Press Release 2
Posted: September 4, 2019 4:46 AM
The 48th running of the Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally which takes place this weekend has attracted a bumper entry of over 100 Main Field and Junior crews with some competitors traveling from Germany and the USA to join the strong field of Irish and UK competitors in what promises to be a fantastic weekend of Motorsport in the Sunny Southeast. This year sees the event host the deciding Rounds of the Hugo Loonam Midlands East Championship along with Round 6 of the Suirway Group Southeast Stages Championship.
Leading the cars out of Rally HQ at the Riverbank House Hotel on Saturday morning will be local driver and 2 time event winner James Stafford in his Darrian T90 GTR with Jeff Case on the notes. James is without doubt one of the quickest drivers in the country and with only 8 time winner Eamonn Boland having more stage wins than Stafford on the Wexford Stages and few would bet against him taking the top step of the podium on Sunday Evening and joining an elite group of drivers of 3 or more wins.
No 2 on the road is the Mark 2 of Gary Kiernan and Ryan Moore fresh from their 4th overall in the Galway Summer Rally. Gary took overall victory in Imokilly in July and is no stranger to the Wexford roads having finished 3rd overall in 2017 and will certainly be in the mix from the word go.
No 3 is Kerry crew Mike Quinn and Tony Healy. Mike made the step up to the Ex Petter Solberg Subaru S11 WRC for this year’s Circuit Of Kerry Rally and was instantly on the pace setting fastest time on stage 2 before retiring and will no doubt be eager to top the timesheets this weekend.
The local crew of Richard Moore and John McGrath in their Mark 2 Escort are a No 4 and Richard has been one of the most consistent drivers all year finishing 4th Overall in the Heartlands, 3rd overall in Ravens Rock before being denied a maiden victory in Imokilly losing out to Gary Kiernan in a last stage shoot out by a mere 1.5 seconds!!
At 5 and 6 are Stephen McCann/Damian Flemming and Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan both in Ford Fiesta R5s. Stephen just missed out on a podium in 2017 finishing 4th overall and both Stephen and Andrew were very closely matched in the recent Galway Summer Rally and this looks like being a great battle over the weekend.
Local crew Tomas O Rourke and Tomas Scallan are at 7 and due to their Mitsubishi Evo 9 not being available due to a “Minor Off” in Ravens Rock Tomas has raised some eyebrows by entering a Hyundai i30 R5 for this year’s event and is sure to have the crews ahead of him looking in their mirrors as he is well capable of mixing it with the best of them and it will be no surprise to see him in the mix in this state of the art machine.
Rounding off the Top 10 are at No 8 Wexford regulars Wesley Patterson an Johnny Baird, No.9 Richard Moffett and Martin Connolly and at No.10 is another Wexford regular Kevin Barrett with Sean Mullally on the notes.
Not to be discounted at No.15 is 2015 winner UK Driver Mark Straker in his Darrian T90 GTR5 with Carlow man Michael Coady in the Co. Driver’s seat. Mark is no stranger to Irish Rallying having also won the 2015 ALMC Stages with Michael in the hot seat and although 2019 has seen some reliability issues with the Darrian win No.2 is certainly a possibility for this popular crew.
Wales is as always well represented with the Mk II’s of Neil Williams, Adrian Evans, Wayne Evans and Llyr Jones all confirmed for the start ramp on Saturday morning.
Local crews are sure to be in the mix on Sunday evening when Class prizes are being presented with Conor Moore is making the switch to a Class 14 Escort and will certainly be battling for a class win. In Class 13 is the Escort Crews of Leon Galvin/Ger Foley and Brian o Neill with Liam Howlett on the notes with both drivers surely eyeing up a Top 10 finish.
Leading Class 12 away is James Bradley and Davy Byrne in their Escort along with John Boland (Escort), Seamus O Grady (Peugeot 205) and John O Rourke (Corsa).
Class 11R will be hotly contested by Barry Hennessy in his newly acquired Escort, John Petitt and Tommy Kelly(Both Escorts), Anthony Roche is his Starlet, Joey and Michael Lacey in their Escort along with Father & Son crew Joe and Dylan Nacey in a Twin Cam.
Class 11F is an all Honda Civic affair with Tommy Foley/David Doyle, Shay Delaney/Marc Kavanagh, Andy Nash/Dan Nash and Graham and Gary Bradley.
