Post Rally Video Night - Donoughmore - (Fri) 20 Jun 08
Posted: June 17, 2008 10:50 PM
Video of Mini Stage rally will be shown this Friday night in Pat Barry's pub Donoughmore @ 9pm
All welcome
National Junior Rally Championship - McCarthy and Wilson star in Cork.
Posted: June 17, 2008 8:33 PM
Like they had done in the last round in Roscommon, Damien Mc Carthy and Peter Wilson set the tarmac alight on the Cork Mini Stages rally last Sunday. While there was a margin of four seconds at the finish in Roscommon, in Cork there was only a differential of 1.9 seconds, Mc Carthy again the victor. Into the bargain, they finished an amazing fifth and sixth in the main field.
Based in Donoughmore the Cork Mini Rally was round four of the Irish Junior championship and it consisted of two stages repeated. However it became a three stages rally when the first stage was cancelled because of Gwyndaf Evan’s accident in the main field.
On stage two Mc Carthy (Cork) beat Wilson (Meath) by 2.5 seconds and by 8.2 seconds on three. On the fourth and final stage Mc Carthy lost fourth gear and over eight seconds to Wilson. The margin at the finish was a mere 1.9 seconds in Mc Carthy’s favour.
Pat Cunningham (Galway) was third junior home in his Civic, just fifteen seconds behind Wilson. Michael Mc Kennedy (Cork) had his best finish with fourth in the Toyota Twin Cam-the first and only rear wheel drive car in the junior rally. Eamon Power Wexford) was fifth in his Peugeot 106 followed by Jack Newman (Meath) in a Civic. Colin O’Toole (Carlow) in a Corsa had his first finish of the season in seventh-the inaugural West Coast Junior Champion had two good stage times. Ross Forde (Galway) was eighth in a Suzuki Swift. Forde is fresh from his excellent second overall rally in the Suzuki Swift Sports Cup in the Jim Clark rally in Scotland. Vincent Mc Aree (Monaghan) was ninth in a 106 and with Mark Sheahan non-starting, Mc Aree now leads the championship. The next three positions were taken by Cork drivers: Adrian Levis in a Swift, Sarah Moynihan in a 206 and Jason Ryan in a Civic. Propping up the chart was John Byrnes (Limerick) who would have been ninth but for a two minute penalty imposed by the stewards.
Fifteen juniors started in Cork and there were thirteen finishers.Bernard Mulvihill (Longford) rolled on stage 2 and Conor Kelly retired on the next stage with engine troubles.
Mc Aree is the new championship leader with 28points, ahead of Damien Mc Carthy and Mark Sheahan, both on 26 points.
Peter Wilson and Eamon Power are next up with 22 points.
Next round is the Aer Lingus Stages Rally on July 6th.
1.Damien Mc Carthy/Eamon Hayes 38.29.0
2.Peter Wilson/John Kilmurray 38.30.9
3.Pat Cunningham/Martin Cunningham 38.46.5
4.Michael Mc Kennedy/Andrew Mahon 39.32.5
5.Eamon Power/William Power 39.53.6
6.Jack Newman/David Coyle 40.09.6
7.Colin O’Toole/Charlotte Egan 40.19.1
8.Ross Forde/Aaron Forde 40.20.8
9.Vincent Mc Aree/JP Mc Aree 40.51.9
10.Adrian Levis/Eric Deane 41.22.0
11.Sarah Moynihan/Amy Moynihan 41.46.8
12 Jason Ryan/Taghg O’Sullivan 42.45.3
13John Byrnes/Keith Sheil 42.51.6
Event Report
Posted: June 17, 2008 8:29 PM
The Cork Mini Stages 2008 which took place in the Donoughmore area last Sunday (8th June), was full of drama from start to finish. The event which was jointly sponsored by Denis J Downey Ltd. Transport & Logistics and W&M Kiely Concrete saw 151 cars take to the start with 114 making it to the finish. The rally was restricted to cars up to 2 litres and was also the 4th counting round of the National Junior Rally Championship.
