|
|
Irish Notes
by Brian & Liz Patterson |
|
Mouth-wateringly stupendous hardly does descriptive justice to the quality of Irish rallying on offer over the coming two weeks, between the Triton Showers Championship Midland Moto Stages and the European Championship Circuit of Ireland. The quality, quantity and variety of the entries on the two rallies is superb.
Meanwhile looking back to last weekend`s Donegal Forestry Rally, round 2 of the Valvoline series, all thoughts of January`s postponement due to the snowy conditions were put to one side as the sun shone over Lough Derg and the 49 starters had a really good day in the woods. Well, most of them – there were a few retirements!
Waterford`s Andrew Purcell, driving in his self prepared Lancer, took a well-deserved win on this tough but enjoyable Donegal Forestry event. Andrew was co-driven by Liam Brennan, who also co-drove when they won the Fivemiletown Rally earlier this season. Josh Moffett was to drive his `forestry` Lancer on this one, but the non-delivery of some parts meant a last minute switch to his GpN example. It took Josh a few stages to settle, but with Jason McKenna on the notes he came through strongly to take 2nd spot. Former Champion Mick O`Brien, co-driven again by James O`Brien in his Focus WRC, led initially but dropped a few seconds to finish 3rd. The Focus crew is still leading the Valvoline series having won the opening round.
2015 Donegal Forestry Winners, Andrew Purcell & Laim Brennan. © Patrick Regan MSphotos |
Mick O`Brien moved into the lead on the opening 9.9km Lough Fad stage, by 0.6s from Desi Henry, with Andrew Purcell a further 2s back. Stages 2 and 3 Tievetooey and Crocknacunny were only yards apart and their combined length was over 16km. Desi Henry, co-driven by Liam Moynihan, was on a charge but their Impreza WRC showed overheating signs and he pulled the car in to save the engine. Enda McNulty/Paul Sheridan had been 5th after the opening stage, and their Impreza also cried enough in stage 3 because of overheating.
Andrew Purcell set fastest times through stages 2 & 3 to move into a 5s lead at service, from Mick O`Brien. Josh Moffett was 3rd, Ger Lucey 4th and Niall Henry 5th, all in Lancers. Mickey Conlon had a good run and held 6th and best 2WD. Young Kevin Eves had been best of the Juniors and was 11th o/a after the opening stage, but his Peugeot 208 slithered into a stage 2 ditch and stopped, allowing Patrick O`Brien in his Citroen into the Junior lead.
On stage 4, a repeat of stage 1, Purcell set another fastest time, by just a fraction from Josh Moffett. Mick O`Brien was 8s down on Purcell and still held 2nd place but was looking over his shoulder at the charging Josh Moffett. O`Brien had made a push in stage 4 but out-braked himself over a crest and his Focus clattered over some rocks. This took the wind out of his sails and also caused a slow puncture.
In stage 5 O`Brien dropped a few more seconds. Josh Moffett surged into 2nd place with a fastest time. Purcell had relaxed just a little too much and his lead was cut to 10s going into the final stage. Although Moffett was fastest again, Purcell won by 7s from Josh, with O`Brien 3rd and Niall Henry 4th. Ger Lucey in his Lancer was battling for 4th but his Lancer retired when a shaft broke on a final stage hairpin.
Despite being pushed hard by David Crossen in a similar Escort, Mickey Conlon took the 2wd honours and was a fine 5th o/a, a repeat of his performance on the opening forestry round in Carrick on Suir. Mickey described it as a `good battle` with Crossen. Mickey also recounted both a spin and bending a wheel on a rock through the afternoon stages. For his part Crossen, who drew level with Conlon on the penultimate stage, but then had some gear selection difficulties and lost 20s on the final stage to finish 6th. Patrick O`Brien/Aine McGuigan were well on the pace during the day and finished 11th in their Citroen C2R2Max to win the Junior Category.
Top Ten:-
1st Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan (Lancer) 35.39.0
2nd Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Lancer N) 35.46.1
3rd Mick O`Brien/James O`Brien (Focus WRC) 35.56.5
4th Niall Henry/John Rowan (Lancer) 37.14.3
5th Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort) 38.09.2
6th David Crossen/Damien Fleming (Escort) 38.31.8
7th Cathal McCourt/Conor McCourt (Lancer) 38.36.9
8th Hugh McQuaid/Enda Gerarty (Escort) 38.57.0
9th John Gordon/Thomas Wedlock (Escort) 38.58.2
10th Damien McGauran/Michaela McGinn (Corolla) 39.18.3
Class Winners: CL2 Stuart Rankin/Kevin Doherty (Peugeot 206): CL4 Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Lancer N): CL7 Mick O`Brien/James O`Brien (Focus WRC): CL9 Emmet Cronin/Kieran Purcell (Escort): CL10 Mike Garahy/Sean Moynihan (Escort): CL12 Hugh McQuaid/Enda Garety (Escort): CL13 Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort): CL16 Patrick O`Brien/Aine McGuigan (Citroen C2R2Max): CL20 Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan (Lancer).
