2018 Valvoline Motorsport Ireland National Forest Rally Championship Round 1 Final Report
Posted: February 11, 2018 11:10 AM
Local crew Andrew Purcell & Mark Wiley in a Ford Fiesta R5 took victory on the opening round of the 2018 Valvoline Motorsport Ireland National Forest Rally Championship, the Carrick on Suir based William Loughman Memorial forest Rally. At the end of the tough nine stage event (the final three of which were in darkness) they had nineteen seconds to spare over the similar car of Barry McKenna & Leon Jordan with the Ford Fiesta S2000 of Stephen McCann & Kaine Trainor completing the podium places almost two minutes further back.
Josh Moffett & Stephen Thornton who won this event in 2017 were top seeds and one of the pre event favourites in a Fiesta R5 and set fastest time on the opening stage. However their challenge ended on stage 2 when they cut a corner too tight and the Monaghan crew lost a wheel and the chance of second consecutive win on the rally. Purcell then led after Stage 2 only to suffer a misfire which left McKenna leading after stage 4. McKenna had some misfire problems of his own but Purcell recovered to take the lead from Stage 5 to the end.
In the 2WD category Michael Conlon & Ciaran McPhillips (Escort Mk2) had a brilliant drive to take the category win and finish tenth overall as their rivals fell by the wayside. David Crossen, Adrian Hetherington and Shane McGirr were among those who retired for various reasons, while Tommy O’Connell lost a potential second place when he slid off on the final stage and over ten minutes as the car got stuck. This meant that James Wilson & Gavin Doherty took second 2WD in 15th place overall in a Peugeot 208 R2 and were also top junior crew. Chasing them hard for the entire event were John O’Sullivan and Padraig O’Donovan in a Ford Fiesta R2 and they were third 2WD and second overall in the junior category.
The 2017 M. O’Brien Plant Hire J1000 champions Jason & Matthew Murphy (Peugeot 107) got their title defence off to a great start as they were the only crew to reach the finish. They led throughout the day despite a strong challenge from Aoife Gahan / Mikey Walsh who went off the road and got stuck in Stage 5 in their Chevrolet Spark. Scottish crew Peter Beaton & Paul Gallagher (Peugeot 107) led the category after the first stage, but lost the exhaust before the night stages after hitting a chicane. The car then cut out on Stage 7 and refused to restart and the crew were out of time before the problem could be diagnosed or rectified.
80 crews started the event 59 cars were classified as finishers.
Fantastic Forestry R2 Debut Victory for James Wilson!
Posted: February 11, 2018 11:04 AM
Twenty-two year old James Wilson from Keady and his Co. Derry co-driver Gavin Doherty are on the crest of a wave at the moment in rallying. In 2017 armed with a new left hand drive Peugeot 208 R2, they sailed to victory in the hotly contested R2 category on the prestigious Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, and on their very first attempt. Last Saturday was their first attempt at forestry rallying in the Peugeot, and again they outshone the competition to take a sensational R2 victory on the Carrick on Suir Forest event.
The rally was the first round of the Valvoline Motorsport Ireland National Forest Rally Championship, the County Armagh based team electing to contest this series, and also to take the big step to the MSA British Rally Championship this season. Now with these recent successes the crew have proven themselves to be ones to watch for the future. “We went to Carrick on Suir really to test the car. We had no miles in it at all on gravel, and that was the aim to get familiar with it all. The first two stages were a learning curve, but the car felt very good, and we took it steady, not feeling we had done anything exciting. However when we got into service we got the thumbs up, and the times were actually up there which was a surpise to us” said James.
On stages three and four James and Gavin continued to punch in the times, and felt more and more competitive on the gravel and also on a Kumho tyre, a product new to them. “We had great support all day from David Moynihan from Ears Motorsport Ireland, and that was a help all day to keep an eye on the tyres and conditions. I must say that the Kumho’s worked very well for us all day, and we got into a great battle with the R2 Fiesta of John O’Sullivan, the similar 208 of Marty Gallagher and the very rapidly driven Nova of Derek Mackeral. We were also enjoying the rally so much! There was no real pressure, and the stages themselves where fantastic to drive, especially the long eighteen kilometre stage which had everything in it from fast sweeping sections to tight narrow sections.” After six stages Mackeral had a narrow 8.7 second lead over James’s 208, with John O’Sullivan now a further 31.3 seconds back, and Marty Gallagher now on the retirement list.
