| RALLY NEWS NO.1 An Grianan Hotel/Saturday 08.15
There’s something about this Donegal Harvest Rally. It always seems to attract a great entry, and this time is certainly no exception. Gareth MacHale, this time with Craig Parry co-driving in his Focus WRC, will lead a star studded entry away for the eight special stages. The rally has a new HQ this time in the shape of the An Grianan Hotel, and a fine spot it is.
For Gareth MacHale and indeed several of the other drivers as well, the name of the game here is not just trying to win this Harvest Rally, but also clock up valuable stage miles in preparation for Rally Ireland. Tim McNulty is at 2, with Donegal Town man Eugene O’Donnell co-driving in his Pierse Subaru. Tim has been dipping his toe in the National waters recently and won the Galway Summer and Clare Stages events, so he should certainly go well here. Local man Paul Harris is at 3, and will drive Derek McGeehan’s Corolla WRC with John McElhinney co-driving. Paul is no stranger to victory on the Harvest, so he will be trying to uphold local honours. Austin MacHale was to be at 4, but can’t make it, so Derek McGarrity’s Subaru is next up. Whether Derek will drive it, or Kris Meeke, was the subject of a late night stewards’ meeting.
The background is that McGarrity has put together a deal for Kris to drive the car on Rally Ireland. With Prodrive engineers in attendance on Thursday at a wee road at Orra Lodge, Kris tested the car, and it was felt that it would be great for him to get a few miles in it here, rather than Derek himself.
As regards comparing the S12 against the S11 and its ‘active’ transmission, Kris observed, “The S12 has a better engine and chassis, and when you are really ‘on it, flat out’ the car is fantastic, faster, even with the passive transmission. The S11, with its active system, would help you if you were a bit hesitant. But as regards the rally, I’m not one bit worried about winning or losing, I want to try a few things out with the car, even if I go the wrong way. But I feel the few changes I’ve made already have been a step forward with the car.”
Unfortunately the technicalities of switching the entry proved daunting, and at 00.58 Kris texted us to say he had pulled the plug. Derek will drive the car after all.
P J McDermott, with Sean Harris on the pace notes, starts at 6 in his Impreza WRC. PJ has been going well since he got this Impreza, really picking up the pace, but he’s missed a couple of rallies recently, so it may take him a stage or two to get going. Former National Champion Niall Maguire is at 7 in his Subaru, and Hugh Martin Doherty is at 8 in his Impreza WRC S12. Hugh Martin got off on the wrong foot when this new car gave some problems on the Ulster, but then in Cork he really started to get used to it and stepped up the pace, so hopefully he’ll have a good run here in his home territory.
Michael Curran and Garry Jennings in GpN cars, make up the top ten, and there will almost certainly be fireworks between these two for GpN supremacy. There are lots more GpN entries of note, just some of whom include Cathal Rogers at 17 in his Lancer, Danny McBride, complete with sore throat, at 24. Conor Harvey is driving Danny’s other car, although 3rd gear is graunching which is a bit of a worry. (Garry Jennings has offered his spare, so it should be alright). Gavin Harris, fresh from a holiday in New York, is at 36 in his Lancer, and Shaun Lafferty is co-driving. Erroll Clarke was expected to make an impression on GpN, but his Lancer has developed a last minute problem with the ECU, and may not start. Trevor & Kenny Bustard are seeded back at 67 in their Lancer. Seamus Leonard has withdrawn.
There are several World Rally Cars outside the top ten, including Andrew Stewart at 12 in Richard Hogg’s Skoda Octavia. Kris Meeke was helping to set the car up earlier this week and Andrew could be very quick. Seamus Heron is at 18 in his Focus WRC and he’s made great strides forward with this car, so hopefully he’ll have a good run.
A big feature of the rally is going to be the battle for rear wheel drive honours, or in other words the Mk2 Escort race with the occasional Twin Cam Corolla thrown in for good measure. Look out for Damien Gallagher, Rodney Wilton, Gary McPhillips, Camillus Bradley, Martin McGee, Paul Gallagher, Adrian Hetherington who has Graham Henderson co-driving and a whole lot more.
Just some further stories and changes include Shaun Gallagher, fresh from winning the Rookie category on the World Rally Championship, can’t make the start. John & James Cairns are listed as non-starters, while young Toni Kelly is one of the’00’ drivers in her fabulous little Honda Civic Type R.
Finally for now the enthusiasm displayed by people to run the rally is amazing. Just a couple of examples are that the girls in the rally office finished work at 05.20 this morning and had their alarms set for 06.30. While Ger Hayes and his two friends Jeremy & Ciaron drove the whole way up from Skibbereen during the night in their Transit van to marshal here in Donegal and tonight they are heading off overnight to marshal in Baltingglass!
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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