Clare Hillclimb Weekend - 10-11 June 06

Posted: June 12, 2006 12:20 PM

At The Corkscrew on Saturday, Premier Machine Tools Hillclimb Championship leader Byrnes led all day in his Nexa Reynard to score his third win of the season, beating O'Connell's Delta by half a second, with Padraig Forde Senior bringing the V8 Scott Climber home third. At The Scalp on Sunday, Byrnes looked all set for a weekend double, leading from the first climb. However, a huge final effort from O'Connell saw his final run just shade his rival by 0.02s, with the Ralt RT33 of Sylvie Mullins only a further 0.06s behind in a terrific finish. Forde couldn't match this pace and had to settle for a distant fourth.

Saturday
1 Frank Byrnes (Reynard RF81 Opel) 67.58s,
2 Paul O’Connell (Delta T79 Ford) 68.08s,
3 Padraig Forde Snr (Scott Climber) 68.63s,
4 Sylvie Mullins (Ralt RT33 Opel) 69.09s,
5 Padraig Forde Jnr (Scott Climber) 70.24s,
6 Darryl Ramsay (OMS-Honda) 70.37s,
7 Peter Dwyer (Delta T85 Ford) 70.70s,
8 Simon McKinley (Escort) 71.29s,
9 Seamus Morris (Darrian T90) 71.71s,
10 Francis Creaven (Pilbeam MP52 Ford) 71.96s.

Class winners:
Ray Cunningham (Mini) 80.68s,
James Doherty (Starlet) 76.37s,
Peter Bogan (Escort) 73.29s,
Simon McKinley,
Shane Cooke (MGB) 88.25s,
Derek Daly (Van Diemen RF81 FF1600) 75.91s,
Peter Dwyer,
Darryl Ramsay,
Paul O’Connell,
Pakie Kelly (Swift) 87.68s,
John Burke (Peugeot 206) 82.52s, < BR>Padraig Egan (Escort) 78.80s.  

Sunday
1 Paul O’Connell (Delta T79 Ford) 45.50s,
2 Frank Byrnes (Reynard RF81 Opel) 45.52s,
3 Sylvie Mullins (Ralt RT33 Opel) 45.58s,
4 Padraig Forde Snr (Scott Climber) 48.86s,
5 Simon McKinley (Escort) 49.41s,
6 Seamus Morris (Darrian T90) 50.30s,
7 Padraig Forde Jnr (Scott Climber) 50.36s,
8 Peter Dwyer (Delta T85 Ford) 51.80s,
9 Brendan Keane (Magnum Judd F3) 52.24s,
10 Padraig Egan (Escort) 52.35s.

Class winners:
Ian Quinn (Mini) 57.32s,
Tommy Murphy (Civic) 56.00s,
Peter Bogan (Escort) 53.30s,
Simon McKinley,
Donal Morrissey (Ford Special) 62.71s (net),
Richard McGimpsey (Van Diemen) 54.47s,
Peter Dwyer,
Rory O’Brien (Swift FF2000) 52.62s,
Frank Byrnes,
Alan Kelly (Swift) 60.40s,
Christopher Meaney (Civic) 57.36s,
Padraig Egan.  

Clare Motor Club

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Event Details & Preview

Photo: Back left to right - John McNamara (Clerk of the Course), Dermot Kelleher (Assistant Clerk of the Course).
Front left to right - Caroline McMahon (model), Grainne McEnery (Event Eecretary)

On Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th June, the Clare Motor Club will host rounds seven and eight of the ÒPremier Machine Tools National Hillclimb & Sprint ChampionshipÓ for the Frank Keane tTrophy. Clerk of the course for the weekend is John McNamara from Lisdoonvarna who finished second overall in the 05 hillclimb championship driving his ralt cougar

John decided not to compete in this years championship and together with his team from the clare motor club has planned a fabolous weekend of motorsport.

On Saturday the clare club will run the famous Corkscrew Hill. The 0.95 mile stretch of the Ballyvaughan -Lisdoonvarna road has not been run since 2000 due to safety reasons.Ronnie Maybin was the winner that year in his Delta. The start is just above the entrance to Gregans Castle Hotel and the succession of full hairpins and fast s bends demands precision driving at all times.

Sunday competitors will travel to the Scalp Hill in Carron which was first run by the clare motor club in 2002 and which was recieved with much respect and acclaim by hillclimb and rally competitors. The hill starts at the GAA Pitch near Bellharbour and travells 1.07 miles through a series of fast flowing straights and twisty turns to the top.The fastest man on the scalp in 2005 which ran on both saturday and sunday was Michael Roche in his Delta 81with a fastest time of 44.85 seconds which he set on his third run on sunday,will this record be beaten this year.

A large entry of both racing and rally cars along with all the championship contenders including current championship leader Frank Byrnes are expected to attend for both days. Scrutiny will take place on friday night 9th at the Whitethorn Restaurant in Ballyvaughan from 6.00pm and at the bottom of the Corkscrew Hill on saturday morning between 8.30 - 10.00.

On sunday morning scrutiny will take place in the paddock area at the GAA Pitch at the bottom of the hill between 8.30 - 10.00. Racing will start both days at 11.00.
Prizegiving will take place at The Whitethorn Restaurant on Saturday night. As safety is a big concern there will be in access of 50 marshalls in place on both days to ensure the safe running of the event and the organisers would like to emphasize to spectators attending the event that they must obey the marshalls at all times.

Secretary for the event is Grainne McEnery Tel. 086 - 2162464 between 7.00 - 9.00pm.

Regulations are also available to download from the clare motor club website,

Clare Motor Club