The pressure was on as they headed into the final two tests which where run in darkness, and immediately Mackeral was out on the first one, whilst James had his own challenges. “With the reverse seeding we were staring behind slower cars, and with some drop outs, we actually ended up catching two cars on stage eight, and three on the final stage. We were worried that it would affect our position, but in the end it didn’t.” The finish saw a maiden R2 victory on a Valvoline Forest round, fourteenth overall and second two wheel drive finisher, a dream result on what was thought would be a test session for the crew.
“It puts us in good spirits for the first round of the BRC, and we plan to contest the second Irish Forest round in Limerick, just a week before that. The result also helps us in the new Ears.ie R5 Challenge, and I am also eligible for the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award in 2018, so there are a few opportunities available and more with the BRC as well” said the young engineer. As ever the search for the vital backing is on at the start of the season, and James is grateful for the support from Tec Industrial for the first two rounds of the Irish Forestry series. Some support is set to come again from Philip White Tyres,Road Tankers Armagh, James Wilson Garage Services, DC Drive and Herrons Country Fried Chicken, but he’s still on the look out for one or two major backers. “Hopefully the recent run of success will help us obtain the backing to enable us to really attack the BRC and the Forestry achieve our goals.” Certainly James Wilson has risen to prominence in the R2 category of late, and it’s the Keady driver’s rapid rise that is making many take note.
Video Clips
Posted: February 11, 2018 10:57 AM
In Car
Posted: February 11, 2018 10:54 AM
Barry McKenna & Leon Jordan (Ford Fiesta R5) SS4
Stephen McCann & Kaine Treanor (Ford Fiesta S2000) SS3
The 2018 Valvoline Motorsport Ireland National Forest Rally Championship gets under way this Saturday 3rd February with the first major Irish rally of the year, the Carrick on Suir based William Loughman Memorial Forest Rally. The traditional series opener is running a couple of weeks early this year but that has not detracted from the quality and quantity of entries with almost 80 crews set to line up at the start ramp this weekend. Rallying in Ireland may seem to be under pressure at the moment but Carrick on Suir Motor Club can feel justifiably proud of their work in attracting so many crews to the south-east.
Josh Moffett who won the William Loughman event last year is back with Stephen Thornton co-driving in a Ford Fiesta R5, and Josh will be looking to emulate his brother Sam who of course is the reigning Irish forestry champion. He will face some tough opposition as Andrew Purcell & Mark Wiley are also contenders for the top spot on the podium now that Purcell has acquired an R5 Fiesta, while four times BRC champion Keith Cronin is also believed to be contemplating an entry. Others looking to compete include USA based Monaghan man Barry McKenna, regular series competitor UK based Mick O’Brien and Ray Breen, father of Citroen works driver Craig, on his local event. Gerard Lucey from Cork, who finished third overall in last year’s championship in his Class 20 Mitsubishi Lancer returns to Carrick while Niall McCullagh and Liam Regan in their Group N versions should also be among those to challenge strongly. Stephen McCann is bringing his Ford Fiesta S2000 while Cathan McCourt makes the switch from a Lancer to a Citroen DS3 R5.
The 2WD battle will be, as always, one to watch. Last year’s championship runner up David Crossen put in some incredible performances throughout the year in his Escort and will be one of the favourites to continue that form. However the list of drivers willing to dethrone him is impressive, with Shane McGirr (Starlet), Michael Conlon, Vivian Hamill, Adrian Hetherington, Tommy O’Connell, John Gordon and Damien Hagan (all in Escorts) ready to do battle. Whoever comes out on top in the 2WD section will certainly have earned it the hard way.
The junior category also looks very exciting with Derek Mackarel and Johnnie Mulholland from last year’s junior championship being joined in Carrick by Marty Gallagher, John O’Sullivan and last year’s forestry Group N champion Jordan Hone. These are only a few of a dozen entries in Class 16, and the competition is sure to be fierce from the start. The M. O’Brien Plant Hire Junior 1000 series for 15-19 year olds is in its second season and last year’s champion Jason Murphy will be coming to Carrick to begin the defence of his title in his Peugeot 107. Aoife Gahan will also be gearing up for her first full championship season in a Chevrolet Spark while Peter Beaton from Scotland is entered in a Peugeot 107. The championship offers an attractive first overall prize of €1500 along with various other incentives and awards on each of the rounds.
