Posted: August 2, 2015 12:09 PM - 33778 Hits
Round 3 - 2014 Tarmac Rally Championship
Round 2 - 2014 Southern 4 Rally Championship
Posted: August 2, 2015 11:57 AM
International Rally
Sam Moffett and James O'Reilly could scarcely belief as they arrived at Killarney's Gleneagle Hotel on Sunday evening as winners of the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes.
The County Monaghan due survived Sunday's challenging route that saw two different rally leaders crash out in the space of four stages. It marks the Ford Fiesta World Rally Car crew's second international rally win after they claimed the spoils on last June's Donegal Rally too.
Donegal driver Declan Boyle, fresh from his victory on the Circuit of Ireland over Easter weekend led from the outset although he was complaining that his Subaru Impreza was down on power and that he was overdriving it as a result.
Fellow Donegal man Donagh Kelly slotted was in second place and started day two less than ten seconds off the lead car with Moffett the best part of a minute behind.
The rally got turned on its head when Boyle crashed out on stage ten, the first running of the Lough Allua test and this left Kelly will a solid lead. He elected to back-off over the remaining four stages in an effort to secure his first international win. However he backed off too much and Moffett reduced the gap to just 25 seconds with 25 kilometres left to run. Once again the rally got turned on its head when Kelly put his Ford Focus off the road and out of the rally on the penultimate test at Fuhiry
Moffett said:
"When Declan crashed out I could see there was a chance of the win. I don't know if I put Donagh under pressure. That last stage was one of the slowest I ever drove but I just wanted to make sure I got to the finish."
Local driver Alan Ring and his West Cork co-driver Adrian Deasy were second overall in their first outing in a Subaru Impreza WRC. The Castleisland man spent the early stages getting used to his new mount, especially the incredible braking power of the supercar, but they did set the fastest time on the reverse run over Moll's Gap to close the rally.
Other locals in the top ten of the international rally included Athea driver Johnny O'Connor and his Abbeyfeale co-diver Keith Moriarty who ninth overall and first in class in their Citroen C2 R2.
National Rally
The national rally was equally dramatic with the lead changing several times over the course of the two days.
Clonmel's Roy White and his Kanturk co-driver James O'Brien were the eventual winners over Wesley Patterson and Killarney Historic Rally winner Daclan Gallagher.
Young Killarney driver Rob Duggan put in the drive of the rally to take fourth overall in his little 1600cc Honda Civic. The Aghadoe youngster set some implausible times , especially on the three runs up Moll's Gap, many of which would have seen him running in the top four in the international section and against much more powerful four-wheel drive and turbocharged machinery.
Duggan, 20, and his co-driver Noel O'Sullivan were awarded the John Mullane Cup (for the best all Kerry crew) for their efforts and is the youngest driver to win this much coveted trophy in Kerry motorsport.
Kilorglin's Fergus O'Meara and Mikie Galvin were in contention for this award for much of the rally but rear axle problems in their Ford Escort Mk2 during Sunday's loop dropped them down the order and they eventually finished fifth in the national section.
Other Kerry crews to finish in the top ten of the national were Vincent O' Shea/ Brian Hickey (Kenmare) Ken O'Neill/ Ronald O'Riordan (Milltown), Charlie / Johnny Hickey (Killarney) and Colin and Liam Moynihan (Millstreet).
Tadgh O'Sullivan finished just outside the top ten in his Escort while Tralee's Darren Young and his Eindhoven based co-driver Ray Stack recorded their first Rally of the Lakes finish ' it was Stack's tenth attempt!
Cyril Wharton and Helen Duggan (Firies) won class 12 from Denis Hickey/ Eoin O'Leary (Glenflesk). Paudie O'Callaghan and Dan Murphy (Barraduff) were second in class nine , ahead of Noel O'Sullivan and Nicky Burke.
FIA European Historic Rally
For the second year in a row the rally was a round of the European Historic Rally championship and attracted entries from all over the continent.
Millstreet driver Denis Moynihan and his Listry co-driver Ger Conway won this section after a massive three-way battle. He described the win as the biggest in his career.
Mark Falvey and Diarmuid Lynch (Rathmore) were in contention for much of the rally but rolled their Ford Escort Mk1 on stage 11. UK visitors Rob Smith and Alun Cook were leading this category by just 0.6 of a second with just two stages to run but hit a wall on the penultimate test and had to settle for second. Austrian driver Karl Wegner was third with Sweden's Mats Myrsell fourth.
Isle of Man driver Declan Jackson won the IRL Historic section while County Louth's Phillip McKibbin , guided by Tralee co-driver Padraig Brick, were fourth in this category.
Juniors
The junior category ran over the Sunday loop and was won by the all-Cork crew of Fergus Hurley and Eric Deane in a Ford Escort Mk2.
Posted: August 2, 2015 11:54 AM
The third round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes, had a dramatic conclusion with Sam Moffett taking his first international win of the year right at the end. Overnight leader Declan Boyle looked set to continue his winning ways as he led overnight and stretched his lead after the first Molls Gap stage, but after Donagh Kelly had closed the gap again on Borlin; Boyle went off the road and out of the rally on Stage 10, Lough Allua. This left his fellow Donegal man Donagh Kelly in line to take his first ever international victory as he held a 48 second lead over Sam Moffett. However Moffett began to exert pressure and by stage 13 the gap had closed to just 26 seconds with just two stages remaining. It all went wrong for Kelly who rolled into a bog on Fuhiry and his dreams went up in smoke leaving Moffett in pole position with just one run over Molls Gap to be completed, and he didn't disappoint.
Alan Ring was next up in his hired Impreza WRC, his best ever international result while it was a good day all round for the Moffetts as Sam's younger brother Josh took third place and also won the Group N category quite comprehensively. Eugene Meegan and Stephen McCann were next up just separated by five seconds after a long tough weekend, while Joseph McGonigle rounded off the top six in his Renault Clio. After three rounds of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship the provisional standings are 1- Declan Boyle (54), 2 - Donagh Kelly (33), 3 - Josh Moffett (32.5), 4 - Sam Moffett (31), 5 -Garry Jennings (25).
