Bushwacker Rally - (Sat) 22 Sep 07

Posted: October 2, 2007 6:26 PM

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Brian McGillin secures slender Bushwhacker Rally victory
Brian McGillin and David Doherty emerged with victory in their arms at last weekend's Omagh based McGillin Bushwhacker Rally, when they brought their Hyundai Accent WRC over the finish ramp five seconds clear of Stephen Moore and Tony McHugh!

It was Moore who took another maximum points haul in the Pacenotes series though, as McGillin is not registered for the championship. The result bolstered his chances of lifting a maiden N.I. series success, after his main title rivals, Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly, finished in a lowly seventh position.

It could have been worse for the struggling Allen though, as he still picked up third placed championship points. His day was fraught with gearbox troubles, and the Cookstown man was forced to complete three stages with just first and second gear.

"It was a real good event, but a terrible day for us," Allen rued. "We lost four gears on the third stage, so we had to complete stages four, five and six with just first and second gear. The boys in service changed the 'box but we had already lost 1 minute 40 seconds, so it was all over."

The third stage also proved disastrous for local man, Robbie McGurk. Navigated by Shaun Lafferty, they were caught out on a fast section of road. Their Subaru Impreza WRC got out of shape after a small dip in the road, sending the car on to the grass and into a tree stump at almost 100mph.

The car was thrown into the air, before coming to rest on its roof. Both occupants escaped the car unscathed but the stage was stopped and McGurk was taken to hospital as a precaution. Thankfully, he was released the following day with no serious injuries.

McGurk was also joined in hospital by Metro 6R4 pilot, Craig Bennett. Navigated by Alan Shiladay, they went off the road on stage one. Their car went 'light' on a six-right over crest, leaving Bennett struggling to get the brakes on for the next corner. He went off the road and hit a tree stump, and was later diagnosed in hospital with fractured vertebrae.

The incident will put Bennett out of action for at least three months, but he is back home and in good spirits. Incidentally, he also provided free sandwiches for all marshals on the day, but unfortunately the rally officials later had to apologise after leaving them in a refrigerator!

Meanwhile, at the head of the field, Brian McGillin had taken a healthy lead from Stephen Moore, with Sean Devine in third. It was Moore and Devine who shared the rally lead after stage one, before both men were overhauled by McGillin. Second placed Moore was having a difficult day, as his steering rack had been causing problems from the opening stage.

"When we moved on to the start line of stage one, the steering rack was very stiff when I turned left," Moore said. "So for the first six stages before service, I had to be really careful. I couldn't commit to any left hand corners."

That failed to stop the Pomeroy man from mounting a charge, and despite his troubles, he arrived at first service just three seconds in arrears of McGillin. Sean Devine and Damien Duffin were also in the hunt and held third position, just three seconds adrift of Moore. Their rally was set to come to a premature end though, as gearbox troubles forced them out of the event after service.

Devine's retirement left a two-way battle for the lead, with McGillin and Moore going head to head over the final six stages. The Focus WRC pilot knew he didn't need to win the event, as he was on course to claim maximum points for the Pacenotes championship. The temptation of another potential rally victory was too much to resist though, and he mounted a charge in a bid to overhaul McGillin.

Moore was fastest on stage seven by one second, only for McGillin to return the favour on the following test. Then Moore hit trouble on stage nine, stalling his Focus and losing nine seconds to the rally leader. It was the breath of fresh at that McGillin needed, and two fastest times for Moore during the closing miles were not enough to snatch victory from McGillin's grasp.

"It was an absolutely brilliant rally!" McGillin enthused. "We had a bit of a scare on the third stage with a collapsed bearing in the gearbox, which holds on to the propshaft. Thankfully, it held on until service and we had no problems after that."

"The competition was very hard," McGillin continued. "Anybody in the top five could have won that rally. I was shocked at how good the event and the competition were. The pace in the Northern Ireland Championship is serious, everyone has really moved up a gear during the last couple of years."

Stephen Moore and Tony McHugh had to settle for second on this occasion, but they were safe in the knowledge that they had another maximum score to their names. With dropped scores now coming into play, they trail Glenn Allen by one point in the championship standings, so everything is to play for over the final two events of the season.

Third overall went to Raymond Johnston and Richard Bell in their newly acquired Subaru Impreza WRC. After a few months layoff, they had a short and not so sweet return to the series at the Fisher Engineering Lakeland Stages Rally just a couple of weeks ago. Their Impreza went off the road near the start of stage one at the Lakeland event, but the McGillin Bushwhacker Rally was more fruitful for the pair. Third overall was a just reward for the duo, as they continue to acclimatise to their new mount.