In Class 3 John Hayes will be accompanied in his Civic by his brother Andy who has just won the Triton Showers National Rally Championship for the second year in a row guiding Josh Moffett to the title at the Galway Summer Rally and all of us at Wexford Motor Club would like to pass on our congratulations to Andy and Josh on their achievement.
Class 10 sees the biggest entry of Wexford Crews with with Fran Kinsella hoping for better luck this year having crashed out of the event in 2018 battling for the class win. Fran’s 2018 Co Driver Shay Byrne in out in his newly built Sunbeam who along with Ger Kelly and Brendan Furlong in Peugeots, Alan Maloney and Chris Lacey (Novas), George Leech (Corsa), Colin Roche(Escort) and Martin O Dowd (Sunbeam) will all be hoping class places on Sunday Evening.
Class 9A is headed by last year’s class winner Kenny O Brien in his Nova and Eoin Cardiff also in a Nova. Other local crews include Kyle Doyle/David Roche (Class 1), James Boland/John McKay (Class 2), Eoin Neville/Davey Creane (Class 4), John Barry/Eddie Byrne(Class 17).
A total of 7 Crews will contest the Junior Category on Sunday with the Kilkenny crew of Mick Lonergan and Shane Corcoran in a Honda Civic the first on the road followed by Michael O'Mara/Denise Rowan (Honda Civic), Sean Dunphy/TBA (Honda Civic EK4), Brian Rowan/Darragh Walsh (Honda Civic EK4), Chris Dermody/Adam Darcy (Suzuki Swift GTI), Brian Moore/Lorcan Moore and Paul Dowling/Myles Redmond (Peugot 106Gti)
Wexford Motor Club would like to acknowledge the continuing generous support of the many local businesses and organisations, including our event Sponsors Wexford Volkswagen, Hertz, The Management and Staff of The Riverbank House Hotel, Wexford's Local Authorities, Wexford Chamber of Commerce, Five Counties Marshals Club and all our local and national clubs who without we would not be able to run such a successful event.
We would also like to wish all our Competitors, Marshalls, Officials and Spectators and safe and enjoyable weekend, and please remember to “KEEP THE RACE IN ITS PLACE”
Seeded Entry List
Posted: August 30, 2019 4:58 PM
1 James M Stafford/Jeff Case (Darrian T90 GTR) [14]
2 Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
3 Mike Quinn/Tony Healy (Subaru Impreza WRC S11) [7]
4 Richard Moore/John McGrath (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
5 Stephen McCann/Damien Fleming (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
6 Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
7 Tomas O'Rourke/Tomas Scallan (Hyundai i20 R5) [5]
8 Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
9 Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly (Toyota Starlet) [14]
10 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC S14) [7]
11 Paul Rowley/Darragh Mullen (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
12 Richard Cleary/Niamh Holland (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
14 Tom Holton/Shane Byrne (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [20]
15 Mark Straker/Michael Coady (Darrian T90 GT 'R5') [14]
16 Leon Galvin/Ger Foley (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
17 Darren O'Brien/Eamonn Creedon (Honda Civic) [13]
18 Jason O'Brien/Ger Clancy (Honda Civic) [11F]
19 Neil Williams/Anthony O'Sullivan (Ford Escort) [18]
20 Andrew Fanning/Derek Gibbs (Proton Satria S2500 Millington) [20]
21 John Reddington/Kenny Bustard (Ford Fiesta) [1]
22 James Bradley/David Byrne (Ford Escort) [12]
23 Adrian Evans/Martin Henry (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
24 Wayne Evans/John Smithwick (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
25 Llyr Jones/Sion Jones (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
26 Justin Smyth/James McEneaney (Ford Escort Mk2) [12]
27 Aled Davies/Jason Davies (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
28 Neil Tohill/Gerard Tohill (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10) [4]
