Irish Notes 19th October 2005.


Irish Rally legend Billy Coleman took the Secretary of State for NI Peter Hain through the first three forestry stages on Sunday of Rally Ireland. Coleman was driving Alan Nesbitt's GpN Impreza. The politician was there to lend weight to Ireland's bid to move into the WRC.

Emma McKinstry finished 24th on Rally Ireland in her Lancer, Emma, the sole lady driver in the rally, having survived a major moment on the final stage when he Lancer went on to its side and broke the driver side window.

Eamonn Boland concentrated on just getting his Focus WRC through the Rally Ireland forests stages with as little as damage as possible, doing just enough to hang on to 2nd place. The car is due to be shipped to Catalunya later this week, in good time for Eamonn to tackle the WRC counter.

Also making the Spanish trip is Paddy White in his Impreza WRC. Navan businessman White was competing on Rally Ireland in a hired GpN Lancer but a wheel flew off on the fast section before Dromahair in stage 6.

Although Boland did not enjoy the Rally Ireland forests one bit, many drivers did, and indeed thought the dual format, asphalt one day and forests the next, was good. The event organisers are due to make a decision later this week on the format of the next event, due in March 2006 and expected to get a full WRC appraisal, particularly with regard to forest/asphalt emphasis. 63 cars started the new Rally Ireland, and 43   finished.

Malcolm Wilson moved back to his roots somewhat last weekend, the M-Sport boss swapping his normal mode of transport these days, his Eurocopter, for a plain metallic grey Focus, as he traversed the Irish roads, checking son Matthew's notes.

Roy White, former GpN Tarmac Champion, had his Lancer upgraded to Evo 9 specification for Rally Ireland, and had a good run despite not having done a rally for a while. One small snag for Roy was when a lens fell out of his glasses on the bumpy 24.9 km final Ballintempo stage, and he couldn't see a thing for a moment, before dispensing with the spectacles altogether! Although officially 2nd in GpN, White was in many people's eyes the moral GpN victor of Rally Ireland, his red FESP Lancer whiter than white.

Munster Joinery man Alan Ring in his GpN Impreza is looking a strong favourite for the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship title before the final round, the 13th November Kerry Mini Stages. The event used to be known as the Banna Beach Rally, but has been upgraded to 'Mini Stages' status. Noel Redmond, Niall Maguire and Michael Curran all figure at the top end of the Top Part points, but it is Ring who is looking favourite.

Enniskillen MC is running their Clubmans Rally this Saturday over the asphalt roads of the Lough Navar forest complex. The event is a round of the Tracker Championship, and as such is restricted to two wheel drive. Last year's winner Glenn Allen is listed as No.1 seed, although whether he will be able to find a suitable Escort is open to question. Rodney White is listed at 2 in his immaculate Sunbeam, Alistair Cochrane 3 in his Escort, local man Stewart Clarke 4 in his fabulous Escort.

Brian Patterson.