2006 Border Rally Championship

Posted: November 9, 2006 2:52 AM

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09/11/06

• Download List of Award Winners in Word Format

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Prizegiving
The Prize giving ceremony for the 2006 Hankook Border Stage Rally Championship will take place on Friday November 24th in the Hotel Kilmore, Dublin Rd. Cavan. Tickets available from Border Championship Committee Members.

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16/05/06
Brian Armstrong and Drew Hunter Share Lead after Round 2
The term “Majestically Magical” may be the catchphrase of The Hillgrove Hotel, the superb venue for Monaghan Motor Clubs Stages Rally but it could easily be applied to the weather on Sunday April 23rd. After the treacherously slippy roads of Mayo on round 1, the broad sunshine of Monaghan gave the competitors in The Hankook Tyres Border Championship the first opportunity to bolt on the hard slick racing rubber and extract the most from their cars.

The Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally also gives the points table some structure with some competitors coming to the fore and others dropping back, Monaghan’s enduring popularity in its own right always means that some competitors don’t make it off the reserve list with this having a greater effect in some classes. In particular, 7 of the original 8 competitors registered in Class 2 and in Class 4 for large GpN cars 7 of the 18 crews registered in Mayo did not start Monaghan.

For those that did make the start it was a day of mixed fortunes on the three superb Stages in the well-used North Monaghan lanes. Stage1 Feebagh started just outside Enda Keenan’s home town of Tydavnet while Stage 2 made its way through the lanes around Carrickroe, the final Stage in the loop took the crews along the Border over Bragan Mountain before finishing just outside Scotstown. The much-anticipated two-wheel drive battle all but evaporated early on with Mark Alcorn, Rodney Wilton, Camillus Bradley and Mac McKenna all retiring early on with various engine related problems.

Among the Classes Phillip Harte repeated his Class 1 win to move 7 points clear of Kenneth McHale who didn’t finish the event. Tommy Doyle was the only finisher in Class 2 and moves into a 5-point lead over John Hegarty in the Championship Class. David Roe has what looks like an unassailable lead in class 3; he and Larry Hand are 16 points clear of Raymond Gilleece who didn’t start in Monaghan. In class 4, PJ McGrath has a 3-point lead over Michael Curran and Willie Fannin, Curran who won the class on Round 1 didn’t start Monaghan and Willie Fannin was second in the class in his new N12 Subaru.

Another Driver with a runaway lead in his class is Eamonn McCafferty; the Donegal driver has a 16-point lead in Class 5. He and Tony Walsh were also the only finishers in Class 5 in Monaghan. In Class 6 the Super 1600 cars are starting to exert their engineering advantage with the Ford Puma of Keith Power leading the Peugeot 206 of Ian Roche by 5 points. The Peugeot 106Gti’s of Tadgh Buckley and Eamonn McElvaney had to settle for a starters point after they humbled the more advanced machinery in Mayo.

There are only two of the Hankook Tyres Border Championship classes tied after round two and in Class 7 the points are shared between Trevor Graham and Andre Roberts, Trevor did not start Monaghan and Andre came off second best to John Agnew who did not register for points. Glenn Allen’s continuing consistency in Class 8 gives him a 5-point lead after Round 2, the similar Corolla WRC Round 1 winner Charlie Donnelly suffering engine failure in Monaghan maintaining a 3-point advantage over Niall Maguire in third, Former Champion also failing to finish in Monaghan.

The second class to be tied after Round 2 is Class 9, the points being shared on this occasion by Colin and Jason Currid. Jason was the class winner in Monaghan, taking a 1 min 13 sec win in his Sunbeam, while the Mini of Simon Evans failed to start the event and he languishes in third place in the Championship Class despite winning class 9 in Mayo. In Class 10 a hard charging Michael Conlon had a home win despite visiting a clay bank on stage 2, he now leads the class by 5 points from John Walsh with Martin Tynan third despite a non-finish in Monaghan. Reigning Champions Adrian Fox and Phillip Tobin’s dismal year continued in Monaghan with a broken Cam-belt to add to the puncture that saw them finish third in Mayo.

Class 11 has been the talking point of this years Border Championship because it contains Mark Alcorn who has been the leading Two Wheel Drive competitor in any event he has entered, the hard working engine in the Toyota Corolla Twin Cam let him down in Monaghan on Stage 2 but not before he had posted the fastest time for a two wheel drive car on Stage 1. In his absence Russell Woods became the dominant force but as it was his first finish in this years Championship, Raymond Conlon moves to the top of the points table in class 11 7 points clear of Alcorn and Woods. After two rounds of the Hankook Border Rally Championship only two crews share the lead in the Championship, in Class 12 Brian Armstrong and Duncan McFarlane won the class in Mayo by 30 Seconds but their second maximum in Monaghan was harder earned with victory over Gerry Cassidy and Conor Maguire coming with just 14 seconds to spare. Steven Armstrong has finished the 3rd man in both Round 1 and Round 2 to move into second in the Championship class 4 points adrift of his big first cousin.

The other crew in pole position for this year’s series is the Class 13 leaders Drew and Victor Hunter with comfortable margins of victory in both opening rounds. The Letterkenny crew are 5 points ahead of fellow Donegal crew of Thomas Keys and Jonathon Baird who moved ahead of Ollie O’Rielly who didn’t enter Monaghan.

Monaghan gave the big power men in class 14 the first chance to stretch their legs; it also saw some familiar names return to the championship. Former Champion Enda Keenan debuted his new car having sold his Championship winning car to Eugene Ferry; Trevor Lancashire also made his first appearance in his newly rebuilt car with the more powerful 2.4 ltr Cosworth engine. Another driver opening his season in Monaghan with a new 2.5 Duratec engine in his Escort is former Class 12 competitor Raymond Drury although he did not register for points.

Maurice Moffett was the pace setter in Monaghan until axle failure forced his retirement, the class win went to Enda Keenan but a late charge by Trevor Lancashire saw a healthy lead evaporate down to 4 secs by the finish. In the Championship class Maurice Moffett’s starters point gives him a slender 1-point lead over Enda Keenan, but Keenan has not entered round 3 in Cavan. Pat McCafferty and Trevor Lancashire are tied for 3rd in class 14 with 9 points.

In Class 15 for older GpA cars David McNulty repeated the form that gave him the class win in Mayo and was followed home by Ollie McPhillips in his newly acquired Toyota Celica. In the Championship Class David has a two -point advantage with low maximum scores due to the small number of starters in Class 15. Ollie McPhillips is secure in second as Brian Corey has only starter’s points from the first two Rounds.

The Hankook Tyres Border Championship moves on to the Hotel Kilmore complex for Cavan Motor Clubs Stages Rally on May 28th, with another three stage loop north of Cavan town with centralised service at the offices of Quinn Insurances. In deference to their Sponsor Pitlane Cavan Motor Club has moved Scrutiny to the Hankook Tyres Distributors, Tractamotors complex at the old N3/N55 junction adjacent to Kingspan Breffni Park GAA grounds. Following Cavan, it is on to the Mountain stages outside Newry for the Mourne Rally

1. Mayo Stages Rally - 5 Mar 06
2. Monaghan Stages Rally - 23 Apr 06
3. Cavan Stages Rally - 28 May 06
4. Mourne Rally - 10 Jun 06
5. Connacht Stages Rally (Sligo) - 16 Jul 06
6. Donegal Harvest Stages Rally - (Sat) 14 Oct 05