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McHALE AIMS FOR HIGHLAND FLING IN FIRST JIM CLARK RALLY!

Posted: July 7, 2002 9:22 PM - 9652 Hits

Austin McHale (Rathcoole) is one of several of Ireland's leading rally drivers heading for Scotland to compete in his first Jim Clark Memorial Rally this Friday and Saturday, July 12/13, with co-driver, Brian Murphy (Newbridge) on the notes.

The fourth round of the Pirelli British and the Toshiba Computers Irish Tarmac Championships, McHale has had a busy season in the Toyota Ireland Corolla WRC, having competed in both series although he has been dogged with punctures on the British gravel events. He currently lies fourth in the Irish Tarmac series with 14 points behind Andrew Nesbitt (30), Eamonn Boland (22) and Derek McGarrity (19).

Posted: July 7, 2002 9:22 PM

The Jim Clark Memorial Rally is in its sixth year as mainland Britain's only closed public road tarmac rally and for the first time it is based in Edinburgh. Ocean Terminal, Leith, provides the scrutineering, start, parc ferme and finish venues for the event, against the backdrop of the former Royal Yacht Brittania, which is berthed alongside the complex.

McHale was clearly looking forward to the Scottish event, saying: "This is the first year the Jim Clark event has been included in the Irish Tarmac Championship and the first time I've competed on the event. I'm sure there will be a very good Irish entry and the rally will be very competitive. It will probably favour local knowledge, and many of the British Championship contenders have competed on the rally before, but I'm still confident of a good result. Rallying on tarmac creates more of a level playing field for us as well.

"The recce in Scotland is only over one day and will be pretty tough going. I expect the same top Irish drivers will be competing on this rally, like Nesbitt, Boland, McGarrity and Hurson amongst others, but there'll also be the top British drivers, such as Marcus Dodd and Jonny Milner, so all in all, it should be a great event.

"The Toyota Ireland Corolla has been rebuilt since Donegal, which, of course, was a tragic rally for everybody concerned, but particularly for the families of the two young marshals killed and the Donegal Motor Club", said the five times Irish Tarmac Champion.

Competitors leave from Ocean Terminal at 13:00 on Friday for the start of two days of intense competition comprising 21 stages in Berwickshire. The rally covers 455 miles in total with approximately 160 miles of all-out stage mile action covering 10 locations in the county, including five runs through the famous water-splash test at Langton just south of Duns.

The cars return for an overnight halt to Edinburgh - where the event has its headquarters -on Friday at 20.45 to end Leg 1. The Jim Clark Memorial Rally gets underway for the start of Leg 2 at 05:30 on Saturday morning with the finish scheduled for 17:30 back at Ocean Terminal.