Garry Jennings took his first victory on the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes over the May Bank Holiday weekend when he had 51.4 seconds to spare from Derek McGarrity who on turn was just 0.5 seconds ahead of Donagh Kelly, all three in Subaru Impreza WRCs. It was certainly a dramatic weekends rallying over two days and fifteen very tough stages based around Rathmore the first day and the famous Beara Peninsula the second day. The attrition rate was very high, which was an indicator of how Killarney has never lost its ability to provide the unexpected.
Daragh O’Riordan was top seed in his Fiesta WRC and led the event from the word go, despite the best efforts of Jennings and Thomas Fitzmaurice to reel him in. Declan Boyle and Donagh Kelly were both first time competitors in Killarney and their main aim for the weekend was to stay out of trouble and gain valuable championship points. However Boyles event ended on the second stage when his gearbox failed. Thomas Fitzmaurice had belied his lack of seat time since Galway by lying second to O’Riordan in the early stages until his power steering gave trouble on the fourth stage to drop him to fourth overall.
Worse was to follow for Fitzmaurice and his co-driver Fionn Foley when they crashed heavily on stage 5 Gortnagagne. Both crew members were hospitalized but are now on the road to recovery, and hopefully they’ll be back out on the stages in the not too distant future. At the close of the first day O’Riordan and Jennings traded times with the former leading by just 7.4 seconds overnight.
Donagh Kelly held third from Derek McGarrity who was still trying to recover from a time consuming puncture on the first stage. Alan Ring held fifth place in his Lancer and was leading Group N, with Sam Moffett and Stephen Wright not too far away.
O’Riordan started the second day by blazing his way to fastest on Molls Gap a full twelve seconds clear of Kelly and McGarrity and eighteen clear of Jennings. However his rally was to end when he slid off the road on the ninth stage (Healy Pass). This left Jennings with a very comfortable lead with six tough stages to go. McGarrity was hoping his experience of the Cods Head and Ardgroom stages would allow him to cut the gap to Kelly, but his bid was hampered by power steering problems. Alan Ring now moved to fourth overall and had a forty second buffer back to Sam Moffett while Stephen Wright was a further forty seconds back. Jennings kept it all together and in the end had a comfortable lead. The battle for second place went down to the wire with McGarrity finally edging ahead on the penultimate stage, only for Kelly to attempt to wrest it back on the last. In the end McGarrity had just done enough to pip his rival by just 0.5 of a second.
Alan Rings rally ended in disappointment on the second run over Cods Head with mechanical failure which promoted Sam Moffett to fourth overall and winner of the Group N category. Stephen Wright and Josh Moffett in their Lancers rounded off the top six. A fine drive from Stephen Carey netted him seventh with Willie Mavitty taking eighth place overall. In the modified category Frank Kelly lost several minutes on the first stage with a broken wheel rim, and despite setting some fastest times, was forced to retire on the final stage of the first day. This left Fergus O’Meara to take his second maximum score in two rounds and will be very hard to stop now in his bid for the modified championship. Wesley Patterson won the FIA Historic section of the event and was also the top registered Historic driver over the weekend. This, coupled with James O’Mahonys retirement has blown the Historic championship wide open before the trip to Donegal.
DAZZLING Mk2 DISPLAY FROM BREEN/NAGLE ENDS IN MECHANICAL DESPAIR
Posted: January 29, 2014 2:14 PM
Super 2000 World Rally Champion Craig Breen will look back on this year’s ‘Rally of the Lakes’ and say, “what could have been.” The Waterford driver out for his first appearance on home soil in 2013 produced what has been heralded as a scintillating performance when his rally was cut prematurely short with engine failure as the event resumed for day two Sunday.
