West Cork Rally - 12-13 Mar 16

Full On The Limit Sports TV Program on Line

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In Car

Posted: April 28, 2016 9:40 AM

Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5) SS5


Kevin Kelleher & Gwynfor Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC S9) SS4


Vincent McSweeney & Michael Kearney (Honda Civic) SS1


Jason Ryan & Peter Falvey (Toyota Starlet) SS5

Cronin & Galvin Extend Tarmac Championship Lead

Posted: March 16, 2016 12:31 PM

The action for the second round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship moved to the south west last weekend with the Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally taking place. Once again the classes were well supported as the crews tackled 14 stages all within ten miles of Clonakilty over two days. After the rain that affected the opening round in Galway, crews were relieved to find the weather dry, although some rain on the day before had left some of the stages extremely tricky.

Championship leader Keith Cronin and his closest rival in Galway, Alastair Fisher, continued their battle over the opening pair of stages where Fisher led a wafer thin advantage of less than one second. Sam & Josh Moffett were next up but already twenty seconds behind the leading pair, while Desi Henry on his first trip to Cork was a little more cautious and just ahead of Stephen Wright. Owen Murphy was already in bother in his newly acquired Skoda Fabia S2000, with the intercom failing on the start line of the first stage and losing over 90 seconds to the pacesetters on the opening loop. After service it was back out to tackle the Clogagh and Ballinascarthy stages again, where Cronin eked out a ten second advantage over Fisher. Desi Henrys challenge faltered when he got a puncture and lost over three minutes while one of the leading class 2 contenders Mary Gallagher went out of the rally when he crashed his Fiesta R2. David Guest was leading Group N on his home event almost a minute ahead of Brian O'Keeffe while Peter O'Kane was already looking at Rally 2 after having gear linkage issues on the opening stage. David Carney led Class 3 from Ed Twomey after three stages. The afternoon stages consisted of two runs over the classic Ring and technical Dunworley stages and Cronin took almost fourteen seconds off Fisher on the high speed Ring test. Josh Moffett was only a few seconds further back from Fisher with Sam Moffett & Joseph McGonigle also close by. The Dunworley stage by contrast was a tighter stage and Fisher had a real go to claw back three seconds from Cronin. The two Moffetts were eleven seconds further off the pace with Jonny Greer also having a very good time on the stage. The second run over Ring saw Fisher edge Cronin, but on the final stage of the day Fisher who was on a real charge at this point, crashed out to leave Cronin's advantage more clear cut. Some two minutes behind Cronin was Sam Moffett with his brother just 4 seconds further back. Stephen Wright, Joe McGonigle, Jonny Greer and Desi Henry were all inside the top dozen as the pace was relentless.

David Guest led Group N overnight from Brian O'Keeffe with Patrick Kearney in third place while the class two battle was between William Creighton and Callum Devine, with the former just 2 seconds ahead overnight. Richard Whelan was winning the class 3 battle from David Carney and Ed Twomey back in third place. Owen Murphy re-joined under Rally 2 rules when a bearing failed as he continued to get used to his new car.

The second day's action started at the leisurely time of midday, but there was nothing leisurely about the pace as six stages were to be tackled with Shanaway, Sams Cross and Ardfield all done twice. Cronin continued to set the pace as the others jostled for position behind him. By the end of the first loop of stages it was clear barring a disaster; Cronin was on course for another maximum points haul in the championship. The battle for runner up points was now only between the Moffett brothers as they had opened up a large gap back to Stephen Wright. Desi Henry retired at the end of stage 11 as the centre differential wasn't working properly.

Over the last three stages Cronin kept things steady to take maximum points for the second event in a row, while Sam Moffett did just enough to pip Josh Moffett for second placed points. Stephen Wright, Joseph McGonigle and Jonny Greer completed the top six registered placings. Group N was won by David Guest to repeat his success in Galway while Patrick Kearney had the misfortune to retire on the final stage in his Lancer. Callum Devine took class 2 by thirty seconds following an event long battle with William Creighton, and Frazer Mulholland came home in third place. David Carney and Ray Fitzpatrick took maximum points in Class 3 in their Citroen DS3.

