Change of plan means a visit to the Stages

Well what should have been a preview write up for the Race Retro Show in Stoneleigh near Coventry this is now a preview to the first round of the National Rally Championship supported by Triton Showers.

The Birr and District Motor Club host Round 1 of the rejuvenated National Rally Championship, which is this year sponsored by Triton Showers after the long running backing of the championship by Dunlop Tyres came to an end last year. The change in title sponsor and some slight changes in the championship has seen a massive interest in the Abbeyleix based event with a quality entry that the likes of hasn't been seen for a number of years. Numerous events have drawn good entries but this weekend sees not just a quality top 10 or top 20 but a great top 50.

It has been a few years since I have been to the Birr Rally and the last visit was in 2010 when Niall Maguire ran first on the road with now Championship sponsor Kevin Barrett next up, this year Niall runs with number 10 on the doors with Kevin a few cars ahead at number 7

Niall Maguire/Barry Goodman Birr Rally 2010

This years top 20 is reminiscent of the entry lists we were used to during the boom times with a high number of WRCars, good Group N's and some quick Mk2 Escorts

No 1	Driver  Declan Boyle	Navigator Brian Boyle	Class 7	Car Subaru Imperza S12B
2	Donagh Kelly	Kevin Flanagan	7	Ford Focus WRC
3	Garry Jennings	Rory Kennedy	7	Subaru Impreza S12B
4	Darren Gass	James McCarville	7	Subaru Impreza WRC S14
5	Roy White	James O'Brien	20	MG ZR S2400
6	Peadar Hurson	Damien Connolly	7	Subaru Impreza WRC
7	Kevin Barrett	Sean Mullally	7	Subaru Impreza S14
8	John Stone	Carl Williamson	7	Skoda Fabia WRC
9	Steve Wood	Keith Moriarty	7	Subaru Impreza WRC
10	Niall Maguire	Enda Sherry	7	Subaru Impreza S11
11	Alan Ring	Adrian Deasy	7	Subaru Impreza S12B
12	Kevin Kelleher	Ray Fitzpatrick	7	Subaru Impreza WRC
14	Declan Gallagher	Ryan Moore	13	Toyota GT86
15	Frank Kelly	Liam Brennan	14	Ford Escort
16	Craig Breen	Andy Hayes	13	Ford Escort
17	Mike Quinn	Donal Balfe	14	Ford Escort
18	Jonathan Pringle	Martin Byrne	14	Ford Escort
19	Chris Armstrong	James Fulton	13	Ford Escort
20	Gary Kiernan	Niall Tierney	13	Ford Escort
21	Shane Maguire	Stephen Thornton	4	Mitsubishi Evo 9

It's great to see a strong presence from the front runners in the Tarmac Championship at the front of the field plus some welcome visitors from across the water, John Stone/Carl Williamson in their Skoda Fabia WRC, Steve Wood with Keith Moriarty on the notes in an Impreza WRC  and Simon Chapman, navigated by Monaghan man Arthur Kierans, in a Millington powered Proton Satria. Special praise must go to Dom Buckley IRS for their tireless work in preparing John Stones "Team Legend" Fabia after a fire on the North West Stages in Blackpool a couple of weeks ago. Everything looked complete and ready in time until an ECU failure yesterday. After frantic searching one was located in Belgium and rather than be let down by a courier, flights were arranged and a person dispatched to collect the vital piece of the puzzle and then hope it was compatible with the car........The good news is it arrived back to Buckleys today and works so the car is on it's way to the Abbeyleix.

The Boyle cousins from Donegal will be hoping for a good start in the defence of their National Title after their unfortunate penalty on the Tarmac Championship operner in Galway a couple of weeks ago but with the presence of Donagh Kelly and Garry Jennings they might not have things their own way while Roy White, Kevin Barrett, Maguire and Alan Ring will be hoping to mix it in with the "big boys" at the front.