29 John Boland/William Treacy (Ford Escort Mk2) [12]
30 Conor Moore/Leo Tector (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
31 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (BMW M3) [19]
32 Brian O'Neil/Liam Howlett (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
33 Alan Nesbitt/Rodney Hughes (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
34 Paschal O'Shea/Robert Hennessy (BMW 325) [14]
35 Eoin Duffin/Mike Cleary (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
36 Bobby Hennessy/Darragh Smyth (Honda Civic EG6) [13]
37 John Hayes/Andy Hayes (Honda Civic) [3]
38 Quentin Park/Shane Farrel (Ford Escort Mk2) [12]
39 JT Warnock/Rafter Kieran (Ford Escort) [13]
40 Mark Kane/Dean Raftery (Subaru Impreza N12) [4]
41 William Nolan/Shane O'Mahony (Corolla Twin Cam) [11R]
42 Barry Hennessy/Pat Knox (Ford Escort Mk2) [11R]
43 Tommy Foley/David Doyle (Honda Civic) [11F]
44 Shay Delaney/Marc Kavanagh (Honda Civic) [11F]
45 Tony Canny/Joe O'Brien (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
46 Sam Stewart/Stephen Peoples (Ford Escort Mk2) [1]
47 John Pettit/Michael Coleman (Ford Escort Mk2) [11R]
48 Eoin Neville/David Craene (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
49 Richie Dalton/Ger Brett (Subaru Impreza N11) [4]
50 Seamus O'Grady/Edward Roche (Peugeot 205 GTi) [12]
51 John O' Rourke/Brian Commons (Opel Corsa) [12]
52 Mark O'Connor/Dean Kelly (Ford Escort Mk2) [11R]
53 Andy Nash/Dan Nash (Honda Civic) [11F]
54 Joe Gallagher/TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [1]
55 Barry Murphy/Mikie Maher (Subaru Impreza N14) [20]
56 Tommy Kelly/Andy Firman (Ford Escort Mk2) [11R]
57 Hayden Mark/TBA (TBA) [1]
58 Kenny O'Brien/Gavin Croke (Vauxhall Nova) [9A]
59 Andrew Leacy/Andrew Curran (Darrian T9) [13]
60 James Boland/John McCay (Ford Fiesta) [2]
61 Denis Maher/JP Ruth (Honda Civic) [2]
62 Brian Comiskey/Barry McGleenon (Subaru Impreza) [15]
63 Power Ken/Mccormack Andrew (Peugeot 106 GTi) [23]
64 Shane Curry/Sharon Nolan (Citroen C2 R2) [2]
65 Ollie McPhillips/Billy Collins (Honda Civic) [2]
66 Ian Davies/Wyn Thomas (BMW M3) [19]
67 Fran Kinsella/Stephen McElroy (Vauxhall Nova) [10]
68 Anthony Roche/Tomas Delaney (Toyota Starlet) [11R]
69 Shane Murray/TBA (Ford Escort) [13]
70 Brian Nugent/TBA (Subaru Impreza WRX) [15]
71 Ger Kelly/Des Curtis (Peugeot 205 GTi) [10]
72 Shay Byrne/John Kelly (Talbot Sunbeam) [10]
73 Peter Keohane/Mark McCarthy (Peugeot 106 GTi) [1]
74 Sean Kenny/William Lynch (Honda Civic EK4) [1]
75 Graham Bradley/Gary Bradley (Honda Civic) [11F]
76 Ryan Brennan/Nigel Brennan (Honda Civic) [1]
77 Brendan Furlong/Jack Harris (Peugeot 205 GTi) [10]
78 Iain Morris/Neville Hudd (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
79 Pierce Snr Doheny/Eilish Dunne (Opel Corsa) [10]
80 Alan Maloney/Mark Furlong (Vauxhall Nova) [10]
81 George Leech/Conor Flynn (Opel Corsa) [10]
82 Padraig Gorman/Shane Gorman (Toyota Starlet RWD) [10]
83 Owen Cardiff/Dermot Roche (Vauxhall Nova) [9A]
84 Doyle Kyle/Roche David (Honda Civic) [1]
85 Joe Moffitt/Eddie Moffitt (Honda Civic) [1]
86 Joey Leacy/Michael Leacy (Ford Escort Mk2) [11R]
87 Joe Nacey/Dylan Nacey (Toyota Corolla RWD) [11R]
88 Michael Morahan/Billy Morahan (Honda Civic EP3) [2]
89 Paul Quinlan/Sean Lambert (Ford Fiesta Mk1) [12]
90 Neil Harrison/Simon May (Ford Puma) [9A]
91 John Barry/Eddie Byrne (Austin Mini Cooper) [17]
92 Colin Roche/TBA (Ford Escort) [10]
93 Martin O'Dowd/Shane O'Dowd (Talbot Sunbeam) [10]
94 Chris Lacey/James Sinnott (Vauxhall Nova) [10]
95 Kieran O'Kane/TBA (Opel Ascona) [14]
JUNIORS
J1 Mick Lonergan/Shane Corcoran (Honda Civic EG6) [16A]
J2 Michael O'Mara/Denise Rowan (Honda Civic) [16]
J3 Sean Dunphy/TBA (Honda Civic EK4) [16]
J4 Brian Rowan/Darragh Walsh (Honda Civic EK4) [16]
J5 Chris Dermody/Adam Darcy (Suzuki Swift GTI) [16A]
J6 Brian Moore/Lorcan Moore (TBA) [16A]
J7 Paul Dowling/Myles Redmond (Peugot 106Gti) [16]
