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Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004

Posted: November 22, 2004 12:59 PM - 9073 Hits


Photos: John Bayly/Crspics.com

Willie Fannin - winner of the Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004 at the national championship prizegiving with Des Moore of DMR and John Davies of Ferodo.

Posted: November 22, 2004 12:59 PM

28/11/04

Willie Fannin - 2004 Ferodo Bonus Scheme Winner
Photo: www.crspics.com
Round 10: Fastnet Stages Rally.
After a long years rallying, the final round of the Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004 took us to Skibbereen for the Fastnet rally, on the October Bank Holiday weekend. With the top prize already sown up by Willie Fannin, and James O Sullivan looking secure in 2nd, the fight was on for the rest of the placings…

Taking maximum points in class 4 was James O Sullivan, with a superb Gp.N win. James has been on the pace all year, and this was his third class win of the year. This helped James secure 2nd place, and 1500 euro in the 2004 bonus scheme. 2nd in Ferodo class 4 on the day was Seamus Heron. Seamus only appeared on the first and last rounds of the championship, but was on the pace on both occasions. Taking 3rd place points, and securing 3rd place in the scheme overall, was Gabriel Martin.

Behind the top 3, came Margo Doyle. Margo had the black Civic repaired after her off in Donegal, and she took an excellent 3rd in class 2. Margo also took 2nd overall in class in the Dunlop championship. Having a superb day, and taking 5th overall in the bonus scheme, was last years winner, Jim Harrison. Jim scored a superb win in Cork, beating local driver Liam McCarthy by just 5 secs. Jim came closer than ever to the National title this year, and must be really ruing that off in Donegal.

In 6th and 7th come 2 Skibbereen non-starters, JP Ruth (Peugeot 306) and Ollie O Reilly (Escort G3). Returning to the scene after a brief break was Limericks Dominic Naughton, and he scored a fine class win in the black 106. By virtue of his greater number of maximum scores, Dominic takes 8th in the Bonus Scheme, from Kevin Barrett in 9th.

Tomas O Rourke has had a great year, taking pretty much every championship that he has contested. He travelled to Cork in an attempt to win the 023 tiles 2WD award, and heading onto the last stage he was 10 seconds ahead in this category. Disaster struck though, when he was stranded with a broken gearbox on the very last stage. Tomas dropped to 10th place in the bonus scheme as a result, just grabbing the final prize pace.

Congratulations to all the prize winners this year, and hard luck to those who missed out. Ferodo and DMR plan to back next year with the 2005 Bonus Scheme, so watch this space….
Round 9: Donegal Harvest Stages
For the penultimate round of the 2004 Ferodo Bonus Scheme we were in Donegal, for the Harvest Stages Rally. There were relatively few registered competitors on this event, but those battling for the 1st prize were present, Willie Fannin and James O Sullivan. Willie was within touching distance of the title, and just needed to finish 4th in class or better to seal the 2000 euro top prize. Also in the northwest was Jim Harrison, very much in the hunt for the overall Dunlop championship title.

Thanks to a good run to 2nd in group N and 7th overall, and more importantly 1st in Ferodo class 4, Willie Fannin is the Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004 champion!! His lead is 15 points from James O Sullivan. Marrying consistency with speed, he was never out of the top 2 Ferodo placings in class 4 all season, and was frequently the man to beat. Willie has had a supreme year, and has also taken the Dunlop National group N title.

Currently lying 2nd in the points is James O Sullivan. James had a rather fraught day, finishing the 1st stage in 6th in group N, but came through to 4th place, and 2nd Ferodo points. Margo Doyle had a very uncharacteristic accident, which was her first National Championship non finish of the year. Kevin Barrett missed out on the chance to move to equal 6th with a late non-finish.

Hard luck story of the day may be Jim Harrison. In the new Impreza, Jim and Harvey set fastest time on the 1st stage by 6 seconds, and were a full 30 seconds up on title rival Maguire. Then on the 2nd stage they slid wide on a square right, and ended up perched on a low wall, with little or no damage, but lost 10 minutes trying to get away. He soldiered on, and set some excellent times later in the day. His patience was rewarded with top Ferodo points in class 8, which now leaves last years winner in 5th place.

Just one round left, Skibbereen at the end of the month. The top prize may be gone, but the destination of most of the other prizes is still undecided. See you in Cork!