In the Modified Championship Wesley Patterson took a fine second place behind Roy Whites MG to stop Declan Gallagher's run of maximum points in the three rounds before this weekend. Gallagher though still managed to take third place and is still strongly positioned to take the title as he holds a 20 point lead over Patterson in the category. Mark Nangle remains in third place but a long way off the leading pair. Provisional championship standings are 1 - Declan Gallagher (57), 2 - Wesley Patterson (37) and 3 - Mark Nangle (20). The Historic Championship also has a new leader as Denis Moynihan held off some strong challenges to win the FIA Historic Category and move into a three point lead. Once his closest rival Mark Falvey had rolled out of the event on stage 11, Moynihan only needed to hold position to replace the non-competing Ray Cunningham at the top of the championship pile. Provisional standings after four rounds are; 1 - Denis Moynihan (33), 2 - Ray Cunningham (30), 3 - Mark Falvey (22.5).
There is now a six week break before the next round of the championship, the Donegal International Rally in the middle of June and the championship has now been opened up. It promises to be a fantastic event and all of the championship regulars should be there to try to further their prospects this season.
Posted: August 2, 2015 11:46 AM
FIA Historics
1 Denis Moynihan/Gerard Conway (Ford Escort) 2h 37m 32s,
2 Robert Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort) 2h 37m 57s,
3 Karl Wagner/Gerda Zauner (Porsche 911) 2h 40m 52s,
4 Mats Myrsell/Esko Juntilla (Porsche 911) 2h 42m 28s,
5 Ernie Graham/William Graham (Ford Escort) 2h 43m 18s,
6 Maurizio Pagella/Roberto Brea (Porsche 911) 3h 02m 33s.
International
1 Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h 59m 28s,
2 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 02m 07s,
3 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 07m 34s,
4 Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 11m 19s,
5 Stephen McCann/Lisa O'Dowd (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 11m 54s,
6 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Renault Clio R3) 2h 12m 08s.
Class winners:
Stephen Carey/Breda O'Driscoll (Honda Civic),
Johnny O'Connor/Keith Moriarty (Citroen C2R2 Max),
Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney,
Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan,
David Forde/T J O'Brien (Subaru Impreza).
National
1 Roy White/James O'Brien (MG ZR S2400) 2h 04m 03s,
2 Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Ford Escort) 2h 04m 37s,
3 Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Toyota Starlet) 2h 05m 05s,
4 Rob Duggan/Noel O'Sullivan (Honda Civic) 2h 06m 43s,
5 Fergus O'Meara/Mikie Galvin (Ford Escort) 2h 07m 45s,
6 Vincent O'Shea/Brian Hickey (Ford Escort) 2h 09m 55s.
Irish Historic
1 Declan Jackson/Barry McCarney (Ford Escort) 2h 19m 30s,
2 Guy Woodcock/Ross Weir (Ford Escort) 2h 21m 05s,
3 Philip McKibbin/Padraic Brick (Ford Escort) 2h 25m 51s,
4 John Spiers/Susanne Niedrum (Porsche 911) 2h 36m 20s.
Junior
1 Sean Fleming/Niall McLarnon (Ford Fiesta) 1h 13m 19s,
2 Fergus Hurley/Eric Deane (Ford Escort) 1h 13m 20s,
3 Cathal Quill/Iarla McCarthy (Honda Civic) 1h 13m 41s,
4 Andrew Beamish/Sean Walsh (Vauxhall Nova) 1h 14m 32s,
5 Eric Calnan/Cillian Crowley (Peugeot 106) 1h 14m 52s,
6 Cathal McCarthy/Eamonn Creedon (Honda Civic) 1h 15m 35s.
Leaders:
SS1-9 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS10-13 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC)
Stage Winners
SS1 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS2 Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Ford Fiesta WRC)
SS3 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC)
SS4 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS5 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC)
SS6 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC)
SS7 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS8 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS9 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC)
SS10 Robert Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort RS1800) Stage Cancelled for Main Field
SS11 Robert Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort RS1800) Stage Cancelled for Main Field
SS12 Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Ford Fiesta WRC)
SS13 Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Ford Fiesta WRC)
SS14 Denis Moynihan/Gerard Conway (Ford Escort MkI BDA) Stage Cancelled for Main Field
SS15 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Subaru Impreza WRC)
Posted: April 30, 2014 9:04 AM
Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy will use Melyvn Evans' S12B this weekend in Killarney.
Posted: April 30, 2014 8:55 AM
Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan now head for the Killarney Rally of the Lakes, round three of the Clonakilty Black Pudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship this weekend. After a third place on the opening round in Galway in February, and second on the Circuit of Ireland at Easter their Northgate Vehicle Hire supported Ford Focus WRC has been re-fettled for this classic two day event.
Having completed the recce, Donagh feels an arduous event is in store. “It’s going to be at tough rally” commented the Donegal driver.
“The stages are demanding, particularly the likes of Borlin, Lough Allua and Fuhiry. There is certainly a lot of driving in the stages, and it will test the cars too. Added to these there are other classics such as Ballaghbema, Caragh Lake and of course Molls Gap, so it’s certainly a big event.
Fellow Donegal driver Declan Boyle leads the Tarmac race with two victories so far in his Subaru WRC, but another Subaru charger Garry Jennings is as yet unsure whether he will make the start ramp after a heavy final crash whilst leading the Circuit of Ireland. The championship race is really on and Donagh is mindful also of other challengers.