Breen, driving the Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery backed Mk2 Escort had climbed to 6th overall and held a 19.7 second lead in the national category (2 Wheel Drive Section) of the rally after a dominating drive over the Saturday day one stages but his rally ended four km’s into the opening Sunday morning Molls Gap test . A very disappointed Breen said afterwards, “I’m totally gutted. We were absolutely delighted with our position going into day two and were looking forward to rallying on some of the most exciting stages in the world today but you never know in rallying when a mechanical problem will strike. I’m gutted as we were on for a great result but I’m even more disappointed for James Coleman who organised and sponsored this drive for me and I’m also disappointed for Paul Mulcahy who built a fabulous car for me to drive.”
It was despair in the end for Breen and his Killarney co driver Paul Nagle but their display of driving over the opening day had rally fans cheering them on every junction and ditch in the kingdom during the Saturday stages. Breen and Nagle who currently form the number one works Peugeot Rally Academy crew and are in the middle of a European Rally Championship campaign where the pair are 2nd in the overall standings. To date the duo didn’t have any Irish events scheduled but after being approached by long standing friend and sponsor James Coleman of Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery a two event deal (Rally of the Lakes and the Donegal International Rally) was devised that would see Breen drive the Suirway Mk2 Escort.
After a very satisfying test session last week Craig’s confidence was high but some question marks still remained as this would be the 23 year olds first time to compete in the car.
All these questions were quickly answered on Saturday morning as the rally got underway. The opening day of the 2013 Rally of the Lakes saw the competing crews first tackle the famous Molls Gap stage and then traverse a double loop of three stages to the west of the town of Killarney. Breen competing in the national section and class 13 suffered a misfire on the Gap dropping twenty five seconds to category leader Roy White. With the misfire sorted in service Breen immediately moved to third in 2 WD (National Category) and take over the lead in class 13 on stage two. The test saw stage one leader Roy White fall by the way side when his MG ZR stopped with a mechanical problem. As a result Fergus O'Meara driving an Escort Mk2 inherited White’s lead.
Stage 3, Barnard was cancelled due to an accident but getting a clean run on stage four
Knockacullig the final test in the morning loop Breen set his first 2WD fastest stage time and as the Suirway Mk2 pulled into midday service near Fossa, Breen was up to 8th overall and leaped to the 2WD lead.
After midday service the action resumed with the rerun of ‘Gortnagane’, SS5 but the stage was stopped when Thomas Fitzmaurice driving a Subaru Impreza crashed. Craig and Paul were one of the first crews to arrive at the scene and Craig reported being affected when he came upon the accident.
Undeterred he continued his attack and on the closing two stages of the day the Waterford driver set two more fastest stage times in the national category which saw he move to 6th overall and hold a 19.7 second lead in 2WD overnight.
Returning to final service on Saturday evening Craig said, “It’s been a fantastic day, we suffered a small bit this morning on the first initial stage with a misfire caused by faulty plug but after getting the problem resolved the car has been a joy to drive. I must thank James Coleman, Paul Mulcahy and the whole team for their work. I’ve have had the easy job of driving the car.“
When asked if he can climb higher in the overall field, Craig replied, “We’re not thinking of that at the moment. It’s great to be in the position we are at the end of day one. There’s a huge amount of rallying to go tomorrow and some big stages. For now I’m delighted to be where I am.”
Eight stages were scheduled for Sunday with the action starting like day one on the famous Molls Gap but for Craig four km’s was all he got to taste.
In Car
Posted: January 29, 2014 2:08 PM
Cal McCarthy & Eamonn Dullea (Honda Civic) SS12
Paddy & Gary Kiernan (Ford Escort Mk II) SS8
Thomas Fitzmaurice & Fionn Foley (Subaru Impreza WRC) SS5 (Off)