Craig Breen takes time out from his WRC and ERC schedules to take part in James Colemans Mk2 Escort, Andy Hayes will be on navigating duties for Craig this weekend. Meanwhile Eugene Donnelly swaps seats and will be navigating for Mark Kane in a Mk2 Escort. Another interesting addition to the entry list this weekend is the Toyota GT86 which is to be driven by Declan Gallagher. The car which has been built by Davey Greers DGMsport concern is being loaned to Gallagher for the weekend by fellow Donegal man and Toyota Dealer Brendan Kelly.

photo via David Greer @cadgerrally on Twitter

The HQ for the event will be the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel with Scrutiny held at Oliver Stanley Motors in Durrow. First car is away from parc ferme on Sunday morning at 09.00 with the first stage due to start at 10.02. The stages, based near Borris in Ossery, Roscrea and Rathdowney, will be run in a 3 x 3 format with service after stages 3 and 6 and first car due in to those services at 11.45 and 14.15. The winners are due back at the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel at 17.05(approx)

Full entry list, details of program outlets etc can be found on Birr Motor Club website
Results will be available on http://results.shannonsportsit.ie

If you are going out spectating please remember to obey the officials and marshals and stand in a safe place as motorsport can be dangerous

TDC Dave Griffin Memorial Multi Venue Autotest 25/01/2015

A cool but dry Mondello Park welcomed the 47 competitors who turned up to take part in yesterdays TDC Dave Griffin Memorial MVAT. Along with the good entry a large band of marshals and timekeepers were also on hand to oversee proceedings which were closely governed by Tim Faulkner and Mark Doran. With a large entry and split group system it meant that all tests would start at the same time in order to keep a steady flow of cars at each test location around the track and perimeter car parks.

Apart from the strong local and club entry there were also a a good representation from the midlands including Eoin Longworth, Ronan Shanahan, Mick Boland, Frank Dwyer and a few other Birr Motor Club members and a strong presence of Northern Irish drivers, Will Corry, James Wilson, Robert Woodside, Simon and Jack Brien, James Colville and John Kelly.

With tests starting at 10am it wasn't long until Will Corry, driving his MeGa Midget, had thrown down the gauntlet to the opposition and set fastest time on four of the first five tests to open up a 6 second lead over the Mini of James Wilson with the Mazda MX5 of Robert Woodside a further 7 seconds in arrears. Best of the locals was Eamonn Byrne (Starlet) in fourth just 2 seconds off Woodsides total for the five tests, but he had Eddie Peterson in a Mini biting at his heels, just 1 second separating the multi Hewison Autotest Champions.

Will Corry

Once the first loop of tests was completed it was straight into the second loop where Corry was at the top of the time sheets on all five tests and as others had penalties or made slight mistakes he kept things neat and tidy but unbelievably quick to extend the lead over Wilson who was flying through the tests in the little Mini

James Wilson

but was no match for the K series engined Corry Midget. Eamonn Byrne had moved up to third after Woodside had incurred a couple of time penalties which dropped him back to joint 4th with Peterson. Darren Quille who is normally seen autotesting a RWD Sportscar was sharing his dads Mitsubishi Colt and setting some good times to hold onto sixth just ahead of the MX5 of Piers MacFheorais.

Eddie Peterson

The third loop of tests saw the Woodside MX5 record a couple of fastest test times as the damp track dried out and this saw the Ballynure man reclaim third position behind Corry and Wilson, the three Northern drivers stretching out an advantage at the front, Peterson remained 4th with Darren Quille slotting into 5th ahead of Byrne, who missed a test when the lunch break was called and forgot to go back to it after the break, the resulting fail ruining his chances of clawing back time on the leaders.

Eamonn Byrne

The final loop of tests saw Corry and Woodside tie for time on three tests and Corry fastest on the two others. The quick times from the Mazda driver meant he overhauled Wilson's Mini to take 2nd place. Meanwhile some good times from Quille near the end saw him go 13 seconds faster than Peterson and jump into 4th place.

