Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally - (Sat) 19 May 12

Cork Crew Conquer home event.

Posted: July 13, 2012 10:15 AM

Owen Murphy and James O’ Brien won a thrilling Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally last Saturday. The Cork rally was round four of the 2012 Valvoline Forest Rally Championship and for the the second rally in succession the margins were minimal with Murphy winning by a mere 6.3 seconds ahead of Colin Britton. Pat O’ Connell was third, just 0.9 second. behind Britton. For Murphy it was twenty one valuable championship points and also his first win on his local rally. Shane Mc Girr was best 2WD and Dean Raftery won the junior category.

The six stage rally was hosted by Cork Motor Club with its base in Mallow. A compact route included three stages (repeated) at Bweeng, Mount Hilary and Peter’s Hill.

For Murphy a win in Cork was essential. The Evo 9 driver is the reigning forest champion and he had little fortune in the opening two rounds of this year’s series. An ailing back prevented him competing on round one and in Carrick he retired with sheared wheel nuts on the last stage. He opened his account with victory in the Moonraker and set about chasing the championship leaders who were fast disappearing over the hill.

On Saturday’s event the Corkman did an excellent time of the first stage (one third of a second off FTD), and he went into the lead with fastest on the second and third. On the second half of the rally he scored another FTD and a third and fourth fastest. Murphy is now up to seventh in the championship, and when a score is dropped he improves to fifth.

Colin Britton (Evo9) has been consistently on the podium this year. The Tyrone man started very well in Cork with fastest on stage one. For the remainder of the rally he was in a huge scrap with Pat O’ Connell (Evo9) for second spot, until he nosed ahead of the Cashel driver by 0.9 second at the finish. This result puts Britton leading the championship for the first time with a six point advantage.

Third overall was not the result that Pat O’ Connell wanted, but last years Cork forest rally winner and 2010 forest champion was once again very close to the top of the podium. In the Moonraker O’Connell was fourth, a mere second from second position. With a retirement on rounds one and two, O’ Connell has 37 points and is now eight overall but his fortunes will improve once the dropped score scenario is implemented.

Martin Cairns finished fourth with the power of his WRC helping him to a fastest time on stage four. Fifth was claimed by Enda Mc Nulty in the Group A Impreza and Vincent Mc Aree was sixth. The Monaghan man had a bad start to the day as he stalled on stage one losing half a minute to Britton. However Mc Aree recovered and was fastest on the final stage. He is now fourth in the championship and will climb higher when dropped scores are taken into account.

Due to a scrutiny issue Gary Jennings did not start the Cork Forest rally. The Fermanagh driver was leading the championship after three rounds, but Britton and Wright have overtaken Jennings albeit by a small margin.

Best 2WD was Shane Mc Girr in the powerful Starlet RWD and this result puts the Tyrone driver up to 5th in this class and third in class five. Junior driver Dean Raftery had an even better day-the Galway driver won a very close fight with his class nemesis Ian Downey by a slender 4.3 seconds. As a result Raftery leads the junior class by two points and he is top of the 2WD class overall, a real achievement for a junior. Retirements included Sean Benskin, Kevin Barrett, Shay Power and Joe Shinnors Jnr

Photos

Posted: July 13, 2012 10:12 AM

barronpix.com
myrally.ie Sport Photography

Results

Posted: July 13, 2012 9:48 AM

1 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 10s,
2 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 16s,
3 Pat O’Connell/Mark Wiley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 17s,
4 Martin Cairns/Patrick Brides (Subaru Impreza WRC) 33m 43s,
5 Enda McNulty/Paul Sheridan (Subaru Impreza WRX) 33m 47s,
6 Vincent McAree/J P McAree (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 58s,
7 Gerard Lucey/James Lucey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 34m 00s,
8 Stephen Wright/Suzanne Wright (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) 34m 16s,
9 Shane McGirr/Jackie Elliott (Toyota Starlet RWD) 34m 46s,
10 Niall Henry/John Rowan (Subaru Impreza N12 Gp N) 34m 52s.
Leaders After: SS1 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS2-6 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)

Stage Winners:
SS1 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS2 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS3 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS4 Martin Cairns/Patrick Brides (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS5 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)
SS6 Vincent McAree/J P McAree (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N)

Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally - (Sat) 19 May 12 - FULL RESULTS
Results by: irallyresults.com

Time & Distance / Final Instructions

Posted: May 17, 2012 3:38 PM

Available at:

Cork Motor Club

Rally Programmes

Posted: May 17, 2012 8:48 AM

Rally Programmes will be available at the following locations:

Keary's Filling Station, Limerick Rd, Mallow
Foley's Supermarket, Short Castle, Mallow
The Roundabout Inn, Mallow
Shanahan's Top Shop, Killavullen
Murphy's Filling Station, Dromcummer (Mallow-Killarney Rd)

Seeded Entry List - REVISED

Posted: May 15, 2012 9:30 PM

16/5/12 - This Entry List replaces the Entry List published on 15/5/12

No Driver/Navigator (Car) [Class]
1 Pat O'Connell/Mark Wiley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
2 Gary Jennings/TBA (Subaru Inpreza 555) [6]
3 Owen Murphy/James O'Brien (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
4 Colin Britton/Aurthur Kierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
5 Vincent McAree/J P Mc Aree (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
6 Ian Cochrane/Ray Fitzpatrick (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
7 Stephen Wright/Susan Wright (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [6]
8 Martin Cairns/TBA (Subaru Impreza WRC S11) [7]
9 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mulally (Subaru Impreza WRC S11) [7]
10 Gerard Lucey/James Lucey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
11 Liam Regan/Damien Duffin (Peugeot 206 4X4) [6]
12 Shay Power/Paul Collins (Ford Escort MK II) [5]
14 Shane McGirr/TBA (Toyota Starlet) [5]
15 James Coleman/Kaye Shanahan (Ford Escort MK II) [5]
16 Michael Conlon/TBA (Ford Escort MK II) [5]
17 Paul Fitzgerald/Pierce Doheny Jnr (Ford Escort MK II) [3]
18 Jimmy Deane/Barry Meade (Ford Escort MK II) [3]
19 Stephen Cullen/Seamus O'Grady (Subuaru Impreza N12B) [8]
20 Niall Henry/John Rowan (Subaru Impreza NII) [8]
21 Ian Chadwick/Stephen Quinn (Subaru Impreza WRX) [6]
22 Jer Connors/Owen O'Neill (Subaru Impreza WRX) [6]
23 James Lehane/Andrew Lehane (Subaru Impreza WRX) [6]
24 James Laverty/Francis Regan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [6]
25 Paul Barrett/TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [6]
26 David Smith/TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo ) [6]
27 Michael O'Connor/Con Mulcathy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2) [6]
28 Andrew Fanning/Derek Gibbs (Ford Puma S1600) [3]
29 Adrian McElhinny/Shane Buckley (Peugeot 206) [3]
30 John Cullinane/TBA (Ford Escort MK II) [5]
31 Eddie Ryan/Brendan McCullagh (Ford Fiesta ST) [5]
32 Alan Commins/TBA (Ford Escort MK II) [4]
33 Sean W Benskin/Joe Fitzgibbon (Ford Escort MK II) [4]
34 Mike Sheedy/Sean O'Neill (Ford Escort G3) [4]
35 Alan Tracey/TBA (Toyota Corolla) [3]
36 Danny Creedon/Tom Foley (Subaru Impreza) [6]
37 Ed Colton/Claire O'Mahony (Peugeot 306) [5]
38 Liam Lynch/Kieran Madden (Ford Escort MK II) [3]
39 Christy Butler/John O'Connor (Honda Integra) [3]
40 Martin Brady/Seamus Cooke (Rover MG ) [5]

41 Enda McNulty/Paul Sheridan (Subaru Impreza WRX) [6]

100 Ian Downey/Sean Brunton (Opel Corsa) [9]
101 Dean Raftery/TBA (Honda Civic) [9]
102 Daniel Cronin/Sean Duggan (Peugeot 206) [9]
103 Joe Shinnors Jnr/TBA (Opel Corsa) [1]
104 John Kenneally/Nicky Hegarty (Ford Escort MK II) [1]
105 Michael Ryan/Kieran Carroll (Honda Civic) [9]
106 Mick Nevin/TBA (Ford Escort MK II) [2]
107 Tom Murphy/Colin Moynihan (Ford Escort MK II) [2]
108 Pierce Dohney/Damien Lawlor (Opel Corsa) [2]
109 Noel O' Mahony/Cliff Desmond (Toyota Starlet) [1]
110 Ken Cullinane/TBA (Opel Corsa) [1]
111 Stephen Lane/Jill White (Toyota Corolla) [9]
112 James Lowery/Gary Cusack (Honda Civic) [9]
114 Denis Nagle/Donagh Crowley (Nissan Micra) [9]

Late Entries will be taken

Marshal Meeting Times

Posted: May 15, 2012 9:14 PM

1&4 BWEENG
Dans Bar 12.15pm.