Modified Championship

The Modified Championship saw a strong line up in Cork with championship leader Wesley Patterson hoping to extend his lead on an event he had a lot of success in the past. However it took a while for him to get on the pace and despite having a good run on the first run of the Ring stage, the ECU gave trouble on the following test. The amount of time lost was huge and he decided to retire overnight. Another to have a troubled event was Eugene Meegan who had the bonnet fly up and smash the windscreen on stage two, and when the fuel pump failed on stage four they he was forced to retire. Brian Brogan was the leader for much of the event with a very impressive drive in his Escort and eventually took top modified championship points in his Escort. John Bonner took second placed points by virtue of finishing six overall in the National rally to make it a very successful weekend for Donegal drivers.

Enda O'Brien and Ross Marshall also scored well with both drivers competing on West Cork for the first time while Frank Kelly was a late retirement when the differential of his Escort broke. John Reddington and Davy Armstrong were two others to add to their points haul from Galway. Patrick McHugh wasn't so lucky, crashing out on stage 9, Shanaway after lying in the top ten overnight. Local driver Jason McSweeney was another to drop out when a brake pipe broke.

Historic and Junior Championships

Second place on the Historic section of the rally was enough to give Philip Wylie maximum points in his Escort Mk2 after championship rival James O'Mahony was forced to retire with axle problems a few stages from the end. The pair had swapped places a few times over the weekend while John Coyne and Christy Farrell finally caught a break as their Sunbeam performed faultlessly to take third in the category and runner up points in the championship. Alan Watkins had a very good performance to finish ahead of Frank Cunningham who was slowed early on with fuel problems. Donal O'Connor also scored points in the series but Duncan Williams was another to retire with a broken gearbox.

The Junior championship saw Justin Ryan extend his lead to ten points as he collected another maximum score. Noel Murphy moved into second place while Christy McCarthy and John O'Flaherty are joint third overall.

Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally 2016 Press Release 4

Posted: March 16, 2016 12:27 PM

History was made at the Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally when Donagh Kelly became the first driver to win the event three years in a row. The Donegal driver who had Conor Foley on the notes this year led from the very start to record a very impressive victory in his Ford Focus WRC. Their winning margin was 1 minute 26 seconds ahead of a very hard charging Keith Cronin / Mikie Galvin in a Citroen DS3 R5, and they were a further 43 seconds ahead of the Subaru Impreza WRC of Garry Jennings and David Moynihan. The National Rally was won by Brian Brogan and Damien McGettigan in their Ford Escort after an event long battle with Alan Ring / Adrian Deasy in a Fiesta R5+. The Historic Rally was won by Wyn Hughes and David Davies in an Escort Mk2 while Fergus Hurley and Eric Deane won the Junior Rally also in an Escort Mk2. Introduction

The rally was the second round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship as well as the opening rounds of the FIA Celtic Trophy and PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship. Greg McCarthy the Clerk of the Course had put together a route that included fourteen challenging stages with centralised service in Darrara Agricultural College. Top seeds were Kelly & Foley in their usual Focus WRC while Garry Jennings and David Moynihan were at two in their Impreza WRC. Jennings usual co-driver Rory Kennedy had to withdraw before the event so David Moynihan stepped in without having had the opportunity to recce any of the stages. Declan & Brian Boyle non-started from three, while Daragh O'Riordan & Tony McDaid at four had their Fiesta decaled in a fabulous new black and gold livery.

A quartet of R5 cars were next up with Cronin / Galvin leading the way from Alastair Fisher / Gordon Noble, Sam Moffett / Karl Atkinson and Desi Henry / Liam Moynihan. Local driver Kevin Kelleher was at nine in his Subaru Impreza WRC with Welshman Gwynfor Jones on the notes, while Roy White and James O'Brien were at ten in a Fiesta WRC. There were a lot of fine drivers outside the top ten as well, with Owen Murphy, Josh Moffett, Stephen Wright, Wesley Patterson, Alan Ring and Frank Kelly to name but a few as the entry was one of the highest quality ever seen on the event.