Press Release 1
Posted: August 25, 2019 3:42 PM
With just under 2 weeks to go preparations are in full swing for the 48th running of the Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally which will take place on Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th of September and with over 90 of some of the best Clubman (and women!!) crews in the country and from abroad already confirmed its warming up to be fabulous competitive weekend of Motorsport in the Sunny Southeast…..
Wexford Motor Club are as always delighted to have the continuing support of title sponsor Wexford Volkswagen and The Riverbank House Hotel which once again is our event Headquarters.
Scrutiny for this year’s event will again take place in at Hertz in Ferrybank, Wexford with Parc Ferme at The Riverbank House Hotel.
This year’s event will see long time Club Member Mark Cooper step into the role of C.O.C for the 1st time and Mark and his organising Committee have set out a challenging but compact route that will see the Competitors take on 180kms of both smooth and technical stages.
The format will see the crews head north of the county on Saturday to tackle 3 stages 3 times with Service at Enniscorthy Mart on the Old Dublin Road in Enniscorthy.
On Sunday we head south of the county to take on a very compact route of 2 stages run 3 times with a central service area based for the 1st time at Wallace’s Agri Wellingtonbridge.
Competing cars return to Parc Ferme from 4:00pm on Sunday, facilitating any UK crews returning on the evening ferry sailing and competitors travelling a long distance home.
This year the Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally are delighted once again to host Round 6 of the Suirway Group South East Stages Championship and for the 1st time we are delighted to welcome competing crews for Rounds 5 & 6 of the Hugo Loonam Motors backed Midlands East Championship.
This is the 48th running of Irelands only two-day Clubman rally and the event has remained free of the constraints of any national championship; status, organiser or sponsor – to evolve into the much celebrated clubman event that it is. The Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally enjoys a uniquely social ‘International rally weekend’ atmosphere as well as the best value for money and best awards/after party in Irish rallying.
Wexford is where UK crews come to compete in all classes with Irish / local competitors – for the bragging rights that last for a full year. Following quite a few years of UK winners, the 2019 Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally offers an opportunity for not only an Irish crew but possibly a Wexford crew to reclaim the overall award honours.
Previous winners of the event include Steve Woods, Mark Straker, James Stafford, Damien Cole, PJ McGrath, Eamonn Boland, Stephen Murphy, Pete Doughty, Donie Keating, Bill Connelly, Frank Meagher, Austin McHale, Bertie Fisher, Ger Buckley and Billy Coleman.
ENTRY FEES:
Main Field and Historic’s Entry €1095.00 (Late Entries Taken)
Juniors Entry fee is €499 – LESS €100 if crew Marshals on Saturday stages
The wexfordmotorclub.ie website provides a facility for making a part or full payment of the entry fee. Devised to help keep Clubman rallying, the online payment system allows competitors pay by instalments – with easy to purchase online credits of €10 to €500. The system also provides invoices for crew sponsors or employers when purchasing credits up to a value of €500 each – tax free! Just like the One4all Voucher.
The Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally is a round of the following championships:
The Suirway Group South East Stages Rally Championship
Hugo Loonam Motors backed Midlands East Championship.
Regulations / On Line Entry details below:
On Line Entry
Posted: July 30, 2019 5:13 PM
Club Website
Posted: July 24, 2019 6:39 AM
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