2&4 MOUNT HILLARY
Murphy's Filling Station Dromcummer 12.45pm

3&6 PETERS HILL,
Shanahans Killavullen 14.15pm

CHIEF MARSHAL 086 0750409 / +353 86 0750409

MALLOW BASED RALLY IS MID-POINT IN VALVOLINE SERIES

Posted: May 15, 2012 12:41 PM

Saturday’s Cork Jim Walsh Cork Forestry rally is round four of the Valvoline Forest Rally Championship and is based as usual in Mallow. Arguably the mid-point in this year’s Forestry series, it is a good time to take stock of the main talking points of the opening trio of events. There was great excitement and variety with three different winners in three different types of rally-cars: Garry Jennings won Donegal Forest rally in a Group A Impreza, Craig Breen won Carrick in a Fiesta S2000 and Owen Murphy was the victor in the Moonraker with his Mitsubishi Evo 9.

The Valvoline Championship opened with the Donegal Forest rally where Jennings led from start to finish and he was followed home by Stephen Wright (Evo6) and Colin Britton (Evo9). Frank Kelly was best 2WD and Ian Downey (Corsa) was the best junior.

Carrick-on-Suir MC hosted the second round and their most famous member took a break from international commitments to support his home event. Craig Breen who is competing in the WRC S2000 and I.R.C. championships this year, dominated Carrick, with a flag to flag victory in his Fiesta S2000. A very professional drive from the 2011 WRC Academy winner. As Breen did not register for the Valvoline series, the championship points were claimed by Garry Jennings (Impreza GpA), Vincent Mc Aree (Evo9) and Colin Britton (Evo9).Shay Power was best 2WD in fifth overall and Ian Downey won the juniors again, in tenth overall.

Round three was the Moonraker, organised by the Munster Car Club. Jennings went into an early lead, but a quick roll on stage three relegated him to sixth. Owen Murphy (Evo9) inherited the lead and the 2011 Forest Champion went on to record his first win of the year. Jennings recovered to take second ahead of Mc Aree and Pat O’ Connell, the 2010 champion. In a titanic struggle, Murphy’s winning margin was twelve seconds and a mere two seconds separated third fourth and fifth. Once again Shay Power was best 2WD and Dean Raftery (Civic) the best junior.

After round 3 the Valvoline Championship points are as follows: Garry.Jennings 61,Colin Britton 52, Stephen. Wright 49 and Niall Henry 40. Shay Power is top 2WD and Dean Raftery leads the Junior Class.

For round four the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry rally has the experienced Paul Casey as Clerk of the Course and he has devised a more compact timetable and route. Scrutiny takes place on Saturday morning with the first car leaving parc ferme at 1pm.Three classic stages will be run twice, with the first car back at the finish ramp in Mallow is at 7.30pm.

Preview of the event.

Posted: May 12, 2012 7:36 AM

This year’s rally is one big days rallying Clerk of the Coarse Paul Casey has picked 3 classic stages run twice to test the cars and drivers to the limit, Mechanical scrutiny and documentation will all take place on Saturday May 19th from 8.00 am to 11.30 am with the first car to leave Parc Ferme at 1.00 pm.- the first car back at the finish ramp in Mallow is at 7.30pm.

The 3 Stages are in excellent condition and are Bweeng , Mount Hillary and Peters Hill .

The Valvoline National Forest Championship comes to town with some of the best cars and drivers in the country man of the moment and championship leader is Garry Jennings the Fermanagh man brings the Subaru Impreza to Cork and with 2 maximum scores and a second from the last event, His title hopes can be strengthened by a win in Cork his flat out style of driving makes him a crowd favourite. The Cork challenge will come from the Cork Motor Club members and current Forest Champions Owen Murphy / James O' Brien in the Hankook Mitsubishi Evo 9. Fresh from a win on the last round Owen has been second 3 times and would love to win this event. A win is vital for Owen to get his championship back on track.

Second in the Championship is Colin Britton always on the pace this man can set some incredible stage times if he can string a few together he could be a potential winner here in Mallow Colin is sure of a top 3 placing but is really overdue a win in the wood this could be his weekend.

Not having had great luck in the wood this year is Pat O' Connell , the 2010 champion loves the Cork forests and will be all out to repeat his great win of last year this year he is well down the championship order but a win in Mallow would improve his year no end expect him to set the pace. Third in the championship is Stephen Wright this young man gets quicker all the time and his consistency must now turn into stronger finishes if he is to make the next step .Vincent McAree is another driver who will be there abouts at the finish not afraid the throw the Mitsubishi sideways he is another man overdue a win. Martin Cairns brings his WRC Subaru to the event.

