CORK MOTOR CLUB
Over 30 years of motorsport
Scally wags on Scally Rally
Here's to all
who helped from
Conor,
John
and
Nigel
CMC members John Harrington, Conor O'Neill & Nigel Coulter competed on the recent Scally Rally, a charity run of 1,000 miles and raised €2705.17. They featured in living colour on UTV on Thursday, October 2, 2008.
Club members' training night
CMC organised a training and information night on Tuesday October 7 at 8pm. No club meeting. While it is aimed at new club members, all members are welcome to attend.
The event took place at the Showgrounds, Centre Park Road, Cork (near CAB Motors).
Contact Brian O'Connell on 086 2651970 if you will be attending.
Hewison Autotest 2008
Event report and full results available here. Cork Motor Club's Hewison Autotest took place on Sunday September 7, 2008 and proved very successful. COC Brian O'Connell sends his thanks to everyone who helped on the day.
JIM WALSH CORK FOREST RALLY 2008
Download final RESULTS here
Ray Breen and navigator Martin Brady took victory on the Tadhg O Conaill Heating & Plumbing Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally last Saturday and in doing so ensured that the Hankook Tyres National Forest Rally Championship goes down to the final round Birr.
John Reid was leading the championship by a slender one point margin coming to Cork after Breen posted a DNF on the last round in Wexford so a good points score here was vital to both competitors.
Breen made his intentions known early on, posting a time of 4.34.4 on the opening Bweeng stage which gave him fastest time,he was almost 10 seconds faster than Reid here.
It was a similar story on stage 2,Coolfree and after the morning stages were complete Breen had been fastest on all four stages and was looking comfortable heading out to the afternoon stages in the massive Ballyhoura complex.
Stage 5,Streamhill, was the stage where concentration would be vital though, so there was no thought of backing off at this stage,maximum attack means maximum concentration so Breen attacked and stopped the clocks at the end of the massive 22 kms on 12.50.5,commenting at the end "there was a lot of places in there where you could easily throw it all away".Breens time on the stage meant another stage win with Corks Owen Murphy second fastest on the stage in an EVO 9 and thoroughly enjoying his return to the loose.Murphy was swapping times with the top crews throughout the rally as indeed was the battling crew of Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan who brought there MK 2 Escort to an incredible 3rd fastest at the end of the 22 kms.
John Reid launched his own attack on stage 6 taking the stage win and two seconds back from Breen but he needed to maintain this pace for the remainder of the rally if he was to have any hope of hauling the flying Breen in.
Owen Murphy was second fastest on 6 beating Breen into third on the stage by just 0.1 of a second.
This,however,acted as a wake up call for Breen who went into the second run over the 22 km Streamhill stage totally committed and came out the end a full 12 seconds faster than his first run through but more importantly 14.1 seconds faster than Colin Britton who was second fastest here with Owen Murphy third fastest on 12.56.6 and John Reid fourth fastest on 13.14.0.
John Reid again took fastest time on stages 7 and 8 but realistically Breen had enough done at this point.
Owen Murphy,navigated by Rodney Hicks, brought his EVO 9 home in a very creditable second place after a two year absence from the woods but the drive of the rally HAD to be that of Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan who came in third overall in their Mk 2 Escort at the end of the epic 100 stage kms.
The Cork Motor Club experiment of running one long day instead of their usual two day format proved to be the right decision and it kept the costs down for all involved without losing too many stage kms,but it also meant that the crews could a well earned overnight rest at the end of a hard day before heading for home on Sunday.
C.O.C. Darren McCarthy wishes to pass on his thanks to everyone who helped make the rally the huge success it was.
Ray Breen and navigator Martin Brady took victory on the Tadhg O Conaill Heating & Plumbing Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally last Saturday and in doing so ensured that the Hankook Tyres National Forest Rally Championship goes down to the final round Birr.
John Reid was leading the championship by a slender one point margin coming to Cork after Breen posted a DNF on the last round in Wexford so a good points score here was vital to both competitors.
Breen made his intentions known early on, posting a time of 4.34.4 on the opening Bweeng stage which gave him fastest time,he was almost 10 seconds faster than Reid here.
It was a similar story on stage 2,Coolfree and after the morning stages were complete Breen had been fastest on all four stages and was looking comfortable heading out to the afternoon stages in the massive Ballyhoura complex.
Stage 5,Streamhill, was the stage where concentration would be vital though, so there was no thought of backing off at this stage,maximum attack means maximum concentration so Breen attacked and stopped the clocks at the end of the massive 22 kms on 12.50.5,commenting at the end "there was a lot of places in there where you could easily throw it all away".Breens time on the stage meant another stage win with Corks Owen Murphy second fastest on the stage in an EVO 9 and thoroughly enjoying his return to the loose.Murphy was swapping times with the top crews throughout the rally as indeed was the battling crew of Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan who brought there MK 2 Escort to an incredible 3rd fastest at the end of the 22 kms.
John Reid launched his own attack on stage 6 taking the stage win and two seconds back from Breen but he needed to maintain this pace for the remainder of the rally if he was to have any hope of hauling the flying Breen in.
Owen Murphy was second fastest on 6 beating Breen into third on the stage by just 0.1 of a second.
This,however,acted as a wake up call for Breen who went into the second run over the 22 km Streamhill stage totally committed and came out the end a full 12 seconds faster than his first run through but more importantly 14.1 seconds faster than Colin Britton who was second fastest here with Owen Murphy third fastest on 12.56.6 and John Reid fourth fastest on 13.14.0.
John Reid again took fastest time on stages 7 and 8 but realistically Breen had enough done at this point.
Owen Murphy,navigated by Rodney Hicks, brought his EVO 9 home in a very creditable second place after a two year absence from the woods but the drive of the rally HAD to be that of Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan who came in third overall in their Mk 2 Escort at the end of the epic 100 stage kms.
The Cork Motor Club experiment of running one long day instead of their usual two day format proved to be the right decision and it kept the costs down for all involved without losing too many stage kms,but it also meant that the crews could a well earned overnight rest at the end of a hard day before heading for home on Sunday.
C.O.C. Darren McCarthy wishes to pass on his thanks to everyone who helped make the rally the huge success it was.
CMC BUN FIGHT
The CMC Bun Fight (Club dinner) took place in Morans Silver Springs Hotel,Tivoli,Cork on Saturday 5th of January 2008.
In
excess of 400 people attended the event at which the awards for the
2007 Cork Motor Club Championship were presented. In addition, the club
hosted the awards ceremony for the 2007 023 Tiles Southern 4 Rally
Championship.
The club wish to thank Caroline Kearney and Trish Hogan for all their hard work involved in organising a great night.
RALLYSPRINT - James Doherty wins
In a tense final of three runs, James Doherty took victory on the CMC Rallysprint. A head-to-head battle with Keith Cronin saw James clock a spectacular 1.07 time in his Toyota Starlet.
David James took second in his Ford Focus WRC, with Ballylickey's
Denis Cronin clinching 3rd with a fine display in his nephew Keith
Cronin's Mitsubishi Evo 9.
Full results are available to download HERE.
The club wish to thank COC Paul Casey and his team for running a fine event, and all the marshals and competitors that turned up on the day.
Photos from the event are available courtesy of Ger Leahy - http://rally.pro.ie/
THE CORK MOTOR CLUB FUN CHARITY TABLE QUIZ
Cork Motor Club will run its annual Christmas Charity Quiz at
the Commons Inn, Mallow Rd, Cork on Tuesday Evening, December 18th.
The quiz is a light hearted affair with some questions on motor sport. - but not all!
Teams of four will be selected on the night and there will be prizes for the first three.
The quiz is open to all, club members (past and present) and their friends.Members of all other clubs are also
cordially invited.
Sign-on and documentation is between 8.00and 8.30 pm.Start time is 9pm.
Pace notes or Maps will not be required and 'fuel' is optional.
As always a fun evening is guaranteed for everyone.
A donation in aid of charity will be collected from those in attendance on the night.
the Commons Inn, Mallow Rd, Cork on Tuesday Evening, December 18th.
The quiz is a light hearted affair with some questions on motor sport. - but not all!
Teams of four will be selected on the night and there will be prizes for the first three.
The quiz is open to all, club members (past and present) and their friends.Members of all other clubs are also
cordially invited.
Sign-on and documentation is between 8.00and 8.30 pm.Start time is 9pm.
Pace notes or Maps will not be required and 'fuel' is optional.
As always a fun evening is guaranteed for everyone.
A donation in aid of charity will be collected from those in attendance on the night.
KILLARNEY HISTORIC RALLY
If any of you who were disappointed at not seeing Denis Cronins M3 in Killarney it was because he had to do Molls gap on Sunday morning
without brakes after a brake cylinder failed on the car and a
replacement wasn't available.Anyone who saw him on Saturday got full
value for money though.
The rally was won by Ray Cunningham in his cooper s.
2nd Mervyn Johnston Cooper s
3rd Philp Wylie. MBG.
CMC member Martin Sheahan finished 11th o/a and 7th in class in the post historics,while in the Classics Sean Mullaly navigated Russell Brookes to third overall.
Liam Brennan brought Fergus O Meara home second in clas 17 and fifth o/a in the modified classics.