Roy White & James O'Brien (MG ZR S2500) SS1
Video Clips
Posted: January 29, 2014 2:03 PM
Results
Posted: January 29, 2014 1:40 PM
FIA HISTORIC
1 Wesley Patterson/Sean Hayde (Ford Escort) 2h 25m 10s,
2 Mark Falvey/Gerard Conway (Ford Escort) 2h 26m 42s,
3 Andrew Siddall/Carl Williamson (Ford Escort) 2h 34m 56s,
4 Tony Jansson/Erik Davidsson (Ford Escort) 2h 37m 35s,
5 Henrik Boivie/Kjell Renstall (Ford Escort) 2h 42m 01s,
6 Steve Perez/Paul Spooner (Lancia Stratos) 2h 44m 52s.
Class winners:
Tony Jansson/Erik Davidsson,
Steve Perez/Paul Spooner,
Nils Bergquist/Karl-Erik Magnusson (Volvo Amazon),
Antonio Parisi/Giuseppe D’Angelo (Fiat 2300S Coupe).
CARTELL.IE INTERNATIONAL RALLY OF THE LAKES AT KILLARNEY (ROUND 2 OF IRISH TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP):
1 Garry Jennings/Neil Doherty (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 11m 40s,
2 Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 12m 31s,
3 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 12m 32s,
4 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 17m 41s,
5 Stephen Wright/Susanne Wright (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 20m 57s,
6 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 22m 01s.
Class winners:
Stephen Carey/Breda O’Driscoll (Honda Civic),
Richard Tannahill/Brian Crawford (Peugeot 208 R2),
Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly,
Liam Egan/Raymond Coppinger (Toyota Corolla WRC).
Class winners:
Paudie Callaghan/Danny Murphy (Toyota Starlet),
Victor Beamish/Susan Beamish (Vauxhall Nova),
Gary Dineen/Damien Fleming,
Con Lucey/Brian Hickey (Ford Escort),
Thomas O’Keeffe/Diarmuid Keane (Ford Escort),
Charlie Hickey/Johnny Hickey,
Michael Canny/Andy Hayes (Ford Fiesta),
Mark Nangle/Nollaig Breen (Subaru Impreza).
Sol RB connections support Killarney Rally of the Lakes
Posted: May 4, 2013 12:31 PM
Volunteer marshals and officials working on this weekend’s Cartell.ie Killarney Rally of the Lakes (May 3-5) in Ireland have the chance to win a trip to Sol Rally Barbados 2013, and there’s a good chance they can learn some more about the event, too, with a number of Sol RB connections involved.
The Rally of the Lakes is a round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the Southern 4 Rally Championship and – for the first time in Ireland – the FIA European Historic Rally Championship. After this evening’s (Friday) Ceremonial Start in Killarney Town Centre, there are two days of rallying, with approximately 150 stage miles.
The Historic entry includes Barbados regulars Steve Perez (in his iconic Lancia Stratos) and Andrew Siddall, driving his Ford Escort MkII, as his MkI is already on its way to Barbados. In addition, the event’s Junior Rally Co-ordinator is Paul Nagle, co-driver to Kris Meeke on his two Sol Rally Barbados victories in recent years.
All volunteer officials’ names will be placed in a drum and the name drawn during the high-profile Prize-giving on Sunday evening, with the lucky winner claiming a 12-day trip to Barbados, coinciding with Sol RB13, courtesy of the Barbados Rally Club in association with the Tourism Development Corporation and Ireland’s Pacenotes Rally Magazine.
Sol Rally Barbados (June 1/2) and Scotiabank King of the Hill (May 26) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB13 is the 24th running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the sixth year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.
Friday – main evening sport’s bulletin at approx 17:30
Saturday & Sunday:- after the 10, 11, 12, 1 and 2 o’clock news bulletins, during Saturday/Sunday Sports at 3.15, 4.40 and 5.45
All Roads Lead to Killarney on May Bank Holiday Weekend!
Posted: May 3, 2013 11:04 AM
The unfortunate cancellation of the Easter Stages Rally means that the forthcoming Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes will now be the second round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. The Killarney based event to be held on the May Bank Holiday weekend has attracted most of the registered runners to date which promises to be a very exciting spectacle. With classic stages such as Molls Gap, Gortnagagne, Ardgroom, Tim Healy and Cods Head being run, whoever wins the event will have put down a marker to the other championship contenders for the rest of the year.
