With three rounds completed in the 2017 PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship, its Brendan Cumiskey from Monaghan who leads the series after taking maximum points available to date. The Skoda Fabia driver is currently so far ahead that even after the upcoming fourth round, the O’Brien Garage Midleton Imokilly Mini Stage Rally on 23rd July, he will still lead the series even if he doesn’t score points. Lying second in the series is the rapid Honda Civic of Vincent McSweeney who missed the third round but scored very well in West Cork and Killarney and will be one of the favourites to take maximum points in Imokilly.
Jer O’Donovan in third place was another who missed Ravens Rock and he lies less than ten points ahead of three other drivers, namely Brian O’Keeffe, Joe Connolly and Sean Moynihan. David Guest the current Group N Tarmac champion and Mark Nangle scored well on the Ravens Rock to move into contention in seventh and eighth overall while John Mulholland and Art McCarrick round off the top ten.
Going through the various classes, and Class 1 is being led by Art McCarrick from Brian O’Mahony both in Honda Civic with Art taking maximum points in West Cork and Killarney. Class 2 is closely contested with three drivers in the mix. Keith Lyons is on 40 points with Pat Sheehan and John Mulholland tied for second place only two points further back. Kevin Dolphin leads Class 3 comfortably heading into his home rally while Class 4 is being led by Brian O’Keeffe but David Guest has cut his advantage to eighteen points following the Ravens Rock event. Gus Kearney lies in third place and is still in the running. Brendan Cumiskey as expected leads class 5 with Jer O’Donovan and Joe Connolly completing the top three places.
In the Modified Classes, Class 9 is being led by Roland Doherty from Robert Beamish while Class 10 is the most competitive of the championship. Five drivers are separated by only seven points and Michael Kelleher currently holds the advantage. His lead is two points from Jerry O’Mahony while Denis Buckley & Daniel O’Donovan are tied for third just five points off the lead. Victor Beamish in fifth place is seven off the lead and a good showing in Imokilly could propel him to the top.
Class 11F is being led by Shane Stanley after some very good results this year and he leads from Adrian Levis and Kenny O’Neill who are tied for second place. Steven O’Connor, Cormac Smiddy & Etienne O’Sullivan complete the top six. Jason Ryan and Paul Browne although some way back can make headway with a good result in Imokilly. In Class 11R Andrew Leacy leads from Mark Donovan and Michael Murphy who are tied for second place.
Sean Moynihan leads class 12 from Steve Roberts and those two are a long way clear of Sean Hickey and Michael Walsh in third and fourth respectively. Vincent McSweeney holds a 25 point advantage in Class 13 from Jason O’Mahony who is still getting used to driving an Escort after years of campaigning a Honda Civic. Class 14 sees 2016 overall champion Charlie Hickey leading despite only competing on the Rally of the Lakes so far this year.
Second place and only two points behind is Colin Byrne with championship sponsor Sean O’Carroll in third and only four points off the lead. Class 15 has Mark Nangle with a strong advantage and leads John Murphy by 41 points with John Hickey two more points back.
The Historic Championship is being led by Duncan Williams from England but his lead is only eight points from Philip McKibbin. James Hall is also close to the lead in third place with Alan Watkins and George Swanton in fourth and fifth overall.
The Junior Championship is very keenly contested and currently Patrick Murphy holds slender one point advantage over Eamonn McCarthy (108 points – 107 points). Mark O’Leary had a non finish in Killarney but was back in the mix for Ravens Rock and has moved into third place. Killian O’Brien, Justin Ryan and Aaron McEvoy complete the top six but there are still several drivers further back that could start making a charge if they get a good result in Imokilly.
The Junior Trophy is contested between five drivers, three of whom will be attempting their local rally in Imokilly. Killian O’Brien has a strong lead with 116 points to date with his nearest rival Aaron McEvoy on 79 and Patrick Walsh is just three points further back. Chris Brady and Barry Archer are next up but will need to get a good result in Imokilly to keep their hopes alive.
Media launch 2017 Imokilly Mini Stages Rally - (Fri) 7 Jul 17
Posted: July 4, 2017 7:26 AM
The media launch for the 2017 Imokilly Mini stages rally takes place next Friday the 7th of july at 7 O'clock at Market Green Midleton. During the week our main sponsor Mr Phillip O’ Brien of O’Briens Garage main Mazda & Ford dealers Midleton and Mallow presented the cheque to the Clerk Of The Course for the event Emmet Cronin.
Emmet said our club is hugely in debt to O’ Briens Garage and in particular Philip for his continued support of our event ,I would like to welcome every one to the launch where there will be a selection of rally cars on display and a chance to meet out main sponsor and our associate sponsors.
After the photos are taken it will be a step across the road to the Park Hotel Rally HQ where more announcements and information on the rally will be made available.
So if you have an interest in cars would like to help us run the rally or just want to see what it’s all about Join us the Imokilly Motor Club next Friday 7th July at 7 O'Clock in the evening for the media launch of the 2017 Imokilly Mini Stages Rally, all are welcome.
It’s that time of year again and the Imokillly Motor Club are delighted to announce preliminary details of our Mini Stage Rally.
Plans for the 2017 Imokilly Mini Stages Rally are at an advanced stage , the rally which takes place on Sunday 23-7-2017 will feature a loop of 2 stages done 3 times with service after stages 2 and 4, Scrutiny ,Parc ferme and service all take place in the one centralized area Market Green directly opposite Rally HQ the Midleton Park Hotel. The event will feature 90 km of smooth fast tarmac which also features technical sections to test man and machine to the limit, road mileage is kept to the minimum. Imokilly Mini Stages Rally is Round 4 of the Plasticbags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship. (This year our round counts for FULL POINTS) Entry Fee is a competitive €595 including all levies.
The club are delighted to have O’Briens Garage Midleton and Mallow main Mazda / Ford dealers on board as our main event sponsor once again. We are also indebted to our associate sponsors Ace Signs, ITS, and Alfasud.
Former Clerk of The Course Emmet Cronin is back to run this event with the full backing of his fellow IMC Club members and Tony O'Driscoll is in as deputy Clerk of The Course.
Clerk of The Course Emmet Cronin said "I am delighted to be back in the hot seat once again but I am just one of a huge amount of people who will be needed to get this event over the finish line we have a good committee but we can always do with more people to help in the running of the event."
Emmet said "we are hugely indebted to our sponsors without these people there would not be an event, when I approached Philip O'Brien of O'Brien's Garage Midleton and Mallow he was very interested about being on board as our main sponsor once again. Philip O'Brien and his family have a long association with Motorsport in East Cork."
Philip O'Brien said "it's great to be involved with the Imokilly Motor Club once again last year the event was a huge success , I am sure it will be an exciting weekend in Midleton and a huge tourist boost to the local area."
Emmet said "we must not forget our associate sponsors Ace Signs, ITS & Alfasud., this year the rally will feature a 4KM test stage on the Saturday evening this is optional to all competitors, you can as a competitor avail of a maximum of 3 runs on the Test Stage, the test stage is designed in a loop to aid access and exit."
Great care and effort has been taken this year to ensure chicanes on the stages are at a minimum after our MI inspection it looks like we have just one chicane per stage.
The club will be raffling one full entry to the 2017 Imokilly Mini Stages rally on the launch night of the rally! Tickets are just €30 each.
For further information check out the club website, link below.
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