As for the rest,god bless Brian Patterson. This is from his site. www.rallynews.net
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 13 – Kilmacilloge/final stage
HISTORICS
1st (1) Ray Cunningham/Richard Hyland (Cooper S) 2.21.58
2nd (29) Mervyn Johnston/Wendy Blackledge (Cooper S) 2.27.50
3rd (17) Phillip Wylie/John Young (MGB) 2.30.50
CLASSICS
1st (3) Gareth Lloyd/Ian Oakey (Escort RS2000) 2.14.22
2nd (139) Vincent Frontinan/Derek Power (Escort) times to follow
3rd (9) Russell Brookes/Sean Mullally (Sunbeam) times to follow
POST HISTORICS
1st (5) Steve Smith/Phil Spurge (Porsche 911) 2.13.38
2nd (7) Ed Murphy/Shane Devane (Escort Mk1) 2.16.35
3rd (63) Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood (Porsche 911) 2.20.20
4th (56) Tommy Mason/Joe Dunne (Escort) 2.22.37
MODIFIEDS
1st (102) Phil Collins/Adrian Deasy (Escort Mk2) 2.07.43
2nd (101) Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Escort Mk2) 2.07.49
The rally was won by Ray Cunningham in his cooper s.
2nd Mervyn Johnston Cooper s
3rd Philp Wylie. MBG.
CMC member Martin Sheahan finished 11th o/a and 7th in class in the post historics,while in the Classics Sean Mullaly navigated Russell Brookes to third overall.
Liam Brennan brought Fergus O Meara home second in clas 17 and fifth o/a in the modified classics.
As for the rest,god bless Brian Patterson. This is from his site. www.rallynews.net
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 13 – Kilmacilloge/final stage
HISTORICS
1st (1) Ray Cunningham/Richard Hyland (Cooper S) 2.21.58
2nd (29) Mervyn Johnston/Wendy Blackledge (Cooper S) 2.27.50
3rd (17) Phillip Wylie/John Young (MGB) 2.30.50
CLASSICS
1st (3) Gareth Lloyd/Ian Oakey (Escort RS2000) 2.14.22
2nd (139) Vincent Frontinan/Derek Power (Escort) times to follow
3rd (9) Russell Brookes/Sean Mullally (Sunbeam) times to follow
POST HISTORICS
1st (5) Steve Smith/Phil Spurge (Porsche 911) 2.13.38
2nd (7) Ed Murphy/Shane Devane (Escort Mk1) 2.16.35
3rd (63) Sean Lockyear/Chris Wood (Porsche 911) 2.20.20
4th (56) Tommy Mason/Joe Dunne (Escort) 2.22.37
MODIFIEDS
1st (102) Phil Collins/Adrian Deasy (Escort Mk2) 2.07.43
2nd (101) Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Escort Mk2) 2.07.49
NOVEMBER 4x4
The clubs 4x4 ran in Coachford on Sunday25th November in great conditions from a
marshals point of view (no rain,unlike last year!) but sadly this meant
it was a little easy for most of the 26 starters yesterday morning.
However C.O.C. Vincent Dorney soon put that right when he "tightened" the course for the afternoon tests.
There was a nice number of marshals on duty so everything ran away and we were all finished early.Vincent sends his thanks to everyone who turned up on the day.
RESULTS:
1st overall: S. Bourne
2nd overall: R. Burke
3rd overall: M.Stan
Class winners:
Class 1: A Burke
Class 2:T.C. Murray
Class 4:M.Farram
Class 5. Paul McCarthy
However C.O.C. Vincent Dorney soon put that right when he "tightened" the course for the afternoon tests.
There was a nice number of marshals on duty so everything ran away and we were all finished early.Vincent sends his thanks to everyone who turned up on the day.
RESULTS:
1st overall: S. Bourne
2nd overall: R. Burke
3rd overall: M.Stan
Class winners:
Class 1: A Burke
Class 2:T.C. Murray
Class 4:M.Farram
Class 5. Paul McCarthy
STAR TREK 3rd/4th November
The Star Trek Night Navigation Trial took place last Saturday night 3rd/4th November and was deemed a great event by all who participated.
Headquarters was Community Complex in Ballyanly,where Tea Coffee,sandwiches and even Hot Dogs were available throughout the night.39 crews started the event with 32 finishers. Route was 75 miles and was thoroughly enjoyed by the competitors,with one very experienced navigator remarking it was like a nav trial from the old days,very happy with it.
FULL RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD BY CLICKING HERE
First overall: Kierns/McAdoo (1 Pen) Vectra
2nd overall:Cassidy/McCaffney (2 Pens) Vectra
3rd overall: Gowen/Phelan (2 Pens). Mazda. (Had 1.8 engine,Cassidy/Caffney had 1..6)
1st Expert:Cassidy/McCaffney(Vectra)2Pens2nd Expert:Gowen/Phelan (Mazda 323)2 Pens
3rd Expert:Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors(Astra) 4 pens
1st Semi-expert:Doherty/Doherty (Peugeot 309) 5 Pens
2nd Semi-Expert: Curbin/Maguire( Impreza) 7 Pens
3rd Semi-Expert: Beagan/Thornton (Vectra) 24 Pens
1st Novice: Murphy/Drake (Nissan Sunny) 42 Pens
2nd Novice: James Fitzgerald/Ed O Neill 53 pens
3rd Novice: Brian O mahony/Lisa Galwey 56 Pens
1st Begginer: Trevor O Callaghan/Henry Jennings(Mondeo) 133 Pens
2nd Beginner:Mark Bowens/Joseph Shinnors Jnr. (Nova) 165 pens
3rd Beginner: Crowley/McCarthy (Golf GTI) 204 Pens.
CMC END SUCCESSFUL NAVIGATION COURSE
The Cork Motor Club Night Navigation
Classes, to encourage newcomers for the coming Night Navigation season,
ended last night (Tuesday 25th October) with a display of the type of car used by competitors at different levels of competition.
There was also a brief look back at subjects covered over the rest of the course and an excellent and informative talk on scrutiny requirements by Michael Linehan.
The course was a credit to the organisers Greg Shinnors and Jerry Hynes,two of the most experienced navigators on these shores, and the amount of time they put into the preparation was clearly evident.
Another feature of the course was the excellent lecture given by Kieran Daly and George Shinnors on their approach to competing on an event, from preparing on the day right through to the end of the trial.
There was a very large attendance on the course which also brought a number of new members to the club,all of whom are very welcome.
So our thanks again to Greg and Jerry for their time and effort in putting the whole course together.Thanks also to Bones O Connor and Brendan Fahy who brought their cars along so that participants on the course could see first hand how a car could be prepared.
AND THE BEST OF LUCK TO ALL OF YOU TRYING OUT YOUR NEWLY ACQUIRED SKILLS ON THE STAR TREK ON THE 3rd OF NOVEMBER!!
There was also a brief look back at subjects covered over the rest of the course and an excellent and informative talk on scrutiny requirements by Michael Linehan.
The course was a credit to the organisers Greg Shinnors and Jerry Hynes,two of the most experienced navigators on these shores, and the amount of time they put into the preparation was clearly evident.
Another feature of the course was the excellent lecture given by Kieran Daly and George Shinnors on their approach to competing on an event, from preparing on the day right through to the end of the trial.
There was a very large attendance on the course which also brought a number of new members to the club,all of whom are very welcome.
So our thanks again to Greg and Jerry for their time and effort in putting the whole course together.Thanks also to Bones O Connor and Brendan Fahy who brought their cars along so that participants on the course could see first hand how a car could be prepared.
AND THE BEST OF LUCK TO ALL OF YOU TRYING OUT YOUR NEWLY ACQUIRED SKILLS ON THE STAR TREK ON THE 3rd OF NOVEMBER!!
CORK 20
Many thanks to the many CMC members who turned out to help out at the Cork 20 on Friday,Saturday and Sunday.
Pat Nolan acted as Deputy Stage Commander for the shake down on Friday and 4 stages over Saturday and Sunday.
38 members that we know of for sure signed on and once again this was a brilliant show from the club.
There were also a number of club members competing over the weekend with some good class results to report.
In the International rally John Quill/Caroline Kearney finished 4th in class 6,while Niall Guinevan/Leslie Stanley finished 24th o/a and 10th in class 8.
In the National rally Andy Horgan/Shane Horgan finished 3rd in Class 13,Victor Beamish/Susan Beamish finished 2nd in class 9, Ken Carmody brought Ger O Connell home to 4th in class 12,Finbarr Creed/Mossie O Connell finished 3rd in Class 14,Stephen Sheehan/Paul Sheehan finished 5th in class 10 after a nightmare weekend.
In the Historic Rally Martin Sheahan finished 5th in class C2.
There were other club members out as well who for one reason or another did'nt make to the end. They'll tell you the story in their own time I'm sure.
Well done to you all and once again thank you for all the help.
Pat Nolan acted as Deputy Stage Commander for the shake down on Friday and 4 stages over Saturday and Sunday.
38 members that we know of for sure signed on and once again this was a brilliant show from the club.
There were also a number of club members competing over the weekend with some good class results to report.
In the International rally John Quill/Caroline Kearney finished 4th in class 6,while Niall Guinevan/Leslie Stanley finished 24th o/a and 10th in class 8.
In the National rally Andy Horgan/Shane Horgan finished 3rd in Class 13,Victor Beamish/Susan Beamish finished 2nd in class 9, Ken Carmody brought Ger O Connell home to 4th in class 12,Finbarr Creed/Mossie O Connell finished 3rd in Class 14,Stephen Sheehan/Paul Sheehan finished 5th in class 10 after a nightmare weekend.
In the Historic Rally Martin Sheahan finished 5th in class C2.
There were other club members out as well who for one reason or another did'nt make to the end. They'll tell you the story in their own time I'm sure.
Well done to you all and once again thank you for all the help.
HEWISON AUTOTEST
Brian O Connell ran another successful test trial on Sunday in Vernon
Mount. The event was a round of the Hewison Autotest National
Championship and was won by Sam Johnston from Longford in a Mini
Special.
