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Irish Notes 2nd Jan ’08. Clonakilty’s Kevin Kelleher is going ahead with an entry for the Galway International, but is far from decided, in a dilemma, on what course of action to take for the 2008 season. Some of Kevin’s thoughts included: “The Tarmac Championship gets fabulous coverage, and the rallies are good. But against that the two day format takes a lot of time, and the Manx and Jim Clark are just so expensive, a real killer. The Dunlop National series is very attractive, especially timewise. However the Dunlop maybe doesn’t attract the same profile as the Tarmac. The new Evo Challenge, I really don’t know about.” Kevin went on to summarise his doubts regarding the Irish Evo Challenge. The rounds are all two day rallies (Galway, West Cork, Killarney, Donegal, Wexford, Cork 20), which is OK but not great. Along with many drivers, the budget is the big thing. The Evo Challenge requires all crews to use the Pirelli control tyre and Sunoco fuel. That means re-mapping the car, and probably changes to the suspension set up. Kevin’s ex-works Lancer is looked after by Stan Harper, and the pair have done a lot of testing on all types of cars, so theoretically they would have to start all over again. Kevin has a great relationdhip with, and gets backing from, Philip Moynihan. That will almost certainly go by the board. Obviously drivers not part of the Evo Challenge will have a wider choice of rubber, so that could give them the edge on rallies like Galway for overall GpN honours, Too soon to know the answer to that one. Kevin feels that he can win GpN on the National Championship, and that is a major ambition for him. How would contesting the Evo Challenge as well affect his chances? Jim Crozier is the man who will be looking after the Evo Challenge ‘on the ground’ in Ireland. He admits that the early details were far from clear, but now it appears that there will be good prize money on every round. The overall prize, apart from the prestige, will be full backing for the Irish winning Evo driver on Rally Ireland, driving his own car. There will also be an opportunity for Evo winners from all over Europe to come together on a PWRC round for a ‘shoot-out’. Feedback from other top Irish GpN drivers is still somewhat sparse, due in part to the festive season, in part to the fact that information has so far been economical. We await with interest to see which way people jump. Maybe it will take a year to get established. Realistically it is make up your mind time now for the drivers, as the final closing date for entries for the first round, Galway, is only days away. Speaking of the International Galway (1st, 2nd, 3rd Feb), the rally has a new sponsor in the shape of Safety Direct. This is a substantial Galway company with150 employees. There already was an interest in rallying. The company stocks all sorts of equipment and products relating to safety in many areas, including road safety, and is also getting into some rally equipment. The company is actively involved in helping the rally in many areas, with signage, printing etc. The event will again be based in the Clayton Hotel at Ballybritt, on the edge of the City Centre. Clerk of the Course Gary Leonard, who has Victor Farrell and Ross Fforde as his back-up, has laid on a route consisting of different versions of some old favourites. David James seems to have really got his act together in his Focus WRC, winning two Carlow Rallysprints at Mondello, and then finishing 2nd to James Doherty in his Starlet at the Cork Rallysprint at the Pike outside Dungarvan. David said afterwards, “I was too cautious with the car earlier on. Maybe I knew at Mondello there was nothing much to hit! The track at Cork didn’t really suit the car, but we still had a good day. We had two good runs at Mondello, I was pushing it, and getting good grip.” David went on to say that ironically, now that it is all coming together, that he has the Focus for sale, but that it is a good car and he is not going to give it away. He may yet use it on the 2008 season, although he still enjoys driving his Mk2 Escort. David Donegan (Lancer) was 2nd to James at the Christmas Mondello, with Derrick Jobb 3rd in his Escort Cosworth. At Cork, Denis Cronin was 3rd, behind James Doherty and David James. Denis was driving his nephew Keith’s Evo, and found the car a joy to drive, very progressive and predictable to drift, as against his Subaru, which he describes as ‘very sharp of itself’!. Interestingly, Keith was 5th, 0.36sec behind Denis, but then it was just a bit of fun! Keith is still awaiting delivery of a new Evo 9 from ADR, and plans a day at Sweet Lamb in preparation for the first UK Evo round, the Sunseeker, down at Bournemouth on the 22nd/23rd Feb. Several crews are tipped to be also hoping to go across for the Sunseeker, amongst them Richard Cathcart and his co-driver Martin Brady. Richrad achieved his stunning Rally Ireland result in a GpN Impreza, but is planning a swap to a Lancer. Tralee’s Richard Talbot has sent out the confirmation of the 2008 Dunlop National Championship dates, and the series does indeed start with the Mayo Stages on March 9th. Further rounds are:-Circuit of Kerry, Monaghan, Cavan, Munster, Ravens Rock, Stonethrowers, Galway Summer, Clare Stages and Donegal Harvest. Main changes for this year are that competitors only need register at the start of the season, and only register again if they change their class. Once again, to be eligible for an award at season’s end, competitors must start 5 events, one of which must be in another region. The number of cars allowed to start each rally is increased by 10, and 60 priority places are now reserved for Dunlop Championship contenders. Laura Fuery has again agreed to act as registrar. A slightly different and new Rally Championship is being launched this year in the shape of a Euro Rally Challenge, backed by two top drivers, Erik Wevers from Holland and Mark van Eldik. The idea is primarily to attract top drivers from many countries to compete on a variety of six really attractive and interesting events throughout Europe, using a variety of cars from WRC onwards, including older classic cars. The rallies include – Rally Emmeloord (NL), Rally Vogelsberg (DE), Sezoens Rally (BE), Hellendoorn Rally (NL), Lausitz Rallye (DE), Condroz Rally (BE). For more information, the contact is Bart Hissink, Wevers Sport:- bart@eurorallychallenge.eu The Monte Carlo Rally would appear to have a fairly small entry, with little Irish involvement. The rally isn’t a round of either the Juniors or Production Cup. Eamonn Boland quite often enters the Monte, but is giving it a miss this time as it is very close to the Safety Direct Galway International. Eamonn is entering Galway in a Subaru, and plans to stay with the Impreza through ’08. Francis Regan, who has co-driven for Eamonn for 6 years, has decided to give the seat a rest, although he is also being linked with Kevin Lynch. However, although Kevin is reportedly in negotiation for an Impreza WRC S12b, the Dungiven man is embroiled in a huge amount of contracts and digging holes, so it could be 2009 before he gets a clear run at a season’s rallying. Finally for now, in the course of goodwill texts with Austin MacHale, we asked him how many of the MacHale family would be competing on Galway. Quick as a flash the reply came back – 4! Best Wishes for 2008 Brian Patterson |
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