Keith Cronin and Eugene Donnelly were the top points scorers in Galway, but neither have entered to date, which leaves third placed Declan Boyle in with the chance to take over the lead in the championship. Speaking to Boyle earlier this week he said “I haven’t done Killarney before, and after a couple of poor runs in national rallies recently, my main aim is to get some more championship points on the board”. Derek McGarrity in fourth place is an old hand at Killarney having won the event in the past and will relish the opportunity to put some of this experience to good effect as he targets a third tarmac championship title.
Donagh Kelly will be hoping his mechanical woes in the recent Monaghan rally will be sorted in time for Killarney as he currently lies in fifth place in the championship standings. Garry Jennings in sixth place will also be hoping for a better run than in Galway, and the Ballinamallard man has vast experience in Killarney. Daragh O’Riordan and Thomas Fitzmaurice will be hoping to get their campaign rolling with O’Riordan bidding for three wins in a row on the rally. Fitzmaurice suffered mechanical problems in Galway and as this will be his local event in the series, will be hoping to score some valuable championship points.
The group N battle will also be interesting with Alan Ring on home territory but likely to face a buoyant Sam Moffett fresh from his recent win on Monaghan which will give him great confidence. Sam’s brother Josh is another driver capable of taking the category while Stephen Wright cannot be discounted either. In the modified championship, Fergus O’Meara leads on fifteen points going into his home event with Davy Armstrong next up on twelve points. Jason McSweeney is currently in third place in his Honda Civic. With Frank Kelly now also registered for points, it could make the modified battle very exiting in Killarney.
The Historic Championship is more advanced, with the first round having been held at the Killarney Historic Rally of the Lakes in December, and the second in Galway. James O’Mahony currently leads the standings in his big Volvo with Ray Cunningham in second place five points behind. The green Porsche 911 of John Spiers is currently in third place with the very rapid Wesley Patterson holding fourth in his fabulous Escort Mk2.
The new Irish Tarmac Rally Championship website has been launched and it can be accessed by going to www.irishtarmac.com. The latest happenings in the championship will be posted here and the points from the various categories in the series will be updated after each event. There is also a gallery section where photos from each event will be put up. The site will contain all relevant information for anyone still wishing to register for the championship as well as contact details for championship officials and events.
MkII Magic for Breen/Nagle in Killarney and Donegal
Posted: April 23, 2013 8:21 PM
Craig Breen Rallying is delighted to announce that Craig Breen and his Killarney co driver Paul Nagle will take on both the Cartell.IE International Rally of the Lakes, 3-5 of May and the Topaz Donegal International Rally 21-23, of June.
The Peugeot Sport Academy crew will compete in the National section of both events driving a class 13 Mk11 Escort owned and sponsored by James Coleman of Suirway Forklifts & Suirway Farm Machinery.
Making the announcement Craig said, "I'm so delighted this opportunity has come up. This is a huge year for me competing in the FIAERC as a Peugeot Rallye Academy works driver. But as a consequence I had not scheduled a home event for 2013. Now with this two rally deal from James, it gives Paul and me the ideal chance to compete in two of the most famous Irish tarmac events at the wheel of James' MKII."
Longtime friend and sponsor of Craig, Coleman consulted with the 23 year old after learning of the disappointment of fans and voicing his own disappointment of not having the Irish driver compete in Ireland this season.
"Not having Craig compete on home turf throughout 2013 would have been a shame." said James.
"Personally and on behalf Suirway we are thrilled to have a double world champion out in our car for the two events. Craig is something special both as a driver and a person and we are proud to be involved with him."
Loyal sponsor to Craig, Coleman has been involved with Craig Breen Rallying since the start of Craig's rallying career.