In second place was J.J. Farrell from Co.Meath again in a mini special,third was Eddie Peterson from Greystones in another Mini Special.
Full results are available to download by clicking HERE
In second place was J.J. Farrell from Co.Meath again in a mini special,third was Eddie Peterson from Greystones in another Mini Special.
Full results are available to download by clicking HERE
Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally
Congratulations
to Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh for winning the Tadhg O Conaill Heating
& Plumbing Jim Walsh Cork Forest rally in their Focus WRC.This win
clinches the championship for them.
However,congratulations also to young CMC members Keith Cronin/Anthony O Conaill who finished second overall in an EVO 7 and indeed lead the rally for most of Saturday and Sunday over the WRC's.
Full reports on the rally are available on Brian & Liz Pattersons excellent site www.rallynews.net
A live results page for the Rally has also been set up and full results are available to download from the Forest Results page. Click HERE to be redirected to the page.
MARTIN BRADY'S REPORT:
Cronin the Hometown Hankook Hero as Moore & McHugh Crowned Champions
Round 6 of the Hankook Tyres National forestry championship was the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry. It was firmly billed as a rally that was to provide exciting battles through some of Ireland’s premier forest stages over 2 days of the best entertainment the Cork Motor Club could provide. The event was once more sponsored by Tadhg O’Connell Heating and Plumbing and this year was named the Jim Walsh rally as a tribute to the late member of the club who was in previous years such a cornerstone to this rally and club.
The start ramp was a place of great buzz as it had a top ten that included the man with an almost final grip on the championship in Mr Stephen Moore, followed by an able challenger in Brian McGillin, a local ace Keith Cronin, previous round winner Andrew Purcell and a rally winner from UK stages with Mick O Brien, and that was only the first few cars.
The event began with a fine quality stage in Bweeng, light rain made the stage a touch slippy and it was Brain McGillin who stopped the clocks just 5sec fastest ahead of Keith Cronin, Moore was a cautious 2.9 seconds further back just ahead of Mick O Brien in his 2002 Ford Focus. O Brien, a Cork man originally was smiling at the end of the stage commenting how enjoyable he found the roads. Andrew Purcell did not make it past the first mile of the stage as something in the cars transmission failed on a long tight corner just after the start.
Stage 2 was the classic Mount Hilary stage. McGillin was to loose his slight lead here and drop to 3rd as a front puncture slowed him. Moore was readily poised to take full advantage and move into a half second lead over Cronin who was flying over the fast Mount Hillary mountain sections and moved into second. O Brien continued his familiarisation with Irish forests and held 4th just ahead of Kevin O Kane. Top 2wd was Adrian Hetherington who was revelling with a new improved engine in his MK2 and keeping just ahead of a subdued Frank Kelly who was suffering from illness. Cathal Rodgers was the nearest Group N man to Cronin as he held 6th overall just in front of Emma McKinstry who was making a return to WRC power in her Hankook shod S8 Subaru.
After service the crews tackled two brand new stages on the Kerry border in Derreenaling and Mullaghanish, both stages proved equally challenging with the big ditches of Mullaghanish waiting to catch the unwary. However wary he was being it was Keith Cronin and co driver Anthony O Connell who were the rulers of the two new stages. On SS3 Keith set a blistering 3:51 to Moore’s 4:02 and this saw the Mitsubishi driver move into the lead of the rally for the first time. Moore was blighted by his wipers failing at the crucial moment as he was in a water splash but was quick to point out the Keith was driving well to be able to gain such times in difficult conditions. Colin Britton moved closer to Cathal Rodgers in the race for 2nd Grp N. Britton getting into a faster rhythm as Rodgers struggled with a car that wouldn’t fire properly from the water splash to the end of ss6. A damaged rad was later fixed in service and curing the problem. Pete McCullagh retired from the Grp N chase when his diff seized up on that test, also Eammon McElvanney retired with an electrical problem and James Murphy came back into the frame in 6th after fixing an earlier brake problem. Mick O Brien sadly bowed out from his promising run after damaging steering on Derreenaling and with the long Mullaghanish stage to go before service he elected to go no further.
Cronin continued at his unabated pace on stages 5 & 6 to take fastest on both and stretch his lead to 19 seconds over Brian Mc Gillin, some of this was of course due to McGillin becoming the latest victim of the water splash as his fans took in water and misted up the screen completely. The resulting foggy vision slowed him for more than a few seconds. Moore held 3rd and was quite satisfied to sit there for the moment, he was driving with the championship in mind and knowing that there were ten more stages to be tackled yet. In 2wd Frank Kelly brightened up literally and moved ahead of Adrian Hetherington with Seamus O Connell right behind them in third. Damien Tourish came right into the GrpN picture as he stormed into 4th overall and second Grp N and just ahead of Britton. In the Fiesta ST race it was a nip and tuck battle between Ali Fisher and Johnny Greer with Greer just holding it.
Stage 7 and 8 were a return to the morning stages. These faster more open stages allowed both Moore and McGillin to stretch their WRC legs a bit more and close in some time on Cronin, but not much time as Cronin still held a 14 second advantage over second placed McGillin & Doherty as the cars returned to Parc Fermé. Stephen Moore was a further 6.2 back from the Hyundai and Moore had lost some time with a faulty handbrake switch but regardless he was still very much on course to take the championship spoils if he were to continue at the same pace.
Overnight Colin Britton held fourth after moving in front of Tourish by just 3 seconds and James Murphy was now in sixth. Next Group N was Enda McNulty & Mark Bowens in ninth. In the Superdrive sponsored 2wd race it was Frank Kelly who was the leading light as Adrian Hetherington had spun and let Seamus O Connell back into second. A serious dog fight was expected amongst these 3 musketeers on Sunday as just ten seconds separated them all after 8 hard stages.
Day 2 dawned much brighter and despite some standing water remaining on the first two tests it was going to be perfect conditions for forest rallying. It was a cliché to say that the rally was only halfway there but it was very true as by the first service halt after 2 stages there were many who had fallen by the wayside for various reasons. First James Murphy suffered cruel fate when his Escort WRC’s clutch failed and stranded him in Parc Fermé. Then Brian McGillin jammed in gear at the end of SS9 and this meant he was gone from 2nd o/a. Enda McNulty lost his top ten place when he slid off the road also in ss9 and could get no further. Then both Damien Tourish and Frank Kelly both slipped off the road on the very slippy junction 9 in ss10, Frank was able to regain the road much later after help from another competitor but Tourish was deep in the ditch to stay. This moved Britton more securely into 2nd GrpN and 4th overall just behind of Kevin O Kane who by virtue of a second fastest time on ss9. Cronin continued on his charge at the head of the field and capitalised on intercom trouble that Stephen Moore suffered on ss10. The young Cork driver now held a lead of 14 seconds over the champion elect. Kevin O Kane suffered a spin and damage to front suspension which saw Colin Britton move up to 3rd o/a with a 10 second advantage. Emma McKinstry had been setting fast times all morning but a damaged sump guard caught a gear selector and she limped into service stuck in gear but her service crew were fit to repair it and see her back out on the stages and into a strong 5th o/a. Another climbing back up the time sheets was Cathal Rodgers, he had his Evo 9 up to 7th o/a after yesterdays time delay with the damaged radiator. Alwyn Jobb was about to drop out from a strong 8th o/a when a spark plug problem damaged a piston and put an end to his event.
After service with a new intercom fitted Moore began to pile on the pressure on Keith Cronin, in SS12 Keith had an overshoot right at the last junction and Moore closed the gap to just under 5 seconds. The race was really on now. In the 2wd race Seamus O Connell & Brian Duggan moved to the top and with the loss of Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan, Adrian Hetherington & Gary Nolan slotted into 2nd 2WD. However O Connell was just 2 stages away from disaster as his engine was about to blow, leaving Adrian & Gary to finish the top 2wd crew 7th o/a and win the Superdrive prize and with it comes a voucher from www.superdriveni.com for part payment of entry fees for another round of the Championship.
On ss13 Cronin suffered a small stall off the start line and Moore who was next into the stage was now all the more eager to pounce, and he did taking the lead from Keith by going 12seconds faster. Keith responded in ss14 with another fastest time and gaining 5 back from Moore. Kevin O Kane & Martin Brady took back 3rd o/a from Colin Britton & Arthur Kiearns on ss13 by going 9 faster and Britton replied on ss14 by taking 5 back to leave the gap at 4 seconds. Cathal Rodgers & Paul McLaughlin were on a lightening pace now and overtook Emma McKinstry for 5th as the crews headed for the last 2 stages. Over those two tests in the Streamhill Forests it was Stephen Moore who was fastest to extend his lead to 23 seconds as Keith Cronin drove sensibly and without mistake to cement what had been an excellent performance by him and Anthony O Connell all weekend, they took 5 fastest times and lead the rally for 9 stages. A truly brilliant performance in their Hankook backed Evo 7.
Moore too had an excellent weekend, he drove in the middle of the road when he needed to but had the pace when required and concentrated on his goal of getting through the rally unscathed for him and Tony McHugh to secure the 2007 Hankook National Forest Championship with one round remaining.
Kevin O Kane & Martin Brady took 3rd overall after car preserving pace on day 1 they increased the speed on day 2 and finished just ahead of the hard charging Colin Britton & Arthur Kiearns. In 5th was Cathal Rodgers & Paul McLaughlin, this crew really increased their pace on day2 and without the problems of day 1 they would have ran the other group N contenders much closer in the final reckoning. Emma McKinstry & Kenny Hull took 6th overall, another solid result for Emma as she gets ever used to the step up to WRC machinery. Jonny Greer & Johnny Hart took the Fiesta Sporting Trophy victory ahead of Alistair Fisher & Barry McNulty.
