Carney Clinches Debut Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland Victory in Foggy Finale!
Posted: January 26, 2013 9:11 PM
David Carney and co-driver Ray Fitzpatrick emerged victorious on the final round of the Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland 2011, on the Cork 20 International at the weekend. The result means the Mayo driver takes third place in the hotly contested series.
The 100th anniversary Cork 20 started on Saturday evening with six stages in store including two runs around a new Cork mart spectator stage. Weather conditions were atrocious however as heavy rain and even thick fog challenged the crews. Kieran Daly was fastest around the opening spectator stage, holding onto the lead after stage 2, but by the end of stage 3 he was back in second. Indeed on the third test it was David Carney who set a lightning time through the fog to 28 seconds faster than Daly and take the lead. ”It was very hard to see” commented David. “We switched the spot lamps off and just left the two front fogs on and drove as fast as we could see. Ray was doing a great job on the notes, calling the distances and this helped with picking the braking and turning points.” It was to prove a master-stroke of the event, leaving David with a lead he was never to lose. His cause was made easier as Scott McElhinney initially suffered over-heating problems, and dropped over 2 minutes on stage 2. The new champion would have a troubled event and end the rally 5th of the Citroen runners. Other’s in trouble included Joe Shrimpton who retired early on when his engine lost power on the first murky night. Peter Barrable got off to a good start before a costly over-shoot up a drive way and ended day one 4th Citroen. Joe McGonigle was another in trouble, this time with a misfire and he was back in 5th overnight.
Welsh visitor Steve Wood was on his second Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland event, and ended it 6th, as he battled through the tricky conditions. Kieran Daly ended day one 21 seconds behind Carney, but with stages 7 and 8 cancelled due to thick fog, stage 9 was the first one to be tackled and Kieran made a costly mistake at a hairpin, spinning and dropping the front wheels over a ditch. The time loss was over 3 minutes and he would claim 4th at the finish. This allowed Graham Colfer into second. The Dubliner was having another superb run in his R2 specification machine but he was to sadly retire on stage 11, and Peter Barrable took up the chase. But Joe McGonigle had other ideas and some excellent times on stages 11, 12 and 13, saw him draw up to within 13 seconds of Carney at the finish, the gap eventually being 1 minute 13 seconds due to a one minute road penalty. “We had some great runs today on the stages, and have been taking chunks of time, but it wasn’t enough. Our problems yesterday cost us dear but that’s rallying!” commented Joe.
Barrable took third over a minute in arrears, in what was a great tussle for the coveted final podium spot in the championship, with David Carney and Ray Fitzpatrick showing a great turn of speed to claim that spot and 8th overall on the Cork 20 International. It’s a great boost for the Mayo man, with 4000€ for the event win and 2000€ for the championship place, in what is only his second season of rallying. “I am delighted, delighted for all the team, and Ray who has been behind me too. Today wasn’t easy, trying to keep that lead and trying not to make any mistakes. The pressure was eased a bit when Kieran lost time this morning, then we had to keep an eye on Joe. We took it that his penalty might not stand, so we had to keep the pressure until the finish, and there is only 13 seconds in it.”
So that’s it for another action packed season in the Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland. With thanks to Citroen Racing, Pirelli, Total and Charles Hurst it’s been a season of excitement and next season promises more. To keep up to date check www.citroentrophy.com for details.
McNulty Seals Irish Tarmac Title While O'Riordan Wins In Cork!
Posted: January 26, 2013 9:09 PM
Second overall at last weekend's Cork '20' International Rally, the final round of the 2011 Irish Rally Tarmac Championship, was enough for Tim McNulty to lay claim to his maiden Irish Tarmac crown!
While Daragh O'Riordan became the first Cork driver to win his home event for 25 years, new champion McNulty also entered the record books as he became the first driver to win both the National and Irish Tarmac titles in the same season.