The nine stage event begins at 11am this coming Saturday (3rd February) and will see the first six stages done in daylight, with the real sting in the tail being the final three tests completed in darkness. The first car is due back at the finish at approximately 8pm.
Entries Received - 30 Jan
Posted: January 31, 2018 2:45 PM
Peter Beaton/Paul Gallagher (Peugeot 107)
Adrian Beattie/Declan Ryan (Honda Civic)
Sean Benskin/Nicky Hegarty (Ford Escort MK2)
Mick Boland/David Doyle (Suzuki Swift)
Lee Bracken/Francis Kelly (Honda Civic)
Ray Breen/Andy Hayes (Ford Fiesta R5)
Stephen Brennan/John Rooney (Honda Civic)
Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan (Mitsubishi Colt)
Graeme Colfer/Dave Woodcock (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6)
Alan Commins/James Commins (Ford Escort)
Michael Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Ford Escort)
David Crossen/Aileen Kelly (Ford Escort MK2)
Stephen Cullen/John Rafter (Toyota Corolla )
Lukasz Czapnik/Piotr Szadkowski (Subaru Impreza)
Ritchie Dalton/Ger Brett (Subaru Impreza)
Trish Denning/Ted Downey (Peugeot 106)
Ian Dickson/Darragh Mullen (Ford Fiesta R2)
Jason Dickson/Alistair Wiley (Ford Fiesta R2)
Stephen Dickson/Martin Brady (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 )
Ashley Dickson/Graham Henderson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 )
Vio Dobasu/Kevin Purcell (Subaru Impreza)
Pierce J Doheny/Eilish Dunne (Opel Corsa)
Gary Donoghue/Andrew Browne (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo )
James Dunphy/Shane Gazely (Toyota Corolla )
Padraig Egan/Brian Hassett (Subaru Impreza)
Karl Fallis/Ben Fallis (Ford Fiesta R2)
Michael Feeney/Gerry Clancy (Honda Integra)
Aoife Gahan/Mikey Walsh (Chevrolet Spark )
Marty Gallagher/Dean O'Sullivan (Peugeot 208 R2)
Mike Garrahy/Iarla McCarthy (Ford Escort Mk2)
John Gordon/Thomas Wedlock (Ford Escort)
Damien Hagen/Paul Kelly (Ford Escort )
Vivian Hamill/ (Ford Escort RS)
Joe Hegarty/David Turkington (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6)
Niall Henry/Damien Duffin (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10)
Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Ford Escork Mk2 BDA)
Jordan Hone/Paul Hone (Opel Adam R2)
Gemma Kerley/Andy Curran (Subaru Impreza)
Brian Little/Paul Sexton (Ford Escort G3)
Gerard Lucey/JJ Cremin (Mitsubishi Lancer Lancer Evo 8)
Kieran Lynch/Adam Power (Honda Civic)
Ruairi MacArtain/David Crilly (Honda Civic)
Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes (Vauxhall Nova )
Ruairi Maguire/Grace O'Brien (Vauxhall Corsa)
Anthony Masterson/Tommy Clinton (Ford Escort MK2)
Brecan McBreen/Breen McNamee (Subaru Impreza)
Ruari McCaffrey/Lauren Kelly (Ford Escort MK2)
Jenna McCann/ (Ford Fiesta R2)
Paul McCann/Paddy Plunkett (Skoda Fabia S2500)
Stephen McCann/Kaine Treanor (Ford Fiesta S2000)
Stewart McClean/McClean Holdsworth (Vauxhall Nova )
Sean McConnell/ (Honda Civic)
Cathan McCourt/Brian Hoy (Citreon DS3 R5)
Conor McCourt/ (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 )
Niall McCullagh/Ryan McCloskey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
Shane McGirr/Martin McGarritty (Toyota Starlet)
Keelan McGuire/Christy Corry (Honda Civic)
Barry McKenna/Leon Jordan (Ford Fiesta R5)
Paul McMahon/Padraig Deasy (Honda Civic EK4)
Jody McManus/Martin Connolly (Ford Fiesta R2)
Josh Moffett/Stephen Thornton (Ford Fiesta R5)
Johnnie Mullohand/Jeff Case (Ford Fiesta R2)
John Mullholland/ (Subaru Impreza N12B)
Mark Murphy/Anthony O'Sullivan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo )
Jason Murphy/Matthew Murphy (Peugeot 107)
Mark Nangle/Ken Butterfield (Subaru Impreza)
Martin O'Brien/Brian McCarthy (Citroen C2R2 Max)
Michael O'Brien/Liam Brennan (Ford Fiesta WRC)
Eamon O'Connell/Paul Bruton (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 )
Paul O'Connell/ (Honda Civic )
Thomas O'Connell/Emmett Sherry (Ford Escort MKII)
P J O'Connor/Anthony Nestor (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 )
Paschal O'Shea/Robert Hennessy (BMW 325)
Richard O'Shea/Steven Mackey (Ford Escort)