Class victors included John Hickey & Sorcha Kelly in Class 6 Subaru, Paul Mulcahy & Karl Bauman in class 3 Toyota Starlet RWD. Class 1 went to Mike O Connor Jnr & Sinnead O Keefe in their RWD Peugeot. John Byrnes & Kenneth Shiel from Limerick won Class 9 in a Honda Civic. Cork’s Michael O Sullivan & Brian O Connor took their 2 litre Escort to Class 4 victory, and as ever it was Mick Nevin & Alan Higgins who were the crew to beat in class 2 as they took their 1600 Escort to another class victory.
Yet again Cork forestry and Cork Motor Club delivered an excellent rally with the best and most challenging stages in the country and the battle seen on this year’s event will go down in future years as a classic with local hotshot Cronin holding such a brilliant lead for so long and holding off the more advanced machinery. Stephen Moore proved once again that he is a worthy champion with yet another maximum score to put the championship beyond doubt. However that does not mean that the show is over for this year yet, Killarney forestry is almost upon us and on this great event the Hankook National Forestry championship will meet with our counterparts of the Hankook MSA National Gravel Rally Championship, be sure to be there as sparks are sure to fly!
Greer conquers Cork Forests
Jonathan Greer, the 18 year old student from Carryduff, Northern Ireland, took victory on the fifth round of the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland, the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally. Greer with co driver, Jonny Hart won by a margin of just 15 seconds after 147 kilometres of gravel stages organised by the Cork Motor Club. The event was unique in the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland, being held over two days. With eight stages north of Cork around Ballyvourney on Saturday and another eight stages around Mallow on Sunday, the crews faced a very tough challenge.
The championship leader before the event was Conor Harvey, 22 from Letterkenny. With two wins, a second and a third in the series to date, Harvey started the event unsure of how he would be able to perform as the series moved from tarmac to gravel for the first of two rounds, of the seven round series, on the loose surface.
Leg One – Saturday 18 August 2007 – 8 stages, 62km.
Day one saw crews wake up to face overnight rain and generally wet conditions creating slippery stages. Alastair Fisher, 19 from Enniskillen, with co driver Barry McNulty were quickest through the opening stage by just 1.5 seconds from Greer.
On stage 2 Greer struck back taking 10 seconds from Fisher while his older brother, Barry Greer, 20 from Carryduff, with his co driver John Lemon, was having problems. He damaged second gear and had to drive stages three and four without it before their DGM team could replace the unit at service. Also in trouble on stage 2 was Tadhg Buckley, 25 from Ballyhaunis. Buckley with co driver with brother Shane Buckley on the notes, overshot a junction and lost time. Stage 3 saw Greer again fastest, taking 2.4 seconds from Fisher.
On stage 4, Greer was fastest again, but this time by only 0.6 seconds from Fisher. In trouble was William Mavitty, 23 from Ennisklillen, with a new co driver for this event – Keefe Kilcoyne. The new team were settling into the event nicely but hit trouble when they took a river crossing too fast and water was forced into the cockpit, instantly causing the windows to steam up meaning hugely reduced visibility.
After the mid day service in Ballyvourney, crews went out to do a repeat of the mornings four stages. With the wet weather continuing, the stage conditions had deteriorated considerably meaning extra hazardous conditions for the teams.
Stage 5 saw Fisher fastest, just 1.1 seconds quicker than Greer. On stage 6, Fisher was fastest again by 3 seconds from Greer who suffered a rear puncture towards the end of the stage with minimal time loss.
Stage 7 saw Greer take the fastest time, 9.5 seconds faster than Fisher who reported a couple of spins, claiming that he was perhaps attacking the corners too hard. Also in trouble on this stage was Buckley.
He had been third of the FST runners after stage 6 but went off on stage 7 and got the car beached off the road. Spectators where able to help the crew get the car back on the road but a lot of time had been lost and Buckley plummeted to last overall in the rally.
The final stage of the first leg saw Greer take his fifth fastest time of the day, taking 7.1 seconds from Fisher to carry an overnight lead of 23 seconds. In third place overnight was Harvey with his new co driver for this event, Jonny Baird. Harvey suffered brake problems on the final stage of the leg, reporting that the brake peddle was going to the floor and as a result he slipped to 1minute, 14 seconds behind Fisher.
In fourth was Kyle Orr, 18 from Dromore and co driver Peter O’Toole. Fifth after a gearbox change was Barry Greer. Sixth after loosing time on the final stage, as they suffered brake knock off as a result of a loose ball joint, was Mavitty and rounding off the FST runners after their time consuming off was Buckley.
Leg Two – Sunday 19 August 2007 – 8 stages, 85km
Day two dawned overcast but dry. Overnight rain ensured that the eight stages around the town of Mallow would still be wet but the conditions were easier for the hard working service crews.
Stage 9 saw Fisher start as he had done the day before, 6.8 seconds faster than Greer. Barry Greer broke a driveshaft but was able to drive out of the stage where his team were able to change the part to allow him to continue.
On Stage 10, Greer fought back to take 0.8 seconds from Fisher after he lost time with a spin. Meanwhile third placed crew, Harvey and co driver Baird, were in trouble when they left the road and got stuck in a bog. After trying to get the car free they burnt the clutch out and had to retire from the event – Harvey’s first non finish of the season. With the car partially across the road, Orr, Mavitty and Buckley all lost time negotiating their way around the stranded car.
Stage 11 saw Greer again fastest by 2 seconds from Fisher. This pattern was repeated on stage 12 where Greer again was fastest, by 6 seconds.
With mid day service in the town of Mallow, the crews set off to do a repeat of the morning’s stages with the road conditions correspondingly more cut up, offering up potential problems. On stage 13 Fisher was fastest, 4 seconds quicker than Greer, but it was Brother Barry who suffered most. In a mirror image of Harvey’s accident, Barry went of the road and damaged the gearbox trying to get back onto the road, leading to retirement. Also in trouble on stage 13 was Mavitty. He hit a large bump in the road at high speed and retired after the stage with a suspected crack in the gearbox housing.
Stage 14 saw Greer retake the advantage and set the fastest time by just 2.5 seconds from Fisher.
The penultimate test, stage 15, saw Fisher make a big effort to fight back but could only take 1 second from Greer to go into the final stage 23 seconds adrift of the leading spot.
With another big push Fisher managed to take 8 seconds but it wasn’t enough to deny Greer and Hart of their first win in the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland series. Together with Greer’s two second places and two third placed finishes this makes the series very close at the top.
Overall in the FST class, Orr finished third after two full days of gravel rally experience, a crucial factor for the former rallycross junior champion in his first year of stage rallying. The final finisher was Buckley, despite the problems of the previous day, he and Brother Shane on the pacenotes persevered and managed to finish fourth, keeping them in contention for the overall championship and netting them €375 EUR of prize money.
In the overall championship, the new leader is Fisher with Greer just two points behind. Former series leader Harvey slips to third, Buckley climbs to fourth and Orr now rounds out the top five. With two dropped scores to be taken into consideration, the championship is now finely poised to become a straight fight to the finish.
As this was the first time that the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland series has not been in their own classification, the pace of the Fiesta drivers was a talking point of the event. Greer took the lead of the FST section from stage 2 and maintained his lead throughout the 2 days, finishing a fantastic 13th overall in the rally, third in class 5 and third two wheel drive car, with Fisher just one place behind.
Greer also won the Castrol Hard Charger Award for the highest number of quickest FST stage times – 9 quickest times versus 7 for Fisher emphasising just how close the competition had been.
Jonathan Greer said:
“I have really enjoyed the rally. It has been tough but very competitive. Alastair has really pushed me all weekend. I am delighted with the result and it brings everything a lot closer in the championship. The event was well run with no delays or cancellations. The Lakeland Stages (next round of the FST IE series) will be interesting, I’ve never done that event before, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The next round of the series is the Fisher Engineering Lakeland Forestry Stages, based just outside Enniskillen on 8 September 2007.
Overall Results
Position Driver/Co Driver Total Time
1st Jonathan Greer / Jonny Hart 1:43:09.9
2nd Alastair Fisher / Barry McNulty 1:43:25.8
3rd Kyle Orr / Peter O’Toole 1:47:15.9
4th Tadhg Buckley / Shane Buckley 2:30:56.3
Results
1 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC) 92m 45s
2 Keith Cronin/Anthony O’Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) GpN 93m 08s
3 Kevin O’Kane/Martin Brady (Subaru Impreza WRC) 96m 43s
4 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) GpN 96m 56s
5 Cahal Rogers/Paul McLaughlin (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) GpN 97m 21s
6 Emma McKinstry/Kenny Hull (Subaru Impreza WRC) 98m 07s
7 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort Mk II) 99m 02s
8 John McGaffin/Alan Russell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 99m 31s
9 Colum McBride/Rodney Hicks (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) GpN 100m 16s
10 John Reid/Ray Fitzpatrick (Toyota Corolla WRC) 100m 21s
Leaders After
SS1 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS2 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS3-12 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS13-16 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
Stage Winners
SS1 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS2 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS3 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS4 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS5 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS6 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS7 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS8 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS9 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS10 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS11 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS12 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS13 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS14 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS15 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS16 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
However,congratulations also to young CMC members Keith Cronin/Anthony O Conaill who finished second overall in an EVO 7 and indeed lead the rally for most of Saturday and Sunday over the WRC's.
Full reports on the rally are available on Brian & Liz Pattersons excellent site www.rallynews.net
A live results page for the Rally has also been set up and full results are available to download from the Forest Results page. Click HERE to be redirected to the page.
