Irish Notes 17th October 2007.

Much has been written and discussed about Kris Meeke not getting a run on last weekend’s Donegal Harvest Rally. The bottom line however is that the regulations relating to this issue in the MSI ‘green book’ were introduced against the background of huge reserve lists. This was in an effort to stop misuse of entries and prevent drivers getting substituted, when other competitors had entered in good faith and were then away down a reserve list. Yes, it was frustrating and bizarre to see a brilliant driver like Kris, an undoubted world class star, stooging about in the An Grianan Hotel at midnight on the Friday night wondering if he would get a run, but the Motorsport Ireland appointed stewards of the rally, principally Bobby Clinton and Alan Verso, were only doing what they were appointed for. That was to ensure that the rules were adhered to. They would have loved to have seen Kris in action as well.

In overall terms it was a great event under the direction of Clerk of the Course Leonard Wilson. It was good to see Gareth MacHale regaining his old form, getting his confidence back following his accident in Sardinia. Gareth had to work like hell in the building company in the week leading up to the rally and only got up to Donegal before lunchtime on the Friday, so had no testing in his Focus and not much of a recce. On the event he drove with great flair and was never headed, finishing 31 seconds ahead of Tim McNulty, with Derek Mcgarrity, still not fully fit following his Manx accident, a further 31 secs adrift. Tim has been doing a lot of testing with his Subaru, trying different ‘set-ups’ in preparation for Rally Ireland. Derek drove the S12, which Kris Meeke had been testing on the Thursday, and the car is set up for Kris to drive in Rally Ireland. On his first run in the car on the Thursday at Orra Lodge, Kris was mighty impressed, and at the same time made quite a few changes to it.

Further clarification to the 023 Tiles Southern Four Championship shows Kevin O’Donoghue has a 1 point advantage over Mark Nangle, with Kevin Kelleher a further 6 points back going into the final round, the 28th October Fastnet Rally. Todd Falvey in his Porsche 911 leads the historic section from Martin Sheahan (Mk1 Escort).

The Junior section of the 023 Tiles Southern Four, and indeed the Top Part West Coast has been clinched by Barry Ryan/Donal Falvey. Interestingly the pair were spectating on Rally Spain and had to hot foot it back to facilitate scrutineer Robert Corrigan and his crew inspect their engine, which had been sealed following the Galway Summer Rally. The motor was found to be absolutely in order.

The Fastnet could feature an interesting top entry, even though the overall Dunlop National Championship, of which this is the final round, has already been clinched by Aaron MacHale. Indications are that several top drivers could utilise the event as a test for Rally Ireland, and Andreas Mikkelsen’s team has made an enquiry.
Clonakilty’s Kevin Kelleher had a fine win on the GSMC Mini Stages event at Baltinglass, Kevin’s Lancer finishing 15 seconds ahead of the similar machine of James Foley with Tom Holton 3rd in his Celica. Paul Kiely (Lancer) was 4th and Trevor Mulligan 5th and best two wheel drive in his Escort. Kevin reported a few big moments on the 2nd stage after a jump x-roads and thought he had damaged a rear arm or strut, but it transpired to be wrong tyre pressures, as his pressure gauge was wonky! On the same stage, 2nd time through, he again had a scary ride, but put it down to the fact that it was just so fast and the car was hitting the bumps very hard, so much so that he cracked his elbow on the roll cage a couple of times!

Tommy Doyle from Longford is due to take delivery this week of a new Renault Clio R3 Sport in kit form. 22 year old Tommy is probably the first person in the UK and Ireland to get one of the new cars, complete with up-graded ‘Eureka’ engine.

Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly was on his first ever WRC event last weekend, when he went spectating on Rally France in Corsica. Eugene reported it as a very worthwhile trip, and also said that he had put an entry in for Rally Ireland on a private basis, as the Impreza WRC S11 originally proposed for him under the Reid banner, from the McGarrity stable, may not now be available under the original mooted arrangement. That car could well now be driven by Guy Wilks.

Noel Mccarrick and his partner Tom Gormally have pledged to continue their company, Global Group, backing for next year’s Tarmac Championship. They are both active competitors with a great involvement in rallying, and the sponsorship is working well. The 2nd round of the Global Group Tarmac Championship in 2008 will almost certainly be the Circuit of Ireland again, and indications are that the rally will be more Co. Down orientated this time, possibly Newcastle.

Irish competitors on this weekend’s Bulldog Rally, final round of the Hankook ANCRO MSA Gravel Championship through the classic forests of Mid-Wales include Daniel Barry/Mark Bowens in their Lancer, who turned in a very impressive performance on the recent Trackrod Rally, despite a lack of gravel experience. However the forests in Wales are a different ball game from Yorkshire, and the pair face another steep learning curve. Errol Clarke, who is showing great speed, is another to make the trip in his Lancer and has Scotsman Neil Ewing on the notes. Jonathan Patterson and his business partner Jeremy Taylor are dipping their toes in the Welsh waters, driving the hired Raymond Mason Lancer Evo 9. Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan are also competing in Frank’s Escort Mk2, the Moy man sure to turn a few heads with his all attacking style.

In NI Championship terms, the pressure is really on for this weekend’s Down Stages Rally in the race for top honours between Stephen Moore and Glenn Allen. Glenn is back in his Corolla WRC and will doubtless be going flat out, but then that is not always so easy when a car has been rebuilt after an accident. If Glen finishes well up and ahead of Stephen Moore, he has the title won, but if Moore finishes in the top two or three, say if Sean Devine wins and Moore came second, with Allen behind them, the race for the title will go down to the wire on the Mid Antrim Town Parks event.

We caught up with Stephen Moore earlier in the week when he was on his way to M-Sport to clinch a deal to buy a new ’06 or even ’07 Focus WRC if he can get it. (Connor McCloskey has apparently clinched a deal to get Stephen’s current car and contest the Dunlop National Championship next year). Stephen has an idea that he may contest the MSA ANCRO National Championship next year, just to do something different. As regards this weekend’s event, a planned test session was called off because Clogher Fire Brigade wanted to borrow the car last week, as they wanted to study up all the electrics and systems to get themselves prepared for Rally Ireland.

Then a plan to have a shared entry with Paul Barrett on the Ballyboley event came to naught. Paul’s wrist still isn’t 100% better following his Fivemiletown accident. Paul has built a new rear wheel drive Focus, with a 2.4 John Reid engine, so that should be a sight to behold next year. None of that has helped Stephen Moore though in his preparation for the Down Rally, and he hopes to get a test this Friday, before the rally. As he said himself, “This could be interesting!” Most of the top NI contenders have entered for the Down, including Richard Hogg in his Skoda Octavia WRC. Emma McKinstry was hoping to compete in the right hand drive Impreza WRC, but it looks very much as if it won’t be ready, and she may have to revert to the GpN Lancer.

On the Ballyboley time trial/rallysprint Raymond Mason in his GpN Lancer led for two of the three runs, and then was just pipped on the post by Raymond Johnston in his Impreza WRC. Stephen Harron came through strongly at the end to take 3rd in a GpA Subaru, again just a couple of seconds back. The consensus of opinion amongst the drivers was that it was a great stage, and a terrific day out.

Brian Patterson.