"James and his company Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery have been with me from the outset and taking on these two events at the wheel of a Suirway backed car gives me the opportunity to repay him and have some fun as well." said Craig.
The Rally of the Lakes holds huge significance for Killarney native Paul Nagle, "This is the rally I grew up with" says Paul, "It is my home event and one of the most famous in Irish rallying and I've some amazing memories over the years. Reaching the top level of my sport has always been my goal but it’s always great to come home and compete.”
Before the duo compete in Killarney they have ERC Rally Azores this weekend.
FIA ENTRANTS WILL LEAD CARTELL.IE RALLY OF THE LAKES
Posted: April 23, 2013 8:18 PM
Crews registered for the FIA European Historic Rally Championship will lead the field away from the start of the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes on Saturday May 4th.
The Rally of the Lakes is the fourth round of the European Historic Championship and, in addition to Irish and UK based competitors, the event has attracted crews from Sweden, Italy and from the USA.
Speaking at the launch of the rally in the Brehon Hotel on Sunday evening Clerk of the Course Dermot Healy said that developing the Historic element of the rally for cars which comply with Appendix K of the FIA regulations has long been an ambition for Killarney and District Motor Club who view this branch of the sports as an area of huge potential growth.
He went on to say that he would like to see other Irish Motor Clubs include classes in their events for these Appendix K Cars since the availability of such classes on other events would encourage more drivers to bring their cars into line with the Appendix K specifications.
He recalled that it was the Rally of the Lakes which first introduced the concept of Junior Rallying to the Irish scene and when other clubs followed the Killarney lead, Junior Rallying became an instant success and an important element of virtually every other rally in the country leading to a well supported Irish Junior Rally Championship.
He believes that the same success could follow in relation to Appendix K Cars.
The battle for the Tarmac Rally Championship resumes in Killarney for the first two day event of the series following on from the Galway International and the cancellation of the Circuit of Ireland at Easter
Double Lakes winner Darragh Riordan will seek to make it three wins in a row, the first person to do so since Bertie Fisher, while former the reigning Tarmac Champion Darren Gass will be anxious to gather maximum Tarmac points following a non finish in the first round in Galway.
Tarmac Championship leader and Galway winner Keith Cronin has opted to miss the Lakes so that his ex Thomas Fitzmaurice Subaru can be driven by his uncle, Denis Cronin, himself a former Lakes winner.
Others who have to be considered as potential winners are Gary Jennings and another former Lakes winner Derek McGarrity, currently lying fourth in the Tarmac series, while Thomas Fitzmaurice, who just missed out to Brian O’Mahony in a year long battle for the 2012 National Rally Championship title will have the machinery and the local knowledge to make life difficult for all the top seeds.
Local driver Alan Ring heads the Group N category in the Tarmac Championship on 22.5 points from Galway but the Moffett brothers, Sam,third on 15 points and Josh whose 18 points from Galway leaves him second in the title race, will not be far off the pace, even in the relatively unfamiliar Killarney territory, so that the Munster Joinery sponsored crew cannot afford to relax at any stage throughout the weekend
After much speculation it has been confirmed that Craig Breen and Paul Nagle will compete in the National Section of the rally using James Coleman’s Mk 2 Escort.
Craig and Paul compete this weekend in the Azores Rally, a round of the European Rally Championship in which they currently hold second place.
For Paul, the Rally of the Lakes stages will be home territory and indeed he has won every trophy with the exception of the overall on the Rally of the Lakes over the years.
The combination of speed and local knowledge should make them likely contenders for the top spot in the National event but they will have to contend with a whole host of others, including some local crews, who all have much more powerful Escorts.
These include National Tarmac Leader Fergus O’Meara, Kevin O’Donoghue and Charlie Hickey who expressed himself well pleased with the power of his new Mk 2 which he launched on the recent Circuit of Kerry.
A good entry of non FIA Historic cars will compete for Tarmac Championship points over the entire rally route and will be seeded in the main field based on their times and results to date.