MARTIN BRADY'S REPORT:
Cronin the Hometown Hankook Hero as Moore & McHugh Crowned Champions
Round 6 of the Hankook Tyres National forestry championship was the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry. It was firmly billed as a rally that was to provide exciting battles through some of Ireland’s premier forest stages over 2 days of the best entertainment the Cork Motor Club could provide. The event was once more sponsored by Tadhg O’Connell Heating and Plumbing and this year was named the Jim Walsh rally as a tribute to the late member of the club who was in previous years such a cornerstone to this rally and club.
The start ramp was a place of great buzz as it had a top ten that included the man with an almost final grip on the championship in Mr Stephen Moore, followed by an able challenger in Brian McGillin, a local ace Keith Cronin, previous round winner Andrew Purcell and a rally winner from UK stages with Mick O Brien, and that was only the first few cars.
The event began with a fine quality stage in Bweeng, light rain made the stage a touch slippy and it was Brain McGillin who stopped the clocks just 5sec fastest ahead of Keith Cronin, Moore was a cautious 2.9 seconds further back just ahead of Mick O Brien in his 2002 Ford Focus. O Brien, a Cork man originally was smiling at the end of the stage commenting how enjoyable he found the roads. Andrew Purcell did not make it past the first mile of the stage as something in the cars transmission failed on a long tight corner just after the start.
Stage 2 was the classic Mount Hilary stage. McGillin was to loose his slight lead here and drop to 3rd as a front puncture slowed him. Moore was readily poised to take full advantage and move into a half second lead over Cronin who was flying over the fast Mount Hillary mountain sections and moved into second. O Brien continued his familiarisation with Irish forests and held 4th just ahead of Kevin O Kane. Top 2wd was Adrian Hetherington who was revelling with a new improved engine in his MK2 and keeping just ahead of a subdued Frank Kelly who was suffering from illness. Cathal Rodgers was the nearest Group N man to Cronin as he held 6th overall just in front of Emma McKinstry who was making a return to WRC power in her Hankook shod S8 Subaru.
After service the crews tackled two brand new stages on the Kerry border in Derreenaling and Mullaghanish, both stages proved equally challenging with the big ditches of Mullaghanish waiting to catch the unwary. However wary he was being it was Keith Cronin and co driver Anthony O Connell who were the rulers of the two new stages. On SS3 Keith set a blistering 3:51 to Moore’s 4:02 and this saw the Mitsubishi driver move into the lead of the rally for the first time. Moore was blighted by his wipers failing at the crucial moment as he was in a water splash but was quick to point out the Keith was driving well to be able to gain such times in difficult conditions. Colin Britton moved closer to Cathal Rodgers in the race for 2nd Grp N. Britton getting into a faster rhythm as Rodgers struggled with a car that wouldn’t fire properly from the water splash to the end of ss6. A damaged rad was later fixed in service and curing the problem. Pete McCullagh retired from the Grp N chase when his diff seized up on that test, also Eammon McElvanney retired with an electrical problem and James Murphy came back into the frame in 6th after fixing an earlier brake problem. Mick O Brien sadly bowed out from his promising run after damaging steering on Derreenaling and with the long Mullaghanish stage to go before service he elected to go no further.
Cronin continued at his unabated pace on stages 5 & 6 to take fastest on both and stretch his lead to 19 seconds over Brian Mc Gillin, some of this was of course due to McGillin becoming the latest victim of the water splash as his fans took in water and misted up the screen completely. The resulting foggy vision slowed him for more than a few seconds. Moore held 3rd and was quite satisfied to sit there for the moment, he was driving with the championship in mind and knowing that there were ten more stages to be tackled yet. In 2wd Frank Kelly brightened up literally and moved ahead of Adrian Hetherington with Seamus O Connell right behind them in third. Damien Tourish came right into the GrpN picture as he stormed into 4th overall and second Grp N and just ahead of Britton. In the Fiesta ST race it was a nip and tuck battle between Ali Fisher and Johnny Greer with Greer just holding it.
Stage 7 and 8 were a return to the morning stages. These faster more open stages allowed both Moore and McGillin to stretch their WRC legs a bit more and close in some time on Cronin, but not much time as Cronin still held a 14 second advantage over second placed McGillin & Doherty as the cars returned to Parc Fermé. Stephen Moore was a further 6.2 back from the Hyundai and Moore had lost some time with a faulty handbrake switch but regardless he was still very much on course to take the championship spoils if he were to continue at the same pace.
Overnight Colin Britton held fourth after moving in front of Tourish by just 3 seconds and James Murphy was now in sixth. Next Group N was Enda McNulty & Mark Bowens in ninth. In the Superdrive sponsored 2wd race it was Frank Kelly who was the leading light as Adrian Hetherington had spun and let Seamus O Connell back into second. A serious dog fight was expected amongst these 3 musketeers on Sunday as just ten seconds separated them all after 8 hard stages.
Day 2 dawned much brighter and despite some standing water remaining on the first two tests it was going to be perfect conditions for forest rallying. It was a cliché to say that the rally was only halfway there but it was very true as by the first service halt after 2 stages there were many who had fallen by the wayside for various reasons. First James Murphy suffered cruel fate when his Escort WRC’s clutch failed and stranded him in Parc Fermé. Then Brian McGillin jammed in gear at the end of SS9 and this meant he was gone from 2nd o/a. Enda McNulty lost his top ten place when he slid off the road also in ss9 and could get no further. Then both Damien Tourish and Frank Kelly both slipped off the road on the very slippy junction 9 in ss10, Frank was able to regain the road much later after help from another competitor but Tourish was deep in the ditch to stay. This moved Britton more securely into 2nd GrpN and 4th overall just behind of Kevin O Kane who by virtue of a second fastest time on ss9. Cronin continued on his charge at the head of the field and capitalised on intercom trouble that Stephen Moore suffered on ss10. The young Cork driver now held a lead of 14 seconds over the champion elect. Kevin O Kane suffered a spin and damage to front suspension which saw Colin Britton move up to 3rd o/a with a 10 second advantage. Emma McKinstry had been setting fast times all morning but a damaged sump guard caught a gear selector and she limped into service stuck in gear but her service crew were fit to repair it and see her back out on the stages and into a strong 5th o/a. Another climbing back up the time sheets was Cathal Rodgers, he had his Evo 9 up to 7th o/a after yesterdays time delay with the damaged radiator. Alwyn Jobb was about to drop out from a strong 8th o/a when a spark plug problem damaged a piston and put an end to his event.
After service with a new intercom fitted Moore began to pile on the pressure on Keith Cronin, in SS12 Keith had an overshoot right at the last junction and Moore closed the gap to just under 5 seconds. The race was really on now. In the 2wd race Seamus O Connell & Brian Duggan moved to the top and with the loss of Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan, Adrian Hetherington & Gary Nolan slotted into 2nd 2WD. However O Connell was just 2 stages away from disaster as his engine was about to blow, leaving Adrian & Gary to finish the top 2wd crew 7th o/a and win the Superdrive prize and with it comes a voucher from www.superdriveni.com for part payment of entry fees for another round of the Championship.
On ss13 Cronin suffered a small stall off the start line and Moore who was next into the stage was now all the more eager to pounce, and he did taking the lead from Keith by going 12seconds faster. Keith responded in ss14 with another fastest time and gaining 5 back from Moore. Kevin O Kane & Martin Brady took back 3rd o/a from Colin Britton & Arthur Kiearns on ss13 by going 9 faster and Britton replied on ss14 by taking 5 back to leave the gap at 4 seconds. Cathal Rodgers & Paul McLaughlin were on a lightening pace now and overtook Emma McKinstry for 5th as the crews headed for the last 2 stages. Over those two tests in the Streamhill Forests it was Stephen Moore who was fastest to extend his lead to 23 seconds as Keith Cronin drove sensibly and without mistake to cement what had been an excellent performance by him and Anthony O Connell all weekend, they took 5 fastest times and lead the rally for 9 stages. A truly brilliant performance in their Hankook backed Evo 7.
Moore too had an excellent weekend, he drove in the middle of the road when he needed to but had the pace when required and concentrated on his goal of getting through the rally unscathed for him and Tony McHugh to secure the 2007 Hankook National Forest Championship with one round remaining.
Kevin O Kane & Martin Brady took 3rd overall after car preserving pace on day 1 they increased the speed on day 2 and finished just ahead of the hard charging Colin Britton & Arthur Kiearns. In 5th was Cathal Rodgers & Paul McLaughlin, this crew really increased their pace on day2 and without the problems of day 1 they would have ran the other group N contenders much closer in the final reckoning. Emma McKinstry & Kenny Hull took 6th overall, another solid result for Emma as she gets ever used to the step up to WRC machinery. Jonny Greer & Johnny Hart took the Fiesta Sporting Trophy victory ahead of Alistair Fisher & Barry McNulty.
Class victors included John Hickey & Sorcha Kelly in Class 6 Subaru, Paul Mulcahy & Karl Bauman in class 3 Toyota Starlet RWD. Class 1 went to Mike O Connor Jnr & Sinnead O Keefe in their RWD Peugeot. John Byrnes & Kenneth Shiel from Limerick won Class 9 in a Honda Civic. Cork’s Michael O Sullivan & Brian O Connor took their 2 litre Escort to Class 4 victory, and as ever it was Mick Nevin & Alan Higgins who were the crew to beat in class 2 as they took their 1600 Escort to another class victory.
Yet again Cork forestry and Cork Motor Club delivered an excellent rally with the best and most challenging stages in the country and the battle seen on this year’s event will go down in future years as a classic with local hotshot Cronin holding such a brilliant lead for so long and holding off the more advanced machinery. Stephen Moore proved once again that he is a worthy champion with yet another maximum score to put the championship beyond doubt. However that does not mean that the show is over for this year yet, Killarney forestry is almost upon us and on this great event the Hankook National Forestry championship will meet with our counterparts of the Hankook MSA National Gravel Rally Championship, be sure to be there as sparks are sure to fly!