Top seeds and sponsors of the event were Leonard Downey and William Kiely and they set a scorching time through the 1st stage Courtbrack in a time of 8.48.9. Behind them there was drama as car number 2 driven by Gwyndaf Evans from Wales with Martin Henry on the notes, landed badly after a jump and the car rolled into retirement, causing the stage to be cancelled. Dave Slattery was the third seed and he had already retired his Escort three miles into the stage with a blown engine.
As the cars moved to stage 2, Downeys rally was about to come to an end as a misfire caused frustration which resulted in a off road excursion. Willie Power led the event in his Darrian after this stage with Barry Meade just two seconds behind. Ed O’Callaghan was in third place another twelve seconds further back. Sam Smyth and Edward Synan in their respective Escorts made up the top five at the halfway point. The junior contenders were also on a serious pace, with just ten seconds separating Damien McCarthy and Peter Wilson with Patrick Cunningham back in third place. Owen Murphy retired his Fiesta on this stage with mechanical problems.
On stage three Meade took fastest by 0.1 of a second to close the gap to 1.2 seconds going into the final stage. Ed O’Callaghans fine run ended here as he retired from third place. This promoted Smyth into third with Synan now into fourth. Fintan Canty had fought his way to fifth after dropping time on the first stage. On the last stage the fight for the lead became academic as Meade dropped two and a half minutes when the battery leads came off. Willie Power and Adrian Deasy came home comfortable winners with over a minute to spare from Sam Smyth in second place with Ed Synan in third. Fintan Canty came home in fourth.
The battle for the top junior championship points went right down to the wire as Damien McCarthy lost fourth gear on the last stage but still had just enough time in reserve to take top points by 1.9 seconds from Peter Wilson. Remarkably they finished fifth and sixth overall in the event as well as 1st and 2nd in class 11. Patrick Cunningham took third place in this class and finished 9th overall.
It was a very successful event overall with large crowds out watching the rally on what was a very fine day. Barry Meade was excluded from eighth place after the event for not reporting an accident for which no OK board was displayed. Car number 36 John Byrnes was excluded from starting the event by the Clerk of the Course for recce infringements. He appealed the Clerk of the Courses decision to the stewards of the event who deliberated at length before to deciding to allow him to start with a two minute penalty.
Cork Motor Club would like to wish Gwyndaf Evans a full and speedy recovery from injuries received as a result of the stage 1 accident on Sunday last.
Final Results:
1 – Willie Power & Adrian Deasy – Darrian T9 – 0:36:46.3
2 – Sam Smyth & Alan Smyth – Ford Escort – 0:37:52.5
3 – Ed Synan & Denis O’Connell – Ford Escort – 0:38:08.6
4 – Fintan Canty & Denis O’Mahony – Ford Escort – 0:38:09.8
5 – Damien McCarthy & Eamon Hayes – Honda Civic – 0:38:29.0
6 – Peter Wilson & John Kilmurray – Honda Civic – 0:38:30.9
Full Results:
Programme Outlets and overview map available
Posted: June 6, 2008 9:04 AM
NJRC Preview
Posted: June 3, 2008 11:29 AM
The Cork Mini Stages, organised by Cork Motor Club, takes place on Sunday next June 8th. The event is round 4 of the National Junior Rally Championship. The rally headquarters is the Commons Inn in Cork City and the event has two tarmac stages run twice in the Donoughmore area. Clerk of Course Darren Mc Carthy has laid on a compact route of 65 stage kilometers and 60 road kilometers. He describes both stages as demanding and one of them is a former Circuit of Ireland stage.
The action gets under way at 11am with the first of four stages beginning at 11.50am. The first car is due back in Donoughmore after the last stage at 15.30.
Service will take place before stage 1 and after stage 2
A total of sixteen drivers registered in the junior championship have entered and Damien McCarthy leads the contenders at number 29. The Corkman is followed by Peter Wilson (Meath)and Jason Ryan (Cork) at 30 and 31, all in Honda Civics.
Current championship leader Mark Sheahan (Limerick) is at number 35 in his Peugeot 206. Sheahan will be in confident mood after his class win last weekend in the Circuit of Munster rally.
· The Cork Mini Stages rally is sponsored by Denis J. Downey Ltd Transport & Logistics and W&M Kiely Concrete Products.
