Ballyvaughan Hillclimb Weekend - 26-27 Apr 03

Posted: May 9, 2003 5:18 PM

Day One
A cold, wet and windy morning greeted the drivers competing in the Galway MC run Ballyryan hillclimb. A wide and fast hill with only two notable bends. As well as the bad weather the morning brought out a few unexpected faces to the paddock. Ex-champions Richard Young and Jenny Kennedy made a welcome return to the championship. John Leinster in the very powerful Pilbeam was also in attendance. Other notable entries included Seamus Morris in the Darrian, Andrew Herman in his Honda CBR powered Van-Diemen.

The practice run was extremely wet and all the drivers took a very cautious approach. On the first timed run however all gloves were off and it was Sylvie Mullins in the Sark who got the result. Frank Byrnes was second and Michael B. Roche was third. This was to change in the Second timed run however when John Leinster took the top spot with an extremely quick run, taking advantage of a brief dry spell. Sylvie Mullins was now down to second and Michael A. Roche third. That was the way it stayed until the end of the event. Wet conditions hampering any hope of improvement.

Top 10:
1 - John Leinster - Pilbeam - 53.20s
2 - Sylvie Mullins - Sark - 53.28s
3 - Michael B. Roche - Delta - 54.31s
4 - Michael A. Roche - Marsh - 54.94s
5 - Frank Byrnes - Reynard - 56.20s
6 - Karl Cleary - Metro 6R4 - 56.32s
7 - Seamus Morris - Darrian - 56.60
8 - Simon McKinley - Escort - 58.06
9 - John McNamara - Coogar - 58.28
10 - Richard Young - Coogar - 60.05

Class winners were as follows:
Class 1 - Ian Quinn, Mini.
Class 2 - Declan Conway, Golf.
Class 3 - Seamus Morris, Darrian.
Class 4 - John Kingston, Lotus Elan.
Class 5 - John Naylor, Reynard
Class 6 - Sylvie Mullins, Sark
Class 7 - Michael B. Roche, Delta
Class 8 - Ray Cunningham, Mini.
Class 9 - Sean Cannole, Renault 5.

Day Two
A bright and dry morning greeted the drivers taking part in the Ballyallaban hillclimb run by Galway MC. Following his success on the Saturday John Leinster seemed to be favourite to take the double. However Frank Byrnes and John McNamara were not going to let him have it so easy. A large number of entries filled the rallycar classes. Some well known drivers such as John Spain and Ed Synan, to name but a few, joined the field. The practice went well for most competitors but John Leinster picked up a suspension problem that put him out of the running for the day. That left the running for the top spot wide open. Karl Cleary, Frank Byrnes, Michael B. Roche and John McNamara all had gone well in practice and all were more than capable of fighting for it.

On the first run though it was Frank Byrnes that laid down the gauntlet. Michael B.Roche was not going to let him get away so easily though and ended up just three hundredths of a second slower over the 2.2 mile hill. Karl Cleary was third in his Metro and Richard Young in his old car was fourth. Byrnes was to continue his roll on run two and as well as taking two seconds off his own time he also was only two tenths of a second from the long standing hill record set by Richard Young. John McNamara moved into second position after knocking three seconds off his run one time. Michael B. Roche slipped to third, Richard Young stayed in fourth and Karl Cleary slipped to sixth. It was going to be a nail biting third and final run and all eagerly waited the outcome.

What a cracker of a run it was. On the second half of the run the big guns lined up to fight it out. And fight they did. Frank Byrnes led them away and not only did he set the quickest time but also broke the hill record setting a time of 1m 43.28s. His glory was short lived however as Michael B. Roche crossed the line and set a time of 1m 42.54s, blitzing the time set by Byrnes and breaking the record by almost seven tenths of a second. Richard Young took third place followed by John McNamara and Karl Cleary. Two rounds of the championship complete and already the excitement is building. All are looking forward eagerly to the next two rounds in Wexford.

Congratulations to Denis Murphy and his Galway MC crew for running two fantastic days of racing.

Top 10
1. Michael B. Roche - Delta - 1m 42.54s
2. Frank Byrnes - Reynard - 1m 43.28s
3. Richard Young - Coogar - 1m 43.57s
4. John McNamara - Coogar - 1m 45.29s
5. Karl Cleary - Metro 6R4 - 1m 46.53s
6. Sylvie Mullins - Sark - 1m 46.59s
7. Patrick Roche - OMS - 1m 49.94s
8. Darryl Ramsey - OMS - 1m 50.82s
9. Peter Dunne - Opel Lotus - 1m 51.99
10. Jenny Kennedy - Crossle 33F - 1m 52.14
>
Class Winners
Class 1. Declan Gannon - Starlet
Class 2. James Doherty - Starlet
Class 3. Seamus Morris - Darrian T90
Class 4. John Farrell - Escort
Class 5. Derek Daly - Van Diemen
Class 6. Sylvie Mullins - Sark
Class 7. Frank Byrnes - Reynard
Class 8. Ray Cunningham - Mini
Class 9. Ed Synan - Manta