RALLY NEWS NO.1                Clonakilty – Saturding morning …early

 

West Cork man Liam McCarthy and his co-driver Kieran Murphy will lead a 151 strong field away on this year’s West Cork Rally. The pair drive a McKinstry prepared Subaru Impreza WRC, the same car that Jim Harrison used to win in Mayo last weekend. The car has the right pedigree. The big question now will be, can Liam string it all together over the course of this tough weekend to take victory on his local event. This will not be easy. The top two seeds, Donie O’Sullivan and Derek McGarrity, may be absent, but there is still a host of drivers in very good cars who will also be aiming for a win. Clerk of the course Brian O’Connell has laid out a tough course, but the stages are slightly more open than last year, to try and prevent a re-occurrence of the stage blockages which held up proceedings then.

 

Years ago this West Cork Rally was described as not just a rally, but an ‘occasion, a happening, wherein what happens depends on how far you are prepared to let your hair down!’ Don’t know about Liam letting his hair down, but the ball is in his court. Right from the first rally in 1977 when Billy Coleman won, the event has been a tough nut to crack. Liam has never won it. He’s come close, but that’s not the same. Can he do it this time? Drivers such as Donal O’Donovan, Denis Cronin, JJ Fleming and previous winner Bob Fowden will be doing their utmost to make sure he doesn’t!

 

O’Donovan drives McCarthy’s old Celica 205, a pretty powerful machine.  Donal does have a concern over the centre differential set up, so hopefully that will be OK.   Denis Cronin has his Impreza WRC refettled since its Galway outing and Denis feels the car is a whole lot better.  JJ Fleming drives possibly the fastest car in the rally, the latest Focus WRC.  Dom Buckley Jnr carried out an extensive test with the car in Ireland earlier this week, and apparently it is well set up.  Bob Fowden is also in a Subaru this year, and if past performances are anything to go by Bob will not be a mile away from the pace.  Steve Fleck is at No.8 in his Impreza WRC, and as ever his car looks very impressive indeed.  Nigel Hicklin at 9 drives a Skoda Octavia WRC.  The car is reckoned to be one of the quickest around in a straight line, its up to the Co. Antrim man to get it round the corners! Nigel’s co driver Sam McMullan suffered damaged ribs in a rally accident at Grizedale a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully he will be OK over the weekend.

 

Phil Collins is at No.10 in the highest seeded 2 wheel drive car. Collins’ Mk2 Escort has a 2.5 litre Millington engine and a Gartrac box, and is phenomenally quick.  Derek Brannigan is co driving for Phil this weekend.  Phil will be very much the benchmark for the 2wd competitors. 

 

The Group N category of the rally should supply its own interest.  James O’Sullivan is at 15, with Kieran O’Callaghan on the notes, in his Lancer.  023 Tiles man O’Sullivan is more or less on his home ground here and will be hard to beat. Trying to do just that will be Kevin O’Donoghue, Welshman Mark Morgan and Killarney’s John Hickey.  Willie John Dolan is debuting a new Impreza N11 here this weekend.  The Prodrive built car looks fabulous, but Willie John is determined to take it relatively easy and use this event as a familiarisation run for the Circuit of Ireland next weekend.  There are lots more good Group N drivers dotted throughout the field, not least Eoin Doyle of Suir Engineering seeded at No.39. 

 

There is also a Historic section to the event with lots of interesting drivers and cars. Gareth Lloyd of West Wales Rally Spares is competing in a drive to raise money for the Tsumani Appeal, his co driver Wyn Thomas donating over £500 for the privilege of sitting beside Gareth. John Farrell is at No.H2 with Brian Duggan co driving in an Escort.  Then its Todd Falvey/Dan Barry in a Porsche 911.  Frank Cunningham, normally associated with a Mini Cooper S, has switched to an Escort for this event.  Barry Duggan and Liam Sheehan make up the top 6.   Some further changes to entry include –  Gabriel Martin/Mark Kane with No.158 on their GpN Impreza starting in the top 20. Car 25 Gwyn Thomas non starting. Car 46 Owen Murphy and car 54 Ted O’Riordan also not making the start line.  Dan Maguire’s Legacy had cam shaft sensor trouble yesterday, and he was forced to withdraw, and then discovered that John Hickey had one, and he could have fitted it in 10 minutes, but it was too late. Such is the demand for entries, his slot was gone.

More news after Stage 1: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net