Robert Woodside

Byrne remained in sixth with a hard charging John Kelly, in another Corry built Midget, finishing 7th. Nova driver Richard Meeke tied for time with Kelly but the Northern Irish driver got the 7th spot by virtue of being quickest of the two on the opening test. Piers MacFheorais encountered some cooling issues which hampered his progress but he still managed to hold on to a top 10 result. The final spot in the top ten went the way of Simon Brien in another Midget after brake issues with the car earlier saw his son Simon step down from double driving the car in order to preserve the car for his dad.

Simon Brien

Darren Quille

The large entry of rear wheel drive cars meant there was no shortage of entertainers with Joe Doran (Manta), Danny O'Donoghue (Mk1 Escort), Mark Walsh (Escort Mk2) along with the Midgets and MX5s all "playing" for the camera, there was even the odd Starlet trying to get in on the act too.

Kevin Fagan

Danny O'Donoghue

Joe Doran

John Kelly

Mark Walsh

Results:

1 Will Corry (MG Midget) 1501s,

2 Robert Woodside Jnr (Mazda MX5) 1546s,

3 James Wilson (Mini) 1550s,

4 Darren Quille (Colt) 1578s,

5 Eddie Peterson (Mini) 1581s,

6 Eamonn Byrne (Starlet) 1584s,

7 John Kelly (MG Midget) 1623s,

8 Richard Meeke (Nova) 1623s,

9 Piers MacFheorais (Mazda MX5) 1624s,

10 Simon Brien (MG Midget) 1640s,

11 Liam Cashman (Starlet) 1649s,

12 Kevin O'Rourke (Starlet) 1668s.

Class winners: Liam Cashman, James Wilson, Robert Woodside Jnr, Joe Doran (Opel Manta) 1712s

Full results on TDC Ireland

More photos on Peespeed Photography

Next outing: Cars & Coffee, Cherrywood, Dublin 1/2/15.....(weather dependant)

Back to the Lanes

After last weekends trip to the one day event in Enniscorthy and doing a bit more horsey photography it's a return to the lanes and a trip to the QUB Targa (Lanes) Rally this weekend. This years event moves to new territory and will be based at the Baronscourt Estate in Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone. The new venue gives COC Clifford Auld a chance to explore areas that haven't been used before for Lanes events with the forests in the area being last used for motorsport almost 30 years ago when partily used on the Bushwacker Rally. Cliffords hard work in sorting the new tests has been rewarded with a maximum entry of 70 crews eager to try out the new tests. Apart from all the usual Lanes competitiors a number of entries from Scotland have also been received which will add to the excitement wondering who will master the new tests. So the big  questions are FWD or RWD?? Imperial or Metric?? and with a capacity entry with some of the top Lanes competitors it's a good man...or woman that will predict a winner.

Top 15 entries
1 Eamonn Byrne Joanna Lenehan Starlet
2 Robert Woodside Jr Deane Beckett MX5
3 Daniel Byrne Ian McCullough Starlet
4 Alan Harryman Suz Graham MX5
5 Mark Woodside Andy Blair MX5
6 Richard Meeke Alex Lyons Nova
7 Ronnie Griffin Kevin Fagan MGB
8 Neil Campbell Sandy Horne Mk1 Escort
9 John Kelly Mark (sparkles) Falkner MG Midget
10 Frank Lenehan Olwen Blair Starlet
11 Colin (cuddy) Wallace Craig (Buster) Wallace Kermit the Saab
12 Andy Hughes Neil Anderson Paul the pug
13 Alistair Barker Colleen Barker Tigra
14 Neil Fletcher Laura Fletcher Mk1 Escort
15 Norman Ferguson TBA 106

Full entry HERE

A few pics from last years event

Best of luck to Clifford and the QUB on running the event, looking forward to getting out on the tracks and snapping a few pics........Where's Waldo?????

Photos from the event and a brief review will be online on Sunday afternoon

Peter

A Return to the Rally Stages

Well it's been two months since I was last at a rally and that was across the water when I went to the first round of the BRC (British Rally Championship) at the start of May in Carlisle. So a last minute decision was made Friday night to go to the ALMC Stages Rally which was based in Trim in Co. Meath. The main reason for going was to see some of the crews over from the UK who are competing in the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. The main championship contendors Steve Simpson, Damien Cole, John Stone and Graham Coffey would battle it out on the stages with non championship drivers like Hugh Hunter, Mick O'Brien and Garry Jennings.

Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh

Changeable conditions during the day would see numerous changes in the leader board with tyre choice being a deciding factor. Another element of the stages to catch a number of competitors out during the day were the bales used for chicanes and to protect sign posts, and property along the route. First to fall foul of these was Adrian Hetherington, who had Nigel Frazer alongside him in the Escort. They clipped a bale on SS2 which resulted in instant retirement, then on SS4 Steve Simpson and Patrick Walsh retired their Impreza after heavy contact with a bale, the damage resulting in a canceled stage. Garry Jennings and Barry McNulty would be the next front running crew to retire when a technical issue saw them park the Impreza S12 on SS6 

Garry Jennings/Barry McNulty 

With Jennings out Hugh Hunter and Andy Marchbank had a clear lead in their Impreza but there was a great battle brewing between John Stone/Carl Williamson (Skoda Fabia WRC) and Focus WRC crews Damien Cole/Elliott Edmonson and Mick O'Brien/James O'Brien for 2nd, 3rd and 4th places. Stone and Williamson held a slight advantage after SS8 but they had tyres which suited the wetter conditions of SS7 & SS8 and the drying surfaces on the last stage saw both the Focus WRC's overhaul the Fabia, with both Cole and O'Brien tying for time at the end but Coles faster run on SS1 netted him the runner up spot.

John Stone/Carl Williamson

A welcome addition to the entry was the Fiesta S2400 of Pete Taylor and Andrew Roughead and the Millington engined Proton Satria of David and Allie Tinn. Unfortunately the Fiesta didn't make t to the finish but both it and the Proton looked and sounded great on the stages. Also present was a crowd favorite, the MG Metro 6R4 of Simon Chapman and Michael Calvert, there's just something about the sound of the V6 engine coming in th distance, an unmistakable note that raises the excitement level among old and young alike.

Simon Chapman/Michael Calvert

Top two wheel drive finisher was the hard charging Frank Kelly, who had Jackie Elliott in to try and keep control in Baby Blue. They finished a very credible 6th overall 24 seconds behind the impressive Alex Laffey and Jack Morton in the Fiesta R5+

Further down the order the junior event was won by the 106 Rallye of Brian Brady and Leonard Tuite

A few other shots from the day

With the changeable conditions it was hard to get some clear shots, either got massive glare or alot of darkness when the clouds came in but it was good to get back out on the stages, might be a while before I see tar or gravel roads again.

Rally Results: HERE

Photos on Peespeed Photography

Next event for Peespeed Photography is the QUB Summer Lanes on Saturday 19th July

Peter

TDC Multivenue Autotest aka "JJ's Event"

Last Sunday a small but eager entry descended on Puddenhill Activity Centre just outside Ashbourne in Co. Meath for the first of the annual charity multi venue autotests organised by the Trial Drivers Club. Under the guidance of JJ Farrell the large band of marshals was being assigned their various instructions and paperwork while the competitors carried out the formalities of "signing on" with Paul Phelan. Despite the entry lacking in quantity it certainly had quality in abundance with Eamonn Byrne, Robert Dickson, Frank Lenehan, James Wilson, Dermot Carnegie, Damien Doran, Andrew O' Donohoe, Liam Cashman and Richard Meeke in attendance.

A total of 17 tests were planned for the day with a lunch halt scheduled after test 11. The first test took place in the car park and yard at Puddenhill where James Wilson in his Mini set fastest time by almost 1 second, showing he would be pushing for the win from the start. Next up was Eamonn Byrne using the trusty metric Starlet with Mini man Robert Dickson third fastest and Dermot Carnegie who was also in a Mini. The next test was a short distance away at Tully's Yard. This test had seen the late Vincent Fagan act as marshal/timekeeper over the years and in his memory the Fagan family would run the test, but also judge the competitors as a special entertainer award was announced in the days leading up to the event. again it was Wilso who topped the time sheet here followed by Byrne and Dickson.