Greer conquers Cork Forests
Jonathan Greer, the 18 year old student from Carryduff, Northern Ireland, took victory on the fifth round of the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland, the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally. Greer with co driver, Jonny Hart won by a margin of just 15 seconds after 147 kilometres of gravel stages organised by the Cork Motor Club. The event was unique in the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland, being held over two days. With eight stages north of Cork around Ballyvourney on Saturday and another eight stages around Mallow on Sunday, the crews faced a very tough challenge.
The championship leader before the event was Conor Harvey, 22 from Letterkenny. With two wins, a second and a third in the series to date, Harvey started the event unsure of how he would be able to perform as the series moved from tarmac to gravel for the first of two rounds, of the seven round series, on the loose surface.
Leg One – Saturday 18 August 2007 – 8 stages, 62km.
Day one saw crews wake up to face overnight rain and generally wet conditions creating slippery stages. Alastair Fisher, 19 from Enniskillen, with co driver Barry McNulty were quickest through the opening stage by just 1.5 seconds from Greer.
On stage 2 Greer struck back taking 10 seconds from Fisher while his older brother, Barry Greer, 20 from Carryduff, with his co driver John Lemon, was having problems. He damaged second gear and had to drive stages three and four without it before their DGM team could replace the unit at service. Also in trouble on stage 2 was Tadhg Buckley, 25 from Ballyhaunis. Buckley with co driver with brother Shane Buckley on the notes, overshot a junction and lost time. Stage 3 saw Greer again fastest, taking 2.4 seconds from Fisher.
On stage 4, Greer was fastest again, but this time by only 0.6 seconds from Fisher. In trouble was William Mavitty, 23 from Ennisklillen, with a new co driver for this event – Keefe Kilcoyne. The new team were settling into the event nicely but hit trouble when they took a river crossing too fast and water was forced into the cockpit, instantly causing the windows to steam up meaning hugely reduced visibility.
After the mid day service in Ballyvourney, crews went out to do a repeat of the mornings four stages. With the wet weather continuing, the stage conditions had deteriorated considerably meaning extra hazardous conditions for the teams.
Stage 5 saw Fisher fastest, just 1.1 seconds quicker than Greer. On stage 6, Fisher was fastest again by 3 seconds from Greer who suffered a rear puncture towards the end of the stage with minimal time loss.
Stage 7 saw Greer take the fastest time, 9.5 seconds faster than Fisher who reported a couple of spins, claiming that he was perhaps attacking the corners too hard. Also in trouble on this stage was Buckley.
He had been third of the FST runners after stage 6 but went off on stage 7 and got the car beached off the road. Spectators where able to help the crew get the car back on the road but a lot of time had been lost and Buckley plummeted to last overall in the rally.
The final stage of the first leg saw Greer take his fifth fastest time of the day, taking 7.1 seconds from Fisher to carry an overnight lead of 23 seconds. In third place overnight was Harvey with his new co driver for this event, Jonny Baird. Harvey suffered brake problems on the final stage of the leg, reporting that the brake peddle was going to the floor and as a result he slipped to 1minute, 14 seconds behind Fisher.
In fourth was Kyle Orr, 18 from Dromore and co driver Peter O’Toole. Fifth after a gearbox change was Barry Greer. Sixth after loosing time on the final stage, as they suffered brake knock off as a result of a loose ball joint, was Mavitty and rounding off the FST runners after their time consuming off was Buckley.
Leg Two – Sunday 19 August 2007 – 8 stages, 85km
Day two dawned overcast but dry. Overnight rain ensured that the eight stages around the town of Mallow would still be wet but the conditions were easier for the hard working service crews.
Stage 9 saw Fisher start as he had done the day before, 6.8 seconds faster than Greer. Barry Greer broke a driveshaft but was able to drive out of the stage where his team were able to change the part to allow him to continue.
On Stage 10, Greer fought back to take 0.8 seconds from Fisher after he lost time with a spin. Meanwhile third placed crew, Harvey and co driver Baird, were in trouble when they left the road and got stuck in a bog. After trying to get the car free they burnt the clutch out and had to retire from the event – Harvey’s first non finish of the season. With the car partially across the road, Orr, Mavitty and Buckley all lost time negotiating their way around the stranded car.
Stage 11 saw Greer again fastest by 2 seconds from Fisher. This pattern was repeated on stage 12 where Greer again was fastest, by 6 seconds.
With mid day service in the town of Mallow, the crews set off to do a repeat of the morning’s stages with the road conditions correspondingly more cut up, offering up potential problems. On stage 13 Fisher was fastest, 4 seconds quicker than Greer, but it was Brother Barry who suffered most. In a mirror image of Harvey’s accident, Barry went of the road and damaged the gearbox trying to get back onto the road, leading to retirement. Also in trouble on stage 13 was Mavitty. He hit a large bump in the road at high speed and retired after the stage with a suspected crack in the gearbox housing.
Stage 14 saw Greer retake the advantage and set the fastest time by just 2.5 seconds from Fisher.
The penultimate test, stage 15, saw Fisher make a big effort to fight back but could only take 1 second from Greer to go into the final stage 23 seconds adrift of the leading spot.
With another big push Fisher managed to take 8 seconds but it wasn’t enough to deny Greer and Hart of their first win in the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland series. Together with Greer’s two second places and two third placed finishes this makes the series very close at the top.
Overall in the FST class, Orr finished third after two full days of gravel rally experience, a crucial factor for the former rallycross junior champion in his first year of stage rallying. The final finisher was Buckley, despite the problems of the previous day, he and Brother Shane on the pacenotes persevered and managed to finish fourth, keeping them in contention for the overall championship and netting them €375 EUR of prize money.
In the overall championship, the new leader is Fisher with Greer just two points behind. Former series leader Harvey slips to third, Buckley climbs to fourth and Orr now rounds out the top five. With two dropped scores to be taken into consideration, the championship is now finely poised to become a straight fight to the finish.
As this was the first time that the Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland series has not been in their own classification, the pace of the Fiesta drivers was a talking point of the event. Greer took the lead of the FST section from stage 2 and maintained his lead throughout the 2 days, finishing a fantastic 13th overall in the rally, third in class 5 and third two wheel drive car, with Fisher just one place behind.
Greer also won the Castrol Hard Charger Award for the highest number of quickest FST stage times – 9 quickest times versus 7 for Fisher emphasising just how close the competition had been.
Jonathan Greer said:
“I have really enjoyed the rally. It has been tough but very competitive. Alastair has really pushed me all weekend. I am delighted with the result and it brings everything a lot closer in the championship. The event was well run with no delays or cancellations. The Lakeland Stages (next round of the FST IE series) will be interesting, I’ve never done that event before, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The next round of the series is the Fisher Engineering Lakeland Forestry Stages, based just outside Enniskillen on 8 September 2007.
Overall Results
Position Driver/Co Driver Total Time
1st Jonathan Greer / Jonny Hart 1:43:09.9
2nd Alastair Fisher / Barry McNulty 1:43:25.8
3rd Kyle Orr / Peter O’Toole 1:47:15.9
4th Tadhg Buckley / Shane Buckley 2:30:56.3
Results
1 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC) 92m 45s
2 Keith Cronin/Anthony O’Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) GpN 93m 08s
3 Kevin O’Kane/Martin Brady (Subaru Impreza WRC) 96m 43s
4 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) GpN 96m 56s
5 Cahal Rogers/Paul McLaughlin (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) GpN 97m 21s
6 Emma McKinstry/Kenny Hull (Subaru Impreza WRC) 98m 07s
7 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort Mk II) 99m 02s
8 John McGaffin/Alan Russell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 99m 31s
9 Colum McBride/Rodney Hicks (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) GpN 100m 16s
10 John Reid/Ray Fitzpatrick (Toyota Corolla WRC) 100m 21s
Leaders After
SS1 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS2 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS3-12 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS13-16 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
Stage Winners
SS1 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS2 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS3 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS4 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS5 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS6 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS7 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundai Accent WRC)
SS8 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS9 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS10 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS11 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS12 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS13 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS14 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9) GpN
SS15 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
SS16 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC)
MOONRAKER
Once again Cork Motor Club members showed how to do it with a huge turn
out to run stages 4&7 Coolatoor on the Moonraker Forest Rally.
Many thanks to everyone who helped out and we hope you all enjoyed the action!
The rally was finally settled Stephen Moores way after a tie-break. Keith Cronin/Anthony O Conaill were fastest overall on SS 2 in their Gp N Evo and went on to finish 4th overall and win Gp N
Liam Brennan finished 6th overall and won two wheel drive in the MK 2 with Frank Kelly .
Micheal & Breda Piggott finished second in class 1.
Mark Murphy/Wm Kiely finished 4th in class 6.
Many thanks to everyone who helped out and we hope you all enjoyed the action!
The rally was finally settled Stephen Moores way after a tie-break. Keith Cronin/Anthony O Conaill were fastest overall on SS 2 in their Gp N Evo and went on to finish 4th overall and win Gp N
Liam Brennan finished 6th overall and won two wheel drive in the MK 2 with Frank Kelly .
Micheal & Breda Piggott finished second in class 1.
Mark Murphy/Wm Kiely finished 4th in class 6.
