Jennings still in control of Valvoline Championship despite late retirement from the Bushwhacker Rally.
Posted: March 17, 2013 5:50 PM
An exciting and hotly contested Bushwhacker Rally was held in Omagh last Saturday. Derek Mc Garrity emerged victorious with a thirteen second margin over Martin Cairns with Kenny Mc Kinstry in third place a further fourteen seconds in arrears. Fourth place was claimed by Colin Britton (just 9 seconds off Mc Kinstry) with local man Mark Donnelly fifth. Once again Frank Kelly was best 2WD, and sixth overall while Garry Jennings retired on the last stage. Austin Shinnors reports.
The Bushwhacker was the sixth and penultimate round of the Valvoline Motorsport Ireland Forest Championship, and the final round of the Northern Ireland Rally championship. The ten stage event attracted a total of 98 crews.
It quickly developed into a shoot out between Cairns and Mc Garrity.
Cairns was driving his Impreza WRC S10 and he led the rally from the start until stage 8 when he had a three second gap to Impreza WRC S14 of Mc Garrity. On ss9 Mc Garrity upped the ante and he took 6 seconds on the 1.9 miler and a further 13 seconds on the final 6.7 mile test near Gortin to win the rally by thirteen seconds. With this win, Mc Garrity has claimed his third NI rally championship.
Cairns was not too disappointed as he collected maximum Valvoline Championship points and he also finished ahead of rally legend Mc Kinstry. Another major development at the final test was the retirement of Garry Jennings. Jennings had driven the socks of his Group A Impreza all day and his engine expired at the start line of the final stage. He was third overall in the rally at the time and if he finished in that position Jennings would have won the Valvoline Forest title. Disappointment for the Kesh man who must now go to the final rally of the series in Glens of Antrim on Oct 27 to clinch the title. Jennings left Omagh with 88 championship points to his credit and he is still favourite for the championship.
Colin Britton had an excellent run to 4th overall and best group N car. As a result of Jennings retirement Britton is the recipient of the 19 championship points which will add to his status in the Glens of Antrim.
Frank Kelly was sixth and best 2WD car,ahead of many four wheel drive machines. Those who spectated the event will testify that Kelly’s driving was inspired. A good week for the man from Moy-he won the Mk2 section of the Dunlop National Championship in Clare the previous Sunday.
Stephen Wright put in another consistent drive and he collected seventeen points and he maintains his lead at the top of the Valvoline leaderboard. Vincent Mc Aree was tenth overall after he was slowed by rear brake problems mid-rally and he earned 16 points which keeps him in the mix for the championship.
Other Valvoline Motorsport Ireland registered drivers who caught the eye included:
Ger Lucey (who strengthened his hold of fifth place in the championship),
Shay Power (who extends his class 5 lead),
Ray Benskin Jnr ( had another class 4 win),
Tommy O’ Connell (class ten and he became the first ever Forestry Historic Champion) Dean Raftery who had another Class nine (junior) win.
Adrain Mc Elhinny and Ian Downey both retired on stage 8 and 9 respectively.
Glengormley's Derek McGarrity has claimed his third N.I. title with victory at Saturday's McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally, the final round of the 2012 Carryduff Forklift MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship!
Navigated by James McKee, the Glengormley car dealer just needed to pick up a handful of points from Saturday's event but he decided to secure his third success in style, battling hard with Martin Cairns through the closing stages to secure the rally spoils.
Cairns had led the event from the start but came under increasing pressure from McGarrity's S14 specification Impreza WRC during the final miles. Going into the last stage, the two rivals were neck and neck but McGarrity pulled out all of the stops to go 13 seconds faster and secure the rally win.
Martin Cairns and Kevin Flanagan had to settle for second position while Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy, who were just five seconds adrift going into the last stage, were forced to retire when a water pipe blew off on the start line.
Water from the pipe dropped on to their exhaust, and the resultant steam which billowed from their car suggested potential engine failure to onlookers. But thankfully for Jennings, an altogether less expensive repair was required.
"I guess that's what happens to a 20-year-old water pipe!" a despondent Jennings said afterwards. "That's three retirements in a row - hopefully that's my bad run of luck over for this season."
Jennings is in the midst of battling for the Irish Forestry crown, of which the Bushwhacker event was also a counting round. The battle for that series will now go down to the final round and is a four-way fight between Stephen Wright, Colin Britton, Vincent McAree and Garry Jennings.
Jennings' final stage retirement promoted Kenny McKinstry and Noel Orr into third overall with their S10 specification Impreza WRC. They finished just nine seconds ahead of leading Group N crew, Colin Britton and Arthur Kierans.
