Irish Notes 11th Dec ’06.

 

Meath man Tim McNulty, winner of the Killarney Rally of the  Lakes this year, is just one of the top drivers who will attend a test session on Cooley Mountain this week to try out the new Impreza WRC S12. McNulty will almost certainly stick with his own Pierse Backed Impreza WRC  S11 for 2007 however. He reports that the shell is in Prodrive, finished and ready to transport up to Buckley’s Motorsort. Tim intends to have another serious assault on the Tarmac Championship next season. Despite that Lakes win, Tim’s Tarmac series campaign came off the rails a bit this year, what with punctures, accidents and appendicitis! Incidentally Tim was returning a bit back into rallying last weekend by marshalling, along with co-driver Anthony Nestor, through all the floods and downpours of the Killarney Historic Rally.

 

Renowned legendary motorcycling road racer Robert Dunlop, with UTV / RPM presenter Pamela Ballantine navigating, is to drive the course opening Escort on the 30th December ‘Rallly of the 100 Entries’ at Kirkistown. The entry is being backed by Circuit of Ireland sponsor John Conway of Meteor Electrical. The Mk2 Escort that Dunlop will drive is being supplied by Barry McKenna of DEN Motorsport.
Robert Dunlop has won five Isle of Man TT’s, is 15 times a race winner at the North-West, has won the Macau Grand Prix , and is a record 8 times winner of the Cookstown ‘100’.  Robert and his late brother Joey used to watch the Circuit of Ireland stages from near their home at Dunloy, and Robert commented, “This will be my first rally, and I’m really looking forward to it!” Pamela Ballantine said, “Can’t wait. I know how quick he is on a bike, and he can certainly ride a horse, so the rally car should be a doddle!” In many ways Robert, who is still racing a Kennedy Equipment 125 Honda, but is spending as much time looking after his two sons Michael and William in their race careers, is a  road racing legend. His support for the rally is further testimony to the interest that the event is creating in the hearts of the community. 

A further interesting development for the Rally of the 1000 Entries is that Bertie Fisher’s widow Gladys is donating some of Bertie’s special trophies to be used for the good of the rally.  Gladys’ generous action was prompted when she watched a UTV report about Christopher Rogers and the rally, Christopher was paralysed from the waist down following a rally accident in Monaghan, where his co-driver Shane O’Neill tragically lost his life. The rally’s aim is to raise funds to help Christopher travel to China for new treatment and also go towards the new Rally Specialist Medical Assistance Fund.

 

Talented Ashbourne lady Ciara Conlan has been appointed the new Fiesta Sporting Trophy UK Co-Ordinator. Ciara has become well known in rallying over the last few years helping with the RallyNews and then doing various journalism jobs, including work on the ANCRO series. Ciara is giving up her job as a test technician with IBM at Clonee and is moving to Cumbria, close to M-Sport. Ciara, who celebrated her 31st birthday on Monday, is to take over from the highly regarded Stella Boyles, who is leaving to have a baby. There is nothing definite so far regarding a Fiesta Trophy for Ireland, while the opening UK round is the Malcolm Wilson Stages.

 

Craig Bennett, who campaigned a Focus WRC last year and  finished 3rd overall in the NI Championship, has fulfilled another personal ambition by acquiring a Metro 6R4. The car in question came from Tony Davis. At a recent major Silverstone test session Craig was well impressed with the Metro 6R4, decribing it as ‘very fresh’. Craig is going to have a sequential gearbox and  paddle change fitted, and hopes to contest the Rally of the 1000 Entries, for which the co-driver’s seat is up for auction. Next year Craig plans to contest the NI Championship.

 

Ray Breen’s son Craig collected the King Hussein of Jordan Trophy at the Dunlop Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards Lunch in Dublin last week. This was in recognition for 16 year old Craig winning the National Karting Championship. Craig is planning to co-drive for his father Ray on selected forestry events in 2007, with a view to getting rally experience and then drving himself.  Ray’s main aim goal for next year will be to regain his Dunlop National Champions’ title from Charlie Donnelly.

 

National Forestry Champion John McCarthy continues to make satisfactory progress on the road to recovery following his Wexford Rally accident. John wasn’t well enough to attend the Dunlop lunch last week and was represented by his son,  He was however well enough to phone Owen Murphy to wish him every success with the Billy Coleman Award. This is the first occasion in the 6 years that the award has been in existence that it has gone to a Co.Cork recepient.

 

The West Cork Rally organisers have announced a new award for the 2007 St Patricks weekend event, to be named  after Michael Bones O’Connor, and awarded to the driver of the highest placed modified car. Bones, as he is affectionaletly called, was one of the main men in raising the profile of the rally to almost legendary levels in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Bones used to sit amongst the coffins in Shanahans undertakers in Leap village and run the rally from there, because radio coverage wasn’t so good from Mrs Murphy’s hotel in Clonakilty, which was Rally HQ.

 

Interestingly, one of the heros of the West Cork Rally through the Nineties and into the present decade, ‘roll your own’ Gwyndaf Evans, was spectating on last week’s Killarney Historic. He has  recently endured a major operation. Gwyndaf dearly wants to compete on the 2007 West Cork, but whether that  works out remains to be seen. He led the rally several times, and finished 2nd twice, in ’92 and ’95, jokingly  describing himself as ‘always the bridesmaid!’ Nothing could have been further from the truth of course. Gwyndaf was as hard a man as there was about!  

Brian Patterson.