Upcoming Events

02/03/06
Safety Notes and DVD also available to Mail Order.
Competitors now have the option to: Contact Patterson Agencies, order their notes/ DVD, give your name, address & credit card details.
Patterson agencies will on the Tuesday of each round dispatch your order to your address.

Rallynews (by Brian & Liz Patterson)

The Championship Committee are not responsible for the safe & timely delivery of pre-ordered notes/ DVD’s. Competitors who do not wish to avail of this facility can still buy their notes/ DVD at documentation.

11/02/06
Championship Preview
Welcome to the 2006 “McCauley Trailers National Forest Rally Championship”. We are delighted to have “McCauley Trailers” of Toombridge, Co. Antrim on board as our title sponsor for a third successive season.

Company Director, Owen Kelly - a very keen motorsport enthusiast is delighted with the exposure gained over the last two years. Collectively “McCauley Trailers” and the National Forest Rally Championship will continue to grow in stature through 2006.

The Championship Committee remains in place with Willie Walsh as Chairman, Kathlyn Hegarty as secretary and Elaine Higgins as registrar. Willie Walsh and his team have negotiated a new 3-year deal with Coillte and Entry fees for 2006 have been set at 490 euros main field and 390 euros for Juniors.

There are 8 rounds with best 7 scores to count and 5 bonus points for competitors who start all rounds. Competitor’s can register for the championship at documentation in Carrick (round 1) or up to and including the fourth round. This year competitors will receive a duplicate copy of their completed registration form as receipt/ proof of championship registration.

The various new features introduced last year proved successful. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Best 2WD Awards are now a major part of the Championship attracting serious 2WD competition who regularly feature amongst the WRC front-runners and are awesome to watch as they roar and slide through the forests. A 2WD “Pilot Championship” will run alongside the main championship this year on a “Trial bases” to be reviewed at the end of the year with a view to being fully implemented next year. The “Team Award” introduced last season did not really take off and will not be continued this year.

For 2006 the Junior class is being extended to allow first time Licence holders in ‘05 and ’06, No age limit. (2005 Juniors are eligible for the 2006 Championship). Cars up to 1600cc 8v will be allowed, 1600 16v and Super 1600 Not allowed. The juniors will again compete on every stage on every round, i.e. they will be doing the full event on all 8 rounds, paying a reduced entry of 100 euro less than the main field. There is a possibility that the Juniors will run first on the road on a “Trial bases” on some event mid season.

Hopes are high that the battle for championship honours will be fought as intense as last season, where so many of the titles hung in the balance right down to the final stage on the final round.

Regulations are currently available for the opening round, “The Willie Loughman Memorial Rally” based in Carrick on Suir on Sunday 19th February. Anyone who competed in last year’s event should have received regulations by now. Competitor’s interested in the event who don’t have regulations can contact: Ann Marie Fitzgerald 051 895238 or download regs @ www.rally.ie.

“The Willie Loughman Memorial” is sure to be an exciting curtain raiser, Clerk of the Course; Terence Kearney revised last year’s format. The event will consist of 8 stages (4 done twice) approx 120 stage kilometres with centralised service outside Clonmel after ss2, 4 and 6.

Starting with “Clonndonnell” - a short stage with a bit of everything to dust off the cobwebs before 24 kms of the mammoth Gurteen forest complex. In the afternoon the events moves North to the classic “Slievenamon” and “Anner” stages, the latter famous for the flat out jumps at the finish.

There is quite a stir about Carrick on Suir, John McCarthy (Corolla WRC), Kevin O’Kane (Impreza WRC), Pat Norris (Impreza WRC), Trevor Harding (Impreza WRC), James Murphy (Escort WRC), Dominic McNeill (Lancer WRC) and Adrian McElvaney (Impreza 555) just a sample of the calibre of front-runners.

Gp N numbers continue to swell again this season. Introduced in 2003 the 4WD Gp N class is the biggest class in the series often featuring over 25 entries all with state of the art Mitsubishi’s and Subaru’s. Reigning Gp N Champion Stephen Moore will be back to defend his title but will face a very formidable line up in the form of; Brian McGillin (Impreza N12), Pete McCullagh jnr (Evo 9), Pete Willoughby (Evo 8), Brendan Murphy (Evo 8), Owen Murphy (Evo 6), Gary Rogers (Evo 6), Graham Quinn (Evo 6) and USA based Patrick Keenan (Evo 7) to mention a few.

Frank Kelly is flat out building a new mk2 with serious power to defend his 2WD title. We can look forward to another exciting 2WD tussle, as all the big 2WD’s are intent on a full championship assault. Brian Lawlor, Paul Stanton, Noel driver, John Reid, Adrian Hetherington, Vivian Hamill, Paul Barrett, Gary Price and Seamus OConnell are among the leading 2WD’s all with 250 + BHP Escorts. There are others in the lower classes who will shake up the big Escorts; Former Gp N Champion John Shanahan has acquired his brother Patrick’s 1400 16v Starlet – watch out lads! James Flynn, Billy OConnell, Matt Shinnors, Jason Roche, Barry McKenna, Shane Cullen and Ali Burrows will all impact on the “Best 2WD” points throughout the season.

Defending class champions, Alan Dineen, Mick Nevin, Clement Lonergan, Ray Benskin and Junior Champion; Ashley McAdoo will be out to defend their titles but will face stiff opposition from their rivals. Once again we depend on continued support from the media and all the websites that have supported the championship in the past to maintain the prominent profile that “The McCauley Trailers National Forest Rally Championship” now holds.

Forestry Championship Open Forum - 15 Jan 06

Championship Rounds