George Condell & Lisa O'Dowd (Toyota Starlet RWD) - SS6
Philip McKibbin & Pádraig Foran (Ford Cortina) - Highlights
James Belton/Mark Glennerster (Subaru Impreza WRC) - SS3
Evans/Davies Win ALMC Stages Rally 2012
Posted: July 31, 2012 3:00 PM
Melvyn Evans and co driver Aled Davies in a Subaru Impreza WRC S12B won the 2012 City North Hotel backed ALMC Stages Rally by one minute and twenty eight seconds from James Belton with Mark Glennerster also in a Subaru Impreza WRC. Evans who led the rally from start to finish recorded fastest time on six of the special stages and was never troubled by second place driver Simpson who's Impreza is run by Evan's Motorsport team. Stephen Simpson and Patrick Walsh in the third of the Evans Motorsport cars were locked out the top three bring their Impreza WRC home and unexpected third overall. Stephen who ran in fourth for most of the rally was gifted third overall when Damian Cole and James Morgan hit trouble on the final stage when the fly by wire on the throttle of their Ford Focus WRC05 started to give trouble with the Welsh crew losing over a minute of the final stage to finish the event fourth overall.
Fifth place went to twenty year old Christopher Armstrong and Tommy Clinton in their Ford Escort following an outstanding drive in only their third outing in the car. In sixth were David Armstrong and Damien Fleming in their Ford Escort, a late entry for the event David has had good fortune on the ALLMC stages in the past but on this occasion could not match the pace of Christopher's Escort in fifth. Stephen Cullen with Seamus O'Grady calling the notes was the highest placed ALMC Motor Club member to finish the rally brought his Subaru Impreza home an excellent seventh overall and recorded his first Group N win on tarmac, Stephen who has been concentrating on the forestry championship this year showed how his time in the car has really paid off with the production class win. Lloyd Hutchinson and Willie Fitzpatrick finished in eight overall a remarkable result for them in the Mini, Lloyd challenged Stephen Cullen in the group N machine particularly on stage five when a heavy rain shower soaked the stage. Liam Bowhan and Ged Kennedy in their Toyota Starlet finished in ninth overall moving into the top ten on the final loop of three stages, the top ten was rounded out by Paul Clarke and Gary Copperthwaite in their Ford Escort Mk2.
"It has been a fantastic day's rallying and the club are delighted to have had so many crews attend the event from the UK championship, it was by far the best UK entry we have had since we became a part of the championship. An event like this takes the hard work of a very large group of volunteers, which without their help and effort could not take place, thanks to all the marshals, officials, sponsors, residents and competitors who all played their part in the success of the rally" commented Clerk of the Course Noel Devlin at the finish of the event at the City North Hotel.
In the historics Dick Mauger and Steve McNulty won the class in their Ford Escort Mk2 having led the event from the opening stage, in second place Roy Smith and John Stanger-Leathes in the Porsche 911 with Philip McKibbin and Padraig Foran third in their Ford Cortina. The junior class was won by Kevin McLaughlin in a Honda Civic with Sean Brady and Barry McLoughlin in the Peugeot 205 GTi second and Jill White and Paul Sheehan third in their Honda Civic.
Early retirements from the event include John Stone and co driver Rob Fagg in the Skoda Fabia WRC who never made it to the start of SS1 when the turbo in their car expired on the road section, an early turbo problem put John out of the rally in 2010 on the first stage. Top seed Eugene Donnelly in the Sligo Pallets backed Toyota Corolla WRC stopped his car towards the end of the opening stage when his engine cried enough. Washington James and co driver Liam Brennan in the Darrian T90 GTR also retired from the rally, they left the road on the scrapmycar.ie sponsored stage one. The UK crew of Simon Chapman and Tony Graham retired their Austin Metro with a centre differential problem at the end of the opening loop of three stages. Adam Clews with Peter Williams alongside on the notes only managed about one metre of the first stage when their Ford Puma broke a shaft on the start line. Joe Connolly and John J Connolly in the Red Mills backed Ford Escort pulled out of the rally due to an electrical problem; they managed to rectify the problem at service and then ran as a 00. PA Bellew and ALMC's Andres Reid in their Ford Escort crashed out on stage two both the crew were OK but the car will need some work. Third place driver following the first loop of stages Kerry man Thomas Fitzmaurice withdrew from the rally at service as his co driver Fionn Foley took ill with a stomach bug.
