Looks like there's a few techy problems with the website so will post a link to the photo album for the Birr Autotest here instead
A great day was had by all, congratulations to Anthony Freeney who won the autotest section and John Nolan who won the road car/multivenue section
In a different time we would have made the trip to Abbeyleix for the Birr & District MC Stages Rally today. It would have heralded the start of the new tarmac rally season and more than likely attracted lots of new car/crew combinations getting ready for the Triton National and TROA Tarmac Championships.
Unfortunately we are all sitting at home wondering what might have been and looking at memories on the likes of Facebook and Instagram from previous years. For the time being we may hold tight and hope that we can get back on the stages and enjoy our beloved sport.
Here are a few memories from some of the events we attended over the years
Well as we all know 2020 didn't quiet pan out as many had hoped with the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic resulting in a large number of events either being cancelled or running behind closed doors and not allowing spectators.
Unfortunately it meant that our outings were also severely restricted resulting in attendance at 3 Rallies, 2 Multi Venue Trials, 1 Cars & Coffee meet and a charity Truck & Car Run. This was only a fraction of the events and shows that we had planned to attend during the year.
The year started off with a trip to Bray for the monthly Cars & Coffee meet up, as usual there was a diverse gathering of cars on site with lots of post Christmas chatter and banter.
Into February and we made the trip West for the first round of the Tarmac Rally Championship, the Galway International Rally. It had been a few years since we were in Galway for the rally but with the stages located close to Portumna the temptation was to much to resist.
With a number of new driver/car combinations it would prove to be an exciting opener to the Championship will Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble in a VW Polo GTi R5 coming away victorious from the Hyundai i20 R5 of Sam Moffett/James Fulton. Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley, also in a Polo, were just 1.7seconds behind Moffett & Fulton.
Next up was a visit to the forests and the Carrick on Suir MC Willie Loughman Forestry Rally. The stages as usual were based in Ahenny, Anner and Gurteen with each stage being run twice. James Wilson and Arthur Kierans were victorious in their Hyundai i20 R5 with Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan second in a Mitsubishi Evo8 and Liam Ryan/Keith Moriarity third in a Fiesta R5. Gary Kiernan and Daren O'Brien in fifth overall were best of the 2wd cars in their Mk2 Escort.
Little did we know a week after the Carrick Forestry that the trip to Abbeyleix for the Birr & District MC Stages Rally would be our last motorsport event for a number of months. With a large number of R5 cars and a handful of WRCars. Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes topped the time sheets at the end of the day in their Hyundai i20 R5 with the similar car of Desi Henry and John Rowan in second. The two Mellors Elliot Motorsport run Proton Iriz R5s of Ollie Mellors/Max Freeman and Eugene Donnelly/John McElhinney were third and fourth.
When the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in March the brakes were put on most motorsport events, some were allowed to run behind closed gates but there were strict restrictions to be adhered to. In August we were asked to attend the TDC Avoca River Trial in Arklow which brought a little hope that some other events might run and we'd get a chance capture some more motorsport action.
Christopher Evans (Toyota MRS) was quickest at the Avoca River Trial with Richard Meek in a Toyota Starlet finishing second while the Toyota Yaris 1800 of Eamonn Byrne finished 3rd.
Our year came to a premature end at the end of September with the John Nugent Memorial Truck and Car Run that started in New Ross and took in a route travelling through Enniscorthy, Ferns, Gorey, Carnew, Bunclody, Kiltealy and back to New Ross.
So with a restricted year and only a fraction of the usual events attended lets hope that 2021 will allow us get out to more events and get to see lots more action up and down the country and possibly a few events across the water.
We'd like to wish all our followers and viewers a Happy New Year and thank you for looking in on the site, fingers crossed we'll see you at a safe distance some where in 2021