This weekend coming it is Paddy McVeigh in his Impreza WRC 12b who is listed as No.1 seed on the Midland. However, following his accident on the Ballina rally it is unlikely that Paddy`s Subaru will make the Abbey Hotel Roscommon start. Otherwise it is a bulging entry list which sports more than a dozen world rally cars at the top end. Indeed Roy White`s MGS2000 is the only non-WRC machine in the top ten. First round winner Donagh Kelly, with Kevin Flanagan on the notes will carry No.2 on his Focus WRC and start first on the road. Current Champion Declan Boyle is at 3 and current points leader Garry Jennings is at 4. Former multiple National Champion Niall Maguire is at 5 and former National GpN Champion Kevin Kelleher rounds off the top half dozen. Kevin Barrett, Peadar Hurson, Roy White and Steve Wood make up the top ten.
Outside of that there are more WRC crews, such as John Stone in his Fabia WRC and Alan Ring in the Melvyn Evans Impreza WRC, as well as a brilliant array of GpN and 2wd machinery. This rally is oozing quality. The stages are short and fast, so it should be one cracker of a competitive rally.
Looking further forward, the Circuit of Ireland International has a brilliant entry headed by Craig Breen in a Peugeot 208 T16, with four time Polish Rally Champion Kajetanowicz at 2 in a Fiesta R5 and Frenchman Robert Consani at 3 in his Citroen DS3R5. Then it is the Russian driver Lukanyuk in a Fiesta R5, followed by Alastair Fisher in a Dom Buckley Fiesta R5 and Robert Barrable, a close 3rd last year, at No.6 this time and also in a hired Fiesta R5. Sam Moffett is at 7 in his Fiesta RRC and his brother Josh is at 12 in his similar Ford. This is an extremely high quality entry, with drivers from twenty Nationalities competing, but the two Moffett brothers from Monaghan, in these cars, could make a very big impression on the leaderboard over Good Friday and Easter Saturday.
There is a great chance for Irish drivers to feature as well in the European Junior Championship section – Calvin Beattie and Kevin Eves, Fiesta and Peugeot respectively, spring to mind. There are several more young `home` drivers competing who are not registered for the European series, but all the drivers will be timed over exactly the same stages, so comparisons will be straightforward.
The National Circuit also covers the same stages, so it will be easy to see for example how fast the World Rally Cars of drivers such as Declan Boyle, Derek McGarrity, Kenny McKinstry, Paddy McVeigh and Alan Carmichael (Mini WRC) are going. Another car which will be interesting to see how it performs is the new Tuthill prepared Porsche 911 R-GT in the hands of Robert Woodside. It will certainly be exciting to see this car in the midst of all the new breed of R5 and R2 rally cars.
There are many fascinating facets to the Circuit, and through it all shines the feeling of a massive rejuvenation in the sport, and the fact that there are many good drivers left on the reserve list. As well as being a counter in the European Championship, the rally is a round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Tarmac Championship, including the Historics, as well as the McGrady NI Championship, so we can expect tooth and nail battles throughout the 140 strong entry.
Some further stories:
A new Mitsubishi R5 debuted as a course car on a rally in Holland last weekend and performed impressively. The Mpart developed Mitsubishi is due to run on this Saturday`s Rally North Wales, to be driven by Martin Bergland.
On 25th April the Maiden City Club is running their Lark in the Park Rally. Well actually, St Columbs Park is in the process of being dug up and revamped, so this year the rally will consist of decent length special stage in Donegal, the stage to be run three times. Gerry O`Doherty is the director of the club and he thanked Donegal MC, Motor Sport Ireland and the MSA for their co-operation in allowing the event to take place in this format. Declan McCay is the C of C and entry details can be obtained at www.maidencitymotorclub.com. The name of the rally is being modified to `Lark in the Park/Maiden City Stages Rally`.
The Aldershot Rally for Heroes, which was to have taken place on 10th/11th April, has been postponed, because not enough entries have been received to make it viable.
The Donegal International Rally announced earlier this week that is to be sponsored by Joule, a manufacturer of efficient hot water cylinders and solar heating systems. C of C Eamon McGee confirmed that the Joule management has agreed a major three year deal and the 19/21st June event, which brings thousands of visitors to Donegal to kick off the tourist season, will be known as the `Joule Donegal International Rally`.
Motorsport Ireland has nominated Chris Armstrong from Virginia as the Young Rally Driver for January/February, makes him eligible for the Billy Coleman Award. Escort driver Chris won the Midland Rally this time last year, and also won the GSMC Rally in the autumn and his class on the Birr Rally a few weeks ago.
The Tralee based Circuit of Kerry Rally (April 19th) is on opt-out year from the National Championship. This has given new CoC Tom Barrett an opportunity to run a streamlined event, just two stages repeated three times, but brilliant classic stages which should give the drivers a fabulous day`s rallying. The HQ is again in the highly hospitable Fels Point Hotel, with the service area right beside the hotel.
Harking back to the West Cork Rally, Peter Cummins lost a whack of his Darrian`s rear bodywork on stage 5, and dearly wishes to get it back so that he can rebuild the car. Peter can be contacted at 00 353 86 3545732.
Paul Browne, CoC of the next round of the Valvoline Forest Championship, the 12th April Moonraker Rally, has put together a brilliant series of stages near Ballyvourney. Rarely in Irish rallying does the opportunity arise to drive such quality forest roads.
Sadly, Paul and his family were hit with the most awful tragedy earlier this week as his father Richard died suddenly in accidental circumstances. We offer our very deepest condolences to all the Browne family.
|
|
|