And of course….Congratulations again to Willie Fannin!
09/09/04
Round 8 - Galway Summer Rally
The Galway Summer Stages rally was once again run from Portumna this year, with some new stages facing the competitors. This was the 8th round in the Ferodo Bonus Scheme, which means that some Ferodo runners will be faced with dropping scores in the remaining rounds. Willie Fannin and Gabriel Martin started the event as favourites to lift the end of season prize, while Jim Harrison has now put himself in with a real shout of winning the Dunlop series outright.

On the day Willie Fannin took a comfortable victory in group N. He was having a great fight with Alan Ring, before Alan caught a front left wheel on a rock, and punctured. Willie took maximum points in Ferodo class 4, with James O Sullivan taking a strong 2nd, despite a stage 5 puncture. With Gabriel Martins non-score, this leaves Willie with a 9 point lead, while James moves into 3rd place. Willie can now wrap up the Ferodo Bonus Scheme title on the next round in Donegal.

There was mixed luck amongst the other Ferodo front runners, with Jim Harrison fairing well, taking 3rd place in the rally. Jim has now closed to within 6 points of the Dunlop National championship lead, and will be sure to take the fight to Niall Maguire over the remaining 2 rounds.

Ollie O Reilly was having a great battle with Paddy Boyle for class 13 honours, and was just 2 seconds up after 3 stages. Ollie was then unfortunately forced out with gearbox problems on the 4th stage. Still, he has won class 13 in the national championship, and looks set for a top 5 finish in the Ferodo Bonus Scheme.

Eoghan Fogarty made a very successful return to the Ferodo Bonus Scheme, taking top points in class 2, and winning the class too! Eoghan is just outside the top 10 prize places, but may sneak in with a good result in Donegal or Skibbereen. Margo Doyle took 3rd in class, and now lies 4th in the Bonus Scheme, but is well clear of 5th place Ollie O Reilly.

Donegal Harvest Stages is the next rally, and the big question will be whether Willie Fannin can claim the €2000 top prize. There are only 8 points covering 10th to 5th, so theres lots to be fought over in the remaining 2 rounds. See you in the Northwest!
19/08/04
Round 7 - Stonethrowers
It’s a long way to Tipperary…but it was worth it for many of the Ferodo contenders, in particular for Englishman Jim Harrison, who took his first win of the year! As ever, all the top drivers were present, with the exception of last years Ferodo Bonus Scheme winner, Tomas O Rourke. Tomás has class 3 in the Dunlop national championship wrapped up for the 2nd successive year, and was taking a well deserved break!

The Ferodo Bonus Scheme has now turned into a bit of a two ‘Gp.N’ horse race, with Willie Fannin and Gabriel Martin fighting it out. These 2 now have an 8 point lead over their nearest pursuers, with Martin just a single point ahead of Fannin, following Fannins non finish in Tipperary. These 2 drivers have been fighting tooth and nail all year, and they were just 1 second apart after 2 stages. Gabriel managed to get a 7 second lead after 4 tests, but then Fannin was forced to retire on SS6. Gabriel himself hit driveshaft problems right at the end, and dropped from high up the leaderboard right down to 20th, but still got 2nd place class 4 Ferodo points.

Big congratulations to Jim Harrison, who took top points in Ferodo class 8, and his first rally victory this season. Jim finished strongly last year, hopefully he can do likewise this year. Jim had a great rally, leading from start to finish while contending with difficult conditions, and some car troubles. He went on to win by 14 seconds from Patrick Elliott.

Other Ferodo drivers in contention for top prizes include Margo Doyle, Ollie O Reilly and James O Sullivan, look set for a 3 way fight for 3rd place. James took a strong 2nd place in group N, and top Ferodo points in class to move himself to 4th, just 3 points behind Margo, and 2 points ahead of Ollie.

With just 3 rounds left, chances to score points are running out, so every rally really matters, indeed its so tight that dropped scores may well decide the winner of this years bonus scheme. We’ll see you in Galway for the Summer Stages!
21/07/04
Round 6 - Sligo Stages Rally Returning to both the Dunlop National Championship and the Ferodo Bonus Scheme after a year off, was the Sligo Stages rally, which was once again based in the Sligo Park Hotel. Conditions on the day were very tricky, with heavy downpours making the stages extremely challenging. Taking on the Sligo stages were top Ferodo competitors Willie Fannin, Gabriel Martin and Ollie O Reilly, among others. One man who didn’t make the start was Jim Harrison, who flew home from Sligo to be at the birth of his new son!