1 Melvyn Evans/Aled Davies (Subaru Impreza WRC) 80m 18s,
2 James Belton/Mark Glennerster (Subaru Impreza WRC) 81m 46s,
3 Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Subaru Impreza WRC) 82m 36s,
4 Damian Cole/James Morgan (Ford Focus WRC) 83m 13s,
5 Chris Armstrong/Tommy Clinton (Ford Escort MkII) 87m 06s,
6 David Armstrong/Damien Fleming (Ford Escort MkII) 88m 13s,
7 Stephen Cullen/Seamus O’Grady (Subaru Impreza N12B Gp N) 88m 34s,
8 Lloyd Hutchinson/Willie Fitzpatrick (Mini Cooper S) 89m 31s,
9 Liam Bowhan/Ger Kennedy (Toyota Starlet) 89m 44s,
10 Paul Clarke/Gary Copperthwaite (Ford Escort) 90m 04s.
Group N Production class: 1 Stephen Cullen/Seamus O’Grady,
2 Graeme Colfer/Dave Woodcock (Citroen C2R2) 90m 06s,
3 Adrian McElhinney/Damien McElhinney (Citroen C2R2) 92m 03s.
Late Entry - Eugene Donnelly Daragh Mullen (Toyota Corolla WRC)
Posted: July 13, 2012 3:24 PM
Eugene Donnelly and Daragh Mullen in a Toyota Corolla WRC
are a late Entry for the Rally.
Programme outlets for the ALMC Stages Rally
Posted: July 12, 2012 1:10 PM
Applegreen M1 Lusk Northbound
City North Hotel
Stafford's, Bryanstown, Drogheda
McDonnell's Centra, Hardpans Gardens, Drogheda
Brian Malones Topaz SS, Ardee
Ardee Motor Factors, Ardee
Hoey's Fuel Station, Ardee
Campus station, Collon
Campus station, Slane
Lynch's Mace, Tullyallen
Homeflair Drogheda
Tullyallen Service Station
Campus Ashbourne service station
Centra, Main Street Stamullen
Brink Service Station N2
Texaco Kentstown
Kilmoon Cross TOP Service Station
It is only days away from the start of the ALMC Stages Rally which takes place on Sunday 15th July, with the stages set for a scintillating battle between some of the leading Irish and UK rally drivers and their latest specification rally cars. The rally which is a counting round of the 2012 REIS Get Connected UK Asphalt Championship and a round of the MERC Irish championship has attracted over ninety entries with a large number of UK crews bring a much needed and welcomed boost to the local economy. The WRC machines will feature 2010 winner of the rally and leader of the UK Championship Damian Cole in his Ford Focus WRC and John Stone who returns to the County Louth stages in his rebuilt Skoda Fabia WRC and hoping for better mechanical luck than his last outing on the island. Stephen Simpson in his Subaru Impreza WRC S12 will be out to take top honours as will the all Welsh crew of Melvyn Evans and Aled Davies in their S12B spec Impreza's.
The event top ten is dominated by Subaru Impreza's with other likely contenders for the overall crown in the form of James Belton with Mark Glennerster alongside on the notes in their Subaru S11 and Lee Vivian from the Channel Islands in his S9. Irish WRC entrant Thomas Fitzmaurice from Kerry in his Subaru Impreza S11 will be out to spoil the UK's crew party in his quest for overall honours, Thomas has shown he is a force to be reckoned with on his previous outings in the car. PA Bellew and Andres Reid are sure to put on a spectacular display in their MII Ford Escort as are Joe and John Joe Connolly in their similar machine. The rear wheel Irish competitors will not have the stages to themselves with the UK represented by Richard Felgate and Mark Mason in their BMW M3 chasing them hard will be the always spectacular James Washington in his Darrian T90 GTR.
