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Donegal Harvest Stages Rally - (Sat) 14 Oct 06Posted: October 17, 2006 4:37 PM - 20754 Hits Round 6 - 2006 Border Rally Championship
Posted: October 17, 2006 4:37 PM
Results
James Burkee Photography - www.jamesburkee.com Roy Dempster Photos rallypics.org Rallyportfolio.com PRE EVENT NEWS
Photo: Martin Brady Subaru Impreza S11 in Donnelly Colours Photo: Martin Brady Damien Crawford (Donegal MC Chairman) Paddy Robinson - COC James Sharkey - Competition Winner, John Connors (Downings Bay Hotel) & Cllr Noel McBride 08/10/06 HARVEST IS RIPE ONCE AGAIN….. Well, its almost here! Only 1 week to go and all systems are go! Clerk of the Course, Paddy Robinson along with a dedicated team has been working flat out to get the 2006 Downings Bay Hotel. Harvest Stages Rally “On the Road” The format sees the event move to Downings, with Scrutineering, Parc Ferme, centred beside the village, thanks to co-operation of the local Gaelic Athletic Association, and a dedicated group of locals, who have made this possible. This year the Centralised Service is in the Old Fruit of the Loom Factory in Milford. “Classic” is the only word to describe the stages as Paddy has selected some of the current International stages and a couple of the old Stages that have not been used recently but are still renowned as classics. Starting on the morning of Saturday 14th October the crews will depart from the front of the Downings Bay Hotel and make their way to the first two tests of the day: Fanad Head & Kindrum Lake stages which have not been used for the past couple of years due to various reason. These are repeated twice with service in between each loop. After the Second Service the crews will make their way to another Donegal Classic, High Glen then onto the Ultimate Donegal Classic…. Atlantic Drive. The crews will again have service and complete this loop a second time to finish up back at the Downings Bay Hotel. Last years winner Eugene Donnelly, in a surprise announcement has decided not to bring the Toyota Corolla WRC but instead has opted to bring a Subaru Impreza S11 World Rally Car and will this year again have a different Navigator alongside him, James Sharkey from Manorcunningham. James won this exclusive seat as part of a competition run during the Donegal International and organised by members of the club to raise money for Local and National Charities. James is certainly in for the ride of his life! There are valuable Border Championship points to be gained from the Donegal event, which will prove to be as tough as in previous years. The entry list as it stands will prove again a close call between the top contenders, with a battle royal guaranteed between the leaders of the Championship and the young pretenders who are gaining experience. One of Paddy’s first headaches has been to try and sort a hundred and fifty one cars from the two hundred and five entries not including the Juniors, a daunting task for any COC. But such is the popularity of Rallying in Donegal. Paddy Robinson paid a special note of thanks to the Connor’s Family for hosting the event as main sponsors, with Downings Bay Hotel as Rally Headquarters. “I wish all competitors, marshals and spectators a safe weekend's sport and drive safely on our roads. I thank the many residents and land-owners who welcome us each year to their areas, without whose valuable co-operation, along with the Garda Siochana and Donegal County Council, this event would not be possible”. He went on to say “hopefully the spectators will appreciate how lucky they are to enjoy such free entertainment for the weekend, as well as respect what they have, the countryside, private property, and the privilege of being part of the “Donegal Experience.” He explained that residents along the route are becoming perplexed with the conduct of some, albeit a small minority of spectators, who were behaving very badly, causing residents an enormous amount of annoyance and damage to their property, we are there at the grace of the residents and we are very close to not having permission to run stages in Donegal”. This year again we have an excellent line-up of competitors and stages, traffic may be heavy, so the message to spectators is, Get to the stages early, Take your time between stages and Enjoy the 2006 Downings Bay Hotel Harvest Stages Rally. APPRECIATION: Paddy Robinson, Clerk of the Course for the event paid tribute to just some of the bodies and individuals who are helping the Rally. DONEGAL MOTOR CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK:
