Carlow Car Club held it's annual Christmas rallysprint at Mondello Park on Tuesday December 27th, the event boasted an entry of 153 competitors including 10 WRCs a massive group N & A entry and some of the finest two wheel drive examples in the country.
Posted: January 3, 2006 2:22 PM
The event is generally regarded as an end of year bash that welcomes entrants from many different disciplines of the sport. Rally cars from all classes, Rallycross cars, Stockhatchers and even some sprint and hillclimb cars turned out to compete on the day.
As the event is now a counting round of the Carlow Club Members Championship local interests were well represented and this introduced a more serious aspect to an event that is generally described as being ''out for the craic''. With the introduction of the one day navigator licence by the Carlow Car Club almost every car on the day filled the hotseat. Many competitors brought along sponsors, family members and friends to give them a taste of the action on the day.
Morning practice was very slippy right around the track, this gave the lesser powered machines a chance to narrow the gap on the big boys who were complaining of lack of traction. Brian Murphy in his forestry spec Subaru was the surprise leader after Run 1 but his lead was far from comfortable with Kenny Mc Kinstry and Kevin Barrett in joint second position a mere second behind Murphy. David James arrived on the day to use it as a test in his new Ford Focus WRC 2000, David recently made the transition to four wheel drive having competed dor the last twenty years in two wheel drive Escorts. David's first run wasn't quite on the pace of the top three 6.5 seconds behind Brian Murphy leaving him in fifth position just behind George Tracey in the Peugeot 206 WRC.
Over the three timed runs of the day very little changed among the leaders, Kenny Mc Kinstry's second timed run was the fastest time of the day by 4.5 seconds and this put him in a very strong position that wasn't going to be threatened with only one run left. Brian Murphy's performance on the day earned him a very credible second place overall against more modern and powerful machinery while Kevin Barrett remained consistently quick to hold third overall just ahead of George Tracey in the 206. David James got quicker with every run and this very valuable practice session earned him fifth overall just ahead of Emma Mc Kinstry in sixth and Andrew Nesbitt in seventh who was double driving in George Tracey's Peugeot.
The massive four wheel drive entry was invaded by some lightening quick two wheel drive cars on the day with some excellent driving by Gavin Jess in his Metro 1600cc earning him 15th overall and fastest two wheel drive car. Vincent Deery in his exceptionally quick and well prepared 1600cc Vauxhall Nova Rallycross car finished 19th overall and second in the highly competitive class 5, with Simon Mc Kinley rounding off the top twenty. Simon who we are more used to seeing race up the hills of Ireland was not only twentieth overall but was also the fastest Mark 2 Escort on the day in his 1600cc only car.
Other performances on the day worth noting were 1st in Class 10 John O' Donnell in the heavily modified 1400cc Suzuki Swift and 1st in Class 8 John Cullen in his Opel Corsa.
Local Honours in the Club Championship were gained on the day by Des Ryan in his 1600cc Corsa, Trevor Culbert in his Mk2 Escort 2000cc and Seamus Doyle in a hired Escort. Ken Treacy just held off the challenge of Paul Grogan for Class 1 Club Championship Honours.
The Carlow Club Members Championship was started in 2004 by club member and competitor Mick Nolan. The competition is now in it's fourth year and has developed into a serious championship with over fifty competitors fighting hard in seven classes for a prize fund of over €3,000 and a prestigious perpetual trophy.
Results
1 Kenny McKinstry (Subaru Impreza WRC) 10m 16.5s,
2 Brian Murphy (Subaru Impreza 555) 10m 17.8s,
3 Kevin Barrett (Subaru Impreza WRC) 10m 19.6s,
4 George Tracey (Peugeot 206 WRC) 10m 26.7s,
5 David James (Ford Focus WRC) 10m 31.7s,
6 Emma McKinstry (Subaru Impreza WRC) 10m 32.2s,
7 Andrew Nesbitt (Peugeot 206 WRC) 10m 35.6s,
8 Eddie Garry (Subaru Impreza WRC) 10m 46.4s,
9 Pat Norris (Subaru Impreza WRC) 10m 48.9s,
10 Trevor Harding (Subaru Impreza WRC) 10m 50.9s.
Class winners:
Brendan Donegan (Lancer Evo) 10m 58.2,
George Tracey,
Simon McKinley (Escort) 11m 11.8s,
Declan Neville (Escort) 11m 07.9s,
Gavin Jess (Metro) 11m 02.3s,
Darragh Byrne (Citroen ZX) 11m 35.9s,
Fergal Allen (BMW M3) 11m 21.7s,
John O’Donnell (Starlet) 11m 38.8s,
Derek Tohill (Saxo) 11m 40.1s.
PRE EVENT NEWS
- Entry List on line
- Regulations available
Familiarization Run will start at 9.30am.
First Run starts at 10.00am.
First Car Finishes at 4.30pm.
20/12/05
Entry List
No: Name: Address: Car/Make/Model: Class:
1 Ray Breen Waterford Ford Focus RS WRC03 2000 2
2 Eddie Garry Waterford Subaru Impreza S8 WRC 2000 2
3 Trevor J. Harding Waterford Subaru Impreza S8 WRC 2000 2
4 Brendan Donegan Fermanagh Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX 2000 1
5 Daniel Barry Wicklow Mitsubishi 2000 1
6 Kevin Barrett Subaru Impreza S9 WRC 2000 2
7 Niall Maguire Subaru Impreza S9 WRC 2000 2
8 Kenny McKinstry Subaru Impreza S8 WRC 2000 2
9 Emma McKinstry Subaru Impreza S8 WRC 2000 2
10 John McGaffin Subaru Impreza S6 WRC 2000 2
11 Pete Willoughby Waterford Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VII 2000 2
12 Derek Jobb Tyrone Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VII 2000 2
13 Gavin Jess Mini Metro 1600 5
14 Paul Grogan Carlow Vauxuki Nova S1300 3
15 George Tracey Peugeot 206 WRC 2000 2
16 Francis Kelly Carlow Opel Corsa 1600 3
17 Catherine Lyons Carlow Opel Nova 1600 3
18 Wesley Patterson N.Ireland Ford Escort MkII 2000 4
19 Pat Murphy Kildare Peugeot 205 1998 4
20 Pat Keogh Kildare Peugeot 309 1998 4
21 Jack Deegan Kildare Peugeot 205 1905 4
Full Entry list, updated every few days on:
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