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RALLY NEWS NO.1
Marine Hotel Glandore/Saturday evening.. There wasn't even a ripple in the bay outside the Marine Hotel as the drivers arrived to sign on for this Fastnet Rally. The climatic peace and calm promised for the weekend will be in stark contrast to storm of action once the rally starts. At the head of the field we have some of the best drivers in the country, and a few from across the calm Irish Sea as well. Kenny McKinstry is the No1 seed in an S8 Impreza WRC, the same one as Jim Harrison took to victory on the recent Clare and Donegal Harvest events. Banbridge man Kenny seemed to be in top form when he signed on in Glandore, and judging by the look of him, his frame of mind, and knowing his love of these West Cork roads, it will be a fair driver who finishes ahead of him. Having said that, any of the top ten seeds, and a few outside of that even, are capable of winning. Clerk of the Course Donnacha Hayes has laid on a tough course, 9 fabulous big stages, every type of road, but hard on the cars and the drivers. Michael Barrable at No.2 is in a car the equal of McKinstry's. Dubliner Michael reports that his Impreza has had little more than a check over since it's last outing in Clare. Melvyn Evans at 3 has upgraded his Impreza to a 99 example, an ex Eamonn Boland/Kevin Barrett machine. Liam McCarthy at 4, a previous winner of the Fastnet, told us that the engineers have discovered a small fault in the throttle sensor of his Corolla WRC. That held the car back the whole way through the Cork 20, and with that problem sorted Liam could be a pacesetter here on his home territory. Liam is strongly placed for overall honours in the 023 Tiles Championship. Points leader Maurice Gass hasn't entered. Patrick Elliott at 5 is another in top form, really looking forward to the rally and he says his Subaru is in A1 shape. London based Limerick man Ollie O'Donovan is at 6. Ollie is always flamboyant behind the wheel and could revel in the conditions this weekend. Pete Doughty makes a welcome return to the rally and is at No.7 with Lyn Jenkins co-driving. Pete is driving the Escort WRC that brought him so much success a few years ago. The car was sold into Barbados a couple of years ago and has just been bought back by Mike Pattison. Pete is a talented engineer, as well as a driver, and is taking the opportunity of doing this rally to help sort the car out. David Armstrong at 8 has had a miserable season so far, mechanical mishaps and accidents at every turn, but perhaps it will all come good for David and his ex Melvyn Evans Escort WRC here in West Cork. Interestingly Steve Fleck at 9 has moved back a few years with his Impreza WRC, changing his 02 example back to a 99 and is much happier. English driver Steve, who lists his occupation as "bricklayer", only needs to get the car round in a half decent position to win the Get Connected championship, of which this is the final round. His main opposition for that title is Co. Down's Cahal Arthurs. Cahal runs at 12 in his Celica 205, with Tralee's Jakes Kelly co-driving, The irrepressible Phil Collins rounds off the top 10. Phil in his unbelievably quick Mk2 Escort is sure to have a big battle with Denis Cronin in his BMW M3 at 11. Denis and Phil the men to beat in the race for 2 wheel drive honours, also Anthony O'Halloran, James O'Sullivan and David James. Other drivers in the top 20 worth watching are - John Dalton at 13 in his Darrian. Tommy Graham at 14, his Impreza WRC needing no more than a check over following an impressive run on the Cork 20. Nigel Hicklin at 15, Nigel has a different co driver this weekend, Paul McCann. His regular co-driver Sam McMullan at home in Ballymena helping to look after his new baby. Tony Davies at 16 is driving the Impreza WRC just vacated by Melvyn Evans. Don Butler is at 19 in a Sierra and Clonakilty's Kieran O'Callaghan is at 20. Kieran drives the first of the GpN cars, his being Willie Fannin's Lancer. Willie himself drives a new series 9 Impreza. Group N could be a big feature of the rally, with Dominic Loughran, Paul McEnroe, Ray Hilliard and James Coleman just some fighting for the category. Further changes to entry include - Anthony Nestor with Tommy Graham. Elva Roe with Damian Cole at 22. Conor Foley is with Anthony O'Halloran. Richard Price with Willie Fannin and Michael Courtney with Dominic Loughran. Further non-starters include cars 17 and 18, Noel Redmond and Tom Holton. Nos. 27 & 28 PJ O'Farrell & Eoin Doyle. Cars 32, 33 and 37, Liam Wall, Shay Power and Willie McCarthy. Finally for now, our thoughts are still very much with Jamie Kent, the co-driver so badly hurt on the Cork '20' Latest news is that he continues to progress, but slowly, and has a long, long, way to go. More news from the rally in the morning..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net |
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ã 2003 www.rallynews.net (Patterson Agencies). All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Last update06/02/04 12:06:51
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