A fantastic 6th overall in the championship is Shay Power he drives a beautifully prepared Escort also in Escorts are the local drivers like Jimmy Deane. Jimmy will be one of the entertainers on the rally with plenty of flat out sideways driving. Ballyhea man Paul Fitzgerald in the familiar blue Escort is always worth watching; also some other quick 2 wheel drive men include James Coleman, Mickey Conlon and Shane McGirr.

It’s worth remembering that on the last event the top five competitors were covered by a mere 21 seconds after a day’s rallying so come out and support the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally all the stages are close to Mallow and with a programme the stages are easily found. This event will also feature on Motors TV at a later date.

Not a Seeded list but entries include
Garry Jennings ,Owen Murphy, Pat O Connell, Colin Britton, Stephen Wright, Ian Cochrane ,Niall Henry, Vincent McAree, Martin Cairns, Shay Power.

Rally Launched

Posted: May 12, 2012 7:35 AM

The Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally was launched on Tuesday the 8th of March. A large crowd were on hand to see the 2011 Championship winning car of Owen Murphy / James O' Brien, also on hand were the familiar yellow Escort of Jimmy Deane and fellow Mallow man Derek Butler with his Honda.

The launch took place outside the town Council Chamber where launch photos were taken with representatives of the sponsors Mallow Town Council, Mallow Chamber and Blackwater Tourism.

Then it was into the Council Chambers where the Lord Mayor Dan Joe Fitzgerald said he was delighted to once again welcome the rally to Mallow for the weekend he said we should get more behind this rally and make it a kind of festival in the future.

All the councillors echoed the Mayors comments and were very enthusiastic about the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally. Noel O Connor from Black Water Tourism said its a great event for Mallow and one we should give our full support to.

Rally Launch - (Tue) 8 May

Posted: May 1, 2012 11:58 AM

The Media launch for the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally takes place with a photo call in front of the Town Hall Mallow on Tuesday the 8th of May at 7.00 pm.
Mallow Town Council, Mallow Chamber of Commerce and Backwater Tourism are the events main sponsors and representatives of all will be on hand for the Media launch.

Speaking about the launch Clerk of the Coarse Paul Casey said
“the Media launch is a great way for the sponsors the media and some competitors to meet up it gives a flavour of what to expect on the weekend of the rally “

There will be a display of competing cars outside the Town Hall including the Current Valvoline National Rally Champion, Cork Motor Club member Owen Murphy and his Championship winning Hankook Mitsubishi Evo 9.

After the photo call outside, in the Council Chambers there will be a word from the event organisers, the sponsors and further details of the event will be revealed.

Press Release 1

Posted: April 22, 2012 6:09 PM

Plans are at an advanced stage for the 2012 Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, the event this year changes from its more familiar date in August to Saturday the 19th of May this was done in order to facilitate the Championship organisers.

The date may have changed but the Clerk of the Course remains the same Paul Casey is back with a rally that follows a very different format to other years. Back on board as event sponsors are Mallow Town Council, Blackwater Tourism and Mallow Chamber of Commerce, the headquarters for the event once again being the Roundabout Inn Mallow which are also associate sponsors of the event.

Paul has picked 3 classic stages run twice to test the cars and drivers to the limit, conscious of the fact that costs need to be kept to a minimum this year’s rally will be run over one long day. bbMechanical scrutiny and documentation will all take place on Saturday May 19th from 8.00 am to 11.30 am with the first car to leave Parc Ferme at 1.00 pm.
- the first car back at the finish ramp in Mallow is at 7.30pm.

All the stages are located close to Mallow with centralised service and low road mileage.

Entry fee for the 2012 event has been reduced to €475, which should make the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally the best value forest rally of 2012.

All the championship regulars are expected to attend including the current Valvoline Forest Champions and Cork Motor Club members Owen Murphy / James O' Brien fresh from winning the last round of the series, also present will be series leader Garry Jennings and let’s not forget the man who won last year’s event Pat O’Connell, Pat loves the Cork Forests and will probably be the man to beat.
There is a whole host of other drivers snapping at these boys heels remember on the last event the top five cars were separated by a mere 25 seconds the forest championship is alive and well and the pace at the front is serious.

Regulations are now available below.

For further information competitors can contact the entries secretary, 086 1233742 / +353 86 1233742 (6-9pm only)
or COC on 086 8050710 / +353 86 8050710

Regulations / Entry Form

Posted: April 22, 2012 6:08 PM

Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally - (Sat) 19 May 12 - REGULATIONS & ENTRY FORM

Event Poster / Details

Posted: April 22, 2012 5:59 PM

Club Website

Posted: April 22, 2012 5:58 PM

Cork Motor Club