Outside the top three, Peter McCullagh and Sean Ferris emerged victorious in the Sunoco Fuels sponsored Group N category. They finished fourth overall in the process, two seconds in front of Kevin O'Kane and Martin Brady, while Raymond Mason and Peter Martin came home in sixth.

Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly recovered from their earlier gearbox troubles to take seventh. It was a damage limitation exercise for Allen, and with only two championship registered competitors in front of him, he still managed to claim third placed championship points.

Seamus Leonard and John McCaffrey returned to the woods and placed their Mitsubishi Lancer in a fine eighth, while Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan topped the Superdrive two wheel drive class with an excellent run to ninth ahead of Damien Tourish and James McNulty.

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Photos:
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Video Clips
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• 2007 Northern Ireland Rally Championship

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Entry List
• Details
• Regulations and Entry Form

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18/09/07
Entry List
No. Driver /Navigator (Car) [Class]
1 BRIAN MCGILLIN/DAVID DOHERTY (HYUNDAI ACCENT WRC) []
2 GLENN ALLEN/DAMIEN CONNOLLY (TOYOTA COROLLA WRC) [8]
3 STEPHEN MOORE/TONY MCHUGH (FORD FOCUS WRC) [8]
4 RAYMOND JOHNSTON/RICHARD BELL (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) []
5 SEAN DEVINE/DAMIEN DUFFIN (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) [8]
6 ROBBIE McGURK/SHAUN LAFFERTY (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) [8]
7 KEVIN O' KANE/MARTIN BRADY (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) [8]
8 SEAMUS DEVINE/TERRY MCGONAGLE (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) [8]
9 RICHARD CATHCART/TBA (SUBARU IMPREZA N11) [1]
10 HOWARD CLARKE/JASON HARRON (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 9) [2]
11 IAN COCHRANE/COLIN HARKNESS (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 7) [2]
12 EOIN MCERLEAN/DONALD MC CANN (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO) [2]
14 ERROL CLARKE/NEIL EWING (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 9) []
15 VIVIAN HAMILL/TBA (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO) []
16 RAYMOND MASON/PETER MARTIN (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 9) [2]
17 PETER MCCULLAGH/ALAN DOLAN (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 7) [1]
18 PAUL BRITTON/PADDY ROBINSON (SUBARU IMPREZA N10) []
19 CRAIG BENNETT/ALAN SHILADAY (METRO 6R4) [8]
20 ALWYN JOBB/THOMAS NUGENT (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 7) [2]
21 BRENDAN CONNOR/ALAN REDSTONE (SUBARU IMPREZA GPA) [8]
22 P.J. GILLESPIE/MARY O'KANE (MITSUBISHI EVO 8 1997) [2]
23 JOHN WALKER/DESSIE WILSON (MITSUBISHI EVO 9) [2]
24 MARTIN CAIRNS/GARRY MONTEITH (SUBARU IMPREZA GPA) [8]
25 BRIAN MULDOON/DANNY O'NEILL (MITSUBISHI EVO 1998) [2]
26 NIALL McCULLAGH/RYAN MCCLOSKEY (MITSUBISHI EVO 7) [1]
27 TREVOR FERGUSON/TBA (SUBARU N12 2000) []
28 DAVID WRIGHT/SUSANNE WRIGHT (MITSUBISHI EVO 7) [8]
29 DAMIEN TOURISH/CHARLIE MCGINTY (MITSUBISHI LANCER 1998) []
30 ED MULDOON/DAVID MULDOON (MITSUBISHI EVO 2000) [2]
31 MARTIN DOWNEY/NOEL DOWNEY (MITSUBISHI 2000) []
32 KERION GRAFFIN/NEIL DOHERTY (MITSUBISHI EVO 9) [2]
33 GREGORY SHAW/FERGAL SHAW (SUBARU IMPREZA 2000) [2]
34 GARETH LOGAN/ALAN PURDY (MITSUBISHI EVO 9) [2]
35 GREG McLAUGHLIN/GERARD MULLAN (MITSUBISHI Evo 6 2 litre) [2]
36 WILLIAM HAMILTON/HUGH MCCALLAN (MITSUBISHI EVO 5) [1]
37 JIMMY DONNELLY/KENNY BUSTARD (SUBARU IMPREZA ) [2]
38 GORDON THOMPSON/JIMMY THOMPSON (MITSUBISHI EVO 7) [2]
39 MICHAEL SWEENEY/ANDY MEEKIN (MITSUBISHI LANCER 1998) [2]
40 MARTY MCKENNA/DERMOT COLGAN (MITSUBISHI EVO) []
41 DAMIEN HYNDS/JOHN MAGILTON (MITSUBISHI EVO 6) [2]
42 PAT PRICE /SEAMUS O'CONNOR (SUBARU IMPREZA 1997) [2]
43 TOMAS MULDOON/JOHN MULDOON (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 8 2000) [8]
44 MARTIN CAREY/DAMIEN MCCANN (FORD ESCORT COS WORTH WRC) [8]
45 ANDREW RICHIE /GARNET MCFETRIDGE (MITSUBISHI EVO 5) [2]
46 ALAN CARMICHAEL/IVOR LAMONT (MITSUBISHI EVO 9 GP N) []
47 WILLIAM MAVITTY/TBA (MITSUBISHI 1999) []
48 DAMIEN MCCAFFREY/BRIAN MCEHILL (SUBARU IMPREZA 1994) []
49 MAURICE JELLIE/GERALD STANLEY (FORD ESCORT COSWORTH) [8]
50 AUSTIN SNOW/TBA (MITSUBISHI EVO 5) [1]
51 RICHARD ELLIOTT/GARY MILLAR (SUBARU 1994) [8]

