RALLY NEWS NO.1                     Saturday/Killarney/7pm

As the drivers prepare for this Killarney Historic Stages Rally they can be forgiven as they walk out of Rally HQ, the Dromhall Hotel, for looking over their left shoulders, South West towards Molls Gap between the Derrygariff and Boughil Mountains. Its up there they'll be heading for the first of the nine special stages early on Sunday morning. It's a daunting road at the best of times, twisty, bumpy in places, but still fast. Given the weather of the last few days, early morning frost and dense fog patches, it's little wonder the drivers' eyes wander involuntarily in that direction. That 11.21-mile stretch of road could be the key to winning or losing this very special rally. From Molls the drivers face the equally daunting Ballaghbeama stage, another tight mountain pass, heading towards the Macgillycuddy's Reeks mountains. From the heart-stopping jumps and bumps of Ballaghbeama it is on to the glorious sweeping road alongside Caragh Lake.  The ultra fast roads through Kilgobnet are next. Then they do it all over again before climaxing with a darkness stage near Kilcummin and the finish ramp at Randles Brothers Garage. (Dave Randles is driving his Nissan as course car). That's just a taster of what lies ahead for the 151 crews on this Killarney Historic event.

Five times winner Dessie Nutt heads the cars away, the Castlerock doctor and his Porsche 911 the performance benchmark here. Behind him is John Keatley at 2 and current British Historic Champion Steve Perez at 3, both also driving Porsche 911's. At 4 is Drexel Gillespie in his freshly re-shelled Lotus Cortina, and then at 5 former Irish Historic Champion Philip Wylie in his MGB. The last time Philip was out in the MG a wheel fell off - that was over the Epynt ranges - hardly a confidence booster approaching these tough Kerry roads.

At 6 is the first of the Post Historic runners - former Gp2 British Rally Champion Martin Freestone, with John Farrell in his similar Mk1 Escort right behind at 7.  Significantly Classic Ford magazine has sent their man Marc Stretton to report on the Escort action. No 8 is a non-starter, so Adrian Kermode at 9 in his Porsche and Ray Cunningham in his Mini Cooper round off the top ten. The variety of cars in the Historic & Post Historic section of the rally is terrific. Apart from the Porsches, Escorts and Mini Coopers mentioned above, we have everything from Stephen Hall's Triumph TR4 to Anglias, to the ex Rosemary Smith 'works' Hillman Imp, one of the oldest cars in the rally, plus Avengers, old Volvos and Edward Flahavan's 1964 Lancia Fulvia. 

As well as the Historic section, there is a superb line-up of 'Classic' cars - pre '80's machines, many with modern bits. John Moynihan, running at 85, is the highest Classic seed in his Escort, and will face some very tough opposition indeed. Just a few of those opponents include five times Tarmac Champion Jimmy McRae in one of Steve Perez' Porsches, Kieran O'Neill in his rejuvenated Opel Kadett, and Escort runners Tom Randles, Gareth Lloyd, Peter Kelly, James O'Sullivan and Douglas Richardson. Late news coming in is that Tom Randles, a real favourite for the Classics, is in trouble with a blown head gasket on his Escort.  Mike O'Leary/Mike Moriarty are back at No.113, driving John Kearney's Escort Mk2.  Interestingly, Jimmy McRae would normally be considered the favourite for the Classics, but the Scotsman is struggling to find suitable tyres for his massively powerful rear wheel drive 3 litre Porsche.

The above is just a small taster of the quality of this Killarney event. Such is the growing interest in this type of rallying that there has been an Irish Historic & Classic Car Association formed, contact John O'Toole (086 8285957). Clerk of the Course of the rally is Tim Clifford and as well as devoting so much time to the rally, he supports the Valentia Lifeboat, and the rally is making a special effort to raise funds for the RNLI, and your support would be much appreciated. There is a RNLI collection point at the rally office.
Changes to entry include Jacques Castelein non-starting, as well as cars 25, 27, 54 & 63. In the classic section James Cullen and Seamus Murphy are another two non-starters. It is an ill wind of course, and many of the reserves will now get a run. Co-driver changes include Paul Nagle sitting in with John Moynihan, Des Moran with Sean Tracey in the BMW Alpina. Ian Fisher is with Geraint Thomas in an Avenger. Anders Howard with Philip Atkinson, also in an Avenger. Andrew Allen with Les Allfrey in the Mni Cooper. Joe & Gareth Connelly are at No.23 in the ex Douglas Richardson Escort, and are hoping for a re-seed. More news after stage 1 Molls Gap…..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON     www.rallynews.net