Steve Perez moves on from competing with his Focus WRC on the Wales Rally GB to tackle the Classic Killarney stages over the weekend of 6^th/7^th December in his Porsche 911. The Vodka Kick boss is also supplying a post-historic Porsche for seven times Tarmac Champion Jimmy McRae.

Former Ulster Rally Clerk of the Course Peter Scott is co-driving for Perez in Killarney. Scott, formerly from Belfast but who now runs the famous Bretts Fish Restaurant beside Headingly cricket ground, recalls, "I’ve competed three times over the Molls Gap stage when it was part of the Circuit of Ireland. In ’77 it was with Billy Coleman in a Lancia Stratos and we were 2^nd, with Dessie McCartney in the works Sunbeam in ’79 when we were 5^th, with Ernest Kidney in the Dawson Nissan (’82) when we were 3^rd. Happy Days!"

Arctic Rally winner Passi Hagstrom is scheduled to drive the official Subaru WRC S9 at a rallysprint in the re-juvenated Titanic Quarter in Belfast on December 12^th/13^th. Details on the actual event are so far sparse.

Top Mk2 Escort men Gerry Smyth, Cyril McCullagh, Brian Armstrong and Peter Rogers head the 131 entries for this weekend’s Cavan MC Stage event at Bailieborough. Maurice Moffett in his Peugeot, seeded at 2, breaks the Escort domination on the event that features a 10 mile stage repeated three times and is backed by the HQ Hotel Bailie and O’Briens SuperValu .

There was frantic activity at Derek McGarrity’s Glengormley workshop last Wednesday when they got a call to supply an Impreza WRC S8 to Cyprus to replace Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah’s similar model which was burned in a testing incident. Maurice Gass’s car was quickly readied, whistled over to Heathrow and Nasser won the Troodos Rally with it.

This Sunday’s Suirway Forklifts Stage Rally is based at Carrick on Suir’s Carraig Hotel and the Mill River Business Park. 131 cars will tackle the 9.3 mile Slievenamon based stage, repeated three times, with service at Grangemockler. GSMC rally winner Pat Donegan heads the list, with Tommy Kiely, Michael Reddy, James O’Sullivan, David James and Liam Wall, all in Escorts, the top six seeds.

OBITUARY

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Brian G Thornton. Brian was the press officer for the Galway International Rally for many years, and also President of Galway MC. He was a highly respected motoring journalist with the Connacht Tribune. Brian was a very special man, almost from another era, a gentleman. Our deepest sympathies go to his wife Pamela, daughter Susan and sons Ralph and Graeme.

Regards, Brian Patterson.