The Wexford Motorclub hosted the first two rounds of Cannaught
Competition Engines National Hillclimb and Sprint Championship 2011
near the seaside towns of Fethard and Duncannon in the Sunny
South-east. The club had pared down their expenses to the bone in
order to provide a reduced entry fee of just €200 for the two days of
competition and were rewarded by a strong entry for both Saturday and
Sunday.
Paul O’Connell set the pace on the first run driving his older car the
Delta T79, his Pilbeam is still being repaired since it’s Donegal
crash. Simon Mckinley was unfortunate to catch a loose stone in the
timing belt of the Lant RT2 during the Practice Run, putting the car
out of action, so he double drove Dermot Nolans Reynard for the rest
of the weekend. It only took him until Run 2 to set the fastest time
of the Day in that car. O’Connell was also overtaken with the Return
of the Jedi of John Byrne on Run 2. Paul went quicker than that time
on the final run, but John was quicker again on three. David James
leap-frogged both of them into second overall for the day in a very
modified Mitsubishi Evo. Brendan Keane was fifth in his graceful
Swallow and the generous Dermot Nolan must have winced when Simon
broke a wish bone in his car on Run 3. McKinley would spend the
evening repairing it, fit for the next day.
Aishling Power was out for a spin on Saturday in the family’s red mini
and scored fourth in class 1.Trish Daly showed true grit just being in
Wexford after the sad loss of her husband, Terence, at Christmas That
she scored a third and a second place in the class over the weekend
was truly remarkable. Kenny O’Brien was second on Saturday behind Ray
Cunninghams Mini which scored an awesome 10th overall on Day 1. Ray
had to attend a funeral on Sunday so Kenny claimed the class win that
day.
James Doherty made a welcome return to Class 2 competition after a
foray into single-seater hillclimbing. He held off strong competition
from Declan Cundelan at Fethard and local Tommy Murphy at Duncannon.
Behind the top three were a triplet of Nova drivers, lead by John
Bradley’s blue one, ahead of Owen Cardiff, double driving, with Shay
Delaney in the white one . Bradley dropped behind that duo on Sunday
and was replaced in fourth by Stephen Morrins Peugeot 205.
Seamus Ryan debuted his Stryker in the 3A championship class with two
wins at the weekend. Ian Quinn collected two second places in the
Mini-busa. Paul Patrick screamed his Davrian to third on Saturday
ahead of Peter Bogan back out in the Zakspeed Escort, followed by
Cyril McCabe in the blood red Alpha Romeo and John Whitley’s Golf Gti.
The later three all moved up a place when Paul Patrick dropped out
with a broken crown wheel on Sunday with Kieran Kurran in place of
Cyril McCabe.
Rory Stephens was dominant both days in 3B with his Radical, despite
the dramatic efforts of Trevor Cullen in his Escort G3 and Eanna
Carroll in the Turbo Civic. Pat Caulfield was fourth in his Subaru
Impreza on Saturday chased home by Paddy Murphy, also in a Subaru,
Dirmuid O’Toole in a Stryker and Jim Butler in the Renault 5 Turbo.
Caulfield wasn’t competing on Sunday so Paddy Murphy moved up a place
and Patrick Carbery filled the gap. Gary Bradley gave us a brief but
exciting demonstration of what a drift car can do and Douglas
Richardson proved it wasn’t the Japanese that invented that game.
It mightn’t be blue blood but there’s certainly blue paint flowing
through Historic Class 4 which is decided on handicap. Matt Dunnes MG
Midget headed a trio of cars that hue and was the winner on Saturday
with John Farrell in the Mk1 Escort second and Mick O Sheas MGB third.
They were in front Dermott Quigley and Gerry Freeman sharing an
Anglia and Alan Kessie in his Gryphon on Saturday and Porsche on
Sunday. They were all moved down a place by Barry Smith on Sunday and
chased home by Vincent O’Reilly then. Vinny was behind Wolfgang
Schnittgers Midget and and Ed Cassidy’s Sunbeam on the first day and
ahead of Frank Nuttalls Graham which will hopefully be on song for his
invitation to the Prescott Hillclimb later this year.
Colm Dunphy enjoyed his home event with a win at Fethard and a second
place at Duncannon. Hillclimb Committee Chairman Eugene French was
second at the first hill and Brid Harper got third place on her debut
that day. Enda Byrne charged to a victory on Sunday and Siobhan McCann
followed Dunphy, third on Sunday ahead of Eugene and Brid.
John Byrne won class 6 both days while battling for overall position
but there was a mighty battle behind him over the weekend. It went
John Mahon, Deirdre Delaney and Joe Courtney on Saturday and Joe
Courtney, John Mahon and Deirdre Delaney on Sunday. Deirdre was the
fastest lady over the weekend.
The top three in class seven were embroiled in the overall battle, but
Brendan Keane was fourth on Saturday with Dermot Nolan fifth then, and
fourth on Sunday.
The rally classes were greatly swelled by local entrants, first in
class 8 both days was Enda Kennedy in his Escort, followed on Saturday
by Edward Lyons Honda Integra and Leon Galvin Honda Civic on Sunday.
Third on the two days was Patrick Haughey who travelled all the way
from Donegal with an Escort. Also in class 8 over the weekend were,
Bill Carroll Honda Civic, Larry Murphy Escort, Alex Wilson Toyota
Starlet, Niall Synott Opel Corsa, Ray Benson Opel Kadett, Martin
Hendrick Vauxhall Nova and Marc Cavanagh Opel Astra. They were joined
on Sunday by Tommy Kelly Honda Civic, Andrew Nash Honda Civic, Alex
Wilson Junior Starlet, Noel Kendrick Honda Civic, Richard Stafford
Opel Kadett, Sean Furlong Opel Kadett, Tom Wollard Peugeot 106 and
Novice award winner Tonya Fortune in an Opel Corsa.