KILLARNEY RALLY OF THE LAKES.THANKS AGAIN
GREG McCARTHY SENDS HIS THANKS TO THE MANY CLUB MEMBERS WHO TURNED OUT
AT THE WEEKEND,AT A FAIRLY EARLY HOUR, TO HELP HIM RUN 4 STAGES OF THE
RALLY OF THE LAKES OVER THE WEEKEND.
A GOOD NUMBER OF YOU TURNED UP AGAIN INCLUDING SOME OF OUR NEWER MEMBERS.
IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE YOUR BIT YET DON'T FORGET THE MARSHALS INCENTIVE DRAW AT THE END OF THE YEAR!!!
YOU WILL ALSO BE ASKED TO PRODUCE YOUR SIGNED CARD TO PROVE ASSISTANCE ON AT LEAST ONE CLUB AND ONE OUTSIDE EVENT FOR THE YEAR IN ORDER TO GET YOUR LICENCE RENEWAL FORM STAMPED.
THERE WERE ALSO A NUMBER OF CLUB MEMBERS COMPETING ON THE RALLY AND THE NEWS ABOUT THEM IS HERE ON THE "NEWS" PAGE
A GOOD NUMBER OF YOU TURNED UP AGAIN INCLUDING SOME OF OUR NEWER MEMBERS.
IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE YOUR BIT YET DON'T FORGET THE MARSHALS INCENTIVE DRAW AT THE END OF THE YEAR!!!
YOU WILL ALSO BE ASKED TO PRODUCE YOUR SIGNED CARD TO PROVE ASSISTANCE ON AT LEAST ONE CLUB AND ONE OUTSIDE EVENT FOR THE YEAR IN ORDER TO GET YOUR LICENCE RENEWAL FORM STAMPED.
THERE WERE ALSO A NUMBER OF CLUB MEMBERS COMPETING ON THE RALLY AND THE NEWS ABOUT THEM IS HERE ON THE "NEWS" PAGE
Skibbereen Mini Stages.Thanks!
A
BIG thank you to all who turned out to help at the Skibbereen Mini
Stages rally over the weekend. Once again you did the club proud.24
people turned up at the meeting point for the Glandore stage and then
add in Alan Hartigan and his crew on results,John Harrington(chief time
keeper) had another eight or nine and some members were also on Mick O
Riordans Stage.
As if that wasn't enough we had 00 cars and tail sweepers as well as scrutineers and recovery. So a fantastic effort by the club and one which was very much appreciated by Skibbereen & District Car Club.
As if that wasn't enough we had 00 cars and tail sweepers as well as scrutineers and recovery. So a fantastic effort by the club and one which was very much appreciated by Skibbereen & District Car Club.
Skibbereen Mini Stages
The results for the Skibbereen Mini Stages Rally are available to download by clicking HERE.
Well done to club member Anto Jordan who finished second overall navigating for Ed Synan.
Owen Murphy won the Historic section in a Hillman Avenger.
Leonard Downey/Mark Murphy finished fourth in Class 13.
Martin Godfrey navigated Mark Kenneally to third in Class 12.
Colm Grant/Jon Waterman were second in class 10.
Victor/Susan Beamish were second in Class 9
Jason O Brien finished second in Class 6.
Well done to all club members in the awards and to the people who made it to the end.
Well done to club member Anto Jordan who finished second overall navigating for Ed Synan.
Owen Murphy won the Historic section in a Hillman Avenger.
Leonard Downey/Mark Murphy finished fourth in Class 13.
Martin Godfrey navigated Mark Kenneally to third in Class 12.
Colm Grant/Jon Waterman were second in class 10.
Victor/Susan Beamish were second in Class 9
Jason O Brien finished second in Class 6.
Well done to all club members in the awards and to the people who made it to the end.
Treasure Hunt 2007.A great day out
Saturday 21st of April dawned and another great day was on the cards
weatherwise.The Cork Motor Club 2007 Treasure Hunt was on and a fine
day was just what the doctor ordered.
The essence of the day was an enjoyable drive,a bit of banter here and there and a chance to get together without the pressure of an event to run.Add to that the little bit of confusion brought on by the organisers twisted minds and the recipe was complete!
45 people left the start at the Commons Inn and headed out for East Cork via Mayfield,Little Island,Glounthane,Cobh,Carrigtwohill and on to the half way halt at Midleton.
The highlights of part 1 was the "Grave" situation in Little Island followed closely by
the incredible cruise liner "Constellation" which was berthed next to,and dwarfed,the heritage centre in Cobh.
The other highlight in Cobh(for the organisers anyway) was watching Oran lose count halfway back down the eighty something steps and having to go back to the top and start again!!!
Coffee break in Midleton and on to part two.The highlights of this being the confusion in Ballinacurra and the people of Whitegate thinking they were being invaded for a while.
There was good crack at the prizegiving back in the Commons again last night and I think everyone enjoyed the fun,the scenery and the little bit of brain teasing that went on throughout the day.Here's to the next one!
The winners were John & Katie O Toole,Greg & Joyce. In second place were John Harrington & Brian McCarthy and in third were Niall & Gwen O Keefe.
Thanks to everyone who turned up to make the day the success it was and to Darren & Graham for all the time they put in over the last few weeks.
THERE ARE A FEW PHOTO'S IN THE GALLERY IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.
CLICK HERE TO BE REDIRECTED
The essence of the day was an enjoyable drive,a bit of banter here and there and a chance to get together without the pressure of an event to run.Add to that the little bit of confusion brought on by the organisers twisted minds and the recipe was complete!
45 people left the start at the Commons Inn and headed out for East Cork via Mayfield,Little Island,Glounthane,Cobh,Carrigtwohill and on to the half way halt at Midleton.
The highlights of part 1 was the "Grave" situation in Little Island followed closely by
the incredible cruise liner "Constellation" which was berthed next to,and dwarfed,the heritage centre in Cobh.
The other highlight in Cobh(for the organisers anyway) was watching Oran lose count halfway back down the eighty something steps and having to go back to the top and start again!!!
Coffee break in Midleton and on to part two.The highlights of this being the confusion in Ballinacurra and the people of Whitegate thinking they were being invaded for a while.
There was good crack at the prizegiving back in the Commons again last night and I think everyone enjoyed the fun,the scenery and the little bit of brain teasing that went on throughout the day.Here's to the next one!
The winners were John & Katie O Toole,Greg & Joyce. In second place were John Harrington & Brian McCarthy and in third were Niall & Gwen O Keefe.
Thanks to everyone who turned up to make the day the success it was and to Darren & Graham for all the time they put in over the last few weeks.
THERE ARE A FEW PHOTO'S IN THE GALLERY IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.
CLICK HERE TO BE REDIRECTED
BARRABLE/O'GORMAN TAKE WEST CORK WIN
Congratulations
to Michael Barrable/Dermot O' Gorman who won The Quality Hotels West
Cork Rally,their Ford Focus WRC coming home 11 seconds
ahead of the Impreza WRC of Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor Third place went to Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy(Impreza WRC) with Denis
Cronin/Helen O Sullivan (Impreza WRC) in fourth.
In fifth place was John Ingram/Ian Allsop(Impreza WRC), sixth John
Dalton/Gwynfor Jones(Darrian T90),seventh Kevin Kelleher/Martin
Kelleher (Evo 9),eighth Kevin O Donoghue/Joe O Leary(Escort RS),ninth
Wesley Patterson/Ruth Guest (Escort RS) and tenth James O
Sullivan/Brian Duggan(Evo 9).
Congratulations to C.O.C. Brian O Connell and his team for running an excellent rally and many thanks to all the marshals who stood out in some rather inclement weather at times to ensure the safe running of the event.
We would also like to thank all the medical and rescue personnel,timekeepers,results crews and all the various clubs who helped make the rally the success it was.
Thanks to the competitors and their service crews for participating in the rally and getting into the West Cork Rally spirit.
Thank you to all our sponsors whose financial help ensures the rally goes from strength to strength with each passing year.
AND THE BIGGEST THANK YOU GOES TO THE PEOPLE AND TRADERS OF WEST CORK FOR THEIR HELP IN ENSURING THE CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE QUALITY HOTELS WEST CORK RALLY.
Full Results are available HERE
Congratulations to C.O.C. Brian O Connell and his team for running an excellent rally and many thanks to all the marshals who stood out in some rather inclement weather at times to ensure the safe running of the event.
We would also like to thank all the medical and rescue personnel,timekeepers,results crews and all the various clubs who helped make the rally the success it was.
Thanks to the competitors and their service crews for participating in the rally and getting into the West Cork Rally spirit.
Thank you to all our sponsors whose financial help ensures the rally goes from strength to strength with each passing year.
AND THE BIGGEST THANK YOU GOES TO THE PEOPLE AND TRADERS OF WEST CORK FOR THEIR HELP IN ENSURING THE CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE QUALITY HOTELS WEST CORK RALLY.
Full Results are available HERE
2 Day 4x4 in Coachford 24th & 25th Feb
Well done to Mick O Shea for clerking the CMC two day 4x4 event.No easy task but he set up very challenging tests for the two days.
Venue was Coachford and although it ran very well we could have done with a few more than the 5 club marshals that turned up on both days.
Many thanks again to Mick and Dan and to all who turned out to help over the weekend.
Results as follows:
Overall;
1.Stephen Byrne
2.D.McDonald
3. Willie Houlihan
Class 1;
1. D.Houlihan
2.R.O Donovan
3.D.Burke
4.R.Burke
Class 4;
1. Gerald Derwan
2.S.Burke
3.Johnny Ryan
Class 5;
1 Oliver Boland.
Sunday run was won by R.Burke
Excellent Talk on Tyres
Tuesday night 20th feb we were treated to an excellent talk on tyres by Jerry Murphy of R&R tyres in Ballincollig.
