RALLY NEWS NO.1                       Saturday evening….Dromhall Hotel
Seven times Circuit of Ireland winner Jimmy McRae finished his reconnaissance for this Killarney Historic Rally and commented "The stages down here will never lose their magic, some of the best rally roads in the world!" Jimmy is listed at 87 in the programme, and indeed will keep that number, but he will run with the first few cars on the road. Jimmy was originally to drive a 'classic' car, but has switched to a historic Porsche 911 from the Tuthill stable, with Pauline Gullick co-driving. Jimmy's Porsche is backed by Remax of Killarney & Kenmare.
The Historic category does take priority, followed by the 'Post Historics', and then the 'Classics'. Interestingly, we have a couple of very special drivers preceding the rally through the stages: Paddy Hopkirk in a new Mini Cooper and Billy Coleman in a classic Renault Alpine.
Dessie Nutt, recently crowned  British Historic Rally Champion once again, is at 2 in his Porsche 911. Both Jimmy McRae and Dessie feel that they have a point to prove here. Jimmy's Porsche broke down last year within sight of the finish, while Dessie's 911 was slowed with mechanical woes. Still, Castlerock doctor Dessie has won it 5 times! The man who came out on top 12 months ago, Steve Perez, has been forced to withdraw.
Frank Cunningham runs at 3 in his Mini Cooper S. John Farrell is at 4 in his Escort RS2000 and is the first post-historic runner. Behind Navan man Farrell, a former post-historic winner, is the Red Mills Escort of father and son crew Joe and Gareth Connolly at 5. Steve Smith, with Phil Spurge reading the notes, is at 6 in a Perez Porsche 911.  Mike Doody is at 7 in his Mini. Martin Ward at 8 in his venerable Manta, then current Irish Historic Champion, the evergreen Mervyn Johnston, is at 9 in his Mini and Philip Wylie rounds off the top 10 in his MGB.
That is just a taster of the Historic and Post-Historic field. The Classic section is numbered from 85 back, with John Moynihan heading the field. Millstreet man John drives the same Escort that carried him to Classic victory last year, this time he has Victor Fields co-driving. The are many 'quick' men behind Moynihan, drivers such Gambia based Manxman Martin Freestone, James Coleman, Belfast's Kieran O'Neill in his Kadett, Pat Donegan, Billy Coleman Award winner Dessie Keenan, Welsh Area Rally Spares boss Gareth Lloyd, and a whole lot more. A dark horse could be Lloyd Hutchinson; seeded at 106, the Wicklow man drives a 16 valve engined Mini!
Just some changes to entry include David Moynihan sitting in with Kieran O'Neill; James Sutherland is non-starting, Swedish lady Maria Andersson is co-driving for George Tracey. Diarmuid Lynch, normally seen co-driving for Tom Randles, has hired a 1600 Escort and is doing the driving this time, co-driven by Dan Keane. Once again the rally has a vastly oversubscribed entry, and the few gaps left by withdrawals have quickly been filled by reserves, more details later…..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net