‘Topsy turvy would be one way of describing last weekend’s WRC Rally Portugal, where Thierry Neuville in his Hyundai i-20 WRC took victory and put his World Rally Championship challenge back on track. He now leads the points. Many drivers, such as Sebastien Ogier, Ott Tanak, Mikkelsen and Paddon were side-lined. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle had several dramas over the tough rock strewn Portuguese tracks before crashing their Citroen into the trees. Kris was taken to hospital for a check-up and thankfully pronounced OK, as was Paul.

The speeds on the rally were fearsome, despite the roughness of the terrain. For example there were five different leaders on day one – Ott Tanak, Dani Sordo, Kris Meeke, Hayden Paddon, and Thierry Neuville. Craig Breen was up amongst the fastest times on occasion early in the rally, but his Citroen suffered punctures and a few other adventures that brought him back to 7th. Still, Craig and his co-driver Scott Martin did well to get through this most difficult event.

Neuville was co-driven in the Hyundai by Nicolas Gilsoul, and whether he had lady luck on his side or was being extremely clever, who knows. The Belgian brought home the bacon in style, and that is what it is all about. Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barrett got their season back on the rails by taking 2nd place in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC. Third was Teemu Sunninen/Mikko Markkula, also in a Fiesta WRC. The pair also blitzed the power stage and their Fiesta WRC was fastest. Interestingly only a handful of seconds separated Evans from Sunninen, with Esapekka Lappi only a few more ticks back and Sordo, hampered by a damaged windscreen on his Fiesta (a stone was sucked up by the front aerofoil and bounced into the screen) just a few seconds back. It would indicate some healthy battles in the rallies to come. After the rally Esapekka Lappi was penalised 10 seconds for clipping a straw bale in the spectator stage. This reversed the 4th and 5th positions – Dani Sordo moved to 4th. He had also received a penalty earlier for the same so-called transgression as Lappi.

So what is this fixation by the officials regarding touching bales – its ok for the drivers to take their life in their hands dicing with trees and rock faces, but there is a slap on the wrist for touching a bale!

Anyway, on a more positive note, the presence of such good young drivers at the moment ups the ante even more. If a driver blinks at all he has lost position, which is probably the main contributing factor as to why there were so many retirements in Portugal. The drivers cannot afford to ‘lift’ for anything. The aerodynamics of the cars makes for even more commitment, and the transition from braking to full throttle is now being measured in percentage points of a second. It is Formula 1 over rough roads really.

A big disappointment also for ‘home’ fans was the retirement of young Callum Devine just a few stages from the end. Callum was lying 2nd in the Junior WRC category but the front corner of his Fiesta R2T nudged a bank and the steering broke. Another retirement was Dundalk’s Brendan Cumiskey following problems. He always wanted to drive the Fafe jump at full whack. Well, he fulfilled his ambition, but his car’s steering broke in the landing manoeuvre!

On the Carlow Stages Rally, Barry Meade/Colin Fitzgerald in their Mk2 Escort took victory from Frank Kelly and Lauren Kelly, with Enda O’Brien/John Butler 3rd. The top three finishers were all in Escorts. In fact eight of the top ten finishers were in Escorts, with two Darrian’s sandwiched into 5th and 6th. Damp weather conditions made the tyre choice difficult for the drivers and as Frank Kelly remarked. “I just happened to have the right tyres in the van!” Frank was down in 7th following the first of the six stages and gradually worked his way up to 2nd, setting a stunningly fastest time on the final test. Ian Barrett in his Darrian had been 2nd, but dropped 4 places with a problem on that final stage. Frank Kelly commented afterwards, “It was a very good rally, great stages. My daughter Lauren stepped in at the last minute to co-drive and she did a super job!” Frank, who has over the last couple of years been heading off to various rallies around the world, will concentrate for the moment on getting his Escort, ‘Baby Blue’, ready for Donegal.

On the subject of Donegal, this coming weekend we have the Hotel Kilmore based Cavan Stages Rally, which is a round of both the Triton Showers and Border series and just as vital for some is that it will be a fabulous test for Donegal. Drivers such as Declan Boyle, Roy White, Josh Moffett, Garry Jennings, Peadar Hurson, Joe McGonigle and Donagh Kelly are all entered. The latter has a new Fiesta WRC at his disposal, his own Focus not being quite ready. The Fiesta will be run by Melvyn Evans. An interesting addition to the entry list is Darren Gass, who will drive Derek McGarrity’s Impreza S14, his main aim to warm up for Donegal following a couple of seasons away from the sport. All in all Cavan should be a hum-digger of a rally.

Another interesting Cavan entry is that of Paddy McVeigh in his Subaru Impreza WRC. Gary McElhinney, one of our most travelled and accomplished co-drivers, is sitting in with Paddy for this one. Gary is not that long home from Rally of Iringa in Tanzania where he took victory, with Ahmed Huwel driving. Their car was a Ford Fiesta Proto. So what is that? Well, it’s a sort of Fiesta with Evo X running gear. Gary explained, “The car was set up and run by Tapio Laukanen. I spent two days with him testing and then the driver, Ahmed, took over. The rally was very good, to FIA specification, a super-special and then special stages through the countryside. The top ten was pretty competitive, so it was good to take the win. Ahmed has asked me to do the rally in Zambia with him later on. I was the only ‘non-African’ competing and was treated like a king! We were presented with our awards by the most powerful lady in Tanzania, so it was all very special for someone from here!”

Back to Cavan: Declan Boyle leads the Triton points from Donagh Kelly. That battle in itself promises fireworks and with drivers such as Josh Moffett bidding to get his Championship back on track, doubly so. Cavan CoC Stephen Kellett has laid out a superbly challenging series of stages. The rally should be a major test of man & machine!

Brian & Liz Patterson