ORDNANCE SURVEY IRELAND EIRCOM DONEGAL COUNTY COUNCIL & ENGINEERS HEALTH SERVICES EXECUTIVE. /WEST DONEGAL TOURISM, NORTH WEST TOURISM GARDA SIOCHANA KELLYS TOYOTA / LEXUS, LETTERKENNY. TONY KELLY CARS. McGINLEY MOTORS. HEGARTY’S AUTO SERVICES LETTERKENNY CHEVROLET. MEDICAL OFFICERS AND RESCUE TEAMS. DIVER’S GARAGE. LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, HIGHLAND RADIO DOWNINGS G.A.A. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON. DERRYVEAGH CRYSTAL LIMAVADY PRINTING CO. HILLS OF DONEGAL TOURISM DONEGAL ROAD SAFETY WORKING GROUP CIVIL DEFENCE AND ALL OTHER ADDITIONAL SPONSORS WITHOUT WHOSE VALUABLE ASSISTANCE THE EVENT COULD NOT RUN. STAGE SPONSORS: WATSON HIRE, LETTERKENNY DIVERS HARDWARE MILFORD MULROY KERRYKEEL GROUP MODERN TIMBER HOMES Eugene Donnelly to use Subaru Impreza WRC S11 on the Harvest Eugene Donnelly, who will have the Donegal Motor Club prize winner James Sharkey in the Co-Driver's seat, will use a Subaru Impreza WRC on the Donegal Harvest. Donnelly will use the S11 Impreza as used by Guy Wilks on the Cork 20. For the moment the drive is a once-off, with Donnelly using the event to test the Prodrive car. 28/09/06 Entry List Car No Driver /Co Driver (Car) [Class] 1 Eugene Donnelly/James Sharkey (Toyota Corolla WRC) [8] 2 Peadar Hurson/Damien Connolly () [8] 3 Paul Harris/Donal Barrett (Toyota Corolla WRC) [8] 4 Patrick Elliot/Martin Cahill (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 5 Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 6 Dom Buckley/Mike Wastling (Subaru Impreza) [8] 7 Martin Doherty/Andrew Cullen (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 8 Niall Maguire/Paul Mc Laughlin (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 9 Adrian McElvaney/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 10 Hugh Martin Doherty/Michael McBride (Ford Focus WRC) [8] 11 Sean Devine/Damian Dufin (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 12 Sean Gallagher/Enda Sherry (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 14 James Cullen/Reba Graham (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4] 15 Mike Curran/Fabian McShane (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4] 16 Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 17 Noel McCarrick/TBN TBN (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8] 18 Ivan Stewart/Gerard Callaghan (Escort RS Cosworth) [15] 19 Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Subaru Impreza N12) [4] 20 Gabriel Martin/TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4] 21 Frank Wray/Joe Mc Nulty (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [4] Full Entry list on: 28/09/05 Border Championship Preview The 5th round of the 2006 Hankook Border Rally Championship brought the crews back to the west and the picturesque Sligo Stages on July 19th last as series Leaders Brian Armstrong and Duncan McFarlane looked to put the Championship to bed. This the Armagh crew duly did, winning Class 12 by over a minute despite coming out of stage 1 104th overall. They carved their way through the field and by stage, 6 were in the lead, having to contend with a front wheel puncture on the way to the finish. Once again 2006 has been a year of records for the Border Championship, Brian is the first second generation Champion, his Father David won in 1999, while Duncan is the first Scottish Champion in the History of the series. While Brian and Duncan can relax for the last round in Donegal, there is a lot left to be decided in this years Hankook Border Rally Championship, the following is a list of possible scores for leading Border competitors. As Donegal is the final round, is not a round of the National championship, and as the overall winner is decided, whoever takes the minor placings will depend on who travels to the Harvest Rally for the final round. The possible scores assuming a score of 10 in the final round with the best 4 out of 6 scores to count. Most class leaders appear to be in a strong position at least to win their class. Keith Power could finish Class 6 on 40 points, while Russell Woods can also achieve 40 points in Class 11. Willie Fannin has a maximum of 39 points available in Class 4, as has newly crowned National Champion Charlie Donnelly in Class 8. Eamonn McCafferty in Class 5 and Maurice Moffett in Class 14 have a maximum of 38 points available if the secure their respective Classes in Donegal. In Class 9 either Jason or Colin Currid can finish on 37 points. A non finish in Sligo for Phillip Harte allowed a battle between Kenneth McHale and Alan Whyte for Class 1. McHale came out on top on the day but did not have the points from previous rounds to lift him above Whyte in the Championship class. Tommy Doyle and Andy O’Donoghue were once again an unstoppable force in Class 2; the Longford crew are assured of the Championship Class. In Championship Class terms, our own John Duffy increased his stock greatly as he won Class 3 by 1 minute to move into second behind the non-starting David Roe. In Sligo Group N belonged to Willie Fannin and Mick Courtney, the Subaru crew were the class of the field leading from Stage 2 and now they have a 10 point cushion in the Championship class. In Class 5 Eamonn McCafferty and Tony Walsh have been unstoppable in the little Micra all year and enjoy a 25-point