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RALLY NEWS NO.1
Westport...Sunday 10.30am
Its been a day or two since there has been any rallying around Westport and
the Partry Mountains - and its great to be back!. Today's Castlecourt Hotel
backed event may be only a 'clubmans' event, but none the worse for that. The
atmosphere, the feel, the buzz is all here, with a great line up of drivers
and a maximum 130 car entry, plus reserves. Clerk of the Course Sean McHugh
has laid on a challenging route for today, and whoever comes out on top will
surely have earned the kudos.
Eugene Ferry leads the cars away, the former Donegal man, now based about
Magherafelt, happy with the preparation of the car and looking forward to the
rally. Eugene told us last night, "The car's good. We are trying out a
new type of gearbox, a Glebe Transmissions unit - it's a five speed dog box,
much the same as the Quaife, but we think a bit better" When asked did
he feel any pressure about running first on the road, Eugene just laughed,
"Pressure? When you have people like Philip Shaw breathing down your
neck you get used to pressure - but remember, to finish first, first you have
to finish!" Behind Eugene we have Pat Higgins - he showed when winning
Birr this time last year that he is no slouch behind the wheel.
Next up is Mervyn Wedlock, winner of the Ardee Rally and almost certainly
going to be a front runner here. Cavan man Mervyn has had his G4 Escort
overhauled from stem to stern. At No5 is Letterkenny's Paul Gallagher, his
Toyota Corolla breaking the run of Escorts. Paul is a recognised fast man,
and although running class 11 as against the class 13 cars in front, he
shouldn't be a mile away. There are sveral other class 11 cars in the top
twenty, notably Rodney Wilton & James Cassidy. Wilton is a rapidly
improving young driver, while Cassidy is quick, especially in slippy
conditions.
Looking at the top ten again, Gordon Rogers at 6 has a really good car, used
to be fast but ragged, now is just fast! Gerry Smyth at 7 is a very sound
driver and should turn in a solid performance. He is the highest seeded class
12 driver. Tipperary man Gordon Percy, with the experienced Joe Shinnors on
the safety notes, is a long way from home here but should still go well.
Looking on down the list, young Conor Curley at 11 has had his Escort
completely revamped by Mickey Doyle and John Donnelly - all steel 16 valve
engine, dog box, the lot.
There are plenty of dark horses outside the top seeds - Tom Taffe for example
is seeded back at 27 in his Honda, Derek Jobb has hired his Nissan back and
is at 25. Aaron McHale is at 24. Shaun Gallagher, Stuart D'Arcy, Peter
Rogers appear to be non-starters.
OO duties today will be undertaken by Killybegs's man Martin Howley in his
Subaru and Rory O'Connor in his Escort WRC. Rory has his 16 year old daughter
Jane co-driving on her first rally. 003 is the ex Rory Galligan Peugeot 106,
now converted to RHD, driven by one of Rory's mechanics Dara Hand and
co-driven by Tom Walsh's daughter Claire. More news after the first
stage...BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
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