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Rally of Wales - 23-24 Apr 05

Posted: April 26, 2005 8:39 PM - 5507 Hits

Round 1 - 2005 British Rally Championship

  • SUCCESS FOR MITSUBISHI TEAM ON BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT
  • Gareth's excellent fifth in BRC opener
  • Irish Dominate Rally of Wales

Posted: April 26, 2005 8:39 PM

SUCCESS FOR MITSUBISHI TEAM ON BRITISH RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT In their first event for the Mitsubishi UK works team, Rory Galligan and co-driver Greg Shinnors recorded a convincing Production Class victory in the opening round of the Pirelli Kwik-Fit MSA British Rally Championship, this weekend's International Rally of Wales, driving their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR.

Initially it was team mates, David Higgins and Daniel Barritt, who set the Production Category pace, but a punctured oil cooler on the penultimate stage was to eliminate their chance of a maiden win.

34 cars, 17 of which were contesting the Production Class, left the start line in Dolgellau on Saturday lunch time to embark on five stages in the Welsh forests.

Following a successful test before the event, both Higgins and Galligan were relishing their first outing for the Mitsubishi UK works team, eager to see how the new Lancer Evolution MRs performed in competition.

Right from the word go, their expectations were fulfilled, the cars as good as they anticipated, with Higgins taking the Production Category lead and fourth place overall on the very first stage. Galligan was just 1.6 seconds and one place behind, both he and Shinnors getting acclimatised to each other, this being their first ever event together.

Whilst Higgins consolidated his position on the second stage, Galligan dropped back, a puncture four miles from the end of the 15 mile run through Gartheiniog Forest, causing a spin and subsequent loss of around 40 seconds.

Looking to make up the deficit, Galligan went fastest of all Production Class runners on stage three and by the end of stage four held a position of seventh overall and still second place in the Class, Higgins maintaining his station.

The final stage of the day, a second run through Gartheiniog, was abandoned after Matthew Wilson crashed his Ford Focus into the trees at high speed. The stage was immediately stopped and both Wilson and his co-driver, Scott Martin, were taken to hospital where they are now recovering having sustained a series of broken bones.

With Wilson's team mate and David's elder brother, Mark Higgins, retiring his Focus at the same point with transmission failure, this one stretch of road saw the demise of the two leading cars. As crews returned to Dolgellau for the overnight halt, results showed the two works Mitsubishis first and second in the Production Class, with Higgins now second overall and Galligan fifth, albeit reporting gear selection problems.

An early Start on Sunday was followed by three stages in mid-Wales, everything looking good for a Production Category one-two for Mitsubishi. However, on the penultimate stage the right front tyre on Higgins' Lancer suddenly deflated, the flailing rubber damaging the car's bodywork and more significantly the oil cooler.

Although driving through the remainder of the stage, Higgins had no choice but to retire, allowing Galligan to sweep through to take the Class honours and finish an impressive fourth overall.

The Mitsubishi works cars are prepared by ADR Motorsport of Chesterfield on behalf of Cirencester based Mitsubishi Motors UK. The team is sponsored by: Pirelli, Shell Racing Fuels, Rampage Performance Motorparts, Speedline Corse, PIAA and ADR Motorsport.

Team Quotes

Rory Galligan
"It's great to get such a good result in our first event with Mitsubishi. Winning the Production Category was the important thing, but I'm also pleased to have finished fourth overall, although our stage times suggest we could have finished higher if it wasn't for the few problems on the first day. It's shame David had to retire as it would have been great for the team if we could have made it a Mitsubishi one-two."

David Higgins
"Going into the second day with a comfortable Production Class lead and lying second overall I was driving well within the limits and trying to keep out of trouble. It was all going according to plan until we crossed a freshly graded section of road in the penultimate stage and the tyre burst, which would have not been a problem if it wasn't for the oil cooler being damaged. I'm disappointed not to have finished, but with the car being so competitive my season is far from over. I'm now going to be doing the chasing rather than be chased!"

Paul Brigden, General Manager - Ralliart
"This was a good first event for the team, everyone worked together well. Obviously I'm disappointed for David, but both he and Rory showed what they can do and how competitive the cars are - straight out of the box. Rory drove an excellent rally to take the Production Category win and if it wasn't for David's freak incident with the tyre, it would have been a perfect result for us this weekend."

Gareth's excellent fifth in BRC opener
Gareth MacHale and the Tom Hogan Motors team took an excellent fifth place on the opening round of the British Rally Championship. Gareth & co-driver Paul Nagle ran strongly in the top ten from the very start on their first visit to the Welsh Forests in a WRC machine. The current leader of the Irish Forestry Championship also won his class. Topping off the performance was the fact that his father Austin won the event overall and brother Aaron was eleventh. Group N was also won by the Irish with Rory Galligan winning in his Lancer.

Irish crews dominated the International Rally of Wales, the opening round of the Kwik-Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship, with Austin McHale and Brian Murphy taking their Sanyo Focus to outright victory, their first in a British title round.

