|
RALLY
NEWS NO.1
Clarinbridge-Saturday
morning…v.early..
Today's West 2002 International
Rally sets the scene for a
fitting climax to this season's
Tarmac Rally Championship.
Andrew Nesbitt may have already
taken the overall title, but
there is still a lot in the
series to be decided. On top of
that, this rally has a long and
proud history. Any of the lead
drivers would be delighted to
see their name added to the
list of winners. Clerk of the
Course Dennis Murphy has
planned a challenging and
radical route, meaning a long
tough day for the drivers,
night stages adding a different
dimension.
Austin MacHale leads the cars
away, the Dublin man, 6 times a
Galway winner, showing
resurgence in form now that his
Toyota Corolla WRC has had
revised suspension and power
delivery. There is not really
an out and out favourite for
the rally. Austin faces a big
race from Kenny McKinstry and
Peadar Hurson in particular.
Eugene Donnelly, out for the
first time in a Subaru WRC,
could be a real dark horse.
Michael Barrable and Tim
McNulty were listed in the
original top ten, but they
couldn't make it here. Maurice
Gass is neatly tucked in there
in the top ten, has gone well
all season, never too far away,
and is lying 3rd in the Tarmac
Championship, but only a few
points ahead of Trevor Cathers
and Roy White in their
respective GpN Lancers. These
two promise a major battle for
GpN honours, with Seamus
Leonard more than keen to upset
the GpN applecart in his
Subaru. Such has been the pace
of GpN this year on the Tarmac
that the 'showroom' division
should feature pretty high
overall.
At last night's scrutineering
session, Austin MacHale
commented, "The car's way
better. We've done a bit of
testing in Connemara,
fine-tuning the set up on the
suspension and differentials;
it's as good as we can get it.
I expect the stages will be
muddy and slippy, but I'm
looking forward to it"
Peadar Hurson surveyed his D
& S Roe backed Celica and
said, "To tell you the
truth I'm a bit apprehensive,
it's a big car for these roads,
its inclined to push the nose,
unforgiving." Eugene
Donnelly reported "I
tested the Subaru on Monday and
I haven't stopped smiling
since" Kenny McKinstry
said to his co-driver Sean
Mullally "We are here to
have some fun, enjoy
ourselves" (That doesn't
mean of course that Kenny won't
be trying to win!)
In GpN it would be impossible
to give odds on who will come
out on top. Roy White
commented, "Whoever makes
the least mistakes will win -
difficult stages" Anthony
O'Halloran has switched to a
GpN Lancer this weekend, Stuart
Darcy is coming on in leaps and
bounds in his Lancer, Gerry
McVeigh has hired Richard
Hogg's Lancer, and he could go
well. Paul Dempsey has hired a
Bill Gwynne gpN Subaru.
Yet another dimension to the
rally is that it is the final
counter in the inaugural Ford
Ireland Focus Championship,
with 6 cars starting, and of
course there are all the class
battles. Late entries include
Kevin Barrett in his Subaru WRC,
running with 133 on the car but
starting with the lead cars.
Seamus Heron has hired Eugene
Donnelly's Celica, but his
testing was cut short by a
broken driveshaft. Tom Holton's
Celica has had a new turbo
fitted, and Andrew Cullen is
co-driving - not Andrew
Frenchlane as stated in the
programme. More news later.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
|