Day 1

Overcast but dry conditions greeted the crews for the opening pair of stages at Clogagh and Ballinascarthy and Kelly immediately put down a marker to lead by 13 seconds after two stages from Jennings. A further twenty seconds back were Fisher and Cronin locked in their own private battle while only ten seconds separated White in fifth from Stephen Wright in tenth. Early retirements included Mark Straker who pulled in on the first stage when the oil light came on in his Darrian, Washington James in the ex-Roy White Rover which developed a differential problem and Jason McSweeney when a broken brake pipe forced him out early in the first stage. The next pair of stages were a repeat of the opening two and Kelly continued to edge away from Jennings despite his best efforts while Cronin had moved back into third courtesy of a great time on the third stage. Desi Henry had dropped back after a puncture cost him over three minutes and out of the running while the Moffett brothers were involved in another tussle with Roy White with less than five seconds between them. Owen Murphy had a miserable start to the event as the intercom stopped working right at the beginning of the first stage and two stages had to be tackled before it could be rectified. Marty Gallagher had been having a good run until the fourth stage when he collided with a wall having tried to avoid an exhaust system that had fallen from another car.

The battle in the National Rally was as intense as could be expected with Brian Brogan ahead in his Escort from Adrian Hetherington with Alan Ring in third. Eugene Meegan lost over eight minutes when the bonnet flew up and smashed the windscreen, and later had fuel pump problems which forced his retirement and Noel Kelleher's Civic retired with mechanical failure. The afternoon stages consisted of the classic Ring, and the altogether trickier Dunworley, both to be tackled twice. Kelly and Cronin stormed through to beat the bogey, but Jennings suffered a setback with a lurid spin in Ballinglanna which cost him almost 30 seconds and back into the clutches of Cronin. Fisher had a good time on Ring, but admitted he had no answer to Cronin's pace on that stage. Dunworley was a different matter though, with Fisher turning in a stunning time to be quickest on the stage, one second clear of Kelly and three ahead of Cronin who had now edged past Jennings. Wesley Patterson lost an enormous amount of time when the Escort developed ECU problems and dropped well back the field.

The final pair of stages saw Kelly take another fastest stage with Fisher second and Jennings third as the pace really began to hot up. The last stage of the day saw Cronin take a fastest stage time to consolidate second place, but his rival Fisher crashed out on the same stage to bring a sad end to a very impressive performance on his first visit to West Cork. Jennings was in third place, 22 seconds behind Cronin and a secure 85 seconds ahead of Josh Moffett. Josh and Sam, Roy White and Daragh O'Riordan were only separated by ten seconds.

The national rally saw Brogan retake the lead from Alan Ring by thirteen seconds overnight while Adrian Hetherington, Vincent McSweeney and Frank Kelly completed the top five placings overnight. James O'Mahony & Kerrie Barry led the Historic Rally by 37.5 seconds over Wyn Hughes with Philip Wylie just another 0.5 seconds further back, all in Escorts. Dewi Bowen had lost time with a misfire and Frank Cunningham had fuel pump problems which dropped them back.

Day 2
Where the first day had been cold overcast and dry, the second day had a definite spring feel about it as the sun shone and the sky was free of clouds. The six stages to be tackled were Shanaway, Sams Cross and Ardfield before service and those three repeated before the cars headed for the finish ramp. Kelly extended his lead by another five seconds on the opening stage as Cronin also pulled away from Jennings, and the Moffetts got ever quicker as the sibling rivalry grew more intense. The national rally saw Patrick McHugh's fine drive come to an end with an accident while Brogan was again quickest, a trick he also repeated on the following stage to push his lead out to 19 seconds over Ring. Vincent McSweeney rally came to an end with an accident on the Sams Cross stage. The final stage of the loop was Ardfield which was run from Castlefreke to Dunmore in a break from tradition and provided a very challenging test. Cronin was fastest here to cut Kelly's lead to under a minute, while Sam Moffett was starting to set some very impressive times to move into fourth.

The last loop of stages was more a case of drivers settling for what they had, except for Sam and Josh of course, and they continued trading times right to the end, when Sam took fourth place by just under 4 seconds. Kelly eventually pulled out a lead of 1 minute 26 seconds to take his historic third win in a row, with Cronin and Jennings settling for second and third respectively. Roy white was sixth almost a minute clear of O'Riordan who came home ahead of Stephen Wright. Kevin Kelleher and Joe McGonigle rounded off the international top ten. Group N was won by local driver David Guest with Paddy Robinson on the pace notes in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. The National rally was won by Brian Brogan & Damien McGettigan, from Alan Ring / Adrian Deasy with Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan coming home in third place. The Historic Rally was won by Wyn Hughes from Philip Wylie by just three seconds with Hughes taking 20 seconds out of Wylie on the final stage! Fergus Hurley and Eric Deane were very impressive winners of the Junior Rally in their Mk2 Escort as they had over three minutes to spare over Justin Ryan / Stephen Monaghan with Christy McCarthy & Cathal Quill taking third place.