Graham Scallon, Alan Doherty and Liam Howlett had great sport over the
weekend, it went, Escort, Astra, Corsa on Saturday and Corsa, Escort,
Astra on Sunday. Also in class 9 on Saturday were Seamus O’Grady
Escort, John Price in another Renault 5 Turbo, Mick Dowling Escort,
Alex Wilson Jnr Starlet, Richard Cleary Honda Civic and Noel Kendrick
Honda Civic. Some of them hopped class for Sunday but they were
replaced by Kevin O’Dowd in a Honda Type R.
The broken wishbone must have been lucky for Simon McKinley, with it
repaired for Sunday he lead from Run 1. John Byrne was second on that
run with Paul O’Connell third. But the empire would strike back when
O’Connell focused hard to return to form on Run 3, beating McKinleys
first time and going ahead of the Jedi .Simon shook an even quicker
time out of the Reynard on his third go to continue his reign in the
championship. Rounds three and four will be held in Co. Clare in just
three weeks.
DAY ONE
1 Simon McKinley (Reynard 873-Connaught) 48.30s,
2 David James (Lancer Evo 6) 49.85s,
3 John Byrne (Jedi-Honda) 50.16s,
4 Paul O’Connell (Delta T79 Warrior) 51.07s,
5 Brendan Keane (Swallow DR14 F3) 53.19s,
6 Dermot Nolan (Reynard 873-Connaught) 53.96s,
7 Rory Stephens (Radical SR3 Hayabusa Turbo) 54.54s,
8 Seamus Ryan (Raw Striker) 56.07s,
9 Trevor Cullen (Escort G3) 56.83s,
10 Ray Cunningham (Mini) 57.04s.
Class winners: Ray Cunningham, Jim Doherty (Starlet) 57.23s, Seamus Ryan, Rory Stephens, Matt Dunne (Midget) 45.25 (net), Colm Dunphy (Laser FF1600) 59.66s, John Byrne, David James, Enda Kennedy (Escort) 59.98s, Graham Scallan (Escort) 57.35s.
DAY 2
1 Simon McKinley (Reynard 873-Connaught) 48.93s,
2 Paul O’Connell (Delta T79 Warrior) 50.52s,
3 John Byrne (Jedi-Honda) 51.43s,
4 Joe Courtney (OMS-Suzuki) 52.27s,
5 David James (Lancer Evo 6) 52.68s,
6 Dermot Nolan (Reynard 873-Connaught) 53.44s,
7 Rory Stephens (Radical SR3 Hayabusa Turbo) 55.02s,
8 Trevor Cullen (Escort G3) 56.08s,
9 Seamus Ryan (Raw Striker) 56.50s,
10 Eanna Carroll (Civic Turbo) 56.68s.
Class winners: Kenny O’Brien (Nova) 60.53s, Jim Doherty (Starlet) 56.72s, Seamus Ryan, Rory Stephens, Barry Smith (Escort) 45.27 (net), Enda Byrne (Sheane VW) 60.22s, John Byrne, Paul O’Connell, Enda Kennedy (Escort) 60.01s, Alan Doherty (Corsa) 57.36s.
2011 Season All Set To Start with Wexford Motor Clubs Reduced Entry fees
Posted: January 25, 2011 4:41 PM
Christmas is over and 2011 is nearly a month old and the Hillclimb and
Sprint season is just weeks away. After a thrilling season in the four
corners of Ireland in 2010 we are looking forward to some more thrills
and spills in 2011 in one of Ireland's most affordable and competitive
forms of Motorsport.
The season is kicking off in Wexford this year and Wexford Motor Club
have a great weekends motorsport in hand for all competitors. Fresh
from the sucess of winning the Dick Bailey award for best run weekend
in 2010 and after the positive reaction last year from competitors,
Wexford have decided to retain the two Hillclimb venues used in 2010,
Fethard and Duncannon. Situated on the East coast of Ireland these
scenic areas will once again play host to the fastest, best value form
of motorsport in Ireland.
In the current Economic climate Wexford have made the brave move by
slashing entry fees for their Hillclimb/Sprint event to encourage more
competitors to participate and to give even more value to competitors.
A special offer on Entry fees for the 2 days in Wexford will be 200
euro for a 2 day entry and 115 euro for a one day entry. This special
offer is available to all competitors as long as the entry and fee is
recieved BEFORE friday 19th March.
Entries after this time will be 230 euro per 2 day weekend entry and
125 euro per day for one day entries. This is still cheaper than the
average entry 2 day entry fee in 2010 of 250 euro!
Obviously this reduced entry fee is a brave move in the current
climate but if competitors come out and support this event in numbers,
then the club should be able to break even financially. It is up to
all of us as competitors to support hillclimbing and encouraging other
licence holders to try this value for money sport where you can
compete at the top level in a National Championship for the same
financial cost as running a Honda Civic in 3 or 4 rallies!
This reduced entry fee may become the norm if competitors support this
initiative. If competitors can demonstrate their support by signing up
and competing in Wexford then it opens up the possibility for further
reductions in the future. Its in our hands now! Come on, send off your
licence forms today and lets go Hillclimbing and Sprinting!
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