Finland [J] - 18-20 Aug 06

Posted: August 22, 2006 5:36 PM

Photos:
John Bayly (www.rallyfile.com)
Sperrins Photography - John O'Neill

Full Results:
www.wrc.com - World Rally Championship Offical Site

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Moore just misses out on WRC opportunity
• Entry List available
• Rory Galligan / Greg Shinnors now to use their regular BRC Evo 9
• Grahman Quinn also entered.

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17/08/06
Moore just misses out on WRC opportunity
All it took was a phone call on late Friday evening to set the wheels in motion for Chris Moore to make his WRC debut…. On Rally Finland this coming weekend! Someone had withdrawn at the ninth hour and a last minute deal was struck for Moore to fly out and take his place behind the wheel of the Group N Fiesta ST150- an identical car to the one he is using here in the UK in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy, where he commands second place overall. Frantic calls to existing backers and potential sponsors alike resulted in the budget being confirmed on Sunday lunch time, just in time to secure the deal.

The next few hours were spent organising a medical (to upgrade his licence to International), booking flights, car hire, organising the entry and planning for the recce. Due to the short time constraints he had to leave just after midnight to catch the early Monday morning flight from Heathrow, where he was to meet up with his co driver for the event Robbie Durant.

Everything was going to plan, despite the incredibly short notice. Chris was on his way to Scotland to meet with the doctor who had agreed at short notice to carry out his medical, when at 18:00 that evening the phone rang. It was Davey Greer, the person responsible for preparing the car for the rally. The car had just completed Rally Germany a matter of hours ago and had developed an incurable engine problem. The ferry time tables to ship the car from Germany to Finland meant there were only a few hours on Wednesday afternoon in which to diagnose the problem and prepare the car for the event. Without knowing exactly what was wrong, it was decided it was too great a risk to go.

”To say I’m gutted is a huge understatement.” Commented the Geordie fire fighter as he came to terms with the disappointing news.

“The amount of work we have had to put in over the past fourty eight hours is incredible. Pulling the deal together has involved around twenty people, not least the championship organisers Stella Boyles and Andrew Wheatley who were doing all they could to help- despite being in Germany at the time! Id like to say a massive thank you to everyone who pledged support.”

All is not lost however as the team has decided to channel the support towards the final round of the World Fiesta Sporting Trophy- Wales Rally GB, where Chris will be partnered by his regular co driver Richard Edwards. The pair have competed in Wales twice this year- using similar stages to those used on the World Championship event, winning both events outright, so they should be able to put in a strong performance on their World Championship debut. In the mean time though its back to preparing for the next round of their UK championship assault- the Mewla Rally in ten days time. The pair have climbed to second overall in the standings thanks to their victory on the last event, so another strong performance could elevate them to the championship lead.

“I’m very pleased with how our year is unfolding so far. We started off a little rusty having not competed for almost three years, but as the year has gone on our results have improved quite nicely. We seem to be getting quicker and quicker on each event, and I still feel there is a lot more pace to come.” Commented the Newark Joinery, RallySchool UK and Innovation Motorsports backed driver.

Between Chris and his co driver Richard ‘wee man’ Edwards they have competed on the event over ten times, so they have considerable knowledge of the technical military roads that make up the events eighty tarmac stage miles.

The Mewla Rally takes place on Sunday August 27th.

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Entry list for Rally Finland is now available.

Rory Galligan / Greg Shinnors are seeded at 70 and expected to use their EVO 9 as used on the BRC.

Rally Finland

• 2006 World Rally Championship

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16/07/06
Rory Galligan / Greg Shinnors have entered Finland in a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC.
This will Galligan's first time to compete on the event, Greg navigated for Hugh Dunne a number of years ago.

List of Entries accepted on:

Rally Finland

• 2006 World Rally Championship