· A donation will be made from the proceeds of this event to the Brothers of Charity Triest School for Autistic Children, Lota, Cork.
· Cork M.C. are pleased to announce that the highest finishing junior will receive a free entry to the Cork Forest Rally in August.
Event Preview
Posted: May 30, 2008 9:27 AM
The Cork Mini Stages Rally which takes place on Sunday, June 8th 2008 has attracted an oversubscribed entry of 198 cars. Only 151 cars will be allowed to start the event leaving those on reserve with an anxious wait to see if they get a run. The event takes place in the Donoughmore area and is the fourth round of the National Junior Rally Championship. The club are pleased to announce that the highest finishing registered driver in this category will receive a free entry to the Cork Forest Rally in August.
The number one seeds are local men and event sponsors Leonard Downey with William Kiely in the passenger seat in their Mk2 Escort. Leonard is a very quick and spectacular driver and starting at number one in what is a home rally for him should give him an even bigger incentive. At number 2 are very familiar and welcome Welsh visitors Gwyndaf Evans and Martin Henry also in a Mk2. Gwyndaf has had many fine results over the years in the West Cork Rally. At three are the Kerry crew of Dave Slattery and Ger Somers who will fancy their chances of a good result in yet another Escort. Number 4 seeds are Barry Meade and Colin Fitzgerald. This young crew are extremely quick and must start as one of the favourites for outright victory in their Mk2 Escort.
Breaking the Escort dominance is the Darrian T90 of Killarneys Willie Power with Adrian Deasy in the left hand seat. The Darrian is an extremely quick car and could well lead the Escorts home. Ed Synan with co-driver Denis O’Connell is at 6 in an Escort. Ed hasn’t a lot of rallying done in recent years, but finished a fine second in the Limerick Mini Stages in January. At seven is Edward O’Callaghan who won the Limerick Mini Stages and performed very well in West Cork also. He has switched from his Manta to an Escort for this event and will be thereabouts at the finish.
Three more Escorts are at numbers eight, nine and ten in the hands of quick West Cork driver Fintan Canty, Clareman Mike Moloney in his rotary engined Mk2, and Michael Curran from county Meath. Potential winners aren’t confined to the top ten however, as there are many more competitive drivers in the top twenty. Included in these are Diarmuid Keohane, former Billy Coleman award winner Owen Murphy in his Fiesta, as well as Kerry trio John & Charlie Hickey and Adrian Randles.
Damien McCarthy leads the contenders for the National Junior Rally Championship at number 29, followed by Peter Wilson and Jason Ryan at 30 and 31 all in Civics. Current championship leader Mark Sheahan is at number 35 in his Peugeot 206. The action gets under way at 11am with the first of four stages beginning at 11.50am. The first car is due back in Donoughmore after the last stage at approximately half past three. The marshals meeting point is at Donoughmore Community Centre at 9.30am. Press & media sign on for the event will also take place at the Community Centre from 9.30am till 10.45am on that morning.
The stages times are as follows;
S1 & 3 Courtbrack – 11.50 & 14.22
S2 & 4 Meenahony – 12.25 & 14.57
Service will take place before stage 1 and after stage 2
Rally Programmers will be available next week.
Entry List available
Posted: May 23, 2008 11:30 PM
Reminder: Entries closing date, Wednesday May 21st
Posted: May 15, 2008 1:38 PM
Entries still available
Press Release 1
Posted: January 28, 2008 10:41 PM
The Cork Mini Stages, organised and promoted by Cork Motor Club,
takes place on 8th June next. The club is delighted to welcome on
board joint sponsors, Denis J. Downey Ltd Transport & Logistics and
W&M Kiely Concrete Products, both are local companies with strong
links to motorsport.
Potential competitors are reminded that the regulations for this event
will be available to download from the club's website from
Friday 25th April.
The event is restricted to 2WD cars upto 2000cc,
and is Round 4 of the National Junior Rally Championship for 2008.
The event has two stages run twice in the Donoughmore area with the
Headquarters being in the Commons Inn in Cork.
A donation will be made from the proceeds of this event to the
Brothers of Charity Triest School for Autistic Children, Lota, Cork.
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