The top four in the championship all resume battle in Killarney with James O’Mahony’s Volvo holding a 5 point lead over the Mini of Galway’s Ray Cunningham .
John Spiers lies third on 17 points followed by Wesley Patterson a further two points adrift in 4th spot
The dark horse in this category has to be Mark Falvey, who will have significant home advantage on his local stages on Saturday in the immaculately prepared replica of Billy Coleman’s Mk 1 Escort 00096M.
Juniors join the rally on the second day and will compete over all the stages on that day.
The Lakes is also a counting round of the Southern 4 Championship where Daragh O’Riordan and JJ Fleming share the lead, but the withdrawal of the Galway driver, leaves the way open for O’Riordan to advance to a commanding lead in the series.
Saturday’s stages start with Molls Gap, followed by Service in Liebherrs Container Cranes factory at Fossa, before the cars tackle a loop of three stages at Gortnagane, Banard and Knockacullig.
Following a further service break in Liebherrs these three stages are used again before the cars return to Killarney at the end of the first leg of the rally.
Day two begins with Stage 8 at Molls Gap followed by a loop of three classic stages at Healy Pass, Cods Head and Ardgroom , which are each run twice, with service on Dinis Island in Castletownbere.
The final stage of the event is at Killmackillogue, the fourth of the quartet of great classic stages in the Beara Peninsula.
First of the cars are expected back at the Finish Ramp at the Gleneagle Hotel at about 6pm on Sunday evening
The new points scoring format in the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally championship has certainly made things interesting with J.J.Fleming and Daragh O’Riordan tied at the top of the standings after the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally. This year points are awarded for each day of all two day events, so Fleming took maximum points on the first day, but O’Riordan moved up the order on the second day and was quickest driver over the course of the day. Both drivers are now on 78 points after two rounds. In third place after two consistent rounds is Frank Kelly in his Escort on 72 points. Stephen Carey lies in fourth place with 70 points and Wesley Patterson makes up the top five with a total of 68 points.
Going down through the classes, Shane Kenneally leads in class 2 in his Honda Civic, while Stephen Carey will be hot favourite to retain class three also in a Civic. Brian O’Keeffe leads class 4 after a very successful outing in Clonakilty in his newly acquired N16 Subaru Impreza. Class 6 will be hotly contested as always, John Quill had taken maximum points the first day, but failed to finish the event leaving Patrick Calnan to lead the class. Jason O’Brien lies in second with Quill in third. Colm Noonan leads Adam Platt in class 7, while Fleming and O’Riordan share the lead in class 8.
In the modified classes Shane Stanley leads class 9, while classes 10 and 11 are ultra-competitive. Victor Beamish leads class 10 from Gearoid Beamish with Ciaran Casey in third place. Vincent McSweeney leads from Jonathan O’Callaghan in class 11 after Clonakilty where both drivers were on a serious pace. Padraig McCarthy and David Duggan also scored well and are strongly in the hunt for class awards. Steve Roberts has a commanding lead over Gerard O’Connell in class 12 after the latter failed to complete either day in West Cork.
Class 13 is another that looks extremely competitive, with Wesley Patterson leading from Allen Treacy. Diarmuid Keohane, Johnny Curran and Mark Dolphin are also very close to the top of the pile as well. Class 14 sees a battle between Frank Kelly and Kevin O’Donoghue with the former two points ahead. Mick Cremin leads class 15 in his Mitsubishi Lancer, while class 20 sees a tie between Mark Nangle and John Hickey on 39 points. In the Historic Class Todd Falvey is dominating in his fabulous Porsche 911, while the junior category is being led by Conor McCarthy in his Honda Civic.
The action now turns to Killarney and the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes on the 4th and 5th May which will host the third and fourth scoring rounds of the championship. With a lot of the class leaders expected to take part, the two tough days of rallying could see another big shake up in the overall leader board and in the classes.
European Historic Rally Championship comes to Killarney!
