Former Cork ‘20’ and Jim
Clark winner Tim McNulty
chose to miss the Manx,
but is raring to get
back on the stages and
will almost certainly
take his Pierse
Construction backed
Impreza WRC to the
Galway Summer Stages as
a warm up for the Ulster
International and then
the Cork ‘20’. “We’ll
re-group and go at it
again” reports Tim,
continuing, “the aim is
to get back up the
speed, set a few times,
look to next year.” Tim
has yet to nominate a
co-driver for the rest
of the season.
Plans are reportedly
well advanced to
increase the number of
entries allowed on Irish
National rallies, in an
effort to further
alleviate the pressure
on organisers regarding
trying to cope with
reserve lists. The Mini
Stages format was
introduced to mostly
replace Single Stage
rallies, with the
facility for organisers
to accommodate 30 first
time licence holders.
Now the number of
entries allowed on
National events with
four stage locations is
possibly going to be
increased from 151 to
181, while events with
three stage locations
may go up from 131 to
151. Logistics are
obviously going to be a
headache for organisers,
particularly finding
suitable service areas.
The next round of the NI
Championship, the
Dogleap Rally on the 4th
August, has a bulging
entry and an interesting
top ten. Kevin Lynch
heads the list on this,
his home event, the
former Champion entered
in his Focus WRC, but
there is always the
possibility that Kevin
will revert to a Subaru
for his trip through the
forests of Cam and
Springwell. Current
Championship points
leader Glenn Allen is
the No2 seed in his
Corolla WRC, his Toyota
rebuilt following its
Cavan accident. Sean
Devine (Impreza WRC) is
at 3, and Stephen Moore,
who currently leads the
Irish Forestry series
and is a close 2nd to
Allen in the NI
Championship, is at 4 in
his Focus WRC. Richard
Hogg, winner of the
recent Lark in the Park
in his Octavia WRC, is
at 5 and former Champion
Kevin O’Kane (Impreza
WRC) rounds off the top
six.
Last Sunday’s NEMC Mini
Stages was won by Andrew
Purcell in his Impreza
with Adrian McElvaney in
a similar GpA Subaru
finishing 7 seconds down
after the four asphalt
stages. Pat Donegan and
Stuart Darcy in their
respective Lancers were
3rd and 4th. Gary
McPhillips had led the
rally after the 1st
stage, but crashed his
Escort out of the
Carrickmacross based
event on the 2nd stage.
Killarney man Alan Ring
(GpN Impreza) has
reinforced his position
at the front of the Top
Part West Coast
Championship following
his runner-up spot on
the Birr Stages, with
Anthony O’Halloran
(Manta) doing enough to
hang on to 2nd.
The recent Birr Multi
Stages Rally was a round
of the Sleator Opel
Championship, and with
one round to go, the
Baltinglass Stages (15th
October), Gabriel
Hession leads the class
based series, from Pat
Higgins, with Thomas
Boylan 3rd.
On
their first visit to the
South Wales forests,
young Keith Cronin and
his co-driver Anthony
O’Connell were running
in the top ten but
unfortunately put their
GpN Lancer off the road
at ‘Gronholm’s corner’.
Anthony reported, “The
damage was light, and we
will be ready for our
home Cork Forestry
event. It was hard to
adjust to the wide roads
in Wales, but we were
pleased to be within a
second a mile of Phillip
Morrow’s times.” The
Cork two day forestry,
next round of the
Hankook Tyres Irish
Championship, is
scheduled for 18th/19th
August. Keith and
Anthony are hoping to
compete on another Welsh
event this year,
possibly the Cambrian.
Marty McCormick and his
co-driver Liam Moynihan
were pretty stunned when
their Escort engine blew
on the Manx. The front
running crew was being
careful not to stress
the unit and it let go
without warning. They
thought then that as
well as losing out on
the Manx their chance
of competing on the next
round, the Harry
Flatters, had gone.
However, in a real
sporting gesture, both
Dick Slaughter and
Gareth Lloyd offered to
help, Lloyd with the
free loan of an engine,
Slaughter with a
complete car!
Darren Gass, who had
such a brilliant run on
the Manx in his Citroen
and won the Pirelli
yellow jersey, is
holding a big barbecue
this Saturday night in a
marquee at their
Killycarn Sand and
Gravel business. A
donation will be made to
the Newry Hospice.
Darren’s next two
planned events are
Lurgan Park and the
Ulster in the Citroen,
while his father Maurice
hopes to compete in the
same two rallies in an
Impreza WRC hired from
Derek McGarrity.
Following his retirement
from the Manx
International, Paddy
White flew back to
Ireland in time to make
his debut at the
practice for the Formula
Libre race at Mondello
driving a Lola. For
Paddy it was a whole new
experience, the plan
being to get an idea
what it was all about
before the big Phoenix
Park race meeting. He
finished 5th in the race
on Sunday. Paddy is
aiming to raise the
awareness of the Autism
Ireland Charity through
his efforts. He will
also be offering rides
in his Focus WRC at ‘The
Park’. His next rally
will probably be the
Ulster. Interestingly,
when Paddy retired on
the Manx he offered his
Focus WRC to the
Mikkelsen team in case
they were short of any
parts following Andreas’
accident. Andreas does
have a spare Focus, plus
a full car for parts,
but they were all in a
container for shipping
to Rally Finland.
Obituary.
Following a long and
difficult illness,
Donegal man John Boyle
died last week. Fondly
known as ‘John Boyle
O’Manor’ due to his
prominence in
Manorcunningham, and
also ‘bag of bolts’ due
to his ability to fix
any car, anywhere. John
was a larger than life
character who was a
rallyman through and
through. His first rally
was the ’72 Rally of
the Rosses and over the
ensuing years he was
always involved in some
way, as a competitor, a
service man or an
official for Donegal
Motor Club. John at
times had a gruff
exterior but underneath
lay a heart of gold and
he helped and encouraged
many young competitors
over the years. He was
very much a Mk2 Escort
man. There was a massive
turnout for his funeral,
and a large selection of
rally cars to give him a
send off in style. John
was just 55, but he
packed a lot into those
years. To his wife
Maureen, daughters
Sharan and Anita, son
Shaun and his large
family circle we offer
our deepest condolences.
Brian Patterson.