Britton had dominated the Group N lead from the outset. He moved to the fore after stage one and was never headed throughout the 10-stage event. In the end, he sealed the category victory by 45 seconds from Vincent and J.P. McAree, while Ian Cochrane and Ray Fitzpatrick were third.
Finally, in the two-wheel-drive category, Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan wowed spectators with an equally impressive drive in their Mark 2 Escort. Sideways at every opportunity, even a horse that was roaming on one of the stages failed to slow them down.
In the end, Kelly sealed an impressive sixth overall, just behind the Evo 9 Lancer belonging to Mark Donnelly, and ahead of the MINI WRC piloted by Derek McGeehan. Vivian and Paul Hamill were second among the two-wheel-drive crews, 16 seconds behind Kelly, while Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan were third.
Cairns collects maximum Valvoline points on dramatic Buswhacker Rally.
Posted: March 17, 2013 5:46 PM
An exciting and hotly contested Bushwhacker Rally was held in Omagh last Saturday. Derek Mc Garrity emerged victorious with a thirteen second margin over Martin Cairns with Kenny Mc Kinstry in third place a further fourteen seconds in arrears. Fourth place was claimed by Colin Britton (just 9 seconds off Mc Kinstry) with local man Mark Donnelly fifth. Once again Frank Kelly was best 2WD, the Moy driver had his Escort in sixth overall.
The Bushwhacker was the round 6 of the Valvoline MI championship and the final round of the NI rally championship. The ten stage event attracted 98 entries.
It quickly developed into a shoot out between Cairns and Mc Garrity.
Cairns was driving his Impreza WRC S10 and he led the rally from the start until stage 8 where he had a three second gap to Impreza WRC S14 of Mc Garrity. On ss9 Mc Garrity upped the ante and he took 6 seconds on the 1.9 miles and a further 13 seconds on the final 6.7 mile test near Gortin to win the rally by thirteen seconds. With this win, Mc Garrity has claimed his third NI rally championship.
Cairns was not too disappointed as he collected maximum Valvoline Championship points and he also finished ahead of rally legend Mc Kinstry. Another major development at the final test was the retirement of Garry Jennings. Jennings had driven the socks of his Group A Impreza all day and his engine expired at the start line of thestage. He was third overall rally at the time and if he finished in that position Jennings would have won the Valvoline Forest title. Disappointment for the Kesh man who must now go to the final rally of the series in Glens of Antrim on Oct 27 to clinch the title. Jennings left Omagh with 88 championship points to his credit and he is still favourite for the championship.
Colin Britton had an excellent run to 4th overall and best group N car. As a result of Jennings retirement Britton is the recipient of the 19 championship points which will add to his status in the Glens of Antrim.
Frank Kelly was sixth and best 2WD ahead of many four wheel drive machines. Those who spectated the event will testify that Kelly’s driving was inspired. A good week for Kelly-he won the Mk2 section of the Dunlop National Championship in Clare the previous Sunday.
Stephen Wright put in another consistent drive and he collected seventeen points and he maintains his lead at the top of the Valvoline leaderboard. Vincent Mc Aree was tenth overall and he earned 16 points which keeps him in the mix for the championship.
Other Valvoline registered drivers who caught the eye included Ger Lucey (who strengthened his hold of fifth place in the championship), Shay Power (who extends his class 5 lead),Ray Benskin Jnr ( had another class 4 win), Tommy O’ Connell (won class ten and thus he became the first ever Irish Forestry Historic Champion) and Dean Raftery who had another Class nine (junior) win. Adrain Mc Elhinny and Ian Downey both retired on stage 8 and 9 respectively.
Stunning Entry for Final Round of Carryduff Forklift N.I. Championship!
Posted: September 20, 2012 2:28 PM
The final round of the 2012 Carryduff Forklift MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship takes competitors to Omagh this weekend for the McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally.
A stunning line-up of competitors has been received for the popular event, with more than 90 crews set to do battle in the woods. And it seems that series leader, Derek McGarrity, is a man on a mission as he has entered in his S14 specification Subaru Impreza WRC!
The Glengormley driver had entered the penultimate round of the series in an older specification Subaru but he seemed to struggle in the mount, eventually finishing fifth overall behind title rival Derek McGeehan.
But that will change this weekend and for the first time on home ground, an S14 WRC Impreza will be seen crackling through the forest tracks!
McGarrity is seeded first on the road alongside navigator James McKee, while Banbridge’s Kenny McKinstry is set to make a return to action aboard his Impreza WRC. McKinstry is a former champion, although he has only contested a limited number of events this year.
Joining them will be Irish forestry contenders, Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy. The Group A Impreza mounted crew were involved in a great tussle at the Lakeland Stages with Jonny Greer, only to slip off the road on the final stage. Jennings is in the hunt for the separate Irish forestry title and a repeat of that incident at the Bushwhacker would be disastrous for his campaign.