As has been the case throughout the year, there was a great battle in group N. Going on to the last stage Gabriel Martin was well ahead in the catageory, and was running a superb 5th overall. Disaster struck however, when he punctured on that last stage. This dropped him to 26th, and meant that Willie Fannin took a narrow win in Ferodo class 4, holding off James O sullivan by just 2 seconds. This means Willie Fannin has now extended his advantage over Gabriel Martin at the head of the Ferodo leaderboard to 7 points. Dropped scores may well come into play later in the year, with Martin currently having one less score than Fannin.

Keeping the pressure on behind the leading pair are Wexfords Margo Doyle and Cavans Ollie O Reilly. Here again, Margo has an extra score over Ollie. Ollie finished 2nd in class 13 on the day, while his regular navigator Arthur Kierans finished ahead of him, and won class 12! Arthur is vying to win class 12 as a driver, and the navigators award in class 13. He currently leads both classes!

Congratulations to Tomás O Rourke, who just needs 1 more point to win championship class 3. Tomás has had a superb year, taking maximum points in each of the 6 rounds he has contested to date. Also closing in on a class championship is JP Ruth, who just needs 3 more points to wrap up class 7. Leading National Championship classes are also Willie Fannin, Adrian Foley, and Dominic Naughton. Good luck to all in your respective classes.

There a bit of a break in the calendar now, with the Tipperary Stonethrowers rally not until the 8th of August, which gives everyone a chance to take a well-earned breather.

Round 5: Ravens Rock Stages Rally
For the halfway point in the Ferodo Bonus Scheme, we were in the ‘sunny’ southeast for the Ravens Rock rally, which was based in Waterford this year. The day may have started bright, but heavy downpours throughout the day made the conditions very tricky indeed. Another big battle was expected between the Gp.N trio of Fannin, Martin and O Sullivan, while the other leading Ferodo contenders were Margo Doyle, Ollie O Reilly, and Jim Harrison….

What a battle in Gp. N!! After 2 stages, just 5 seconds seperated Fannin, Martin and O Sullivan, despite Fannin surviving a massive spin on SS2. Then after 6 stages, it was Fannin, Martin 4 secs back, with O Sullivan another 18secs adrift. Martin then put in a storming time on the last stage to take 13 seconds from Fannin, and finished the day just 5 seconds in front! This brings Martin back into 2nd place in the Bonus Scheme, just 4 points behind Fannin. James O Sullivan slots into 8th place.

One of the drives of the day came from Ollie O Reilly, who had Arthur Kierans on the notes. Ollie won class 13 by a margin of 47 seconds, and took 10 Ferodo points. Other class 13 men not doing so well were Thomas McGovern and Liam Wall, both having non-finishes. This leaves Ollie 4th now in the standings.

At the front of the rally itself, Congratulations to Jim Harrison who had another good rally, despite gear selection difficulties for most of the day. Kevin Lynch had a superb first national win, but Jims run to second place leaves him 2nd overall in the Dunlop National Championship, and he has leapt up the Ferodo leaderboard to equal 5th with Tomas O Rourke and JP Ruth. Its looking like Jim will again feature at the sharp end when the prizes are being handed out!

Well done also to Tomas O Rourke (Class 3), James Travers (Class 6), and JP Ruth (class 7), who all took class wins on the day.

Having reached the halfway point in the Ferodo Bonus Scheme, it looks like its going to be a great fight for the 2000 Euro first prize, with just 17 points covering the top 7 drivers…
Round 4: Circuit of Munster (Limerick)
15/06/04
Just 7 days after we were in Cavan, the Ferodo Bonus Scheme moved to the other end of the country for the Circuit of Munster Stages Rally, which was based in Adare, just outside Limerick. The Bonus Scheme leader, Gabriel Martin, was set to resume his Group N and Ferodo battle with Willie Fannin, while Margo Doyle was up against her class 2 rivals Eoghan Fogarty and Gordan Ward.

The day was a disasterous one for Gabriel Martin, who retired with transmission trouble less than ½ mile into the first stage! James O Sullivan had an excellent rally, finishing 2nd in Group N, and first class 4 car home in the Bonus Scheme. Willie Fannin took 2nd place points, even after trying to demolish a farmers shed with his Impreza! Willie now has a 4 point lead at the head of the leaderboard.

Moving up to 2nd place in the Bonus Scheme is Wexfords Margo Doyle in the Civic. Margo had another good run to take top Ferodo points in class 2, and is also now 2nd overall in her class in the Dunlop National Championship. Both Fogarty and Ward failed to finish in this class.