"The conditions were very difficult," McNulty admitted. "I could have pushed harder and we did have a bit of a go at Daragh on one of the stages but that resulted in a big 360 degree spin. It was a bit of an eye opener. We would have looked like fools if we had gone off, so we aimed for the finish after that."
Driving conditions were made very treacherous by darkness and dense fog during the opening leg, but Garry Jennings and Liam Moynihan put in a great performance in their Group N Mitsubishi Lancer.
Jennings led the rally at the overnight halt, with Daragh O'Riordan and Tony McDaid two seconds adrift while Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely were third. When the action resumed on day two, the battle for both overall and Group N honours was intense.
Despite spinning his Subaru, Daragh O'Riordan moved to the front of the field after the opening Sunday stage. He was destined to stay there until the finish, picking up his second Irish Tarmac Championship maximum score, at the same time as becoming the first local driver to win the Cork '20' since Billy Coleman in 1986.
Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely had considered challenging O'Riordan for victory, but a big spin gave them a huge wake-up call. In the end, they opted to drive for Championship points, and second overall was enough for the crew to seal the title.
As for O'Riordan, his win was enough to secure second position in the Championship, ahead of the Impreza WRC belonging to Kevin Barrett and Sean Mullally.
Netting third overall, Garry Jennings' and Liam Moynihan's excellent drive saw them take the 2011 Production category honours after a very close battle with Alan Ring and Adrian Deasy.
Scott McElhinney and Karl Reid took the overall front-wheel-drive title from fellow Citroen crew, David Carney and Ray Fitzpatrick.
In the modified category, Noel O'Sullivan and Nicholas Burke picked up maximum points but that wasn't enough to overhaul Geoffrey Dolan and Connor Murphy, who had already sealed the Modified Challenge title ahead of the Cork event. However, O'Sullivan sealed second overall in the standings, with Eugene Ferry third.
In the historic category, maximum points for William Todd and Noel Anderson handed them the 2011 Irish Tarmac Historic title. Aidan O'Connor and Ian Regan are the Post-Historic champions, while Alan Courtney and Paul Soutar secured the Classic title with another victory in Cork.
Competitors have enjoyed another fantastic season in Ireland's premier rally championship. All that remains is the Championship's glittering awards ceremony, which will take place in the Silver Springs Hotel, Cork, on 26 November.
Attention will soon turn towards the 2012 season, when another high-octane year of thrilling rally action is guaranteed!
McNulty secures historic Irish Rally double in Cork
Posted: January 26, 2013 9:05 PM
Tim McNulty secured an historic Irish rally double today as he won the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship following his second place finish at the Cork 20 International Rally, to add to the Dunlop National Rally title. The second place finish was enough for McNulty to top the Tarmac Championship ahead of Darragh O’Riordan after he finished first in Cork.
McNulty made a slow start to the Cork 20 yesterday evening over the four stages that were run. Adverse weather conditions meant that the last two stages on Saturday evening were cancelled. Garry Jennings led the field overnight with Cork native O’Riordan in second and McNulty third. The rain and severe fog again caused the first two stages today to be cancelled but when action resumed on Stage 9 O’Riordan and McNulty moved up through the gears in their Subaru WRCs.
O’Riordan and McNulty moved into first and second place respectively, with the latter needing only a third place finish to secure the Tarmac Championship. After finishing fastest over Stage 12, McNulty eased off the pace not taking any risks with the title in sight. O’Riordan won the last two stages to take the Cork 20 International Rally by 45 seconds in front of his home crowd with McNulty in second and Garry Jennings finishing third a further 2 minutes and 19 seconds behind the leader.
Meath native McNulty now becomes the first driver to win both the Dunlop National Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in the same season, which include victories at the Galway, Donegal and Ulster rallies.
There was disappointment for Craig Breen at the World Rally Championship over the weekend as he crashed out when leading by over 20 seconds on day two. The Waterford native is now 20 points behind WRC Academy leader, Estonian, Egon Kaur ahead of the final event, Rally Great Britain on the 10th November. Breen is still in contention for the Academy crown as there will be 25 points on offer for victory and an additional point for every fastest stage time set over the 18 stages.
