2003 was an outstanding year for Irish rally star,
Shaun Gallagher, The 23-year-old won the British
Peugeot 206 Super Cup and the junior title, finished
3rd overall and 1st Junior in the French Peugeot 206
Super Cup, 4th in the French Peugeot Gravel
Championship and third in the Norwegian National
Championship, despite only competing in three of the
six rounds.
Posted: March 8, 2004 8:06 PM
With an incredible consistency Shaun finished 21
events out of 25 and clocked up 16 podium positions,
proving himself to be one of Europe?s top young rally
drivers during 2003.
For 2004, The Mullen Express Transport driver hopes to
achieve even more and take the overall title when he
competes in the French Peugeot 206 Cup (Volant 206).
The French 206 Super Cup is one of Europe's best
championships for young drivers. Shaun will compete in
8 rallies throughout France, on both gravel and
asphalt. The championship boasts a prize of a Super
1600 works drive with Peugeot France in the 2005
French Championship.
"I am really excited about returning to the French
Cup" commented Shaun. "Last year I was faced with a
massive learning curve and was over the moon to take
3rd overall and win the Junior title. I hope to be
able to draw on my experiences during 2003 and this
year, go all the way and take the overall title.
The Championship kicks off Easter weekend (9th - 11th
April) with the Rallye Terre d'Auvergne in South East
France.
09/02/04
IRISH STAR ACHIEVES OBJECTIVE IN SWEDEN
Irish rally star, Shaun Gallagher, competed in the
second round of the World Rally Championship, the
Swedish Rally (6th - 8th Feb), and achieved his
objective by finishing the event and gaining the
valuable experience needed to further his rallying
career.
The rally was run in poor conditions with very little
snow due the unusually warm weather prior to the
event. The opening days stages were a mixture of snow,
ice and gravel, with the roads getting more and more
cut up as the rally cars passed through. Shaun drove
through the stages, testing different settings and
ensuring he made it to the end of each stage.
The conditions improved on Saturday and with that the
Brendan Kelly backed crew began to make up time,
moving up two or three positions each stage and by
stage 11 they were lying 41st overall. However on
stage 12 the Davy Greer run Evo VII slid wide on a
corner and subsequently got stuck in a snow bank for
over 15 minutes.
The Irish driver did not let this off affect the
objective of the weekend and during leg 3, Shaun
tested many different brake, differential and
suspension settings, learning more and more on each
stage. As he became more experienced Shaun began to
set times inside the top 25 and moved further and
further back up the leader board.
The Mullen Express Transport team finished the event
29th in Group N and 44th overall.
"We achieved exactly what we wanted from the event"
commented Shaun. "I finished the event and have
learned so much, it's a great start to the year"
With thanks to:
Brendan Kelly
Tommy Mullen - Mullen Express Transport
Tinneys Oil
Davy Greer Motorsport