They took over top place on Saturday evening when early leader Mark Higgins retired with gearbox problems on his Focus, and at the finish, they had more than two minutes to spare over runner up Sebastian Ling’s Accent.

The Meath-Limerick combination of Rory Galligan and Greg Shinnors had a successful debut in their works entered Mitsubishi Lancer, winning the Group N Production class and finishing fourth overall, while the winner’s son Gareth McHale took fifth place with co-driver Paul Nagle in the Corolla in which they lead the National Forestry series.
Report www.motorsportireland.com 

Results
1 Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) 1.46.21.1
2 Sebastian Ling/Ian Allsop (Hyundai Accent WRC) 1.48.38.8
3 Jon Ingram/Shaun O'Gorman (Ford Focus WRC) 1.48.47.3
4 Rory Galligan/Greg Shinnors (Mit. Lancer Evo 8.5) GpN 1.48.56.0
5 Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle (Toyota Corolla WRC) 1.49.50.9

Leaders after
SS1-4 Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford Focus WRC)
SS5-8 Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)

Stage Winners
SS1 Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford Focus WRC)
SS2 Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford Focus WRC)
SS3 Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford Focus WRC)
SS4 Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Ford Focus WRC)
SS5 Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)
SS6 Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)
SS7 Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)
SS8 Sebastian Ling/Ian Allsop (Hyundai Accent WRC)

Photo: www.roydempster.com
PRE EVENT NEWS
  • Successful pre-Rally of Wales test for Mitsubishi UK rally team
  • Top Ten Entries
  • All 3 MacHales enter Rally of Wales
  • List of Entries to date available
  • Regulations and Entry from available

Galligan & Higgins test before Wales
19/04/05
Successful pre-Rally of Wales test for Mitsubishi UK rally team
Mitsubishi Motors UK starts its 2005 Pirelli Kwik-Fit British Rally Championship campaign this weekend when reigning British Champion, David Higgins and reigning Evolution Challenge Champion, Rory Galligan, contest the International Rally of Wales, each driving a works Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR.

In preparation for the event both drivers tested their cars on Sunday (17th April) at Sweet Lamb in Wales. For Galligan it was his second time in the car following an impressive debut appearance at BRC Live last weekend where he finished second overall and first in the Production Car category in the All Stars Rallysprint.

For Higgins, Sunday was to be his first acquaintance with the Group N Lancer and he was more than impressed:
"It is the by far the best Group N car I have ever driven! It's fast, handles superbly and the transmission control is excellent. The wet conditions made choosing the right set-up more difficult, but with a few minor adjustments I was very pleased with the way the car felt. I was also impressed with the team, all the guys worked well together and I am really looking forward to the rally this weekend."

Although the Sweet Lamb test was Galligan's second outing, it was his first taste of true forest roads in the car:
"After driving the Mitsubishi at BRC Live, the car was everything I expected it to be on gravel. The test was very constructive for us all and the team have even found more power from the engine! It's going to be a pleasure to drive the car this weekend."

Following the successful test, Paul Brigden, General Manager for Ralliart in the UK, eagerly anticipates the first event with his new team:

"Our aim is to finish first and second in the PBRC category and with David and Rory having equal status within the team, we don't mind who it is that comes out on top. Even though their driving styles are different, their pace was very similar during the test and with both being of such high calibre we expect to see them feature well in the overall positions."

The International Rally of Wales starts and finishes in Dolgellau with five timed special stages on Saturday and a further three on Sunday, providing competitors with a total of 114 competitive miles in forests which have become synonymous with rallying: Dyfi, Pantperthog, Gartheiniog, Hafren, Myherin and Taliesin.

The Mitsubishi works cars are prepared by ADR Motorsport of Chesterfield on behalf of Cirencester based Mitsubishi Motors UK. The team is sponsored by: Pirelli, Shell Racing Fuels, Rampage, Speedline Corse, PIAA and ADR Motorsport.
18/04/05 

Top 10 Entries
1 Mark Higgins/Brian Thomas (Ford Focus WRC)
2 Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)
3 Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Ford Focus WRC)
4 David Higgins/Daniel Barritt (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8.5)
5 Sebastian Ling/Ian Allsop (Hyundai Accent WRC)
6 Jon Ingram/Shaun O'Gorman (Ford Focus WRC)
7 Gareth MacHale/Paul Ragle (Toyota Corolla WRC)
8 Rory Galligan/Greg Shinnors (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8.5) 
9 Justin Dale/Andrew Bargery (Subaru Impreza N11)
10 Tony Davis/Jim Kitson Subaru (Subaru Impreza WRC)

Other Irish Entries
20 Aaron MacHale/Gerard Mc Monagle (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8.5)
Full Entry List on the rally website:
Father Austin and sons Aaron and Gareth have entered the Rally of Wales.
It will be be a busy time for the family as they are all entered on the Rally of the Lakes the following weekend, with Gareth also due to compete in Wicklow the weekend before the Rally of Wales!

Full details on the rally website: Regulations and Entry from are now available for the opening round of the British Rally Championship

Topics: Rally of Wales 

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