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| Fastnet Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.1 - Bantry - Saturday @ 19:07:28 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.1 Bantry/Saturday evening
The ceremonial start of this Westlodge Hotel backed Fastnet Rally in the centre of the welcoming little harbour town of Bantry will see the flag drop on what should be another weekend of thrilling high speed action. Clerk of the Course Ger Hayes has laid out a real classical series of special stages this year, employing fabulous roads with enormous heritage – the route traverses the `Goats Path` skirting Bantry Bay along with the Mizen Head stage, partly along the coastline of Dunmanus Head. In addition there is the challenging Mount Gabriel as the 3rd stage in the loop. Each loop is due to be traversed three times. So it will be a big challenge for the drivers.
Top seed is East Cork`s Daragh O`Riordan, with Derry man Tony McDaid co-driving in their state of the art Fiesta WRC. Plant hire man Daragh has just completed a hat trick of Cork `20` International victories, and he is bidding this weekend to complete a hat trick of Fastnet wins. What a special achievement that would be for the Midleton man. Several drivers will of course be trying to make sure he doesn`t capture his goal. Not least amongst them is Hugh Hunter who makes the trip all the way from Ruthin in North Wales to drive his Subaru WRC here in this Southwest corner of Ireland. Hunter will be co-driven as usual by Andy Marchbank, and the pair gave a clear demonstration of their speed when they won the recent Galway Summer Rally.
A surprise late entry here in Bantry is Ballylickey`s Denis Cronin in his Subaru WRC. Denis has won the Fastnet twice before and is a previous Southern Four Champion as well. He hasn`t been doing so much rallying this year, but this is an event he loves. He is co-driven this time by the very capable Coleman Hurley. It will be no surprise if Denis makes a conservative start and then ramps up the pace throughout the day to make a real challenge for a podium place, maybe even the top step! Talking of podiums. A real dark horse could be Clonmel`s Roy White. Roy will be co-driven by the vastly experienced James O`Brien in his MGS2000. In theory Roy`s 2 litre normally aspirated MG should be no match for the World Rally Cars. However that is not the way computer genius Roy sees it. Another driver worth keeping an eye on is young Dan O`Brien (Focus WRC), he will start at No.12.
This is just the tip of the iceberg as regards the entries here this weekend. It is not beyond the bounds of possibilities that we could have a real surprise winner, such is the toughness of the course and the unpredictable weather. To add intrigue to the mix, the rally is the final counter in several Championships including the Dunlop National MI Championship and the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 series. The overall Dunlop title has been decided, but there promises to be a big battle here for the rally.ie division – Donegal man Declan Gallagher in his amazing rear wheel drive Starlet holds the edge over Monghan`s Jonathan Pringle in his Escort. These two are seeded in the top ten and will surely set the roads alight this weekend in their battle for the 2wd title. Another big Championship battle will be for the Southern 4 C/ship title. It was thought that Daragh O`Riordan had won it, but a recalculation of the points shows that Stephen Carey and Wesley Patterson, both in Escorts, could take the title, as well as Daragh O`Riordan.
Some last minute stories include former Tarmac GpN Champion Jer O`Donovan has Mark Bowen co-driving, as his usual man on the notes, Sean Hayde, is away doing a rally in Quebec. This will be Jer`s first competitive outing in his Subaru since last year`s Fastnet. Non-starters who were listed in the top 10 include Kevin Barrett, James Stafford, Pat Donegan and Eoin Doyle. Denis Cronin will carry the No.14 on his Subaru and start 2nd on the road.
More news tomorrow: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real-RallyNews
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