In Car
Posted: January 26, 2013 8:28 PM
Jason Ryan / Tadgh O'Sullivan (Honda Civic) SS11
Joseph McGonigle / Aidan Friel (Citroen C2 R2) SS11
Brian O'Mahony / John Higgins (Subaru Impreza WRC) SS9
Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland Runners Prepare for Final Cork Round
Posted: September 28, 2011 12:18 PM
With Scott McElhinney announced as the winner of the Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland this season and Kieran Daly also confirmed in second, the big attention for this weekend’s final Cork 20 International is on the titanic scrap for third place honours. It’s a scrap that is also worth 2000€ for this championship position and four drivers are contending for the place.
Currently in third in the series on 14 points is 18 year old Joe Shrimpton, the young English driver in his first season of rallying. “To be honest I didn’t expect to be in this position in my first year of rallying. We had a good start to the season with third places in West Cork and Killarney, but we had a non finish in Donegal and then an engine problem on the Ulster, but Wexford was the most frustrating. We could have sown up third place, and we were up to second on that event, until the gearbox seized three miles from home. I’ve been really enjoying the Irish tarmac however, and picking up experience, getting ready also to write my own pace-notes.”
In Cork, Joe will have Irish co-driver Andrew Purcell along for the first time. “There was no problem with Ciaran, I just could learn a bit from Andrew also in preparation for the next step with my pace-notes. It will be big battle at the weekend, but my focus is to get to the finish, and gain more experience, with a view to coming back next season. It’s a well organised championship and good fun to contest.”
Equal with Joe on points is Mayo’s David Carney, who also showed increased speed in Wexford. David with co-driver Ray Fitzpatrick will be one to watch, and he also is relatively new to the sport, in only his second season of rallying. Peter Barrable eventually took second place in Wexford after some storming day two times, and the former racer is a convert to rallying this season, in his brother Robert’s old C2 R2 Max. “I’ve loved the change to rallying, but it’s certainly a lot tougher than circuit racing. There is a lot more preparation, and a lot of the rally is won or lost on the recce, and making your notes correctly. Ideally I would like to start Cork on the same pace we left Wexford on. I made a few changes to the car in Wexford, and changed my driving style a little. It all raised the confidence a little bit and it all helped. I haven’t rallied in the dark before though, so that should be interesting this weekend. To date however I have really enjoyed this year. Raymond runs a great show and next year I would certainly like to step up to a DS3, but if not I’ll continue with the C2. It’ll be a Citroen anyway regardless!”
Donegal’s Joe McGonigle is another driver to have shown good pace this season, but fortune hasn’t always gone his way in the Irish Trophy. “I can’t wait until the weekend. I think the night stages will be awesome. Rallying at night is superb and the Citroen Racing lights are very effective. I think with this big battle it will have to be flat out” commented Joe.
“I have really enjoyed the series, and I think I enjoyed Killarney the most. Even though we broke down on day one, the Sunday run was superb. My home International in Donegal too was very enjoyable, and we had 8 fast times in the last 9 stages, so our times were good, and on the Ulster we had a good run once we discovered the cause of our misfire. Certainly this weekend I would love to come home with the 2000€, third place prize.”
The 100th anniversary Cork 20 event, starts at 6pm on Saturday with a spectator stage in Fermoy, before a midnight halt and a 6.30 am Sunday restart, returning for a 3.15pm finish in Cork. Its format over 20 hours like the original Cork 20 rally, and it will be an historical and fitting end to this season Citroen Racing Trophy.
Final preparations are underway for the Cork ‘20’ International Rally. Word from the Clerk of the Course is everything is in place and since a good stream of entries continues to come in the close of entries has been extended to Wednesday 21st. All main championship contenders will be in Cork for what is gearing up to be a historic event. Some leading entries received in no particular order to date are Colm Murphy, Sam Moffett, Robert Barrable, Garry Jennings, Alan Ring, Kevin Barrett, Tim McNulty and Darragh O’Riordan.
