2005 Border Rally Championship

Posted: November 29, 2005 4:54 PM

Fox and Tobin lift 2005 title at the Hotel Kilmore
At the Quinn Group Border Rally Championship prizegiving function held on Saturday night last in the Hotel Kilmore in Cavan attended by almost three hundred patrons, deserving title holders, Adrian Fox and navigator Phillip Tobin were presented with the Derryveagh Crystal Award by Quinn Group representative, T .P Feehan as Champions for 2005.

Their unprecedented performance throughout the season in their class 10 Escort, culminated in securing maximum points on four counting rounds and in addition having had the comfort of a further two, ten pointers on their dropped rounds. Accepting the award Adrian thanked, Phillip his navigator, his many supporters and sponsors while acknowledging his pride to be following in the footsteps of fellow Monaghan man and 2004 title holder, Niall Maguire while reflecting on the ethos of the Border Championship which can have a champion emerge from any end of the class spectrum.

A comprehensive display of video clips presented by Gerard Mc Carron at the prizegiving shone light on the many facets of the champions progression through the years which led to their ultimate reward at this level but as indicated by Adrian in his acceptance speech, planning for the forthcoming season has already began.

Presented with the runners up award Shane Feely and Jim Mc Grath had been on matched points right up to the concluding round in Donegal Harvest but an early off ended their chances of taking the 2005 title. The Boyle lads domination of Class 6 had been consistent throughout the earlier five rounds, and for the second occasion been in the shake down for the title, but following their outing on Rally Ireland just the week following Donegal in a hired Evo, and with similar plans for the same event in March 2006, a move to Group N might have its attractions.

Picking up the third Overall award on the night for finishing on 39 points were Raymond Conlon and James O Reilly, a point’s total which, on another occasion would have quite adequately secured the title.

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• Adrian Fox and Phillip Tobin to lift the 2005 Title
• Final Championship Points
• Quinn Group sponsors Border Championship for third successive year.
• Championship Rounds

Adrian Fox and Phillip Tobin to lift the 2005 Title
Adrian Fox and navigator Phillip Tobin are destined to pick up the Quinn Group Border Rally Championship 2005 title at the forthcoming prizegiving function on Saturday November 26th in the Hotel Kilmore Cavan.

A further class 10 win on the Donegal Harvest by Adrian with Phillip brought to six, one at each of the counting rounds of the 2005 Championship season, culminating in the maximum total achievable including droped rounds of 60 points. This absolute domination of the 8valve modified 1600cc class by the Rockcorry crew from start to finish deservingly credits them with the Border title which in 2003 was on the verge of being within their grasp, only to be decided by a tie breaker forcing them in that year into third spot. On this occasion though it was attack right from the word go, beginning with the opening round in Mayo which they claimed, by what was to be their tightest margin of seven seconds over their nearest class rival. For the remaining five rounds the red Foxhunter Escort crossed the finishing ramp on each occasion with a comfortable margin and this was reaffirmed on the final round in Bunbeg when they clinched the title with over five minutes to spare.

For the runners up, Shane Feely and Jim Mc Grath in class 6, they also had sights set on the Border title encouraged by a comfortable opener in Mayo. Following a closer run in Monaghan crossing the ramp with just a fifteen second margin, the next three rounds were totally dominated by the Boyle lads and entering Donegal it was neck and neck between the Modified and Group A 1600 classes. With conditions over the wet west Donegal stages being extremely treacherous, an early slip off caused frontal damage to the 106 forcing their retirement, and dashing their hopes of a 2005 title.

Finishing the season with thirty nine points on the table, Raymond Conlon and James O Reilly taking class wins in Cavan Newry and Sligo, would on other occasions have secured the title on this result but for 2005 will have to be satisfied with third spot. Championship Class Leaders after Round 6 (Donegal)
(Points total- based on best four out of six counting rounds)

Class 1 Brendan Gormonly 35points Derek Mc Carthy 30 points
Class 2 Jarlath Barry 32points Kieran Carroll 32 points
Class 3 Brendan Cumiskey 37points Proncias Mc Kenna 30points
Class 4 Mike Curran 22points Fabien Mc Shane 31points
Ian Barrett 22point
Class 5 Andrew Mullen 36points Elaine Doherty 35 points
Class 6 Shane Feely 40points Jim Mc Grath 40 points 2nd O/A
Class 7 Thomas O Rourke 27points John Mc Grath 18 points
Class 8 Ray Breen 23points Andrew Purcell 23 points
Class 9 Thomas Carolan 35points Declan Smith 35 points
Class 10 Adrian Fox 40points Phillip Tobin 40 points 1st O/A
Class 11 Raymond Conlon 39points James O Reilly 39 points 3rd O/A
Class 12 Trevor Lancashire 37points John Rowland 37points
Brian Armstrong 37points
Class 13 Gordon Rodgers 34points Phillip Mc Entee 34 points
Class 14 Maurice Moffitt 29points Jason Mc Kenna 29points
Class 15 Brian Corey 30points Hugh Michael Mc Kenna 29 points

• Final Championship Points in Excel Format

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02/03/05
by Padraic Boylan
The Border Committee comprising of representatives from each of the six participant clubs, Mayo & District, Monaghan, Cavan, Newry & Mourne, Connacht and Donegal are delighted once again to have the QUINN GROUP sponsor the class based championship for the third consecutive year, with the series going from strength to strength since its inception back in 1991,which had in excess of 140 crews register in 2004,and has all the indications that 2005 championship will continue to develop interest and nurture competition across all fifteen classes.

For the first time the championship this year will have priority status at each counting round for the first two drivers in each class, on the condition that their entrants comply with closing dates and based on points after the previous round with priority for the opening round in Mayo to be based on Class finishes in 2004.

The Quinn Group Border Championship once again consists of six rounds with the best four to count, commencing with the opening round, the Mayo Stages on March 13th . As in previous years it is expected that a large number of competitors will register at round one, thus enabling them the earliest opportunity to register valuable points, which become crucial as the championship progresses and will be particularly important this year with the introduction of a priority status for the first two drivers in each class.

Round Two is Monaghan Stages, the home of Border Championship title holders for the past three years, John Kelly, Enda Keenan and of course our reigning champion Niall Maguire, with neighboring club Cavan hosting round three just five weeks later.

The Newry & Mourne Club host rounds four, a Saturday event, an ideal opportunity to gain entry and pick up valuable championship points, and the experience of some classic stages.

Sligo Stages Rally, home event of 2004 championship runner up David Leonard, is round five and of course the penultimate round is once again the Donegal Harvest on October 8th when our 2005 title holder will be confirmed.

Championship Rounds

1. Mayo Stages Rally - 13 Mar 05
2. Monaghan Stages Rally - 24 Apr 05
3. Cavan Stages Rally - 29 May 05
4. MOURNE RALLY - 11 Jun 05
5. Connacht Sligo Stages Rally - 10 Jul 05
6. Donegal Harvest Stages Rally - (Sat) 8 Oct 05

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Border Championship