Once again the event had been a great success and 90 of the 140 main field starters were eventually classified as finishers after what was described by many as a very tough rally.

Results

Posted: March 16, 2016 12:24 PM

1 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 54m 14s,
2 Keith Cronin/Mikey Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5) 1h 55m 40s,
3 Garry Jennings/David Moynihan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 56m 23s,
4 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 57m 19s,
5 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 57m 22s,
6 Roy White/James O'Brien (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h 57m 37s,
7 Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h 58m 25s,
8 Stephen Wright/James Fulton (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 59m 21s,
9 Kevin Kelleher/Gwynfor Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 59m 35s,
10 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h 00m 49s.

Class winners:
Callum Devine/Keith Moriarty (Opel Adam),
Richard Whelan/James Whelan (Citroen DS3 R3),
David Guest/Paddy Robinson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N),
Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson,
Roy White/James O'Brien.

NATIONAL RALLY:
1 Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Ford Escort MkII) 2h 02m 47s,
2 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Ford Fiesta R5+) 2h 02m 54s,
3 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Ford Escort MkII) 2h 04m 27s,
4 Andy Mahon/Eamon Hayes (Ford Escort MkII) 2h 05m 41s,
5 Vivian Hamill/Paul Sheridan (Ford Escort MkII) 2h 06m 18s,
6 John Bonner/Leon Jordan (Ford Escort MkII) 2h 06m 31s.

HISTORIC RALLY:
1 Philip Wylie/John Young (Ford Escort) 1h 37m 29s,
2 John Coyne/Christy Farrell (Talbot Sunbeam Lotus) 1h 38m 24s,
3 Frank Cunningham/Ross Forde (Ford Escort) 1h 42m 09s.

JUNIOR RALLY:
1 Fergus Hurley/Eric Deane (Ford Escort) 59m 02s,
2 Justin Ryan/Stephen Monaghan? (Honda Civic) 1h 02m 05s,
3 Christy McCarthy/Cathal Quill (Honda Civic) 1h 03m 17s.

Leaders After:
SS1-14 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
Stage Winners SS1 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS2 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS3 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS4 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC) (Beat Bogey Time)
SS5 Bogey Time Beaten
SS6 Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Ford Fiesta R5)
SS7 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC) (Beat Bogey Time)
SS8 Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5)
SS9 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS10 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS11 Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5)
SS12 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS13 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC)
SS14 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5)

West Cork Rally - 12-13 Mar 16 - RESULTS

Results on Line (West Cork 2016) | Results by irallyresults.com
Rallynews (by Brian & Liz Patterson)

Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship 2016 Round 2 Preview

Posted: March 10, 2016 9:55 AM

The excitement is building as the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship heads south for round 2 of the series, the Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally. It's fair to say that momentum has carried through from the opening round in Galway with the cast majority of registered drivers taking part again in Clonakilty for what promises to be a terrific battle across the classes. The Tarmac Championship leaders are Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin in a Citroen DS3 and Keith is in relatively familiar territory having competed on the event a couple of times in the past, with his best result being fourth overall in 2009. He will be seen as the pre event favourite but the West Cork stages are tough and nothing can be taken for granted. Alastair Fisher & Gordon Noble lie second in the series, but this is the only round of the championship they have never competed on to date, so could be at a slight disadvantage. However Fisher is an extremely talented driver and he will push his Fiesta to the maximum and if all goes well should be well in the hunt by the end of the event. Sam Moffett / Karl Atkinson in another Fiesta are third overall and have some experience of the West Cork stages and with Sam finishing as runner up in a WRC last year, he should hit the ground running.

Desi Henry & Liam Moynihan bought the new R5 Skoda to Galway and were immediately on the pace; however a heavy accident on the second day meant they left with nothing for their efforts. With the car now repaired they will be looking to clock up their first points of the year despite Desi not having competed in Clonakilty before. Others that will look to build on good Galway performances are Josh Moffett who has John Rowan back in the co-driver seat after missing Galway, with Joseph McGonigle / Ciaran Geaney, Stephen Wright / James Fulton & Jonathan Greer / Kirsty Riddick all having competed on the event in 2015 and who scored points in Galway. Someone who could throw the cat amongst the pigeons is Owen Murphy & Anthony Nestor who have moved from a Mitsubishi Lancer to an ex Freddy Loix Skoda S2000 and could be spectacular to watch.