Posted: April 11, 2013 10:56 AM
The unseasonably cold weather and some heavy snowfall caused the cancellation of the Easter Stages Rally. It was very unfortunate for the organisers to have to pull the plug on the event at such late notice, but under the circumstances they were left with little choice. Deep drifts had made several of the stages impassable and with the wider community suffering hardship it was decided to cancel the event. Volunteers from within the UAC helped local farmers and others in difficulty in the area by clearing snow over the weekend of the event, and the club are to be complimented on their actions. The event had attracted a full entry and had a reserve list as well which made the cancellation all the more disappointing. The Championship are giving the UAC some space to see if they can find a new date, and any such new date would have to be approved by the Championship Executive Committee.
All eyes now turn to the south west and the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes on 4th & 5th May. The “Lakes” will now become the second round of the championship and the event has even more significance due to being included in the prestigious European Historic Rally Championship. The sound of Lancias, Porsches and Escorts should reverberate around Molls Gap on the Saturday morning and bring a large crowd to Killarney which hosts the fourth round of the thirteen round series. It will be a great occasion which promises to showcase some of the best stages in the country to a wider European audience.
After the first round in Galway, Keith Cronin leads the championship on 24 points, followed by Eugene Donnelly on 18 points. Declan Boyle, Derek McGarrity and Donagh Kelly make up the top five places. In the “Modified Challenge” section of the championship Fergus O’Meara leads David Armstrong with Jason McSweeney currently in third place overall. The Historic section of the championship is currently being led by James O’Mahony (Volvo) with Ray Cunningham (Mini) and John Spiers (Porsche 911) second and third. The Historic championship has already had two rounds completed having started their championship campaign at the Killarney Historic Rally in December.
Huge international interest in Rally of the Lakes
Posted: April 2, 2013 10:06 AM
The Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes is living up its international tag with crews from several different countries confirmed for the May 4/5 event within days of entries opening.
For the first time the Killarney, County Kerry event is a round of the FIA European Rally Championship and that has attracted crews from all over the continent and the USA.
So far organisers have received three entries from Swedish crews, Tony Jansson/Erik Davidson, Christoffer Soderberg/Daniel Westlund in a pair of historic Ford Escorts and Nils Bergguist/Karl-Erik Magnusson in a Volvo Amazon.
Boston-based Galway man Frank Cunningham has also entered the historic section of the rally in his Ford Escort and he will be joined by fellow trans-Atlantic competitors Liam Egan and Michael Canny who are both making the journey from New York to compete in a Toyota Corolla World Rally Car and a Ford Fiesta ST in the modern section of the 15-stage event.
Since its inception since 1979 the rally has always been well-supported by UK drivers and 2013 is no exception.
Andrew Siddall from Huddersfield, one of Britain’s greatest supporters of historic rallying will compete in his ex-Roger Clark Ford Escort MK2. He will be joined by Welshman Tomas Davies who finished second overall on last December’s Killarney Historic Rally in a similar Escort.
Other UK-based visitors include Tony Robinson and John Spiers in a pair of Porsche 911s.
One of the most interesting overseas entries comes from UK-based Spaniard Steve Perez, a former multiple British rally champion, who will drive his iconic Lancia Stratos in the historic element of the rally.
Clerk of the course Dermot Healy said: “Killarney in the southwest of Ireland is renowned for the beauty of its surrounding lakes and mountains and its many hotels, bars and restaurants. Killarney has been welcoming visitors since 1850 and is regarded as the tourist capital of Ireland. The town also has a long association with motor sport being one of the main stops on the 1901 Tour
of Ireland and also the host town, in 1903, for the first ever hill climb run in Ireland. [It was by Charles Rolls, co-founder of the Rolls Royce Motor Company]. From 1932 until 1983 the town was the southern base for the Circuit of Ireland International Rally. The stages around Killarney became renowned as some of the finest tarmac stages in Western Europe and formed the real competitive core of the Circuit of Ireland. Since 1979 Killarney has been the base for the International Rally of the Lakes and each year these same classic tarmac stages make up the route of the two day event and the reason why we can attract such an international entry.”
