RALLY NEWS NO.1 Downings Bay Hotel/Saturday morning early..

Consensus of opinion amongst the top drivers is that Paddy Robinson and Gerry Burke have picked fabulous, classic stages, for this Donegal Harvest Rally. That is certainly reflected in the quality of the entry. There may be a few non-starters at the sharp end of the entry list, but there are plenty of top names and cars starting from outside the Downings Bay Hotel, and whoever wins will surely have earned their laurels.

Pirelli Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly is first on the road and this will be his first outing in the latest version of the Impreza WRC. Although he has made his Tarmac Championship name in the Corolla WRC, Eugene is no stranger to a Subaru, having scored his early international success in a group A example. He is adamant that today is strictly a learning curve, and with guest co-driver James Sharkey on the notes Eugene feels that discretion will be the order of the day. Peadar Hurson at No.2 on the other hand will be flat out for a win. Peadar has had a few big disappointments this season and will be trying to get one success on this year’s rally CV. Paul Harris at No.3 drives the same Corolla WRC that he used on the Donegal International and Paul must be a strong candidate for success on his home rally. Patrick Elliott at No.4 has really come good this season, scoring several National outright wins. Cavan man Patrick came within a whisker of winning the Dunlop championship. It was all serious stuff, whereas today’s rally will be a matter of enjoying the stages and going for a win.

Garry Jennings was to be at No.5 but his deal didn’t work out at the last moment. Amazingly this would appear to leave Rory Kennedy, the new British Rally Champion co-driver, at a loose end for the day. Interestingly, Rory and Garry were having dinner here in the hotel with David Coulthard’s mother and father who holiday here frequently. The link with Rory is Liam and Sean Reid of Reid’s Transport who were one of Mark Higgins’ sponsors on the Cork 20. Dom Buckley at No.6 drives a Gp A Impreza which in theory should be no match for the WRC machinery. However, Scottish Borders man Dom wouldn’t subscribe to that theory! Martin Doherty, Niall Maguire and Adrian McElvaney are at 7, 8 and 9 in their Impreza WRCs. Bunbeg man Hugh Martin Doherty rounds off the top 10 in his Focus WRC, and he has his car all revamped for his ‘home’ event.

Sean Devine was to be at 11, withdrew his entry, but is trying to get back in as the minutes tick away to the start. Sean Gallagher at 12 has been forced to pull out as his Impreza fuel tank is damaged. Next up then is James Cullen in the first of the group N cars. James has Michael Curran right behind him at 15 and young Michael will be trying to regain the form that saw him win group N on the Harvest 2 years ago. Kevin Barrett is at 16 in his fabulous Impreza WRC S11. Noel McCarrick was to be at 17 but is non starting so next up is Ivan Stewart at 18 in his Escort Cosworth. Number 19, Willie Fannin, is non starting and Gabriel Martin at 20 has Killian Duffy now co-driving.

Further non starters amongst the top entries include: Charlie Beatty (22): Brendan Kelly (23): Jack Sleator (26): Donagh Kelly (27): David McNulty (28): Paul Gallagher is another who had to pull out at the last minute when his Corolla engine was damaged.

Points of interest include Mark Alcorn switching to an Escort as his Corolla engine is not yet fixed. Brian Pat Doherty is seeded at 40 to celebrate his 40th birthday. Willie John Dolan has supplied a new ramp to the rally and as well as doing the event himself has his 2 sons Stephen and Richard also competing. Young Toni Kelly has Austin MacHale’s co driver Brian Murphy on the pace notes in her Honda Civic Type $. The Mayor of Letterkenny Ciaran Brogan is competing in his Escort at No.151. Shaun Lafferty is co driving for Gavin Harris at No.45 and they will be bidding for group N honours. The rally is the final round of the Hankook Border Championship. Brian Armstrong has won the title. Drivers fighting for runner up spot include: Russell Woods, Michael Conlan and Maurice Moffett. Aaron MacHale has made the trip from Dublin to timekeep. Kieran Graffin has switched from Skoda to a GpA Lancer. Stage 2/4 Kindrum is being shortened by 3km from the start in, because of a bereavement.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynew.net