Ulster Rally - Peugoet 206 Cup & Super 1600

The fast and furious 206s have been locked in a ding-dong battle all season with Gallagher the third different Championship leader. Improving all season he must take his maiden victory soon, having missed the top spot on the last two rounds by a mere five seconds on both events.

In fact nearly every event this season has less than ten seconds separating the top two, even after 150 miles of competitive stages. Every second counts! Jennings is well placed however. With two wins and a second place, his roll and subsequent thirteenth place on the Quinton Rally still leave him 6.5 points clear of Marko Ramanen . The Finn won the Scottish Rally in June but blotted his copy book by crashing out on the asphalt of the Jim Clark Rally.

Only half a point further back after the Quinton is previous Championship leader Mike Faulkner who rebuilt his car in two weeks after a massive shunt on the same event as Ramanen. An event win also eludes the amiable Scot who has been a stalwart of the Peugeot one make series over the last few years.

Fifth in the 206 Super Cup standings is Geordie Chris Moore who has had a mixed season winning the Rally of Wales and Quinton but retiring on the first half of the Gateshead Rally, Scottish and Jim Clark. Moore is definitely fired up and pronounces himself ready to give the Irish lads a run for their money.

The second half of the top 10 is led by the Dunbabin twins who have a pair of fourth places to their credit followed by another of the Irish drivers, Gareth MacHale. Dubliner Gareth showed well on the asphalt of the Jim Clark and is one to watch in Ulster as he prefers this surface to gravel.

Eighth, and the only driver other than Gallagher to have scored on all the rounds of 206 Super Cup, is Andy Pawley. He shares the same points as MacHale but is squeezed out of seventh by the tie break rule.

The top ten is rounded out by Scot Jack Ingleby and Midlander Richard Sykes both of whom have set excellent times on individual stages and should do well if a little of the Irish luck comes their way. The Junior Championship top places exactly mirror the main points table with Jack Ingleby third, MacHale fourth and newcomer David Wright rounding off the top five. Rookie Championship leader Mike Bird from Galway is expected to take part to maintain his healthy lead over Matt Jessup and fellow Irishman Graham McClintock. Bird also leads the Hella most improved category.

The Ulster Rally is the sixth round of the 206 Super Cup and the 130 miles of bumpy asphalt will prove a stern test of the competitors’ mettle. The rally HQ is the Europa Hotel in Belfast with the start and finish ramp in the nearby Donegal Place. Competitors arrive there on Friday at 12.30 to give the fans chance to see the cars before the 14.00 start. The first car finishes Leg 1 in Belfast at 23.00 after six spectacular stages around Co Antrim. An early bird restart at 05.10 on Saturday sees the competitors blasting through nine stages in Co Tyrone and Londonderry before their return to the finish in Belfast at 16.00.

Several of the eighteen 206 Super Cup crews have worked tirelessly in repairing their cars after accidents on the Quinton rally but the six week gap before Ulster will mean the fierce competition will be in immaculately turned out cars.

Posn	Drivers		Points
		
 1	Shaun Gallagher	107
 2	Garry Jennings	93
 3 	Marko Ramanen	86.5
 4	Mike Faulkner	86
 5	Chris Moore	72.5
 6	Daniel Dunbabin	61
 7	Gareth MacHale	49.5
 8	Andy Pawley	49.5
 9	Jack Ingleby	48
10	Richard Sykes	44

Galligan and Noble on Home Ground The official Peugeot Super 1600 British Rally championship team enter the sixth round of the Pirelli British Rally Championship next week as the Championship circus heads to the Irish provinces for some tarmac adventure.

With over 100 competitive stage miles on some of Ireland’s tightest, twisty, narrow, bumpy tarmac roads. This event is not for the faint hearted. Starting in Donegal Place, in the centre of Belfast at 14:30 on Friday. The rally then moves to Tardee for 9 miles of fun! The rally moves across as far as Strabane in Tyrone and north of the island to Glenaan river. Finishing back in Belfast at 16:00 on Saturday.

Peugeot Works Driver and Super 106 Cup 2001 winner, Rory Galligan has lived in Ireland all his life in Old Castle, County Meath. Galligan will be third off the S1600 line at the Ulster rally. Galligan commented, “It’s going to be a hard rally I just hope I can make more of it than I have on the last two tarmac rallies. I did the Ulster in 1999 and led all the way until we broke down half a mile from the end of the last stage! It will be good to see Martin Row and Gwndaf Evans out. The Ulster is the nearest rally to home for me so I will be really feeling the pressure, as I have more support on this rally from family and friends!

Gordon Noble, co-driver for works driver Galligan was also born on the Island in the North and today loves in Omagh. He commented; “I am quite positive and relaxed about the approach to this event. Although I am local to the event I don’t have any real advantage in knowing the roads. I looked in my archive recently and the last time I rallied a particular stretch of road for the Ulster rally was in 1988! However, we are looking to improve our championship position with only two rounds to go.”

Noble and Galligan’s team-mate, works driver Justin Dale from Chilbolton, Hants has much experience at the Ulster rally. He commented, “The Ulster Rally has been good to me in the past and I hope my previous experience will stand me in good stead in 2002. I love the stages and the 206 is a little more stable on the bumps than last year’s car. In the Championship we can win the Super 1600 category by finishing fourth or better in Ulster but overall it’s still too close to call and we have to push for points”

With the end of the British Rally Championship fast approaching, Mick Linford, Peugeot UK’s Motorsport Manager commented, “With only two rounds left, (one a drivers scoring round only) it is an exciting time for us. Justin Dale has closed the gap on current overall leading driver, Jonny Milner and leads the Super 1600’s. Rory we anticipate will be good in Ireland. Not only is he on home territory, which often helps, he has proved to be very quick on tarmac this year.”

Fans of the team can determine which Peugeot 206 is which by the flags on the front sunstrips. Galligan carries the Irish flag and Dale the Union Jack.

The Peugeot Total team are currently leading the manufacturers’ title by 56 points to nearest rival MG X Power. Dale leads the Super 1600 category with 33 points, a 17-point lead over Ford’s Guy Wilks. Dale is also 2nd overall in the British Rally Drivers Championship. Galligan currently lies 6th