At the front of the rally itself, Jim Harrison had a great event, and only lost out on victory by less than 6 seconds. Still, 2nd was an excellent result for the English visitor, and last years Bonus Scheme winner is now equal 10th in the standings. Can he repeat last years win, when he put together a late run to the top the standings? Another man who was having a good run at the front was JJ Fleming. JJ held 3rd place until the very last stage when transmission failure put him out.

There were many tales of woe amongst the classes on the day. One of the battles of the rally was set to be in class 13, where Ollie O Reilly and Aidan Walsh were going head to head. However both men hit trouble on stage 2, Ollie losing 3 minutes, and Aidan losing over 10 minutes when his gear lever came adrift! Another man in gear lever trouble was John Rooney, who broke his on stage 3.

So, with 4 rounds gone, the top 3 of Fannin, Doyle and Martin have a clear advantage over the persuing pack. Can they stay ahead after Ravens Rock? Can Jim Harrison continue his progress up the leaderboard? See you in Waterford!
29/05/04
Gp.N Drivers Out in Front After Monaghan!
The Hotel Hillgrove Monaghan Stages rally played host to the 2nd round of the Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004, on the 25th of April. The rally was blessed with bright sunshine and warm temperatures, and of course a top class entry! Still more competitors are joining the scheme, or rejoining, in the case of the 2003 winners Jim Harrison, and last years 4th place man, Shane McEneaney. Also new to the list of drivers chasing the 2000Euro top prize were Ray Breen (WRC Subaru) and Arthur Kierans (Escort Mk2).

Winning Gp.N in Monaghan, and now joint Bonus Scheme leader was Willie Fannin in the Impreza. Another great result, following his 2nd in Gp.N on the Circuit of Ireland.Again right on the pace and running 2nd in group N at one point, Gabriel Martin suffered big steering problems but soldiered on to finish 6th in Gp.N, and picked up 8 Bonus Scheme points to share the lead with Willie Fannin. Just behind Gabriel was Limericks Christy Carey, another driver returning to the scheme for 2004.



A very impressive drive from David Leonard saw him win class 10 by almost 2 minutes in the Nova. David is new to Ferodo pads, and said the brakes were 'fantastic, the best I've ever used!'. 2nd in the class, and taking 2nd Ferodo points was Adrian Foley in another Nova. Adrian now lies equal 3rd in the scheme, following good finishes in both rounds. Less fortunate in class 10 was Shane McEneaney. Having lost several minutes with an electrical problem, he was back on the pace, and setting great stage times, before an incident with another competitor saw him crash out on stage 8.

Having a bad day too was Jim Harrison. His rally proved to be disappointingly short when he rolled out on stage 2, having been equal quickest on the first stage with eventual rally winner, Niall Maguire.

Congratulations must go to Arthur Kierans, who took a fine win in class 12, by just 5 seconds. Other Ferodo drivers having good runs were Tomas O Rourke, again the pacesetter in class 3, JP Ruth who was 2nd in class 7, and Peter Rogers, who lost out on a class 11 win by only 7 seconds!

There is a small break in the championship now, with the next round not until the 30th of May, the Cavan Stages Rally. We look forward to seeing even more Ferodo drivers there!
08/04/04
Round 1: Circuit of Kerry
The Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004 kicked off in the beautiful west Kerry town of Dingle, for the Circuit of Kerry stages rally. A last minute flood of entries saw the bonus scheme with 23 starters, and almost 30 registrations in total, all hoping to win some of the €9000 prize fund. Among the top names were John Joe Fleming (WRC Impreza), Gabriel Martin (Evo 7), Willie Fannin (Impreza Gp.N) and Anthony O Halloran (Manta).

Following a day of bright sunshine and torrential downpours, Ferodo runners came away with 8 class wins, and first, 2nd and 4th in Group N! Among the drivers taking maximum points on the day were Eoghan Fogarty in his Civic, despite admitting to being ‘asleep’ on the first loop! Eoghan also had to get used to the superior braking performance of the Ferodo DS3000 pads he was using for the first time, commenting that he was braking much too early for the corners. Behind Eoghan, Margo Doyle and Gordan Ward took 2nd and 3rd place Ferodo points, Margo debuting her new Civic.

