Motorsport Ireland Announces £20,000 Award for Young Rally Drivers

Posted: February 10, 2000 5:42 PM

Angela Bumster will send out those for the Dunlop National Championship and Cathy Brogan those for the National Forestry Championship. A panel will then make a short list from all the returned forms from which the winner of the 'Billy Coleman Award' will be selected.

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Motorsport Ireland Announces £20,000 Award for Young Rally Drivers
New Award to Honour Achievements of Billy Coleman

The chances of Ireland continuing a proud tradition of producing top class rally drivers have been greatly enhanced by the announcement earlier today, Monday 7th February 2000, of a £20,000 award which will be presented annually to the most promising young Irish rally driver. The Billy Coleman Award, named in recognition of the achievements of perhaps the country's greatest ever rally driver, has been created by Motorsport Ireland, the governing body for the sport of rallying in Ireland.

The £20,000 award is designed to enable a talented young driver devote the maximum time to the sport is being funded by Motorsport Ireland and each of the clubs currently organising a round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship. It is intended that the first award will be announced in November 2000.

Included in the Award will be a free competition licence, free entry fees and free road insurance for a year. The major part of the Award will, however, be by way of financial support. The finances will be released on a phased basis over the first six months of the season immediately following the Award. This release will be aided and supervised by Ronan Morgan, who with his wealth of international experience and contacts will endeavour to get the winner the best value for his award, by providing advice on the various aspects of international competition.

Ronan co-drove Billy Coleman to numerous rally victories during their four year partnership, and since then has accumulated more FIA international rally successes than any other co-driver in the world. His experience will be a welcome addition to Motorsport Ireland's contribution to the future of Ireland's young rally drivers and co-drivers.

Eligibility
Any driver wishing to be considered for the award must -

a.. be under 27 years on the 1st January in the year in which the award is being made.
a.. be the holder of a competition licence issued by the RIAC.
b.. finish twice in the top three in class 1-8, or four times in the top six in class 9-12 of any Special Stage Rally, including Forestry, run under a National permit in the previous 15 months, i.e. 1st October of previous year.
c.. provide adequate proof that the applicant is competing in stage rallies at a level no lower than National Championship in the next twelve months following the announcement of the award.

The winner will be selected from a shortlist drawn up by a panel under the Chairmanship of the Chairman of the Motorsport Commission. Also on the judging panel will be Registrars of the National Stage and Forestry Rally Championship, a representative of the motorsport media and a representative of Motorsport Ireland's public relations consultancy.

The panel will not alone consider the candidate's competition results but will also look at the candidate's interpersonal skills, their commitment to the sport and their suitability as an ambassador for Irish motorsport.

Speaking about the award, Billy Coleman said he was honoured to be recognised in such a way. He said it would have been wonderful to have had such an award available when he was competing. "Competitors need the assistance when they are starting out. I can see this award being exactly the kind of boost needed to keep a talented youngster in the sport, where previously lack of finance might have meant that person giving up".

Speaking on behalf of Motorsport Ireland, Noel Clarke, Chairman of the Rallies Committee, praised the clubs and said that special thanks were due to the Mayo and District Motorsport Club in this regard. "Much of this initiative came from the clubs and as you can see they have also been prepared to help fund the award putting up more than a third of the finance - and also committing continuing support into the future".

In order to help the clubs Motorsport Ireland have agreed that they can take an extra entry in the round of the National Rally Championship they are organising.

Further information: Motorsport Ireland
Contact Oisin O'Briain