“I think Sam Moffett too will go very well. He was on a good pace on the Circuit, and he won Monaghan in style. I believe Daragh O’Riordan now has his Fiesta mapped better and he is a former winner in Killarney. The stages too could suit the Fiesta’s. Alan Ring is always really fast here in a Group N car, and I think he has secured an S12B Subaru for this rally, so he too could be worth watching, and these drivers could all affect the point’s race. We know this event is very important to us for the series. “
Last year Donagh lost second place by just half a second to Derek McGarrity, so the KN Networks team has good experience of the superb special stages, and the Pirelli shod Focus should be well prepared for the event.
“We definitely have improved out speed to be up there now, and the Circuit showed that. We can set top times, but we need to be more consistent and that’s going to be important this weekend.” It’s a busy time for Donagh with the Circuit of Ireland, Killarney recce and the rally all within two weeks, but even busier is his work schedule which at the time of writing meant that he was in Scotland.
A ceremonial start in Killarney on Friday evening is followed by two hectic days of competition. The final stage is a long since used down-hill version of Molls Gap before the Sunday tea-time finish at the Gleneagle Hotel.
Posted: April 29, 2014 3:23 PM
Withdrawn:
2 Gary Jennings/Rory Kennedy (TBA TBA) [6]
19 Phil Collins/Gwynfor Jones (TBA Ford escort) [14]
32 Paul Purtill/Paul Kelly (Ford Escort) [13]
34 Mickey Conlon/ TBA (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
74 Anthony Robinson/Keith Fellowes (Porsche 911) [C4]
76 Johnny Curran/Conor Curran (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
84 Eanmon O'Connell/Mark Linehan (Honda Civic) [11]
101 Kevin Donnelly/ TBA (Nissan Micra) [9]
116 Trevor Galvin/Vincent Hilliard (Subaru Impreza STI) [20]
127 Paul Scannell/Mossy Griffin (Ford Escort) [11]
Late Entries:
H17 Peter Egerton/Jamie Edwards (Vauxhall Chevette HSR) [D4]
H18 Rob Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort RS1800) [D3]
23 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
33 Tommy Doyle/James McCarville (Reaault Clio R3+) [13]
43 Liam Howlett/John McGrath (Ford Escort RS Mk2) [13]
J3 John O'Flaherty/Brian Slattery (Ford Escort Mk2) [J2]
Co-Driver updates:
11 Aaron Machale/Martin Brady (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
72 Rikki Proffitt/Phill Harrison (TBA TBA) [B5]
85 Richard Tannahill/Ella Ryan (Peugeot 208 R2) [2]
86 ED Twomey/William Lynch (Ford Fiesta R2) [2]
92 Jason Clifford/Alan Curran (Peugeot 205 RWD) [13]
129 Ian Hynes/Desmond Sherlock (Honda Civic Type R) [1]
136 Kieran Murphy/Aaron Johnston (Honda Civic EK4) [11]
Posted: April 29, 2014 3:09 PM
For 25 year old Cal McCarthy and Carbery Plastics employee, 21 year old Conor McCarthy, this weekend’s Killarney Rally of the Lakes will test both them and their Honda Civic’s to the limit. The Carbery Plastics team have had a superb start to the season, and a new website www.carberyplasticsrallying.com has just been activated to keep track of the team’s activities.
The season started off well for Cal McCarthy and co-driver Eamonn Dullea in their newly built Class 11 Honda Civic with an eighth place finish and first in class on the West Cork Rally. It was an ideal start to their Clonakilty Black Pudding Irish Tarmac Modified challenge, and this weekend presents their second opportunity to score vital points.
“It won’t be easy” says Cal. “I’ve started the Rally of the Lakes six times and only finished once, and this year the route is tough. You will definitely need to look after your car. They are real driver’s stages and the re-addition of Borlin and Molls Gap down-hill will really help to shake things up.”
The opposition in class 11 this weekend will be very tough, so a hard fought battle is in store.
“Rob Duggan is the local master of Molls Gap, and he will go very well. You have also Ken O’Neill in the Puma and Vincent McSweeney who we had the battle with in West Cork, so there’s a really good entry.” Cal and Eamonn will wheel the Carbery Plastics Honda off the Killarney town centre start ramp at number 38.
Seeded number 4 in the Junior Rally, Conor McCarthy and Dan O’Donavan are aiming to continue a run of success this season. In West Cork Conor drove the EK4 Civic to second in the Junior category, but went one better by taking Junior victory on the Moonraker Forestry event. Conor would very much like to be in the running for the prestigious Billy Coleman Award and so far the 21 year old has shown excellent speed and consistency. Now he has to switch his car and driving style back to tarmac. The Lough Allua stage is close to home, so their will great local support, not least from his father Liam, a former front runner on the Rally of the Lakes.
Keep up to date with the team’s progress on their Facebook page- Carbery Plastics Rally Team and Twitter @CPRallying. The new website www.carberyplasticsrallying.com will also be up-dated with the latest news, as this exciting new two car rally team continues its travels in 2014!
Posted: April 26, 2014 6:22 PM
The 35th running of the Cartell.ie has attracted an unprecedented entry of 170 cars across it fours sections – International, modified, historic and junior.
Action gets underway with a ceremonial start in Killarney’s town centre on Friday night where organiser, Killarney and District Motor Club have laid on a family entertainment evening where fans can meet the leading drivers, while watching action from previous events on a gig screens set to a back drop of live music provided my local bands and djs.
Main field contenders
Heading the international Entry list is last year’s winner, is current Clonakilty Black Pudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leader Declan Boyle. The Donegal man arrives in Kerry on the back of four outright victories this year including the recent Fel’s Point Hotel Circuit of Kerry and the two opening rounds of the ITRC, The Galway International and the Easter Weekend Circuit of Ireland Rally.
Last year’s winner, Gary Jennings, looks certain to field a Subaru Impreza S14 from the McGarrity stable. The Fermanagh man crashed out while leading the Circuit of Ireland on the final stage and his own Impreza suffered substantial damage and makes it unlikely to be readied in time for Killarney.
This leaves the Derek McGarrity entry up in the air but it looks certain he will use the Mini World Rally Car he is drove in Belfast two weeks ago instead of the Impreza he will now hand over to Jennings. If this materialises it could mark the first of two Mini WRCs on the entry list as former Lakes winner and multiple Tarmac champion Eugene Donnelly has been in touch with the organisers and expressed an interest in placing a late entry.
West Cork Rally winner Donagh Kelly will be seeking his first Killarney win in his Ford Focus WRC, while the 2012 Billy Coleman award winner, Sam Moffett, in his Fiesta WRC, will be anxious to make his mark on the International Rally scene and add to his Donegal International Rally victory last June.
Add in former two-time Lakes winner Darragh O’Riordan who led last year’s rally until early in the second day in his Fiesta and Roy White , who appears to have sorted the reliability problems in his Rover MG, loves the Killarney stages and has shown that he has the speed to mix it with the best that the opposition can throw at him and the destination of the winner’s trophy for 2014 is anyone’s guess.
Local Driver Alan Ring has reverted to his Group N Subaru for this season but has endured a season from hell. From four starts so far this year he has yet to make the finish and the Castleisland man will trying to reverse this run of bad luck. He faces opposition from drivers such as Josh Moffett (Evo) and former National Group N Champion Colm Murphy.
Making a welcome return to the rally scene is Aaron McHale,who will be seeking to continue in the winning ways which made his father, Austin, a multiple Tarmac Rally Champion.
Modified rally
In the National Rally all the big Escort brigade come out to play but perhaps the person who will cause them most bother is the flying milkman from Donegal, Declan Gallagher, who put in such an incredible drive over many of these same stages to take the overall win in the Modified section of the 2013 Rentokill Killarney Historic Rally last December, on his first ever event in Killarney.
Declan went on to repeat the category win in the West Cork Rally and will be anxious to consolidate his claim to the top spot in the Modified Challenge of the Clonakilty Black Pudding Tarmac Championship.
Others well in contention in the National section include local crews Barry Meade who has returned to rallying after a year of competitive cycling, Fergus O’Meara who won the National Section last and Billy Coleman award finalist and local driver Rob Duggan in his incredibly quick Honda Civic.
Last year’s FIA Historic Rally of the Lakes winner Wesley Patterson has abandoned his Appendix K Car to revert to his more familiar Modified machine and will also be a strong contender, as will the legendary Phil Collins who makes the trip from Herefordshire to the stages he loves so well and where he has enjoyed considerable success over the past 32 years.
Local crews
The battle for the John Mullane Cup for the highest placed driver from Co Kerry will be as closely contested as it has been since the award was first introduced in the very early days of the Rally of the Lakes.
Killarney’s Ed Murphy comes to the event on the back of two great drives in the Dunlop National series, which have netted him a 5th overall in Birr and 9th overall in the recent Circuit of Kerry will one of the favourites for both the top Kerry driver and overall honours in the modified rally.
Miltown’s Fergus O’Meara is the defending modified rally champion although an injured calf muscle kept him off his own exacting pace in Tralee last month, if the injury is behind him, he will give Patterson, Collins and indeed Murphy a run for him money over the class south and mid Kerry roads.
Apart from the Kerry crews already mentioned one can never rule out the father and son combination of Charlie and Johnny Hickey whose experience of these stages is vast, as indeed is that of John Hickey, Kevin O’Donoghue and Vincent O’Shea.
FIA European Historic Rally Championship
The FIA Historic Rally will run ahead of the International rally and will be headed by Millstreet’s Mark Falvey, the Start to Finish winner of the Rentokill Historic Rally last December and also of the Historic section of the 2013 Cork 20 International
Mark’s opposition will be provided by crews from the UK, Isle of Man, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Spain in Appendix K cars which include Ford, Lancia, Triumph, Porsche, Vauxhall and BMW.
Finnish driver, Pentti Veikkanen, a regular on the European scene for the last four years will bring his historic-rally spec Porsche 911 SC to the Kerry next month. He will be joined by his countrymen Klaus Wilkman in Triumph TR8 and Sverre Norrgård in a BMW 2002.
Swedish visitor, Mats Myrsell, an event front-runner in his home country will field another Porsche 911 in the historic section of the rally.
Spanish driver Gonzalo Ambit, has only every contested one rally outside Spain and that was in Italy but that has not deterred him from bringing his BMW 323i to Kerry.
Two Italian drivers, Lucky Lucky and Enrico Brazzoli will contest the two-day rally in two of the sport’s most revered rally cars. The pair have entered a brace of Lancia Rally 037s – the last time such a car competed in Ireland was in 1983 in the hands of the late Pentti Airikkala. Lucky Lucky is co-driven by Fabriza Pons who found fame in 1980s alongside French driver Michelle Mouton, so far the only all female crew to win a round of the World Rally Championship.
Luigi Zampaglione is the third Italian on the list driving another Porsche 911.
Other international entries
In the main field three Irish emigrants will return to their homeland from the USA. All three, Paul Rowley (Honda Civic), Martin Donnelly (Hyundai Accent) and Liam Egan (Toyota Corolla) are regular trans-Atlantic visitors to Irish events.
The rally has also attracted a large entry, across all categories, from England, Wales and The Isle of Man.
Jersey, in the Channel Islands, is also represented on the entry list with West Cork native Ray O’Donoghue making the journey to compete on his home patch on the Sunday in his Ford Escort Mark II.
A strong Junior Entry has already been received and these will join the rally for all of the second leg of the rally on Sunday morning. Killarney Historic Junior Rally winner John Flaherty from Ardfert has placed a late entry for the rally and will be the benchmark for the other 25 drivers in the under-25 category.
The Route
The event gets under way with a ceremonial in Killarney town centre on Friday evening with competitive motoring kicking off on Saturday morning to tackle a loop of three stages at Molls Gap, Beallaghbeama and Caragh Lake before returning to Service at the Liebherr Container Cranes factory in Fossa.
A second loop of these three classic stages follows, with a further visit to Service before tackling the final stage at Kilcummin, which is a shortened version of the stage which featured as the finale of the Killarney Historic Rally for the past two years.
The first day’s stages will be familiar to most Rally of the Lakes regulars but there are some variations such as a hairpin right at the end of Molls Gap and Beallaghbeama reverting to the longer version which was a feature of the earlier years of the Rally of the Lakes.
Sunday sees the cars tackle Molls Gap for the third time and then it’s on to a loop of three stages which have not been used for ten years in the Rally of the Lakes, The first of these, Borlin, is actually a combination of two old classics, Sheen River and Borlin, and takes the rally over the county bounds into County Cork.
The second is the fabulous lakeside stage at Lough Allua, which was a regular feature of the Circuit of Ireland up to the eighties and of the Rally of the Lakes from 84 until 2004.
In recent years the stage has been associated with the Cork 20 International but the Cork 20 version generally runs in the opposite direction to the Lakes format, starting in Ballingeary and finishing in Kilmichael.
Fuhiry, which starts outside Ballingeary, brings the rally back over the County Bounds , past Creedons at the Top of Coom, the highest pub in Ireland, which openly re-opened last week after a devastating fire two years ago, and finishes on a fast downhill section towards Kilgarvan.
Service in Kenmare Mart is followed by a further trip over the same loop of three and, after a final service in Kenmare, the rally concludes a run over Moll’s Gap back to Killarney. The first car is due at the finish ramp at the Gleneagle Hotel just after 5pm on Sunday evening.
Posted: April 24, 2014 10:43 AM
Fia Historic
Car Driver/Navigator (Car) [Class]
H1 Mark Falvey/Diarmuid Lynch (Ford Escort Mk1) [K]
H2 Denis Moynihan/Ger Conway (Ford Escort Mk2) [K]
H3 Lucky Lucky/Fabrizia Pons (Lancia Rally 037) [E6]
H4 Maurizio Pagella/Roberto Brea (Porsche 911 SC RS) [E6]
H5 Ernie Graham/Will Graham (Ford Escort RS) [D3]
H6 Antonio Parisi/Giuseppe D Angelo. (Porsche 911) [B4]
H7 Valter Chr. Jensen/Erik Pedersen (Porsche Carrera RS) [C5]
H8 Karl Wagner/Gerda Zauner (Porsche 911) [D4]
H9 Lucio Dazanche/Giulio Oberti (Porsche Carrera RS) [C5]
H10 Luigi Zampaglione/Roberto Consiglio (Porsche 911) [B4]
H11 Mats Myrsell/Esko Junttila (Porsche 911) [C5]
H12 Anders Johnsen/Ingrid Johnsen (Porsche 911) [C5]
H13
H14 Pentti Veikkanen/Solja Mentu (Porsche 911) [D4]
H15 Klaus Wilkman/Reino Kousa (Triumph TR 8) [D4]
H16 Sverre Norrgård/Reeta Hämäläinen (BMW 2002 ti) [B4]
Mainfield
Car Driver/Navigator (Make/Model) [Class]
1 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC S12B) [6]
2 Gary Jennings/Rory Kennedy (TBA) [6]
3
4 Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Ford Fiesta WRC) [6]
5 Donagh Kelly/Flanagan Kevin (Ford Focus WRC) [6]
6 Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Subaru Impreza WRC S14) [6]
7 Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Ford Fiesta WRC) [6]
8 Roy White/James O'Brien (MG ZR) [20]
9 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Subaru Impreza N12) [4]
10 Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Subaru Impreza N12) [4]
11 Aaron Machale/ TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
12 Eoin Doyle/Peter Brennan (Ford Focus WRC) [6]
13
14 Fergus O'Meara/Mikie Galvin (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
15 Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Toyota Starlet RWD) [13]
16 Barry Meade/Eamon Hayes (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
17 Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Ford Escort RS Mk2) [14]
18 ED Murphy/John McCarthy (Ford Escort) [13]
19 Phil Collins/Gwynfor Jones (Ford Escort) [14]
20 Rob Duggan/Noel O'Sullivan (Honda Civic) [11]
21 Kevin O'Donoghue/Joe O'Leary (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
22 Charlie Hickey/Johnny Hickey (Ford Escort RS) [14]
23
24 Vincent O'Shea/Brian Hickey (Ford Escort) [14]
25 John Hickey/John McCarthy (Ford Escort 4x4) [20]
26 Kevin O'Sullivan/Martin O'Riordan (Subaru Impreza STI) [20]
27 Jason McSweeney/Denis O'Mahony (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [20]
28 Stephen McCann/Lisa O'Dowd (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
29 Brian O'Keeffe/Sean Hayde (Subaru Impreza N14) [4]
30 Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
31 Joseph McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Renault Clio R3) [3]
32 Paul Purtill/Paul Kelly (Ford Escort) [13]
33
34 Mickey Conlon/ TBA (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
35 Raymond Conlon/Nicola McKenna (Toyota Corolla) [13]
36 Stephen Carey/Breda O'Driscoll (Honda Civic) [1]
37 Ken O'Neill/Ronald Riordan (Ford Puma S1600) [3]
38 Cal McCarthy/Eamonn Dullea (Honda Civic) [11]
39 Vincent McSweeney/Michael Kearney (Honda Civic) [11]
40 Mark Dolphin/Finbarr Quirke (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
41 Ken Lyons/Paddy McDonnell (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
42 Tadhg O'Sullivan/Ian Murphy (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
43
44 Allen Treacy/Bob Fitzgerald (Toyota Corolla) [13]
45 Walter Dick/Mark O'Sullivan (Ford Escort) [13]
46 Adrian McElhinney/Paddy Gorman (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
47 Martin Donnelly/Brian Doherty (Toyota Corolla) [15]
48 Mark Nangle/Nollaig Breen (Subaru Impreza) [20]
49 Joe Connolly/Richard Connolly (Ford Escort RS1800) [14]
50 Enda McCormack/Colin Fitzgerald (Hyundai Accent WRC) [6]
51 David Fleming/Kieran Doherty (Honda Civic) [11]
52 Colin Moynihan/Liam Moynihan (Honda Civic) [11]
53
54 Conor Moore/Leo Tector (Honda Civic) [11]
55
56 Mark Horgan/Des Flynn (Honda Civic) [11]
57 Ian Chadwick/Kevin Horgan (Skoda Fabia R2) [1]
58 Darren Young/PJ O'Dowd (Honda Civic) [11]
59 Kieran Marshall/Thomas Hayes (Honda Civic Type R) [1]
60 Johnny O'Connor/Keith Moriarty (Citroen C2 R2 MAX) [2]
61 Cyril Wharton/Helen Duggan (Ford Escort Mk2) [12]
62 Con Lucey/Shane McCarthy (Ford Escort Mk1) [12]
63
64 Donal McCarthy/Henry Riedy (Ford Escort) [12]
65 Denis Hickey/Eoin O'Leary (Ford Escort) [12]
66 Seanie Hickey/Noel Fleming (Toyota Starlet) [12]
67 Pat Price/Patrick (jnr) Price (Subaru Impreza N12B) [4]
68 Eddie Garry/Kevin Kelleher (Subaru Impreza GpN) [15]
69 Rob Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort RS1800) [K]
70 Guy Woodcock/Ross Weir (Ford RS2000) [D3]
71 Peter Egerton/Jamie Edwards (Vauxhall Chevette HSR) [K]
72 Rikki Proffitt/Harrison Phill (TBA TBA) [B5]
73
74 Anthony Robinson/Keith Fellowes (Porsche 911) [C4]
75 Sean O'Carroll /Elaine NI She (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
76 Johnny Curran/Conor Curran (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
77 Eoin Neville/Andy Hayes (Honda Civic Type R) [1]
78 Paul O'Connell/Jill White (Honda Civic) [11]
79 Jason O'Mahony/Jonathan O'Mahony (Honda Civic) [11]
80 Andrew Lehane/Cliff Desmond (Honda Civic) [11]
81 David Brosnan/Kieran Brosnan (Honda Civic Vtec) [11]
82 Shane Buckley/Keefe Kilcoyne (Honda Civic EK4) [13]
83
84 Eamon O'Connell/Mark Linehan (Honda Civic) [11]
85 Richard Tannahill/TBA (Peugeot 208 R2) [2]
86 ED Twomey/TBA (Ford Fiesta) [2]
87 Paul Rowley/Patrick Brides (Honda Civic) [2]
88 Adrian Levis/Alison Levis (Honda Civic EK4) [2]
89 Mike O'Shaughnessy/Timmy O'Sullivan (Ford Escort) [11]
90 Paul Casey/Vincent Goggin (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
91 Ray O'Donoghue/Derek Tobin (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
92 Jason Clifford/ TBA (Peugeot 205 RWD) [13]
93
94 David Forde/TJ O'Brien (Subaru Impreza STI) [7]
95 Tom White/ TBA (Citroen C2 R2) [6]
96 Victor Beamish/Susan Beamish (Vauxhall Nova) [10]
97 Noel O'Sullivan/Nicholas Burke (Ford Escort Mk2) [9]
98 Paudie Callaghan/Danny Murphy (Toyota Starlet) [9]
99 Pat Sheehan/Pat Cashman (Honda Civic 1400) [9]
100 Mark O'Saughnessy/Brendan O'Mahoney (Peugeot 106 Xsi) [9]
101 Kevin Donnelly/ TBA (Nissan Micra) [9]
102 Shane Stanley/Liam Fouhy (Honda Civic) [9]
103
104 Michael Nolan/Jimmy Kiely (Honda Civic VTi) [11]
105 Joe Baker/Eric Murray (Honda SIR Vtec) [11]
106 Timmy Ahern/Paul Stack (Honda Civic Vtec) [11]
107 John Spiers/Susanne Niedrum (Porsche 911) [C4]
108 Declan Jackson/J Barry McCarney (Ford Escort Mk2) [D3]
109 Philip McKibbin/Padraig Brick (Ford Escort Mk1) [C3]
110 Patrick Kearney/Alistair Wyllie (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [20]
111 Keith Naughton/Brendan Behan (Subaru Impreza STI) [20]
112 Michael Murphy/Pat Cashman (Toyota Ae86) [11]
113
114 Colm Forde/Jonathon Trill (Peugeot 206 Cup Car) [11]
115 Colum Browne/Lawrence McGrath (Honda Civic EK4) [16]
116 Trevor Galvin/Vincent Hilliard (Subaru Impreza STI) [20]
117 Alan O'Riordan/James Jordan (Subaru Impreza) [15]
118 Anthony Breen/Fergal Keane (Subaru Impreza N12) [20]
119 Stephen O'Donovan/Donal Flavey (Ford Escort Mk2) [10]
120 Terry Carmody/Don Bosco Rogers (Ford Escort) [11]
121 Donal Flynn/Niall Myers (Toyota Twin Cam RWD) [11]
122 Jonathan Courtney/Jason Russell (Ford Escort) [11]
123
124 John Browne/Collins Sean (Honda Civic) [11]
125 Tom O'Sullivan/Matt Sweetman (Peugeot 205 GTi) [10]
126 Denis O'Brien/Sean O'Crowley (Opel Corsa) [10]
127 Paul Scannell/Mossy Griffin (Ford Escort) [11]
128 Anthony Whelton/Catriona Whelton (Ford Escort) [11]
129 Ian Hynes/ TBA (Honda Civic Type R) [1]
130 Donal Dineen/Bryan Giles (Peugeot 205 GTi) [10]
131 Gordon Dreaper/Derek Bovenizer (Peugeot 205 GTi) [10]
132 Michael Forde/Jim Cunningham (Talbot Sunbeam) [11]
133
134 Gavin O'Grady/Alan Moroney (Ford Escort Mk2) [11]
135 Edward Kennedy/Maurice O'Connor (Peugeot 106 GTi) [11]
136 Kieran Murphy/ TBA (Honda Civic EK4) [11]
137 Ivan Warwick/Evelyn Warwick (Audi S2 Coupe quattro) [20]
Juniors
Car Driver/Navigator (Make/Model) [Class]
J1 Sean Fleming/Niall McLarnon (Ford Fiesta) [J2]
J2 Sean Brady/Pauric Murtagh (Honda Civic) [J2]
J3
J4 Conor McCarthy/Dan O'Donavan (Honda EK 4) [J2]
J5 Shane Lenihan/Colm Lenihan (Honda Civic) [J2]
J6 Andrew Beamish/Sean Walsh (Vauxhall Nova) [J2]
J7 Kenneth Quirke/Seamus Skinner (Honda Civic) [J2]
J8 Brian Brady/Leonard Tuite (Peugeot 106 Rallye) [J2]
J9 Kieran O'Donoghue/Donagh Crowly (Honda Civic) [J2]
J10 Ger Lyons/Steve O'Brien (Honda Civic eg6) [J2]
J11 Patrick Lawlor/Cian Dineen (Honda Civic EK4) [J2]
J12 Charles O'Neill/Paul Harrington (Honda Civic) [J1]
J13
J14 Damien Doolan/Andrew Ryan (Vauxhall Nova) [J1]
J15 Cathal McCarthy/Eamonn Creedon (Honda Civic) [J2]
J16 Fergus Hurley/Eric Deane (Ford Escort Mk2) [J2]
J17 William Nolan/ TBA (Honda Civic) [J2]
J18 Mark O'Looney/Sinead Canny (Honda Civic) [J2]
J19 Cathal Quill/Iarla McCarthy (Honda Civic) [J2]
J20 Christy McCarthy/Cliodhna Murphy (Peugeot 205 GTi) [J2]
J21 Mark O'Leary/O Donoghue Brian (Toyota Starlet) [J1]
J22 Eric Calnan/Cillian Crowley (Peugeot 106 GTi) [J2]
J23
J24 Ger Cullinane/Muireann Hayes (Toyota Starlet) [J2]
J25 Mark Hurley/David Duggan (Honda Civic Vtec) [J2]
J26 Jack Shealy/Billy Shealy (Toyota Corolla GTi) [J2]
J27 Anthony Sheehan/Shane Flynn (Honda Civic) [J2]
J28 Chris Faulconbridge/Nicole Treanor (Opel Kadett) [J2]
J29 Chris Brady/Jenny Warren (Honda Civic) [J2]
Posted: April 22, 2014 11:32 AM
This year’s Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes is living up to its international tag with entries from nine different countries already received for the May 2-4 event.
For the second year in a row the Killarney-based event is a counting round of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship and this has helped boost the overseas entry.
Finnish driver, Pentti Veikkanen, a regular on the European scene for the last four years will bring his historic-rally spec Porsche 911 SC to the Kerry next month. He will be joined by his country men Klaus Wilkman in Triumph TR8 and Sverre Norrgård in a BMW 2002.
Swedish visitor, Mats Myrsell, an event front-runner in his home country will field another Porsche 911 in the historic section of the rally.
Spanish driver Gonzalo Ambit, has only every contested one rally outside Spain and that was in Italy but that has not deterred him from bringing his BMW 323i to Kerry.
Two Italian drivers, Lucky Lucky and Enrico Brazzoli will contest the two-day rally in two of the sport’s most revered rally cars. The pair have entered a brace of Lancia Rally 037s – the last time such a car competed in Ireland was in 1983 in the hands of the late Pentti Airikkala.
Luigi Zampaglione is the third Italian on the list driving another Porsche 911.
In the main field three Irish emigrants will return to their homeland from the USA. All three, Paul Rowley (Honda Civic), Martin Donnelly (Hyundai Accent) and Liam Egan (Toyota Corolla) are regular trans-Atlantic visitors to Irish events.
The rally has also attracted a large entry, across all categories, from England, Wales and The Isle of Man.
Jersey, in the Channel Islands, is also represented on the entry list with West Cork native Ray O’Donoghue making the journey to compete on his home patch on the Sunday in his Ford Escort Mark II.
Entries are still available for the rally which is a qualifying round of both the Clonakilty Black Pudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the Plasticbags.ie Southern Four Rally Championship.
Seeding will be done later this week and there is expected to be high demand for the final slots following the successful running of the Circuit of Ireland Rally over Easter weekend.
Posted: April 15, 2014 3:25 PM
New roads to compliment some of County Kerry’ s most famous rally stages and a route that incorporates stages that have not been used in ten years are set to make this year’s Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes the most challenging in recent times.
The third round of the Clonakilty Black Pudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship takes place in Killarney on May 2-4. The rally will, for the second time, be a counting round of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship as well as being round two of the Plasticbags.ie Southern Four Regional Rally series.
The official launch of the event took place at rally headquarters, The Gleneagle Hotel on Saturday night last, where organiser, Killarney and District Motor Club, revealed preliminary details of the rally’s 2014 route.
The new availability of previously unused roads near Kenmare means that Moll’s Gap, Ireland’s most-famous rally, stage will be longer, and the same network of roads will allow for a new start location for Ballaghbeama. There will also be a new service park on the grounds of Kenmare Mart.
The rally will also venture in to West Cork for the first time since 2004 with classic stages like Borlin and Lough Allua back on the agenda along with a reverse run down Moll's Gap to close the weekend's action.
Speaking at the launch on Saturday night, Clerk of the course Dermot Healy said:
“We have put in a lot of effort over the winter months, finding new roads, and tweaking existing stages, so we know we will be able to offer the competitors some of the best roads in Kerry and Cork, but with fresh challenges that even regular supporters of the event will not have seen before.”
Entries have opened for the rally, and can be made on line.
Killarney and District Motor Club expects a rush of entries following both last weekend’s Fel’s Point Hotel Circuit of Kerry and next weekend’s Discover Ireland Circuit of Ireland Rally.
See Links below for more details
Posted: April 15, 2014 3:15 PM
With entries still open for the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes over the May Bank Holiday weekend, over 90 crews have entered and the stage is already set for battle royal in all classes and categories of the 35th Rally of the Lakes.
Heading the international Entry list is last year’s winner, Gary Jennings who is likely to start the event in the top slot.
Behind him comes the current leader of both the Tarmac and the National Championships, Declan Boyle, with two times Lakes winner Daragh O’Riordan and former winner Denis Cronin also in contention for a repeat of their earlier successes.
West Cork Rally winner Donagh Kelly will be seeking his first Killarney win, while the 2012 Billy Coleman award winner, Sam Moffett, in his Fiesta WRC, will be anxious to make his mark on the International Rally scene.
Local Driver Alan Ring has reverted to his Group N Subaru for this season but he faces stiff opposition from drivers such as Josh Moffett (Evo) and former National Group N Champion Colm Murphy.
Making a welcome return to the rally scene is Aaron McHale,who will be seeking to continue in the winning ways which made his father, Austin, a multiple Tarmac Rally Champion.
In the National Rally all the big Escort brigade come out to play but perhaps the person who will cause them most bother is the flying milkman from Donegal, Declan Gallagher, who put in such an incredible drive over many of these same stages to take the overall win in the Modified section of the 2013 Rentokill Killarney Historic Rally last December, on his first ever event in Killarney.
Declan went on to repeat the category win in the West Cork Rally and will be anxious to consolidate his claim to the top spot in the Modified Challenge of the Clonakilty Black Pudding Tarmac Championship.
Others well in contention in the National section include local crews Barry Meade who has returned to rallying after a year of competitive cycling, Fergus O’Meara who won the National Section last and Billy Coleman award finalist Rob Duggan in his incredibly quick Honda Civic.
Last year’s FIA Historic Rally of the Lakes winner Wesley Patterson has abandoned his Appendix K Car to revert to his more familiar Modified machine and will also be a strong contender, as will the legendary Phil Collins who makes the trip from Herefordshire to the stages he loves so well and where he has enjoyed considerable success over the past 32 years.
Killarney’s Ed Murphy comes to the event on the back of two great drives in the Dunlop National series, which have netted him a 5th overall in Birr and 9th overall in the recent Circuit of Kerry, while Roy White , who appears to have sorted the reliability problems in his Rover MG, loves the Killarney stages and has shown that he has the speed to mix it with the best that the opposition can throw at him.
The battle for the John Mullane Cup for the highest placed driver from Co Kerry will be as closely contested as it has been since the award was first introduced in the very early days of the Rally of the Lakes.
Apart from the Kerry crews already mentioned one can never rule out the father and son combination of Charlie and Johnny Hickey whose experience of these stages is vast, as indeed is that of John Hickey, Kevin O’Donoghue and Vincent O’Shea.
The FIA Historic Rally will run ahead of the International rally and will be headed by Millstreet’s Mark Falvey, the Start to Finish winner of the Rentokill Historic Rally last December and also of the Historic section of the 2013 Cork 20 International
Mark’s opposition will be provided by crews from the UK, Isle of Man, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Spain in Appendix K cars which include Ford, Lancia, Triumph, Porsche, Vauxhall and BMW.
A strong Junior Entry has already been received and these will join the rally for all of the second leg of the rally on Sunday
The event gets under way with a ceremonial in Killarney town centre on Friday evening with competitive motoring kicking off on Saturday morning to tackle a loop of three stages at Molls Gap, Beallaghbeama and Caragh Lake before returning to Service at the Liebherr Container Cranes factory in Fossa.
A second loop of these three classic stages follows, with a further visit to Service before tackling the final stage at Kilcummin, which is a shortened version of the stage which featured as the finale of the Killarney Historic Rally for the past two years.
The first day’s stages will be familiar to most Rally of the Lakes regulars but there are some variations such as a hairpin right at the end of Molls Gap and Beallaghbeama reverting to the longer version which was a feature of the earlier years of the Rally of the Lakes.
Sunday sees the cars tackle Molls Gap for the third time and then it’s on to a loop of three stages which have not been used for ten years in the Rally of the Lakes,
The first of these, Borlin, is actually a combination of two old classics, Sheen River and Borlin, and takes the rally over the county bounds into County Cork.
The second is the fabulous lakeside stage at Lough Allua, which was a regular feature of the Circuit of Ireland up to the eighties and of the Rally of the Lakes from 84 until 2004.
In recent years the stage has been associated with the Cork 20 International but the Cork 20 version generally runs in the opposite direction to the Lakes format, starting in Ballingeary and finishing in Kilmichael.
Fuhiry, which starts outside Ballingeary, brings the rally back over the County Bounds , past Creedons at the Top of Coom, the highest pub in Ireland, and finishes on a fast downhill section towards Kilgarvan.
Service in Kenmare Mart is followed by a further trip over the same loop of three and, after a final service in Kenmare, the rally concludes a run over Moll’s Gap back to Killarney.
Posted: April 9, 2014 6:40 PM
Official Press launch of the 2014 Rally of the Lakes will take place on Saturday 12th of April at 6pm in the Brehon Hotel Killarney.
Posted: March 23, 2014 12:07 PM