championship, so it should be a gala event as well.

The actor Idris Elba will be competing, as part of a Discovery Channel programme, so between one thing and another there should be TV cameras just about everywhere! The rally is based in Belfast, at the Titanic Quarter, with a ceremonial start at Belfast City Hall (Thursday evening) plus spectator stages in Newtownards (Friday evening) and Lisburn (Saturday). Details were released this week at a conference in Lisburn Civic Centre and Kris Meeke and Craig Breen were amongst the guest drivers. Kris Meeke is an ambassador for the rally, while Craig Breen must be considered one of the favourites for victory on the European Championship section of the events.

Creating a lot of interest is the new David Greer Motorsport award of an R5 drive on this year`s WRC Wales Rally GB for the best R2 Junior Finisher (up to 28 year old) on this year`s McGrady Insurance NI Championship. The Ballynahinch Club`s Bishopscourt Stages (14th March) is round 2 of the NI Championship but the first round of the new Drive to Wales initiative. Just 2 of the drivers to commit include Killarney`s Rob Duggan as well as Junior 1000 Champion William Creighton.

Finally for now, following our note a couple of weeks ago that Michael Barry was the first man in Ireland to acquire an Escort TC, Joe Duggan from Glasgow has got in touch with us to point out that the first man in Ireland to win a rally in an Escort TC was John O`Gorman from Cork who won the Circuit of Monaghan in one on 1st March 1969.