Posted: October 14, 2008 4:10 PM - 6846 Hits
Imokilly Motor Club Hillclimb 12th October 2008 Killeagh, Co. Cork
Posted: October 14, 2008 4:10 PM
A foggy but dry morning greeted the crews as they arrived for sign on and Scrutiny on last Sunday morning for this inaugural IMC Hillclimb. Considering it was not a round of the National championship, a good entry of 65 cars including 3 specials signed on to battle it out to claim for the title of fastest man / woman up the hill.
With the fog slow to lift, the conditions were not ideally for the practice run which started at 11.00am with the road still damp. The first timed run up the hill saw local Midleton man Darragh O’Riordan set the fastest time of 0.55.27 in his Super 1600 Corsa B, closely followed by Brendan Harpur in his special with a time of 0.55.74 and Philip Cross in his Escort Cosworth 3rd 0.56.42 and Leonard Downey in his Mark 2 Escort 4th 0.56.43.
As the crews lined up for the second timed run up the hill, the sun was out and had burned off the fog and also allowed the road to dry up with a good racing line so everyone expected faster times and again Darragh O’Riordan clocked the fastest with a time of 0.54.35 which in the end turned out to be the fastest time of the day which clinched the title of “fastest man up the hill”. Brendan Harpur in the special also cut his time to remain in 2nd with a time of 0.54.43 which claimed him 2nd overall. A good time of 0.55.53 saw local man Allen Tracey in his ever familiar orange and white Twin Cam move into 3rd place overall after Philip Cross retired his Escort with engine problems.
With the sun shining brightly the crowds waited for the third & final run of the day to see would the overall leaderboard change as conditions were now ideal for the drivers who were now familiar with the hill so one final charge could see changes.
Both Darragh and Brendan were slightly slower on the final run but the times for their second run saw them holdout for 1st and 2nd respectively so the battle was left for 3rd & 4th. Leonard Downey in the yellow & white 2litre Escort stopped the clocks at 0.54.46 to claim 3rd overall and also the class win from local man Allen Tracey who stopped the clock at 0.54.98 for 4th O/a and 2nd in Class. Another local man Wesley Daly in his green Mark 2 escort stopped the clocks at 0.56.11 to take 5th o/a and also the class 9 win.
Overall a very enjoyable day was had by both drivers and spectators with the event running smoothly and efficiently thanks to the leadership of CoC Pat Maguire and his experienced crew. Hopefully next year we will be a counting round of the Hillclimb championship
A special thanks to all the marshals and anybody else who helped out on the day and to the local residents, Cork County Council and an Garda Siochana who allowed the IMC to hold this event.
Posted: October 6, 2008 10:19 AM
This is the first time that the Imokilly Motor Club have organised such an event and C.O.C Pat Maguire and his team have put a great amount of work into the preparation of the event. The venue is Goulds Hill which is midway between the villages of Mogeely and Killeagh. The service area will be on a closed section of the Mogeely to Killeagh Road at the bottom of the Hill. Access to the hill will be from the N25 at Killeagh. A one way system will be in operation and competitors are reminded to please approach from the Killeagh direction.
A huge entry is expected as the entry secretary has received close on 60 entries and there is still a week to go. Although the event is not a round of the Hillclimb Championship a lot of the championship regulars will be in action including No1 seed Paul O’Connell the 2008 Magnus Technology Hillclimb & Sprint Champion, along with a number of local drivers. Entries are still available by contacting the event secretary Derek Power on 087-9565612 or regulations can be downloaded from rally.ie. A maximum of 85 entries will be accepted.
Anybody interested in helping out on Sunday should contact any of the club committee.
Imokilly Motor Club would like to thank An Garda Siochana, Cork County Council, the local residents and the land owners. Traffic diversions will be in operation on the day and will be signposted.
Posted: July 25, 2008 7:31 PM
Date Change from 14 Sep 08 to 12 October 08
More Details to follow