2005 Midlands East Rally Championship

Posted: September 29, 2005 6:16 PM

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The organising committee of the Sleator Opel Midlands East Rally Championship would like to sincerely thank all competitors who registered and took part in the inaugural year of the championship. The unprecedented response to the championship ensures its successful running for many years to come. The championship prides itself on being run for clubmen (and women) by clubmen, which proves to be part of the attraction to this competition.

Final results have now been distributed to all registered competitors and are also available for viewing on the championships website:

www.midlandseastrallychampionship.com

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19/04/05
The Midlands East Rally Championship sponsored by Sleator MG Rover Garage Mullingar has reached its halfway point after the Midland Moto Stages. The standings have begun to take shape after the fast challenging stages in Roscommon.

Championship leaders with 30 points are Co Meath crew James and Joe Cassidy in their Escort MK2, closely followed on 27 points by Andrew Lang and Ollie O Reily in their 1400cc Fiesta. In third place overall is Declan and Sean O Toole on 24 points.

The championship winner can come from any class but some interesting battles are developing amongst the individual classes. In class 6 the 4wd class the Midland Moto stages saw an exciting 3 way tussle for the lead between Jack Sleator/Timmy England and Joe Curran/Marti Mc Garrity in the Subaru’s with John Kelly/Robbie Shaw in his Mitsubishi. Times were traded all day with Jack Sleator emerging the victor from John Kelly after the 9 stages. This leaves Jack Sleator with a slender one point lead over Joe Curran in class 6.

In class one the Suzuki Swifts of both Alan Whyte/Anthony Hoey and David & Robbie Woodcock survived to the finish to score points leaving them tied with Colin Flanagan/Nigel Nicholson on 16 points, a right battle for second place in this class as Andrew Lang is comfortably ahead on 27points.

In Class 2 Declan & Sean O Toole have a solid 8 point lead. Niall Whelan leads Class 3 with the championship leaders the Cassidy’s holding top slot in Class 4. John Agnew just edges out Patsy Carberry in class 5 by 3 points but Patsy’s co driver Donal Lennon is top registered competitor in this class.

However things can change and a minor slip by any of the crews could see a major shake up in the standings as there are plenty of crews waiting to move up the points table in this competitive championship.

Competitors count their best 3 scores from 4 counting rounds. The championship continues with 2 more counting rounds after a summer break when the crews will tackle the ALMC stages in August before finishing the year with the Castle Single stage when the Sleator MG Midlands East Rally champion for 2005 will be crowned.

Thanks must go to the sponsors who make the championship possible, championship main sponsor and competitor Jack Sleator of Sleator MG Rover and to fellow competitors Tom Holton of Holton uPVC and Patsy Carberry of Ardee Sand and gravel who are associate sponsors.

Points standings after Round 2 are available on:

www.midlandseastrallychampionship.com

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Following a sucessfull opening round on the recent Laois Stages the Sleator MG Rover sponsored championship is pleased to announce its new web site

www.midlandseastrallychampionship.com

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24/02/05


CHAMPIONSHIP PRO AND CO DRIVER MARTIN BRADY RECEIVING A SPONSORSHIP CHEQUE FROM FELLOW CO DRIVER AND HEAD SALES PERSON OF SLEATOR MG ROVER , ALAN MORAN

• Download Regulations in Word Format
• Download Entry Form in Word Format

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An exciting new championship has been devised over the recent months, a championship designed for the clubman rally competitors based on events in the Midlands region. It is a championship devised by enthusiasts and experienced competitors alike, and it will take place over 4 prominent events on the 2005 Motorsport Ireland calendar. The aim of the championship is to bring close competition coupled some innovative new championship regulations all in the aid of the clubmen of Irish rallying.

The new championship titled “Sleator MG Rover Midlands East Stages Championship” will be borne out over 4 events;
• BDAC Multi Stages, February 27th 2005
• Midland Multi Stages, April 10th 2005
• ALMC Multi Stages, 21st August 2005
• Castle Hellfire Single Stage, 11th September 2005.

(Four Rounds, Best Three Scores to Count. Competitors must start a minimum of TWO events to qualify for an award)

The championship will be exclusively for Clubmen, in that WRC type cars are not eligible to score points. The classes are structured as follows;

Class 1: All cars up to 1400 c.c.
Class 2: All cars from 1401 c.c. to 1700 c.c., two valves per cylinder
Class 3: All cars from 1401 c.c. to 1700 c.c., more than two valves per cylinder.
Class 4: All cars from 1701 c.c. to 2400 c.c., two valves per cylinder
Class 5: All cars from 1701 c.c. to 2400 c.c., more than two valves per cylinder, rotary engine & all 2WD turbo cars
Class 6: All cars 2401 c.c. and over, including Turbo charged cars, and all four wheel drive cars.

It will be a class based championship with points scored as per class finish therefore giving a class one competitor an equal footing on overall standings with a competitor in class 6 and vice versa.

Also in an innovative new approach a competitor who has entered and is placed on reserve for an event and then fails to start the event can still score 2 bonus points if they sign on to assist in the running of the event as a marshal, timekeeper or such like. It is a provision which should both help the competitor in championship standings and encourage “putting something back” into the sport. The championship is greatly assisted by another well known competitor “putting something back” into the sport, Mullingar based Jack Sleator is giving generous backing to the series through his MG Rover Garage which is based in Mullingar Business Park Mullingar Co Westmeath. Jack Sleator has been a long time supporter of rallying in the area and was quick to lend his support to as overall title sponsor to a championship in the region. Two other competitors have also come into the fold as associate sponsors they are Enfield’s Tom Holton uPVC Windows and Patsy Carberry, Ardee Sand and gravel.

So the scene is set for what should be an exciting season of rallying in the Midlands, starting with Birr Multi stage in February and making its way via Midland in April and after a summer rest to ALMC in August to a finale in Castle Single stage in September which will hopefully take us down to the wire as in all the best sporting finales.

Regulations will be available on line before the opening round.
Competitors can also sign on at the first 3 rounds
Championship Rounds

1. Laois (Birr MC) Stages Rally - 27 Feb 05
2. Midland Multi Stages Rally - 10 Apr 05
3. ALMC Stages Rally - 21 Aug 05
4. Castle Hellfire Single Stage - 11 Sep 05

• Best 3 rounds to count