The rally is also rounds of both the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the regional Southern Four Rally Championship.
All the leading contenders in both championships, like 2012 ITRC champion Darren Gass and last year’s event winner Darragh O’Riordan are expected in Killarney on the May Bank Holiday weekend.
This year’s Southern Four championship leader and current national champion Brian O’Mahony has expressed an interest in competing.
Cronin Motorsport will also enter their ex-Thomas Fitzmaurice Subaru Impreza but it remains to be seen if Galway International winner Keith Cronin or his uncle Denis will use the car.
Top local drivers include north Kerry’s Fitzmaurice who won last year’s Circuit of Kerry and will be using the Impreza that O’Riordan drove to victory 12 months ago, the latter having switched to a Ford Fiesta World Rally Car in time for the recent West Cork Rally.
Major European boost for Killarney’s Rally of the Lakes in receiving FIA status:
Posted: March 8, 2013 2:43 PM
Killarney’s Muckross House and Gardens was the scene for the official launch of the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes 2013, Round 4 of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship. The Rally of the Lakes was chosen from seven rallies throughout the whole of Europe, who were all looking for this prestigious title round of the European Historic Rally Championship. COC of the event Dermot Healy quoted, this is a Hugh achievement for the rally and in fact is the first ever FIA Historic Round to be hosted in Ireland. Last year’s event was observered by a member of the FIA governing body. He was highly impressed in particular with the classic stages, the high standard of organisation of the event and also by the Killarney town itself, with its scenery and hospitality. Receiving FIA status is a major boost to the event overall, as we are already attracting considerable interest from competitors from all over Europe, America and one competitor already confirmed all the way from New Zealand.
Cartell.ie Killarney Rally of the Lakes 2013
Killarney & District Motor Club, organisers of the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes have announced details of this year’s event which will take place over the May Bank Holiday weekend 3rd to 5th of May.
Cartell.ie, Irelands leading vehicle history record company continue as title sponsors for the 4th year, with additional support from the Gleneagle Hotel Group, Ordnance Survey Ireland, KC Print and the hoteliers and traders of Killarney.
The 34th Rally of the Lakes will be a counting round of The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship 2013, The Irish Tarmac Historic Rally Championship, The Irish Tarmac Modified Challenge. The Windscreen Company Southern 4 Championship and new for this year and for first time on Irish soil Round 4 of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship.
Clerk of the Course Dermot Healy will be taking on duty for his third year. He has designed the most demanding route to test man and machine over the bank holiday weekend.
He feels that replicating last year’s route on Sunday this year will not only reduce recce time for competitors who did the event in 2012 but also takes into account the great reaction of competitors who regarded the stages as the best ever run by the Killarney Club.
As is traditional, each day starts with the iconic Molls Gap. On Saturday the rally then head’s east of Killarney into the challenging stages of Gortnagane. Bannard and Knockacullig keeping the action close to Killarney and very accessible for spectators. On Sunday the Rally goes south down along the Beara Peninsula taking in the Most famous classic route of stages this country has to offer, such as Healy Pass, Cods Head and Ardgroom, followed by one blast through the Killmackillogue harbour stage, On the way home to the finishing ramp at the Gleneagle Hotel. Total stage distance is approximately 240 Km.
Centralized service in Milstreet on Saturday and in Castletownbere on Sunday continue to be a feature of the event.
Innovations for 2013 include the introduction of Super Rally Rules which will enable competitors who have retired on day 1 to rejoin the event for the second leg and qualify for championship points.
The event will start with a ceremonial start in Killarney town centre on Friday evening and will finish at the Gleneagle Hotel at approximately 5pm on Sunday after 2 hard days of rallying over some of the world’s greatest tarmac stages.
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