All systems go

It's all systems go for the start of the Irish Rallying and Racing seasons and it looks like there maybe some healthy battles on the back roads and race circuits of Ireland this year.

On the racing front the recent announcement by the Leinster Motor Club that they will host a 2 day race meeting at the Bishopscourt track on May 12th and 13th has got many competitors excited about this new challenge. It has taken almost six months since Gary Manning first contacted the circuit manager, Wilson McKibben, to get the track examined and approved (subject to certain works being undertaken). A further announcement of classes and the MSA santioned club which will be granted the permit to run the event will released shortly. Keep an eye on Leinster Motor Club and Bishopscourt Circuit for more news and details

One class that definitely plans to be in Bishipscourt in May is the Irish Touring Car Championship who themselves have made a few announcements in recent days. The first of these was the news that tyre manufacturer Yokohama is to be the title sponsor for this years championship and through their wide range of tyres supply the control tyre for all the cars competing this year. Support will also come from Yokohamas Irish dealer Murray Motorsport. The second announcement from the ITCC organisers was that the top points scorers in both Super Touring and Touring classes at the Bishops Court event, Rounds 3 and 4, will win a VIP trip to the WTCC event in Estoril, Portugal. With this added incentive the Bishopscourt event will be eagerly contested by all drivers. More info on the championship can be found on ITCC

Meanwhile the start of the rally action in Ireland for 2012 actually heads for the race circuits this weekend with the UAC run New Years Stages taking part at Kirkistown on Saturday and COC Ronnie Mitchell is pleased to say that over 60 entries have been submitted for the event with Derek McGarrity and Derek McGeehan using the event to test their latest aquasitions, either a FOcus WRC or S14 Impreza for McGarrity and a John Cooper Works Mini Cooper for McGeehan, also entered for Saturdays event is Kenny McKinstry who will be behind the wheel of one of his hire fleet Imprezzas.

Video of handover and test of the McGeehan Motorsport MINI WRC

On Sunday the annual IRCA Marshals payback day happens when a group of marshals from all over the country get treated to some highspeed passenger laps of the Mondello race track as a way of saying thank you for their help on the events during the year. The list of drivers and cars so far includes the following

No	First Name	Surname	Car	Class
1	Eamon	Bates	Swift1.3	1
2	Larry	Power	Swift1.3	1
3	Patrick	Johnson	Astra 2.0	2
4	Michael	Melia	Sierra 2.5	2
5	William	Lawerence	Escort 2.0	2
6	Donal	Ryan	Impreza 2.0	3
7	Jason	Ryan	Starlet 1.6	1
8	Patrick	Ryan	Civic 2.0	2
9	Brian	Kirwin	Escort 2.1	2
10	Niall	Fortune	Escort 2.1	2
11	Neill	Perry	Sierra 4x4	3
12	Brian	Smith	Corolla 1.6	1
13	Paul	Browne	Civic 1.6	1
14	John	Pringle	Escort 2.0	2
15	Ben	Donnelly	Escort 2.0	2
16	Joe	McCarthy	Civic 1.6	1
17	Anthony	Breen	Impreza 2.0	3
18	Moss	Fitzgerald	Corolla 1.6	1
19	Patrick	Donegan	Escort 2.4	2
20	Nicky	Brunton	Civic 1.6	1
21	Anthony	Masterson	Integra 1.8	2
22	Colin	Roche	Starlet 1.6	1
23	David	Coady	Swift 1.3	1
24	Leon	Galvin	Escort 1.6	1
25	Fergal	O' Connell	Starlet 1.6	1
26	Adrian	McElvanny	subaru 555
27	Moris	Moffit	Starlet 2.5
28	David	Moffit	starlet 2.0
29	Anthony	Hand	Escort 2.0
30	Gavin	Furhey	Escort 2.0
31	Declan	Stafford	civic 1.6
32	George	Condell	Striker 2.0
33	Ian	Barrett	subaru 555
34	Paul	Barrett	evo 6
35	Kevin	Barrett	subaru wrc
36	Kenny	Mckinstry	subaru wrc
37	Joe	Connolly	escort2.5
38	Gary	Mcphillips	escort 2.5
39	Jim	McKenna	escort 2.5
40	Martin	Mcphillips	Corolla 1.6
41	Ed	Colton	Peugeot306

This year the IRCA have teamed up with the Share A Dream charity and will be provided some passenger runs for some children linked to the charity. If you wish to make a donation you can on the day or follow the IRCA donation link on My Charity http://www.mycharity.ie/event/irca_marshals_day

A seeded entry list for the Galway Int Rally is expected shortly and with entries having surpassed the 170 mark it has proven that the idea of shortening the event to a single day has been successful. More info on the rally can be found on the Galway Motor Club Website

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