John O'Sullivan/Padraig O'Donovan (Ford Fiesta R2)
Andrew Purcell/Mark Wiley (Ford Fiesta R5)
Liam Regan/David McElroy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo )
Anthony Roche/Alan Hourician (Peugeot 106)
Pauric Sheridan/Sean Bruton (Ford Fiesta Proto)
Austin Snow/John Hendreson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo )
Niall Turley/Andrew Wedlock (Subaru Impreza)
James Wilson/Gavin Doherty (Peugeot 208 R2)
Press Release No 3
Posted: January 31, 2018 2:39 PM
Carrick on Suir Motorclub’s Willie Loughman Memorial stages rally is only days away.
We are delighted to announce we now have 82 Entries received,
We expect to publish seeded entry list by 8.30pm on Thursday night.
Final preparation are well underway by all involved in anticipation of a great weekends motorsport and many thanks to all who have entered to date.
We are also pleased to announce Craig Breen will be doing 00 Safety duties for the event in the Suirway Group MK 2.
Final Instructions No 1 / Time and Distance (Rev 2)
Carrick-on-Suir Motor Clubs Willie Loughman Memorial Forest Rally 2018 is fast approaching with only two weeks to go to our first stages event of the year.
As well as being round one of both the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship and the Suirway Group South East Stages Rally Championship this is a particularly special Rally for us this year as it’s the curtain raiser to a year which sees us celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the formation of the club way back in 1958. What foresight by all founder members.
One of these founder members Willie Loughman played an integral part within the club for many years with a special interest in cars pace making through the woodlands of the Suir valley and our Forest Rally was subsequently named after him, and rightly so.
Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club has the unique record of being the longest running Forest Rally in Ireland dating back to 1970, at which time the event incorporated night navigation and stage timing was done using pocket watches ! Followed by an all night session in Mansfield’s pub in Mothel - how things have changed !!
To celebrate our 60th year the club decided to put together something extra special for this event making this an extremely challenging Forest Rally for all competitors and a most exciting spectacle for all rally fans.
The event will begin at 11am on Saturday morning the 3rd of February with SS1 & SS2 running in the well known Faugheen and Anner forests. Service will take place in Mill River Business Park, Carrick-on-Suir with SS3 & SS4 being a repeat of Faugheen and Anner and second service afterwards back again in Mill River.
With all crews now well settled in we hit for the scenic Rathgormack area and the 5.53 km stage, Clondonnell, followed by what no doubt all competitors & spectators alike will be looking forward to - the infamous 18.09 km Gurteen Stage. This then brings us back to Carrick-on-Suir for service & rest before the real challenge of this Rally begins - The night time stages !
After this one hour service for both cars and crews and with all kinds of lamp pods fitted to light the way, we will then be ready to light up the forests of Carrick-on-Suir as we make our way to the most challenging part of the event for the crews - into the darkness !
SS7 will be a repeat of SS5 the Clondonnell stage, this will be the first of three stages to run in darkness with SS8 & SS9 being a repeat of SS6 Gurteen, but split into two sages. These three night stages will certainly be most interesting and most challenging for all the competitors of this rally not to mention exciting for all our spectators !
As event COC, myself, my Deputy Terance Kearney and all the team in Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club have put a huge amount of time, effort and thought into the Willie Loughman Forest Rally 2018 to bring something different to all our competitors and supporters in celebrating our 60th year !
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