54 PAUL BARRETT/DERMOT COLGAN (FORD FOCUS C MAX) [7]
55 ADRIAN HETHERINGTON/GARY NOLAN (FORD ESCORT MK2) [7]
56 FRANK KELLY/ (FORD ESCORT MK2) []
57 BRIAN LAWLOR/PETER KAVANAGH (FORD ESCORT MK2 2000) [7]
58 ALASTAIR COCHRANE/PAM IRWIN (FORD ESCORT MK2) []
59 SEAMUS O'CONNELL/ () [7]
60 AIDAN CALDWELL/PAUL VAUGHAN (FORD ESCORT 2000 16v) [7]
61 PAUL WARD/PETER WARD (FORD ESCORT ) [7]
62 RAYMOND DONNELLY/DONAL LENNON (FORD ESCORT) [6]
63 SHANE CULLEN/TBA (FORD ESCORT MK2 ) [6]
64 TREVOR ELLIOTT/EAMON MCGARRITY (FORD ESCORT) []
65 JOHN BUSTARD/ROBERT MCKELVEY (FORD ESCORT MK2) [6]
66 WILLIE MCFADDEN/ (ESCORT MK2) [7]
67 RONAN CAMPBELL/PAUL CORRY (FORD ESCORT MK2) [7]
68 FEARGHAL McDONALD/GERRY MCWILLIAMS (FORD ESCORT MK 2 ) [6]
69 ANDREW TROTTER/KEVIN CREIGHTON (FORD ESCORT 2000) [7]
70 DAVID CRAIG/ROGER LAIRD (FORD ESCORT 1998) [6]
71 CONOR KELLY/ (ESCORT) [5]
72 WILSON MCCONKEY/LIAM MCAULEY (FORD ESCORT MK2 ) [6]
73 STEPHEN DICKSON/DAVID DICKSON (VAUXHALL CORSA) [5]
74 PADDY MCGUCKIAN/CHRIS MCFERRAN (TOYOTA STARLET 1600 16V) [5]
75 IAN MILLAR/DAVID MCLEAN (FORD ESCORT 1600 16V) [5]
76 PAUL MOGEY/TBA (FORD ESCORT 2000) [6]
77 DAVID KERR/MAURACE CRESWELL (PEUGEOT 205) [4]
78 GARY OWENS/TBA (FORD ESCORT MK2) [7]
79 DARREN DONNELLY/MICHAEL LOUGHNEY (FORD ESCORT MK2) [6]
80 MERVYN WILSON/RICHARD GAMBLE (FORD ESCORT MK 2) [4]
81 MICHAEL FALOON/DAVID MCKONE (FORD ESCORT ) [5]
82 GARY KELLY/BARRY MCKENNA (NISSAN SUNNY) [5]
83 PAUL KILLEN/RICHARD MASON (FORD ESCORT MK2 2000) [6]
84 SHANE MCGIRR/TBA (TOYOTA STARLET 1398) [3]
85 DERMOT O' HAGAN/IAN HULL (VAUXHALL CORSA 1400) []
86 ORAN DONNELLY/PAUL HUGHES (FORD FIESTA RWD) [3]
87 MERVYN GALBRAITH/PETER THOMPSON (VAUXHALL NOVA) [3]
88 GARETH SAYERS/GARETH GILCHRIST (VAUXHALL NOVA) [3]
89 JEREMY CAREY/BRENDAN INGRAM (FORD ESCORT MK2 1998) [6]
90 DEREK CROSSAN/ANDREW BUSH (FORD ESCORT MK2) [7]
91 NIALL DONNELLY/TBA (FORD ESCORT MK 2) [4]
92 BRYAN JARDINE/TBA (FORD ESCORT 2000) [6]
93 CATHAL TAGGART/ROBERT FYFFE (FORD ESCORT ) [6]
94 ASHLEY DONALD/ TBA (FORD ESCORT MK 2) []
95 STEPHEN WISHART/JONATHAN CHARLESSON (FIAT 131 MIRAFIORI 2000) [6]
96 LIAM REGAN/TBA (FORD FIESTA ST 2000) [1]
97 JAMES MCGOVERN/GERRY OWENS (TOYOTA COROLLA 1587) [1]
98 MARK BROWNE/MICHAEL DEVLIN (PEUGEOT 306 GTI6) [1]
