Shaun Gallagher Rallying - Ulster Rally

Posted: September 10, 2002 8:37 AM

Billy Coleman Award hopeful Shaun Gallagher was hoping to increase his lead at the top of the table. The Ulster Rally is famous for its gruelling schedule and before the event Shaun said "There are two very long days of rallying ahead of us and it is vital that I am on the pace from the beginning"

Shaun's event began perfectly when he won the opening stage by 14 seconds. He continued to drive well and set fastest times for the remainder of the opening day and finished day one 25 seconds ahead of his closest rival. Leg one finished in Belfast at midnight and after a very short break the crews woke at 4:30am for a 5am re-start.

Weather conditions worsened overnight and throughout Saturday tyre decisions proved very difficult. The M.E.T and Pearse Road Tyres team chose intermediates for the opening stages but this was the wrong decision and he lost time allowing David Wright to take the lead. They changed to full wets for the afternoon stages and Shaun began to pull back the time he had lost.

After the penultimate stage Shaun was 16 seconds behind the new leader Gary Jennings. He set a blistering time on the final test finishing a massive 15 seconds ahead of fellow competitors. Despite this amazing time Jennings pipped Shaun to post by less than a second.

With only two rounds remaining Shaun leads the championship by nine points. Just one day after the exhausting schedule of the Ulster, Shaun was again concentrating on the Billy Coleman Award when he competed in the Hellfire Castle Single Stage in Co.Meath on Sunday. Despite torrential rain and deteriorating conditions he set remarkable times to win his class and finish 12th overall. This result gave Shaun the three top three finishes which he needed to be eligible for the 2002 Billy Coleman Award.

Shaun would like to thank his sponsors M.E.T, Pearse Road Tyres, Gary^Òs Pet World, Glenard Plant and Straw Service Station.