Jerry went through every detail of tyre construction and compounds etc in an effort to make it easier for people to pick the tyres they need for any particular task.
It was well attended and I'm sure everyone there took somethimg of use away with them.
Our thanks to Jerry and the R&R team in Ballincollig.
1000 Shakes Nav Trial
Thanks to Ger Fahy for the report
The 2007 1000 Shakes Night Navigation Trial took place last night (20th January.)
HQ was Coolcower House near Macroom and 34 crews tackled the event in the traditional Coolea,Mullaghanish,Ballymakeera area covering 130 miles.
Problems arose as early as time point 3 for some of the crews and time point 11,near Carriganimma, caused major confusion with 14 crews missing the location.
The tricky course set by C.O.C. Niall Murphy also had most of the crews in trouble at Time Points south of Coolea.
Overall winning crew of the event was Andy Mackerel/Liam Higgins who had 3 points to spare over Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly.Ger O Connell/Denis O Donovan were third overall.
The win in Cork means Mackerel/Higgins stay on top of the National Navigation Championship and O'Shea/Daly leading the Munster Championship.
Results:
1st Overall: Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (1 Pen)
2nd Overall: Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly (4 Pens)
3rd Overall:Ger O Connell/Denis O Donovan (5 Pens)
Class Winners:
Expert:
1st:Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly (4 Pens)
2nd: Ger O Connell/Denis O Donovan (5 Pens)
3rd:Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (9 Pens)
Semi Expert:
1st. Richard Cassidy/Sean McCaffrey (9 Pens)
2nd.Edward Gaffney/Glen Gaffney (20 Pens)
3rd.Arthur Keirns/Ashley McAdoo (32 Pens)
Beginners:
1st.James Fitzgerald/Ed O Neill (15 Pens)
2nd.Brian O'Mahony/Michelle Galwey (63 Pens)
3rd.James O'Brien.G.O'Brien (208 Pens)
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS (Greg McCarthy)
The 2007 1000 Shakes Night Navigation Trial took place last night (20th January.)
HQ was Coolcower House near Macroom and 34 crews tackled the event in the traditional Coolea,Mullaghanish,Ballymakeera area covering 130 miles.
Problems arose as early as time point 3 for some of the crews and time point 11,near Carriganimma, caused major confusion with 14 crews missing the location.
The tricky course set by C.O.C. Niall Murphy also had most of the crews in trouble at Time Points south of Coolea.
Overall winning crew of the event was Andy Mackerel/Liam Higgins who had 3 points to spare over Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly.Ger O Connell/Denis O Donovan were third overall.
The win in Cork means Mackerel/Higgins stay on top of the National Navigation Championship and O'Shea/Daly leading the Munster Championship.
Results:
1st Overall: Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (1 Pen)
2nd Overall: Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly (4 Pens)
3rd Overall:Ger O Connell/Denis O Donovan (5 Pens)
Class Winners:
Expert:
1st:Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly (4 Pens)
2nd: Ger O Connell/Denis O Donovan (5 Pens)
3rd:Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (9 Pens)
Semi Expert:
1st. Richard Cassidy/Sean McCaffrey (9 Pens)
2nd.Edward Gaffney/Glen Gaffney (20 Pens)
3rd.Arthur Keirns/Ashley McAdoo (32 Pens)
Beginners:
1st.James Fitzgerald/Ed O Neill (15 Pens)
2nd.Brian O'Mahony/Michelle Galwey (63 Pens)
3rd.James O'Brien.G.O'Brien (208 Pens)
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS (Greg McCarthy)
A GREAT NIGHT!
C.O.C Trish Hogan
A Great Night!
That was the general consensus after the 2007 bun fight took place at the weekend.
The Venue was the Commons Inn Hotel and the food and room were magnificent.Music was supplied by "Edge of Heaven" who were followed by a "70's" Disco.
It was great to see some of the founding fathers of the club mixing with the new younger members proving that after 30 years the club is still going from strength to strength.
Congratulations to Trish Hogan who put a tremendous amount of work into running the event and the care she took was plain for all to see.
Congratulations too to Derry McCarthy who won the "Marshal of the year" award and to Edel Fahy who won the "Club Member of the Year" award.
The CMC championship awards were also presented on the night with the overall drivers award going to Victor Beamish and the overall Navigators award going to Greg McCarthy.
There was a special presentation from the Club to Owen Murphy and Keith Cronin to mark their first and second places in the Billy Coleman award.
Photographs of this and the other award winners are available HERE,courtesy once again of Ger Leahy.If you would like any of Gers photos contact him on 024 92668
CMC RALLYSPRINT
The CMC rally sprint,run on Wednesday 27th Dec, was deemed to be a huge success by all who attended.
There were 59 starters who completed 4 runs each at the Pike in Dungarvan.
Overall winner was Jason Ryan (Civic),with Micheal O Sullivan 2nd(Escort) ,Jason O Brien 3rd(206),Johnny Kenneally 4th(Escort) and Connie Delaney 5th(Subaru).
Full results are available through the link below and a full report on the event will be available in the "Past events"section shortly.
Congratulations to C.O.C Paul Casey and his team for running a faultless event.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS COURTESY GER LEAHY AND RAY GAVIN
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS
There were 59 starters who completed 4 runs each at the Pike in Dungarvan.
Overall winner was Jason Ryan (Civic),with Micheal O Sullivan 2nd(Escort) ,Jason O Brien 3rd(206),Johnny Kenneally 4th(Escort) and Connie Delaney 5th(Subaru).
Full results are available through the link below and a full report on the event will be available in the "Past events"section shortly.
Congratulations to C.O.C Paul Casey and his team for running a faultless event.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS COURTESY GER LEAHY AND RAY GAVIN
CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS
Byrne wins Rain Soaked 4x4
Click the link below for results on excel spreadsheet.
4X4 Cork Results.xls
Byrne takes the spoils in rain soaked 4x4
S.T. Byrne took the spoils in Cork Motor Clubs 4x4 production trial,which took place in Rock Lodge in Coachford Co.Cork on Sunday 19th of November.
C.O.C. Vincent Dorney and his crew set out a very challenging course and this,plus the fact that the rain never stopped for the duration of the event, tested the skill and mettle of the drivers from start to finish.
The event had the highest number of entries for a round of the championship so far this year with 29 drivers taking the start.
S.T.Byrne had an excellent 7 pts in spite of the conditions to take the win and he was followed home closely by D.Fitzgerald on 9pts. S.H.Byrne took third overall on 12pts.
In the class battles Class one went to N.O.Meara with 14 points,2nd in class 1 went to J .O Meara and third in class 1 was won by W.Houlihan on 17 pts.
Class 2 was won by T.Corry on 29 points with second in the class going to M.Starr on 32.
Class 4 winner was A.Brink on 26 points second in the class was T.O Regan on 50 points and third was D.O Donovan on 52 points.
Taking the spoils in class 5 was O.Boland 15 points, second in class 5 was B.Dinneen on 23 points and third was A.McDonald on 25.
C.O.C. Vincent Dorney was loud in his praise for the efforts of the competitors in such bad conditions but he particularily singled out the marshals who helped set up the course and stood out in the driving rain all day to ensure the event ran smoothly in spite of the conditions.
Star Trek Navigation Trial
C.O.C. Trevor O Callaghan and his team are to be congratulated on running a very successful event last weekend (4th/5th of November).
The Star Trek was a counting round of the National Navigation trial Championship,as well as a round of both the Munster Championship and the CMC Championship.
The weather for the night was brilliant for once and made for a very enjoyable night for marshals and competitor alike.
Winners at the end of the night were:
1st overall: Tadhg O Shea/Kieran Daly (Expert) Opel Astra. 0 pens
2nd overall:Andy Mackerel/Liam Higgins(Expert) Vauxhall Vectra. 1 pen
3rd overall: Derek Coleman/Lee Annett(semi-expert) Vauxhall Astra 5 pens
Class Winners:
Expert: Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins
Semi-Expert:Derek Coleman/Lee Annett
Novice:Niall Maguire/Shane Maguire
Beginners: John Helen/Andrew Beamish.
Full results are available by clicking th link below.
Results_2006.xls
Next CMC Navigation Trial will be the 1000 Shakes which will be Clerked by Niall Murphy and will take place on the 20th of January 2007
Tuesdays and Navigators
Two excellent and informative nights took place at the club HQ,The Commons Inn Hotel,over the last couple of weeks.
First up,on the 24th of Oct was a question and answer night with a difference.This night we heard the views of the man on the other side of the car....the Navigator.
There were plenty of questions,with answers to match......and a few stories thrown in for good measure as well.
There was excellent footage of the Navigators involved as well and we are deeply indebted to Greg Shinnors,Paul Nagle,Anthony Nestor,James O Brien and Gerry Hynes for giving up their Tuesday night to come along and impart their wisdom to the big crowd who attended on the night.
Then on Tuesday 8/11 we had a talk on Road Books,time cards,event regulations and control boards.
Again a good and attentive crowd were on hand and again we are indebted to Gerry Hynes and Greg Shinnors.
First up,on the 24th of Oct was a question and answer night with a difference.This night we heard the views of the man on the other side of the car....the Navigator.
There were plenty of questions,with answers to match......and a few stories thrown in for good measure as well.
There was excellent footage of the Navigators involved as well and we are deeply indebted to Greg Shinnors,Paul Nagle,Anthony Nestor,James O Brien and Gerry Hynes for giving up their Tuesday night to come along and impart their wisdom to the big crowd who attended on the night.
Then on Tuesday 8/11 we had a talk on Road Books,time cards,event regulations and control boards.
Again a good and attentive crowd were on hand and again we are indebted to Gerry Hynes and Greg Shinnors.