99 ROBERT ERWIN/TBA (TALBOT SUNBEAM 1600) [5]
100 JACK MAGUIRE/PAUL MAGUIRE (FORD ESCORT 2000) [6]
101 CLIVE KILPATRICK/RAYMOND MOORE (CITROEN SAXO S1600) [5]
102 FERGAL SHEVLIN/DONAL CULLIAN (FORD ESCORT 1300) [3]
103 GREGORY MCDAID/STEPHEN TIERNEY (VAUXHALL NOVA 1598) [4]
104 DECLAN SMITH/AIDAN DONNELLY (VAUXHALL 1998) [7]
105 RICHARD DOLAN /BARRY GALLEN (PEUGEOT 106) [5]
106 MARK MCCAFFREY/DAVID MAXWELL (LADA) [3]
107 WILLIAM SMITH/TBA (HONDA CIVIC) [5]
108 GLEN CAMPBELL/RAY FITZPATRICK (NISSAN MICRA 1300) [3]
109 NIGEL MILLS/LEROY MILLS (VAUXHALL CORSA 1300) [3]
110 STEPHEN WRIGHT/PAUL MAGEE (OPEL CORSA ) [3]
111 GLEN IRWIN/DAVID YOUNG (VAUXHALL NOVA 1400) [3]
112 CIARAN MCCULLAGH/DENIS GUINEY (VAUXHALL NOVA) [4]
113 COLM MCGINLEY/GARETH MCGINLEY (FORD ESCORT MK2) [6]
114 SONYA MAC/SAFRON THOMAS (FORD KA 1400) [3]
115 BRIAN LITTLE/MARC MCCAFFREY (TALBOT SUNBEAM T1 1598 8V) [4]
116 RUAIRI MCGARRITY/MARTIN MCGARRITY (VAUXHALL NOVA 1300) [3]
117 WILLIAM TODD/LLOYD COCHRANE (FORD ESCORT 2000 8V) []
118 BRIAN HUGHES/TBA (SKODA) [3]
119 CONNOR MURPHY/PHILLIP SHAW (FORD KA) [3]
120 BRENDAN QUINN/JOHN QUINN (PEUGEOT 205 GTI 1600 ) [4]
121 JASON KELLY/ANTONY DEVINE (TOYOTA COROLLA 1600) [1]

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12/09/07
Round eight of the Pacenotes backed series is less than two weeks away with the McGillen Bushwhacker Rally. Based from the Silverbirch Hotel in Omagh, the event's stages have moved this year to the forests outside Fivemiletown.

Service area will also be located in Fivemiletown.

The rally will start at 9.30am on Saturday 22 September and the first car will cross the finish ramp at approximately 5.30pm.

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22/08/07
This years McGillin Bushwhacker rally will once again start from the Silverbirch Hotel in Omagh and move South to Fivemiletown for a run round the forests South of the town

Two new stages will be used with an old stage resirected to complement the traditional stages used on the popular spring rally

The event is once again sponsered by the McGillin Bros and the Silverbirch hotel.

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• Download Regulations and Entry Form

• 2007 Northern Ireland Rally Championship