Class six will be hotly contested with club member and Meath driver Graeme Colfer in his Citroen C2R2 taking on AdrIan McElhinney in a similar machine along with the UK's Callum Black in his DS3 R3 and Desi Henry lining out in his newly acquired DS3. A challenge in the class is sure to come from the Ford Puma driven by Adam Clews from Wales and Galway's Justin Comer in his Honda Civic. This year's rally has a centralised base at the City North Hotel and will once again feature the popular loop of three stages run three times with the stages located in Counties Meath and Louth, providing competitors with over 160km of competitive stages. The club are delighted to have the backing of three new stage sponsors, scrapmycar.ie, Devine Mechanical Repairs in Tullyallen and Niall Russell Engineering. Additional sponsorship and support for the new established Honda Cup comes from Carberry Sand & Gravel, with the prizes for the event sponsored by HomeFlair on main street Drogheda and ORT Transport.
This year's event also features classes for Historic and Junior competitors with them competing on the six stages of the rally and there will be additional prizes on offer for the winner of the MkII challenge. Historic entries include club member Andy Hennessy with his regular codriver Peter Murphy alongside competing in their Hillman IMP which they brought home second in the historic class on this year's Galway International rally. Roy Smith from Wales in the Porsche 911 will be out to challenge Andy for the win as will William Todd in his Morris Mini Copper, they will be joined by local driver Philip McKibbin in his Ford Cortina.
The junior entries for the rally include Kevin McLaughlin and Kieran McGinley making the journey from Donegal in their Honda Civic, alongside them will be Jill White and Paul Sheehan from Cork in a similar machine. The Longford crew of Barry and Sean Brady will also line out in the junior class in their Honda Civic with the only non-Honda in the juniors driven by Kevin Cole with Killian Joyce-Reilly out to impress in their Ford Escort.
Scrutiny takes place on Saturday afternoon in the industrial park at the City North Hotel and provides younger fans with a great opportunity to see the cars up close. The rally action kicks off on Sunday morning with the first car through the start ramp at the hotel just after 9am. Entries for the rally are still open and will remain so until Thursday 12th July, full details are available on the dedicated stages website www.almcstagesrally.com or via the club website at www.almc.ie where regulations are also available for download.
Promotional Video
Posted: July 6, 2012 9:03 AM
Rally Launch - (Fri) 6 Jul 12
Posted: July 4, 2012 4:01 PM
ALMC will host the 2012 Stages Rally Launch on Friday 6th of July,
starting at 7pm in the CityNorth Hotel, and again we would like to welcome
everyone to the launch of what ALMC hope will be an exciting and safe event
for everyone involved.
ALMC Motor Club Marshalling (Wed 4th) and Fire Training nights (Thu 5th)
Posted: July 2, 2012 3:08 PM
The 2012 Stages Rally fast approaches, ALMC are holding two important Rally Safety nights, which are open to all Rally Marshals, Officials, Competitors and Rally supporters next week. We would like to welcome everyone, from all Clubs, to attend these courses, which the Club hope will be beneficial to everyone involved in Rallying.
Wednesday 4th July: Rally Marshal Training night, in the CityNorth Hotel, at 8pm, to cover all aspects of Marshalling, which will be run by Paul Hughes. The Club have also arranged for Basic First Aid training to be held within the course itself by Joe O'Brien of Medilink, which should be of benefit to anyone involved in Rallying and Motorsport.
Thursday 5th July: Fire Training night, again held in the CityNorth, at the earlier time of 7pm. This course will be held by John Elliott.
ALMC would like to thank Paul, Joe and John in advance for their help in running the courses.
