Irish
Notes 13th February 2006.
Neil
Malcolm, Circuit of Ireland Clerk of the Course,
reports that its all stations go on the
organisation front for the Meteor Electrical
backed 2nd round of the Pirelli
Tarmac Championship. The rally runs on its
traditional Easter date, this year April 14th/15/16th/17th.
Following a ceremonial start at Derry’s
Guildhall on Good Friday night, the Saturday and
Sunday stages will be in the Sperrins and Easter
Monday’s up the Innishowen Peninsula.
Regulations and full schedule should be released
very shortly. A new rally office is now
operational and can be contacted at +44 (0) 28
71279387. (Full address at end of Document)
Speaking
by phone from a Paris pub before the
Ireland-France match last Saturday, Tim McNulty
recounted his retirement from the Galway Rally
the week before when just a few seconds behind
leader Eugene Donnelly – “With 30 stage
miles still to go, we weren’t going to settle
for 2nd, but I made a wrong tyre
choice and had the accident. There was no
serious damage, and the car is now fixed. There
is no point crying over spilt milk, I was back
at work on Monday, nobody was hurt! We are
waiting now for a new car, an S11, for the
Circuit. Some parts are still to be supplied to
convert the car, so we have pulled our entry on
Rally Ireland.”
Matthew
Wilson’s entry on the Rally Ireland has also
been withdrawn, such is the pressure of work on
M-Sport. Reportedly there is a gravel test car
available, but to turn that around will be very
difficult. Gareth MacHale has both the 03 and 05
Focus WRC’s at his disposal, so that although
both Gareth and Matthew are competing in Mexico
the previous weekend, only Gareth will have the
2nd car sitting ready to go in Sligo.
The Rally Ireland entry list will be released
this week, the top five drivers
purportedly listed as Chris Atkinson, Gareth MacHale (now with a ‘B’seed),
Daniel Carlsson, Eugene Donnelly and Andrew
Nesbitt.
Former
National Championship front runner Michael
Barrable is returning to the fray this season
with an ’05 Focus WRC. Dublin Fiat/Alfa Romeo
car dealer Michael, who has won many National
events outright, but not the Championship, has
taken two years out from competing to build a
new showroom. He commented, “I know the pace
has stepped up a bit, but I have kept in touch
by doing gravel notes for Austin (MacHale), so
hopefully I’ll not be too rusty. I’m not
sure if the Focus will be ready for the first
round (Mayo), but we will almost certainly do
West Cork to get a few miles done.”
Gordon
Coleman, son of Irish rally legend Billy, plans
to contest the Fiesta Sporting Trophy this
season in an M-Sport Fiesta. 22 year old Gordon
has mostly rallied an Almera and no real
experience of gravel stages when he tackled
Rally Ireland and went well through the forests
to finish in the top ten driving an old model
GpN Lancer.
There
are two major championships starting this
weekend -
the NI stage Championship at Kirkistown on
Saturday, and the Southern Forestry series on
Sunday, based at Carrick on Suir.
Saturday’s
rally, run by North Armagh MC, features the
asphalt stages of Kirkistown.
Kevin Lynch, Glenn Allen, Sean Devine,
Denis Biggerstaff and Raymond Johnston are at
the top of the 112 strong list.
Top GpN drivers include Dickie Curran and
Michael Curran in their respective Lancers, as
well as Johnny McKenna, Martin Elliott and Paul
McKenna, also in Mitsubishis.
On
Sunday’s Carrick on Suir MC Wm Loughman Rally,
top names include Kenny McKinstry, Pat Norris,
John McCarthy and Kevin O’Kane. Primararily
Kenny and his daughter Emma are tackling this
event as
a warm up for the following weekend’s Rallye
Sunseeker. In Gp N Brian Lawlor switches from
his Escort to Aaron McHale’s Evo 8.5 and
production class opposition should include
Stuart Darcy and young Corkman Owen Murphy, both
in Lancers. Anthony O’Halloran has built a new
G3 Escort and should be a handy addtion to the
modified category. The forestry series is again
backed by McCauley Trailers, and the event is
also a counter in the Triton Showers South East
Championship.
Brian Patterson.
Contact
Details For Circuit of Ireland
COI
Ltd
2
Atlantic Quay
River
Front
Strand
Road
L'Derry
BT48
7NA
Tel:
028 71279387