Another man to take 10 points was Gabriel Martin in the red Evo 7. This was Gabriels first appearance with the car on the national championship, and judging by his performance, he should be right up there for group N honours throughout the year. Gabriel lost almost 30 seconds to Andrew Stewart on the 2nd stage, but was then able to match the Letterkenny mans pace for the remainder of the day, before Andrew lost time with a puncture on the very last stage. Willie Fannin took 2nd in Group N, while Seamus Heron took 4th, both drivers using Ferodo.

Taking 10 points and a class win in class 13 was Ollie O Reilly, who had a great run, which included being the fastest 2WD car over Conor Pass. Ollie won the class from another Ferodo runner, Thomas McGovern. Unlucky was Aidan Walsh, who was heading for 2nd in the class, and 8 Ferodo points, up to the very last stage before being forced out with engine problems.

Other Ferodo Bonus Sheme drivers who took class wins: Tomás O Rourke (class 3), Brian O Mahony (class 5), Dominic Naughton (class 6), JP Ruth (class 7), and Anthony O Halloran (Class 14). Well done to all concerned

The next round of the Bonus Scheme will be the Monaghan Stages rally, on the 25th of April. See you there!
01/04/03
Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004 ' Ready to Go!

With just days to go before the opening round of the 2004 Ferodo Bonus Scheme, the Circuit of Kerry next weekend, the number of registered competitors is growing daily.

Already confirmed for this years Bonus Scheme are several of last years contenders, including John Paul Ruth, Peter Rogers and last years runner-up, Tomas O Rourke.
Those heading to Kerry include the class 13 drivers Aidan Walsh and John Kearney, and Margo Doyle in her new Civic, who will be battling for Ferodo, and class 2 points, with Eoghan Fogarty who is also in a Civic.

Drivers who are were part of the scheme in 2003 are reminded that while 2003 pads can still be used this year, a front and rear set of "2004" pads must be purchased in order to register.
There are also many drivers out there who, while using Ferodo on their cars, are not using them both front and rear. Why not step up the braking performance of your car, and discover for yourself why Ferodo drivers won 8 out of the 15 classes in last years national championship after all, you are only one set of pads away from being part of the year-long chase for Eur 9000!

DMRR will again be present at all rounds of the 2004 Dunlop National Championship to support the scheme.
See you in Kerry! 03/02/04
The Ferodo Bonus Scheme prize fund has been increased, to over €9000!

With great generosity from Ferodo, and increased input from DMR, an extra €1000 has been added to the pot. The first prize has been increased to €2000, with the breakdown of the other prizes being €1500, €1200, €1000, €950, €800, €600, €450, €300, and €200. an even further incentive for competitors to compete in the scheme.
Good luck to all concerned.
21/01/01
After a hugely successful 2003, in which drivers using Ferodo brake pads took the overall Dunlop National title, the National Gp.N title, the Ka and Focus championships, and 8 out of the 15 classes in the national championship, Ferodo are back for more in 2004!

DMR, have again teamed up with Ferodo brakes, supplier to the Ford,Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Subaru WRC teams, to bring you the Ferodo Bonus Scheme 2004. The scheme will again run with full Motorsport Ireland approval.

The scheme will have a total prize fund of at least 8000 euros, the final amount is still under discussion, but will be announced soon. It will again have as its rounds, all those counting for the 2004 Dunlop Irish National Rally Championship. The scheme is class-based, which means that everyone, no matter what they are driving, has the chance to win the top prize, which last year was £1000stg. In 2003, 4 drivers went into the final round with a chance of winning, in the end the title went to Jim Harrison (Subaru WRC), with Tomas O Rourke (Astra) and Aidan Bourke (Civic) close behind.

Ferodos Racing Business Manager, Wayne Rodgers, said “We’ve been very pleasantly surprised at the level of competition here in Ireland, and we’re looking forward to an even more successful year in 2004. Winning all those titles in our first year in Ireland was great, and we’re hopeful that we can do at least as well again this year.”

To qualify for the bonus scheme your car must run on Ferodo pads, bought from DMR or one of our approved stockists, for each round you contest. Each competitor must buy a set of fronts and a set of rears to register, and then just one other set (fronts of rears) during the year to be eligible for the prizemoney. The scoring system is the same as for the National Championship (10,8,7,6... with 8 rounds to count from 10), and the overall winner at the end of the year will be the driver with the most points, regardless of which class he/she is in.

Final regulations will be available soon, full details on www.DMRR.net

Topics: Ferodo Bonus Scheme 

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