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RALLY NEWS NO.1
Clonakilty-Friday
evening… "Its great to back in West Cork!" is the universal feeling of the visiting rally crews as the hours ticked away to the start of the rally. The popularity of the event can be judged by the number of entries. Clerk of the Course Brian O'Connell and his hard working Cork Motor Club team have had to turn away nearly as many as have been accepted, and 151 cars will start the main rally, plus historics to run later. John Price will lead the cars away from the Model Village start ramp, the Hereford man as enthusiastic and as keen today as he was on first visit almost twenty years ago. John has won the rally a couple of tomes, and came close on a few occasions as well, hence his No.1 tag. He has a new Metro 6R4. On its inaugural outing last weekend at Epynt John scored a convincing win. He commented before the start here, "I'm really looking forward to this. I still have a bit to learn about the new car. Quite a bit of the route is new to me as well. I suppose, because we haven't been to Ireland for a while, I find the roads bumpier than I'm used to now, but the stages are very good." Starting behind Price will be Melvyn Evans (No.3) in an Escort WRC (Derek McGarrity is listed at 2 but couldn't make it) and then next up is Pete Doughty in a McKinstry Subaru. Evans must have a great chance of a good result, while Doughty is just a little apprehensive - he has never driven a Subaru before, and hasn't been rallying for a while. Liam McCarthy at No4 provides one of the great question marks of the rally - Liam has the speed and the knowledge of the roads here to do the business, but he is driving a newly acquired Corolla WRC, a hugely complex car. He is in at the deep end really. Jim Harrison at 6 is driving McKinstry's latest lhd Impreza WRC, and judging by his speed in Mayo last weekend he won't be a mile away either. At 7 is Tony Davies in a Metro 6R4. Tony is a very determined driver and it will be interesting to see his stage times, although he did put the Metro off the road last Sunday at Epynt. Tommy Graham at 8 has a change of co-driver, Sean Mullally now sitting in. Bob Fowden, Johnny O'Sullivan and Ollie O'Donovan round off the top ten. Ollie, in his ex Colin McRae Legacy runs with No.12. Frank O'Mahony was to be at 11, but decided earlier in the week to withdraw. Frank will however be on the rally helping his daughter Emily, who is running at 148 in her Ford Ka. Further non-starters besides McGarrity & O'Mahony include Guy Woodcock (No 26), Lee Perry (No 71) and Ted O'Riordan (No 83). Drivers coming in from the reserves include John Shanahan in his Civic, Donal O'Mahony, John Kehoe and several more. The historic section, running behind the main rally, is spearheaded by John Keatley in his Mk1 Escort, closely followed by Drexel Gillespie (Cortina) and then Paul Wignal in his Porsche. Con ward has withdrawn, due to a family bereavement. There are a multitude of new cars in the main rally, lots of angles, should be many stories! More news at Clonakilty service…BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON |
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ã 2002 www.rallynews.net (Patterson Agencies). All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Last update15/05/03 12:11:05
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