RALLY NEWS NO.1 Dooleys Hotel/Birr/Sunday 11.00

Once again this Dooleys Hotel Birr event has attracted a huge number of entries, with just 131 cars permitted to start. Last year's winner Pat Higgins will lead the cars away for what is a fast and smooth stage, repeated three times. This time 12 months ago Pat and his co-driving brother Liam scored a last minute and dramatic victory over David Percy. The two tied, Pat getting the nod on a tie break. Mervyn Wedlock, who is seeded at 3 today, led that event 12 months ago for the initial two stages, but a last stage spin saw the Cootehill man relegated to third. It is against that background that we start the rally today. One worry for Higgins today is that a rear brake caliper developed a leak before the start, which entailed some frantic work to get sorted.

Competition is expected to be fast and furious. The action certainly won't be restricted to those top three either. To a certain extent they are 'local' men. Jimmy Lambert makes the trip up from Clonmel and starts at 4. Jimmy and co-driver James Coleman won the Wexford single stage just before Christmas, so they should have the speed to upset the apple cart here. Tullow's John Nolan, starting at 5, should be right in the picture as well, while the fast flowing nature of the stage should suit Wexford man David James' car(No 6).

Making up the top ten are Monaghan's Mick McQuaid in his DOME Escort, Gordon Rogers who was 4th overall on the recent Westport Mayo Rally, Rodney Wilton and Gerry Smyth. Gerry was another top finisher in Mayo. He admitted there that he made a lacklustre start, but his last stage time clearly demonstrated that he should at least be challenging for class 12 honours here today, and quite possibly the overall podium as well.

Every single car in the top ten is a Ford Escort of some shape or other. We have to look down the entry list to No.11 to find a Peugeot to be driven by Ennis man John O'Sullivan. At 14 we have Mick Fogarty in a Corolla.Mick had been away from rallying for 5 years before making a one off outing here last year. He finished 6th overall, so he certainly hasn't lost the knack of driving quickly down a closed road. Mick has hired Paul Gallagher's Corolla which should be a real screamer. Other non Escorts in the top twenty include James and Ann Foley in their Civic and Garry Jennings in his Peugeot 106. Fermanagh youngster Garry, tipped to be a future rally star, is intent on getting as much mileage under his belt as he can while he awaits the start of the new '206' series. David Moynihan will co-drive today. Non starters today include-Car 15 Peter Rogers and 33 Patrick Dunne. There are several more from down the field which many of the reserves will get a run.

Finally for now, it is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Tony Pond. Tony won the West Cork Rally and was a front runner on the Donegal, Circuit and Ulster events several times. He was a former works driver with Talbot, Nissan, Vauxhall and of course Austin Rover in the Metro 6R4. He was a brilliant driver and a great guy to work with. Tony was just 56 and died from cancer of the pancreas last Thursday evening. He is surived by his wife Nikki and one son. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON