North Armagh Rally Time Trial (Kirkstown) - (Sat) 3 Nov 12

Posted: February 27, 2014 12:06 PM - 4918 Hits

McKinstry Motorsport Rally Timed Trial on the 3rd November 2012 at Kirkstown

Junior 1000 - Kyle White scores second win of the season, as Ben Crealey takes the title!

Posted: February 27, 2014 12:06 PM

After a controlled drive into second place in this Saturday’s fifth and final round - the McKinstry Motorsport Junior Stages Rally at Kirkistown - 15-year old Ben Crealey from Portadown became the first ever McGrady Insurance Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland winner. Fastest driver on the day was Kyle White, the 16-year old from Belfast setting the quickest time on all but one of the event’s six stages to score his second rally victory in a row.

The second visit to Kirkistown this season – the first being the opening round of the Irish Junior 1000 series in February – again saw competitors utilise sections of the venue’s racing circuit and perimeter roads, with the five entries for the 2012 finale facing three stages ran twice. With 12-points scored for a win and Ben lying eight ahead of Kyle following round four, all the series leader had to do was finish in order to claim the title. However, if he was to retire and Kyle finished first or second, then the crown would go to Kyle.

Boosted by his win in the previous round, driving his Peugeot 107 Kyle carried on from where he left off by setting the fastest time on the opening stage, 2.5-seconds ahead of Ben in his Nissan Micra. Adam Bustard from Castlederg was third fastest, crossing the timing beam three-seconds later in his Chevrolet Spark. Behind them James Partridge from Moira and Eoghan Bogue from Newry – both driving Nissan Micras – were locked in a battle for fourth, with only 0.3-seconds separating the two 14-year olds.

Wanting to end the season as he had started, Ben set the fastest time on stage two - but only just - as he was just 0.1-second quicker than Kyle. However, following a quiet word from his father at the next service halt, Ben’s enthusiasm to make a race of it was tempered, as he now needed to concentrate on finishing and claiming the title, rather than trying to win the rally and risk a DNF.

Adam was also picking up the pace and getting closer to the two drivers ahead of him and, seeing an opportunity to bid for the lead, his team made some adjustments to his car’s suspension. But Adam’s and their efforts were to go unrewarded – in dramatic fashion – when, pushing hard, the car clipped a tyre that was marking the course, which flipped it over. Thankfully, he and his co-driver and cousin Bob Bustard emerged from the inverted Chevy unscathed, which was more than could be said for the car. It was an unfortunate end to a good season for Adam, the incident marking not only the first accident the series had ever seen, but the first retirement too.

With Ben now taking on board his team orders, Kyle took advantage and proceeded to set the fastest time on SS3 and the remaining three stages of the day, to finish the rally nearly 17-seconds ahead of Ben. The battle between Eoghan and James – which was now for third place - continued to rage, the two of them so evenly matched there was never more than three-seconds between their times on any of the stages. As it turned out, Eoghan scored the most stage wins, and he managed to pull out a gap of nine-seconds ahead of James by the finish.

Following the sixth and final stage, the time sheets revealed Kyle as the winner by a margin of just under 17-seconds ahead of Ben in second, who had driven a perfect rally to ensure that he became Ireland’s inaugural Junior 1000 Rally Challenge winner. Kyle had done all he could to swing the title in his direction and, although having to be content with the runners-up spot, he was absolutely delighted to score his second win of the season.

Following a first season that has surpassed expectations in terms of competition, driving standards, public profile and status, Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland organisers are already making plans for 2013 and are expecting to confirm a calendar and publish information about the series within the next few weeks.

The 2012 McGrady Insurance Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland is supported by Yokohama tyres and SuperDrive Motorsports Centre.