Mark Walsh doing his best to entertain in Tullys Yard

Test three at Shields Plan Hire saw Wilson go quickest again by just over two seconds from Byrne who was just .7 seconds quicker than Liam Cashman (Starlet) who had Damien Doran, also in a Starlet, in hot pusuit just one tenth of a second behind.
After three tests the results were
1. James Wilson 174.8
2. Eamonn Byrne 178.5
3. Liam Cashman 183.9
4. Andrew O'Donohoe 187.3
5. Robert Dickson 188.1
6. Frank Lenehan 188.2
Next up was Lenehan's and this time it was Eamonn Byrne who was joint quickest with Richard Meeke and Kevin O'Rourke, 1 second ahead of Wilson who stopped the watch with the same time as Frank Lenehan. Test 5 saw Wilson claw back the second lost to Byrne on the previous test. Liam Cashman was margianlly quicker than Byrne here. The test at Platin Grain saw the white Mini of Wilson quickest again despite a slight problem with the cars left hand rear shock,

Cashman was second quickest here again followed by Byrne, Carnegie, Lenehan and Dickson. 

After 6 tests the results the top 6 were

1. James Wilson 350.7
2. Eamonn Byrne 356.1
3. Liam Cashman 362.9
4.  Frank Lenehan 367.3
5. Andrew O'Donohoe 374.7
6. Damien Doran 376.6

The next three tests were split between Butterly's yard and Cannonstown farm just outside Drogheda, the first of the tests in Butterly's suiting the Minis as Wilson, Dickson and O'Donohoe were the three quickest on it and O'Donohoe and Wilson were top two on the second Butterlys test and Wilso scoring another quickest on Cannonstown Farm. Test 10 brought the competitors over near Slane Castle and the first of two quarry tests where Byrne's Starlet lead a Starlet trio at the top of the time sheets with Damien Doran 2nd quickest followed by Cashman. Robert Dickson was quickest of the Minis just .1 ahead of Wislon. The second test in the quarry saw Wilson push hard and go quickest yet again with Doran 2nd fastest. Byrne and Lenehan rounded out the top 4 here

Due to the dry spell it was very dusty in the quarry and it more resembled a stage on the Acropolis Rally that an autotest

After the 2nd quarry test it was time for the lunch halt at Stackallen Tennis Club where there was time to wash the dust down, compare times and stories and carryout running repairs to any damage done.

After lunch it was back to Shield's, Lenehan's and Tullys where Wilson was on top at two of the tests and Cashman took the honors on the third with Byrne in close contention each time. A return to the quarry saw Damien Doran claim fastest time on both tests

The final test took place at Puddenhill and saw Byrne claim another test with O'Donohoe second quickest but the day belonged to James Wilson who has tried for a number of years to win "JJ's event" but suffered with small problems and mechanical failure.

Top 12 results

1 James Wilson(Mini) 1017.6s,

2 Eamonn Byrne (Starlet) 1031.9s,

3 Liam Cashman (Starlet) 1048.3s,

4 Damien Doran (Starlet) 1064.5s,

5 Frank Lenehan (Starlet) 1067.1s,

6 Andrew O’Donohoe (Mini) 1067.4s,

7 Robert Dickson (Mini) 1072.3s,

8 Dermot Carnegie (Mini) 1083.9s,

9 Richard Meeke (Starlet) 1084.0s,

10 Declan Hendrick (Starlet) 1087.8s,

11 John McAssey (Starlet) 1094.6s,

12 Philip O'Reilly (Starlet) 1108.6s.

full results : HERE

Thanks to JJ Farrell, TDC, all the marshals, timekeepers, land owners and competitors for a great days craic. Well done to James on finally getting that elusive win on the event, maybe Eamonn will bring out the Mini next year and reclaim the trophy

A few photos from the day

More photos on the website 

www.peespeed.com

Peter