Irish Notes 14th March 2018

The thick dust which at times enveloped the special stages of last weekend’s Rally Mexico may have subsided, but the memories of a fantastic and dramatic rally will live on for quite a while. Even when the rally was over, supposedly done and dusted, there was controversy when winner Ogier was penalised 10s, and had this added to his Power Stage time, his M-Sport Ford Fiesta supposedly having clattered into a water barrier chicane. This penalty meant that the Frenchman lost his WRC bonus points. Many observers seemed to feel that this penalty action was a little harsh, to say the least. Latvala, and almost certainly other drivers also, hit the same chicane and were un-penalised. Ogier did request clarification from the COC before the start of the stage about what would happen if he nudged the chicane and this perhaps drew some attention to his actions. Doesn’t take away though from the brilliance of Ogier’s drive, particularly the manner in which he overcame the massive disadvantage of his road position, clearing the loose gravel.

The only driver to really match his brilliance was a certain other Frenchman, also called Sebastien, but with the surname Loeb. Following his three year absence from the WRC, Loeb switched on to the latest version Citroen and moved into what appeared to be an unassailable lead. A puncture however wrecked the dream, as well as his Michelin tyre. Loeb’s wheel ran over a stone which seemed to have been pulled out from an earlier car and which was ‘right on the line’. In typical, cool Loeb style, he stopped the car and changed the offending wheel, so avoiding further damage. He concentrated then on enjoying the car and the stages in vintage Loeb relaxed manner, knowing that he couldn’t really improve on his 5th place.

A rejuvenated Dani Sordo took 2nd place in his Hyundai and Kris Meeke 3rd. Kris could so easily have repeated last year’s Mexico win, but several small mistakes took the edge of some brilliant stage times. Mikkelsen in 4th and Neuville in 6th had irritating car problems during the event, but both men are in the top three in the WRC points, behind the unstoppable rally force of Ogier.

Meanwhile closer to home, Derek McGarrity took a very clear victory on the Bishopscourt opener to this season’s McGrady Insurance NI Stage Championship. Glengormley man McGarrity, with Paddy Robinson co-driving in Derek’s fabulous Subaru Impreza S14, was the class act from an entry of over seventy crews. Derek was fastest by far on all the six waterlogged stages. At the finish, he was modest when he said, “We just kept our head, made the right tyre choice and stayed out of trouble. Mind you, it wasn’t easy we were spinning wheels in 5th and 6th gear. I must say, this is a good car – I reckon it is by far the best one for sale anywhere. Now I want to do some suspension work to it, and then have a go at the Easter Stages. How could I not, several of the stages are on my door step!”

Interestingly, the Easter Stages isn’t exactly at Easter, but the weekend after, on the 6th and 7th of April. The event, which isn’t a round of the NI Championship, but is a counter in the Tarmac Championship, will consist of 10 special stages in Co. Antrim, spread over the Friday and Saturday.

Returning to the Ballynahinch Club’s Bishopscourt Rally, Alan Carmichael & Ivor Lamont, in a McGeehan Mini WRC, were 2nd and Connor McCloskey/John Rowan 3rd in their Fiesta R5. Woodland Furniture man Connor told us that his father Brian is going into his second youth phase and is going to drive the R5 at a rally in Anglesey next weekend! Peadar Hurson was in the early hunt at Bishopscourt, but he spun his Subaru and departed the fray on only the 2nd stage. Kenny McKinstry was off the pace throughout the day, and was mostly lying around the back of the top ten but then his Subaru developed a fierce engine noise braking into a chicane on the final stage and Kenny wisely switched the car off. He described the noise as ‘weird’ and said the engine will have to come out of the car, which of course for the McKinstry boys is not a problem. Kenny admitted, “It was no big deal pulling out of the rally anyway, I was doing nothing. It was a day’s swimming really – standing water, aquaplaning at 100 mph, dangerous!

Highest placed 2wd at Bishopscourt was Barry Morris/Declan Campbell in their Escort, James Laverty/Paul Hughes won GpN with their Subaru and Kyle White/Sean Topping won Class 4 in their Peugeot 208. Andrew Bushe blew the cobwebs off his Chevette HSR to win the historic category class.

Meanwhile the opening round of the Triton Showers National series took place on Achill Island, and former Champion Declan Boyle scored a start to finish win. Declan was guided on this occasion by James O’Reilly, a good start to the new partnership. Even an electrical gremlin with his Fiesta WRC on the way to the first stage failed to knock Boyle off course. Josh Moffett re-acquainted himself with his Fiesta WRC for this one and was 2nd throughout, with Desi Henry giving his new Fiesta R5 a decent debut by taking 3rd. Both Donagh Kelly and Roy White were expected to be in the winning frame, but both finished down the order following delays.

Donagh Kelly will be hoping for better fortune this weekend when he heads his Fiesta WRC to Clonakilty for the West Cork Rally. Once again this classic rally has attracted a massive entry, as well as a quality one. Included under that quality tag is former multiple Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly, who will be driving the latest version of Hyundai’s R5. Should be a lot of interest in that.

There is something about the West Cork Rally, possibly the quality of the stages, or perhaps the welcoming ambience of that corner of the country, that brings drivers back year in and out. It also helps of course, being the opening round of the main Tarmac Championship, as well as the Southern 4.

The top ten seeds, headed by four times winner Donagh Kelly, will feature many of the fastest drivers in the country.

Clerk of the Course Greg McCarthy has laid out a stunning series of stages for this two day event which should provide a great test as well as a lot of enjoyment for the drivers. The roads vary from fast coastline terrain to narrow demanding lane type roads, lots of variety, real ‘rally stuff’.

We will be running our RallyNews service on the event, this time in a digital version, which should make for some proper information as well as good reading!

Brian, Liz & Michael Patterson.