Irish Notes 14th May 2008.

 

It is a good news week for Killarney man Paul Nagle, as he has been selected to co-drive for Barry Clark in the Ford Manufacturer team on three rounds of the World Rally Championship. Barry and Paul will crew a full works Focus WRC running under the Munchi team banner. The three events are Turkey, Corsica and Rally GB. For Paul it is an important recognition of his prowess on the notes and his ability to integrate into a front running team. He is naturally delighted at the opportunity to do this job, as are his many friends in the sport. Before he agreed to go ahead with it, Paul had a word with Kris Meeke, and his heartfelt sentiment was ‘go for it!’

 

Charlie Donnelly is hopeful that he will be fit for this weekend’s KBB Doors Tour of the Sperrins Rally. Charlie is feeling much better recently as regards his battle against illness. At the start of this week Charlie had still not received his 2008 competition licence from the MSA, and was hopeful as well that too would be sorted before his Skoda WRC is due to take the start ramp outside Maghera’s Walsh’s Hotel on Saturday morning.

 

Charlie, who is also helping his friend Liam Egan, who is over from the States, to do the rally in a Corolla WRC, faces some very tough opposition indeed from the very strong line-up behind. The Tour of the Sperrins is one of those special events that ‘revs everybody up’. Certainly there are NI Championship points at stake, but in NI rallying terms there is more to it than that, it is  akin to Grand National day, which could be particularly appropriate when the drivers tackle the jumps of the Roddys Dipper and Broughderg stages!

 

Behind Charlie Donnelly is NI Championship leader Connor McCloskey in his KBB Focus WRC. At No.3 is Connor’s closest points pursuer Sean Devine in his Subaru, current NI Champion Glenn Allen is at 4, former Tarmac Champion Derek McGarrity (Subaru) is at 5 and current Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly is at 6. For Derek McGarrity, who plans to do the Sperrins as a warm up for the Jim Clark, it may be a bit of a rush to get his Subaru running gear back from Prodrive in time, and get it all fitted to the car, and there is a vague possibility that Derek could drive a Focus WRC he has in stock.

 

Former National Champion Peadar Hurson is at 122, but his Subaru will surely start amongst that opening group. The battle for GpN supremacy, as well the race amongst the Mk2 Escort contenders, promises to be no less frenetic than the race at the front of the field. The rally also features a round of the Citroen C2R2 Irish Cup, and there will be around a dozen contenders taking to the stages for that one. Hard to be precise – Sean Agnew has come in from the reserves, David McCormick is well down the reserves and may not get going, Stephen Clery has with drawn because of a throat infection. Marty McCormick, who was out testing his C2R2 this week is the highest seed at 79, with Monaghan’s Barry Evans, who has been notching up the points prior to this 3rd round, next up and Sam Moffett third, ahead of Martin Tynan. Paul Manton is 5th in the C2R2 line up and he makes the trip all the way from Kilkenny. Current UK C2R2 Champion Martin Laverty is very much on home ground this time, and he starts at 86.

 

Brian Patterson.