As the start of the Cork ‘20’ draws ever closer, it
would appear that Kris Meeke won’t be competing, while
Austin MacHale, Stephen Murphy, John Dalton and Paddy
White are confirmed as non-starters. Otherwise the top
entry, spearheaded by the ‘works’ cars of Sebastien
Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo are all on course,
as are Tarmac Championship regulars Mark Higgins, Eugene
Donnelly, Tim McNulty and Eamonn Boland. Add in Gareth
and Aaron MacHale, as well as drivers such as Roger
Duckworth, Michael Barrable, Patrick Elliott, Ray Breen
and so on and we really have an extraordinairy rally in
store. Kevin Lynch was listed at the top of the reserves
and was trying to secure a Citroen, a Xsara, but that is
not happening, although may do after Cork ‘20. Eugene
Donnelly is planning a test in his Reid Motorsport
Impreza WRC S12 before the rally. Eamonn Boland is
sticking with his Subaru Impreza WRC for Cork, and is
reportedly switching to his Focus WRC for the following
weekend’s Rally Spain. Tim McNulty reports that although
his Pierse Subaru suffered no great hardship when he won
the Clare Stages the weekend before last, Dom Buckley’s
team is giving the engine and gearbox a bit of a brush
up anyway.
As well as the overall Global Group Tarmac Title up for
grabs between Mark Higgins and Eugene Donnelly, the GpN
title also has to be decided in Cork between Colm Murphy
and Kevin O’Donoghue. James Cullen was in the running
for the title earlier in the season, but he can’t win it
now and James has withdrawn from Cork. At signing on for
the recce Murphy was in top form and looking forward to
the battle, but fully aware that he has to finish the
rally to win. O’Donoghue also leads the 023 Tiles
Southern Four series from Aaron MacHale, with Denis
Cronin just 2 points further back. Former Champion
Cronin fully admits that he was well off the pace on the
recent Clare Stages Rally, and puts it down to trying to
get off the cigarettes, and too liberal use of the
patches!
Emma McKinstry may be forced to switch from a Subaru to
a Lancer for Cork. The car that Robbie McGurk crashed
last weekend was the RHD drive car that Emma planned to
use. Robbie phoned us when he got out of hospital on
Sunday and apart from bruises, he was fine. Co-driver
Shaun Lafferty was also OK. Young Toni Kelly is bidding
to win her class in the Tarmac Championship and is full
of hope for this weekend’s Cork. Despite taking time
away from rallying to pass her leaving certificate (Toni
only competed on 4 of the 7 rounds) she was leading the
class on the Ulster but then crashed her new Honda into
a gate post and lost 5 minutes in a ditch. She still
finished the rally, 2nd in class, and is hopeful of
class and championship success in Cork.
Cork ‘20’ is also the final round of the Fiesta Sporting
Trophy, and three drivers, Alastair Fisher, Jonny Greer
and Conor Harvey can still take the title.
Interestingly, Fisher and Greer are also contesting the
McRae Stages on the Saturday, which is a round of the UK
Fiesta series, so will have an overnight trip from
Scotland to make the Cork ‘20’ day 2 startline. The
Fiestas and the Juniors just compete on the Sunday leg.
M-Sport has also organised for new Fiesta International
Champion Barry Clark to give some guests a demonstration
run on the Cork shakedowm test this Friday in the
bio-ethanol Fiesta ST.
Russell Woods/Martin Byrne scored a memorable victory
on last weekend’s hectic Cavan Mini Stages Rally. There
were many tales of woe back in the Hotel Bailie as many
of the favourites licked their wounds as the day
progressed. Paddy Boyle went out early on when his
Escort suffered a broken back axle, and No1 seed Gordon
Rogers slid his Escort off the road. Mac McKenna led at
the half way point but his RWD Peugeot stopped with
mechanical failure. Jim McKenna rolled his Starlet
dramatically on the big jump on the last stage. James
Cassidy, with Lisa Roe co-driving, brought his Escort
into 2nd and Paul Gallagher/Karl Reid were happy just to
get to the finish of a rally for a change, let alone
lift a nice piece of Cavan Crystal for 3rd o/a.
Coming up after Cork is the Enniskillen Clubmans Rally.
The following weekend is the Donegal Harvest and the
GSMC Mini Stages, both of which reportedly have bulging
entry lists, of which more later.
Meanwhile the death has occurred of Manxman Geoff
Cannell. This name may not mean a whole lot to rally
fans, but Geoff was a special guy who commentated for
many years on the Manx Rallies. He was principally a
motor bike man, and of course was a great friend of
people like Joey Dunlop. But he covered rallying as
well, and somehow his very distinctive voice captured
the spirit of the rally. With his customary broadcast
headsets on, he was big into ‘pitlane’ commentaries and
interviews. Every time he went on air he made it
special, and evoked memories as well of the heyday of
the Manx International Rally, and brought back thoughts
of classic times, the Vatanen years, Mikkola, Mouton,
Bertie Fisher, Brookes, the great Colin McRae and his
father Jimmy. Geoff was able to translate the action
magic into words, especially with his intimate knowledge
of the Island. He didn’t report about special stages as
such, but talked you through the Cronk, the Braaid,
Little London, Brandywell etc., he brought it all to
life. Geoff was in full flow as usual on the recent Manx
and his death was very sudden through illness. He will
be greatly missed. We offer our deepest condolences to
all his family and friends.
Brian Patterson.