Other leading entrants include Group N crews Vincent McAree and Colin Britton, as well as Mark Donnelly and Stephen Wright in their class 9 Mitsubishis. The remainder of the top 10 is completed by a trio of World Rally Car crews, with Martin Cairns and James Gillen aboard their Imprezas while Derek McGeehan will pilot his MINI WRC once again.
McGeehan is McGarrity’s only challenger for the 2012 Carryduff Forklift title, but he really has to score maximum points and hope that McGarrity essentially fails to finish. It’s a tall order but anything is possible in rallying.
Other potential challengers include both Sam and Robert Mofett, while the two-wheel-drive field also has a strong showing. Vivian and Paul Hamill are set to do battle with the likes of Frank Kelly, Seamus O’Connell, Adrian Hetherington, Drew Stewart and Shay Power.
After its “summer” in the South, the Valvoline Forest Rally Championship heads to Northern Ireland for its final fling in Saturday’s Bushwhacker Rally and the Glens of Antrim on Oct27th. With the leader board dominated by Ulster drivers, it is a brave pundit that would bet against the championship heading northwards for the first time since Stephen Moore and Tony Mc Hugh lifted the crown in 2007. This years Valvoline championship is a seven round series and five rallies have been held and they were hosted by: Donegal MC, Carrick-on-Suir MC, Munster MC (Moonraker), Cork MC and Tipperary MC (Mitchelstown).This popular championship has provided plenty excitement and very competitive driving in all the classes. With a brace of events remaining, the Valvoline series definitely on the home straight now but there is a lot of racing to be done yet.
Monaghan’s Stephen Wright is the championship leader with 83 points, his Evo 6 scoring well on every rally. His season started on a great note, finishing second in Donegal and Wright followed with very consistent scores: a fifth, two sixths and an eighth place.
Just one point behind is Garry Jennings in a Subaru Group A. The Kesh man won Donegal, and Tipp. He collected maximum points in Carrick (second to the non-registered winner Craig Breen), finished second in Moonraker (after a roll!!!) and did not start Cork due to issues at scrutiny.
In third place is Colin Britton with 77 points. The Strabane driver in his Evo9 is having a great season todate with a second, two third and one fourth place. While he retired with transmission on the last round in Mitchelstown, Britton will be in the shake out of this series. Vincent Mc Aree is next up just one point adrift of Britton. The Monaghan man had a bad start to the year with a mechanical retirement in the Evo9 in Donegal but Mc Aree recovered well and he has been well on the pace with two seconds, one third and a sixth place.
Fifth sixth and seventh places are taken up by Munster drivers. Ger Lucey has 63 points accumulated in his Evo8 thanks to one sixth and three sevenths. The Corkman retired on Carrick. Fellow county man and reigning Valvoline champion Owen Murphy is sixth with 61 points. Murphy had a terrible start to the defence of his title. Unable to contest Donegal (back pain) he retired on the final test in Carrick with sheared wheel nuts. However Murphy bounced back with a fine win on the Moonraker and then followed with a win at home in Cork. This emotional victory was followed by a steady third in Mitchelstown. The 2010 champion Pat O’Connell is another driver to experience rotten luck on the early rounds. The Cashel man failed to score on the opening two events due to mechanical issues. On the next three rallies he scored a third and two fourths, but he could have been higher as the margins were miniscule. O’Connell has 59 points and is in seventh.
When dropped scores and bonus points are taken into account Jennings remains favourite to claim the 2012 Valvoline Forest Crown. Britton and Mc Aree and possibly Wright will keep Jennings honest till the end. For the former champs Murphy and O’ Connell, the title is still mathematically possible, but in reality a very big ask. Much will depend on Saturday’s rally.
The Bushwhacker is based in Omagh with the rally HQ at the Silverbirch hotel. It starts at 9.00am Saturday September 22nd.There will be 10 special stages with a total distance of 56km, with service at Omagh market yard Dromquin Rd Omagh. The rally is also counts as tenth and final round of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship.
Class Leaders:
Class 1:Andrew Fanning (Ford Ka)
Class2:Pierce J.Doheny (Opel Corsa)
Class3:Adrian Mc Elhinney (Peugeot 206)
Class4:Raymond Benskin Jnr (Ford Escort)
Class5:Shay Power (Ford Escort)
Class6:Stephen Wright (Evo6)
Class7:Martin Cairns (Impreza WRC)
Class8:Colin Britton (Evo9)
Class9(Juniors) Dean Raftery (Honda Civic)
Class10:Joe Mc Gonigle (C2R2)
Class11;(Historic) Tommy O’Connell (Escort)
2WD:Dean Raftery (Honda Civic).
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