Entries Flood in for ALMC Stages Rally 2012
Posted: July 1, 2012 12:54 PM
Entries for the 2012 ALMC Stages Rally which takes place on Sunday 15th July are flooding in with over twenty UK crews making the trip across the Irish Sea for this year’s event, this coupled with a strong Irish entry should make for an exciting stages rally. Leading UK entries include 2010 winner of the rally Damian Cole in his Ford Focus WRC and John Stone who returns to the County Louth stages in his rebuilt Skoda Fabia WRC. Other UK championship regulars will include Dick Mauger in his ultra quick Ford Escort MKII and James Belton from Wales in the Subaru Impreza WRC S11. Irish crews on this year’s rally and out to challenge the UK entries include Thomas Fitzmaurice making the trip from the south in his Impreza WRC S11, with PA Bellew and Andres Reid out to challenge the UK MK2 competitors. Adrean McElhinney in the Citreon C2R2 will do battle with the UK’s Callum Black in his DS3 R3 in their quest to win class six.
This year’s rally with its centralised base at the City North Hotel is a counting round of the Get Connected REIS UK Asphalt Rally Championship, the Loughran Signs Midlands East Rally Championship and the newly established Carberry Sand & Gravel Honda Cup. This year’s rally will once again feature the popular loop of three stages run three times with the stages located in Counties Meath and Louth and provides competitors with over 160km of competitive stages
ALMC Motor Club have established a number of incentives to encourage the many rally competitors based around the country to take part, a prize draw based on the starters list of one hundred or more main field will see one lucky competitor winning a cash prize of €1000 and a further €350 prize for Juniors / historic entries over a minimum of 20 entries. "Plans are well advanced for this year’s event and there is lots to challenge the competitors on the stages, we have picked a mix of old and new stages and with everything now centralised at the City North Hotel it should make for a more competitor and spectator friendly event” said Noel Devlin COC.
The club are delighted to have the backing of new sponsor scrapmycar.ie who based in Ireland provide a nationwide service to dispose of your old car in an environmentally responsible manner at no cost to the final owner. This year’s stages rally will also have the backing of Carberry Sand and Gravel who are providing support for the Honda Cup and the City North Hotel who will once again play host to the rally and for the first time the service park. This year’s event also features classes for Historic and Junior competitors with them competing on the six stages of the rally and there will be additional prizes on offer for the winner of the MkII challenge.
Entries for the rally are still open and will remain so until Thursday 12th July to allow competitors to get the last of the budget together and ensuring a maximum entry. Full details are available on the dedicated stages website www.almcstagesrally.com or via the club website at www.almc.ie where regulations are also available for download.
2012 Carberry Honda Cup
Posted: June 21, 2012 12:37 PM
ALMC Stages Rally 2012 Kicks Off
Posted: May 21, 2012 12:09 PM
Entries for the 2012 ALMC Stages Rally which takes place on Sunday 15th July are now open with full regulations for the event available from the club. This year's stages rally will return to its base at the City North Hotel and for the third year is a counting round of the highly popular Get Connected REIS UK Asphalt Rally Championship and the Loughran Signs Midlands East Rally Championship. The rally will feature nine stages located in Counties Meath and Louth and will see competitors take in a generous 160 of competitive stage kilometres and will for the first time see the event centralised at the City North Hotel with scrutiny parc ferme and service based at the venue on the rally weekend.
In an effort to encourage the many rally competitors based around the country the club have also introduced a prize draw based on the starters list of one hundred or more main field with one lucky competitor winning a cash prize of EUR1000 and a EUR350 prize for Juniors / historic entries over a minimum of 20 entries. "Enquiries about the rally have already started to flood in and we are expecting a larger number of crews to travel from the UK due to the increased interest in the championship this year and this will be coupled with a strong local entry. The event draw will help to incentivise competitors to enter and the stage distance and low entry fee make our event good value for money" said Noel Devlin COC at the launch of the event regulations.
The stages rally will feature classes for Historic and Junior competitors with them competing on the six stages of the rally and there will be additional prizes on offer for the winner of the MkII and an inaugural Honda Challenge. The club are mindful of the difficult economic times and are therefore providing support for competitors by allowing them to pay the entry fee on a stage payments basis, details of which can be found on the dedicated stages website www.almcstagesrally.com, there are several methods for submitting entries including the online entry system, details of which and a link to the electronic version can be found on the stages website or via the club website at www.almc.ie where regulations are also available for download. The event is being billed by the club as an "event not to be missed"
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