Irish Notes 18.08.06

 

Tim McNulty, last year’s winner, is the only top name missing from what has turned out to be a cracker entry for the Cork ‘20’ Meath man McNulty said of his Ulster accident, “I’m fine. I’ve had a bigger sore head after a drink. As regards the car it would be a real struggle to get all the bits together in time. Maybe it hasn’t been my season anyway, what with accidents, punctures and appendix! But we’ll go on ahead as soon as possible, probably for next year. The accident was just one of those things. If you don’t want to get shot, don’t join the army!”

 

Andrew Nesbitt joining the Cork entry list in his Donegal winning Lancer WRC is another bit of icing on the cake for Irish fans, what with Marko Martin, Mark Higgins and Guy Wilks all in the top ten along with Eugene Donnelly and the other top Irish Tarmac drivers. Peadar Hurson is on the reserve list, but then maybe his Subaru isn’t quite ready following his Ulster accident. The overall Pirelli Tarmac title may have gone to Eugene Donnelly, but if anything that should make this Cork ‘winner take all’ rally even more interesting.

 

Derek McGarrity is listed in the top 10 for Cork 20 but the Glengormley man is unlikely to make the start, as he has not fully recovered from the injuries sustained in his Manx accident. Guy Wilks will be driving the Impreza WRC S11 that Derek used on the Manx, and has an extensive test session planned over the Irish roads.

 

Glen Allen has relinquished his lead in the NI Championship to Kevin Lynch, with three rounds remaining, the Bushwhacker, the Down Rally and the Glens of Antrim event. The Omagh based Bushwhacker on the 30^th September has a heavily revised route, while the Down Rally, backed by McGrady Insurance, is based in Newcastle and with stages in the Mourne Mountains, is new to the Championship. Sean Devine is 3^rd in the points but realistically doesn’t pose a threat to Lynch and Allen. Richard Hogg is 4^th and leads GpN. The title could go down to the wire on the 4^th Oct Glens of Antrim event, but only if the seemingly unstoppable Lynch has a glitch.

 

Enniskillen MC is running its tarmac stage event on the 25^th November. It was originally scheduled for October but has been moved to avoid a local community festival. The 9 asphalt stage System Signs backed rally is based in Derrygonnelly, and two of the stages may possibly be in darkness. The entry is limited to 80 2 wd cars. The event was to be a round of the PHP Tarmac series, but the regulations bar a date change.

 

Omagh’s Paul Barrett is contesting this week’s Plains Rally in his Escort G3 and has every chance of clinching his class in the BTRDA series. Ballymena’s Ivan Kennedy is also making the trip in his Skoda.

 

Monaghan’s Adrian McElvaney, co-driven by Paul Goodman in his GpA Impreza, came through strongly at the end to take victory on the North East Stages. James Cullen/Reba Graham were 2^nd in their Lancer, Stuart Darcy 3^rd in another Lancer.

 

This weekend Carlow MC is running a single stage rally in conjunction with the newly formed Laois Club. The rally is based at the Pedigree Corner Bar, Ballylynan and Terence O’Shaughnessy (Corolla), James Coleman (Escort) and James Stafford (Escort) are amongst the top crews of the 131 strong entry.

 

National GpN Champion Michael Curran’s next planned outing is the 14^th Oct Donegal Harvest Rally. Michael commented, “I want to do the rally because it’s my co-driver Fabian’s home ground, and I hear they have some fabulous stages this year, Atlantic Drive , Glen and so on. The car is still being repaired after the Ulster , the front corner was damaged. That was one of my worst rallies in history. I always seemed to be on the wrong tyres, and I was on cut slicks in the pouring rain when we crashed.”