The Silversprings Moran Hotel / Orchard Motorsport Cork ‘20’ International Rally takes place on the 1st & 2nd October.
Further information is available from the event website
Marshall training for Cork 20 will take place next Tuesday night 20th September at 8:30pm in the Vienna Woods Hotel, Cork
Spectator Stage To Kick-start Cork ‘20’ International Rally
Posted: September 11, 2011 10:24 PM
Competing crews and fans will be treated to a thrilling spectator stage to kick-start this years Cork ‘20’ International Rally. The 1.2km stage which will be held at the Cork Marts complex near Fermoy awaits crews after they cross the start ramp at the Silversprings Moran Hotel Cork from 18:00 on Saturday 1st October.
Cars from the Slowly Sideways Ireland Club will entertain fans from 17:00 onwards while they await the first competing cars. Official Cork ‘20’ International Rally merchandise will be available from Orchard Motorsport throughout the evening.
SS1 in the mart complex will be followed by two 18km approx night stages before returning to the marts for service. The spectator stage and this short loop of tests will then be repeated before the crews return to parc feirme in rally headquarters at Silversprings Moran Hotel Cork.
Entry to the spectator stage and service area will be €5 per person, however a special offer can be availed of where entry to the marts complex is included in the purchase of an official rally programme. Under 16’s will be free and must be accompanied by an adult. While all supporters are welcome please obey the marshalls as the venue is private property. Please do not leave litter strewn around the complex and pets will not be allowed.
The Silversprings Moran Hotel / Orchard Motorsport Cork ‘20’ International Rally takes place on the 1st & 2nd October.
Further information is available from the event/club website
Marshalls Required 1st - 2nd October 2011 Contact the Chief Marshall on 087 9362840 / +353 87 9362840
Cork ‘20’ Returns To Compact 20 Hour Event
Posted: August 23, 2011 1:05 PM
The 2011 Cork ‘20’ International Rally will see crews leaving Parc Ferme at the Moran Silversprings Hotel in Cork City at 18:00 on Saturday evening Oct 1st before heading to the Cork marts complex near Fermoy for the 1.2km spectator stage (Saturday service park will also be located within the mart complex). The spectator stage is followed by two 18km approx stages before returning to the service park, the loop is then repeated before the crews return to the Moran Silversprings (midnight approx for first car) for a well earned rest.
On Sunday morning Oct 2nd crews have an early start at 06:30 heading west for 4 classis stages in the West Cork area all being repeated after service in the Macroom Industrial Park.
First car is due back at the Moran Silversprings finish ramp at 15:15 approx. These first cars home will be the crews competing in the historic section of the rally as they are scheduled to compete on 12 of the 14 special stages and the Cork ‘20’ International Historic Rally which will run ahead of the main field throughout the rally. Main field competitors are due at the finish ramp for champagne celebrations at 17:15 approx after completing the 14 special stages.
THE CELEBRATION GALA DINNER incorporating the official PRESS LAUNCH of the CORK ‘20’ INTERNATIONAL RALLY will take place on Saturday 23rd July 2011 at the Silversprings Moran, Hotel,Tivoli, Cork @ 19.00hrs sharp..
To date there are four International High Profile former competitors confirmed to attend.
Bookngs are currently underway for tickets and are filling very fast.
Persons interested in attending need to confirm as quickly as possible.
Preparations are well underway for this years new-look Cork ’20? International Rally which takes place on 1st & 2nd October. The weekend's action counts as round 6 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and will recognise 100 years of motorsport. To celebrate this great rally which started as a ’20? hour endurance time trial test, this years event will return to being a compact (approx 20 hr) competitor friendly format. Recce will be available on the Friday and Saturday of the event and scrutiny will be on Saturday. The rally will start late on Saturday and finish early on Sunday. A superspecial stage, night stages and the running of classic stages will make this historic weekend one not to be missed.
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