lead in the class. Class 6 in Sligo was another dominant show by Keith Power in the S1600 Puma; the Wexford driver was fastest on every stage to come home 8 minutes clear of the field. Andre Roberts has secured the class win in Class 7, although he and Eamonn O’Brien were 1 minute off Sligo Class winners Raymond and Sean Gilleece. Charlie Donnelly took second overall in Sligo and now has some breathing space to the non-starting Glen Allen in the Hankook Border Championship class with Aaron McHale third in class. In Class 9, the absence of Jason Currid has allowed Colin Currid to narrow the gap to the class leader to 2 points while the reappearance of Simon Evans has moved the Mini pilot into third. An off-road excursion on stage 5 wasn’t enough to threaten Michael Conlon’s Championship class lead, while John Walsh’s class win in Sligo has lifted him into second in Class 10. Russell Woods needed a Class 11 win in Sligo to stand a chance of forcing a title race in Donegal but third in Sligo behind a private battle between Terence O’Shaughnessy and Colin O’Toole but the Cavanman still has a chance at an overall placing. Raymond Conlon is set to ascend into the class lead should Russell move into the Overalls. Mark Alcorn sits in third in the Championship class but heading to Donegal the Letterkenny driver will be a force to be reckoned with. With Brian and Duncan already crowned Champions everyone else in Class 12 gets a leg-up, Brian’s cousin Steven Armstrong caps a consistent year with the Championship class win, while second placed Daniel Conaghan will want to make his presence felt on the International stages in Donegal. Cookstown Gerard McAleer and Frank McConville have a slender lead in Class 13 after finishing third in Class in Sligo, unfortunately for Drew Hunter the total loss of his car to fire in Sligo means his Hankook Border Championship is effectively over. The Donegal man was second in Class 13, the third placed Driver Rodney Wilton won the class in Sligo and finished 10th overall is within 6 points of the class lead with 10 points available in Donegal. Gary McPhillips and Mark Tierney were another crew to take a start to finish win, the Monaghan men were the class of the field in Class 14 despite formidable opposition. They came home 4 seconds clear of Enda Keenan and Conor Foley with Maurice Moffett and Jason McKenna 20 seconds behind Keenan. McPhillips and Tierney have jumped to 4th in the Championship Class but a string of non-finishes in earlier rounds will mean that 3rd in Class is their most realistic result. Maurice has a slender lead and needs only to finish second in class in Donegal to take the Championship Class. With no registered finishers in Class 15 in Sligo Ollie McPhillips is secure at the head of the field, David McNulty was his nearest challenger but he has since acquired an Impreza WRC during the summer. Three starters’ points for Brian Corey sees he and Hugh Michael McKenna a distant second. 20/09/06 12/09/05 Harvest Rally Revs Up Preparations are underway by the Donegal Motor Club for the 2006 Harvest Stages Rally which takes place on Saturday 14th October. This year’s event is under the control of Clerk of the Course, Paddy Robinson. Headquarters’ for 2006 is the Downings Bay Hotel and will see the Harvest Rally returning to Downings after a long absence. Paddy Robinson from Kilmacrennan is Clerk of the Course for this year’s event and has a great event planned for competitors and spectators alike. Commenting, Paddy wanted to “thank the Connors Family and the Downings Bay Hotel for their support. We have a great days rallying set out and we are delighted to be able to bring the rally back to Downings after such a long absence” Donegal Motor Club PRO, Joe Hunter said “the club is delighted to be associated with the Downings Bay Hotel and the Connor’s Family and we would encourage as always for club members, competitors and spectators to support our Sponsors. This is first time that the harvest has been in Downing for a long time and as such we would like the local economy to benefit as much as possible from the event. I would also like to wish Paddy and his team a successful event.” Last Years Event was won by Eugene Donnelly who had Carl Moore sitting alongside him in the navigator’s seat as part of a prize from the charity draw that took place over the 2005 Donegal International Rally. This year again Eugene has agreed to come back but this year he will have the 2006 draw winner, Robert Sharkey. The Event is a counting Round for the Oil Burner Trading Club Championship, The Hankook Tyres Border Championship and The Mark 2 Challenge. 05/09/06 For 2006 Donegal Motor Club are delighted to announce that the Title Sponsor and Headquarters for the Harvest Stages Rally will be the Downings Bay Hotel. Regulations and Entry form on:
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Donegal Harvest Rally
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