Press Release from Brendan Kelly Rallying

Posted: November 22, 2001 11:57 AM

HISTORY

Brendan Kelly:
Brendan started out in Rallying in 1993 when he acted as co-driver to his brother Johnny in their 1500cc Alfasud. Brendan was a regular competitor in both Autocross and Rallycross where he competed regularly at the wheel of an ex Karl-Cleary mini , taking many class wins.
In 1999 Brendan teamed up with Michael Harper to compete in both the National Championship and Border Championship in a blue and yellow Astra in class 14 (Standard Production) stunning many onlookers with his pace and commitment in a very standard car. That year they secured 1st place in Class 14 in the National Championship and 2nd place in the Border Championship.
2000 saw Brendan purchase the ex Michael Cullen (Dunlop Touring Car winning) Astra , which they converted to rallying specification.This netted them 3rd place in their class in the Dunlop National Championship despite the fact that they only competed on 6 events, due to Brendan taking time off to get married to Mary.
2001 Brendan put his rallying career on the back burner to concentrate on getting the 2002 sponsor ship package together for 206 Challenge and this along with the Foot and Mouth crisis restricted the number of events challenged.

Michael Harper :
Michael from Clonkeen in Longford was no stranger to rallying when he joined Brendan as navigator, but would be more known for his exploits and results at the wheel of “That Famous Yellow Lada” in which he regularly competed.Michael is married to Ann and have 3 girls Chloe , Louise and Amy. Michael works as parts manager in a Longford Garage.

SPONSORS
This ambitious plan is only possible due to the help of Brendans new sponsor Donnelly Mirrors and K & M Motors .
Donnelly Mirrors are an American company based in both Naas, Co Kildare and Longford town and are known as one of the foremost suppliers of electronically controlled car mirrors used in the likes of Volvo , Mercedes and BMW cars. K & M Motors are the main Peugeot dealers for County Longford and are based on the Ardagh Road in Longford.
They will be responsible for the running and maintaining of the new 206 Rallycar.

Brendan is also indebted to his other long term sponsors who have continued to help him during his rallying career Edward J Valentine (The Spiral Tree) , Irish Metal Refineries Ltd , Longford Providers , Luigis Fast Food , Longford Tiles and Bathrooms , Ak Guttering , Euro-Ace Security and Dunlop Tyres.

Watch out for the launch of their new website www.brendankellyrallying.com which is due for release in mid November