David Guest & Paddy Robinson lead Group N and for David this is as local as it gets as Clonakilty is his home town. He will be hoping to use this to his advantage in order to extend his lead in Group N. Class 2 looks to be extremely competitive with Callum Devine, William Creighton and Marty Gallagher all scoring well in Galway. Class three will see David Carney battle it out with Ed Twomey who has moved from class 2 to class 3 for this event. There are many others in the mix in what promises to be a very competitive weekend in store.

The Modified Championship sees all of the crews that registered in Galway moving onto Cork, with championship leaders Wesley Patterson & Johnny Baird looking to increase their advantage. Wesley is no stranger to Clonakilty having competed on West Cork for many years now. Eugene Meegan & Sarah Whelan challenged Wesley for much of Galway but an ?off' put them out on the second day. Eugene showed some real pace in Galway in the 1M and although this will be his first trip to Clonakilty he could well find the fast flowing coastal roads more to his liking. Jason McSweeney and Stephen Quin had a very good run in Galway and now that the pair are closer to home they should go very well in their Mitsubishi Lancer. Patrick McHugh / Pauric O'Donnell, Ross Marshall / Dave Robson and Davy Armstrong / Martin McGarrity all in Escorts will be hoping to continue their good form from Galway. All of the registered crews from Galway have appeared on the entry list in Clonakilty so a pattern should emerge after the event. The historic section sees John Coyne & Christy Farrell lead the field in Clonakilty as none of those who scored points in Galway are entered. Coyne retired due to mechanical problems while one of his rivals James O'Mahony / Kerrie Barry had an accident in Galway but should be back on the pace on an event they won two years ago. Frank Cunningham / Ross Forde have forsaken the Sierra for an Escort while English visitors Duncan Williams / Guy Weaver appear in another Escort. Another English driver is Alan Watkins who will also drive an Escort with Grace O'Brien from Cork on the pace notes. Only four drivers registered for the Junior championship in Galway, but all four appear in Clonakilty with Justin Ryan from Galway leading the series from Corks Kevin Horgan. Noel Murphy and John O'Flaherty are also in the hunt and the battle over the Sunday stages should be very entertaining.

There are fourteen stages over the two days, 8 stages on the first day with six on the Sunday. The action begins at 11am just outside Clonakilty with the final stage of the day taking place at 5.25pm. The second day opens at a more leisurely 12pm and the first car is due back at the finish ramp at 4.15pm. A ceremonial start will take place at 7.30pm in the town centre on the Friday night. You can keep up to date on Twitter (@irishtarmactroa), Facebook (Irish Tarmac Rally Championship) and the championship website at www.irishtarmac.com.

Marshal Meeting Points

Posted: March 10, 2016 4:30 AM

Rally Programmes

Posted: March 8, 2016 12:07 PM

Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally 2015 Press Release 3

Posted: March 8, 2016 11:58 AM

The Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally which takes place on 12th & 13th March has attracted one of its best ever entries and promises to make the second round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship one of the rallies of the year. There are a total of 185 cars listed across all of the categories with some of the best drivers in Ireland heading for the south west. 151 cars are scheduled to start the two day, 14 stage event, with thirteen entered to date for the Historic Category and 21 for the Junior Rally.
Top seeds are Donagh Kelly & Conor Foley in a Focus WRC with Kelly the reigning Tarmac Champion looking for an unprecedented three in a row in Clonakilty. After his recent win in Birr he will be on top form and will prove a difficult man to beat if he gets off to his customary flying start. Garry Jennings & Rory Kennedy are at 2 in a Subaru Impreza WRC, and after a dominant win in Galway, Jennings now turns his attention to an event he has never competed on before, but will still be expected to be on the pace. Declan & Brian Boyle are at three and hoping for better luck than last year when their Impreza WRC stopped only two miles into the first stage which eventually led to their withdrawal from the rally. They had a heavy accident in Galway and it remains to be seen if this will have upset their confidence but their Fiesta WRC is one of the best cars in Irish rallying today.

Daragh O'Riordan & Tony McDaid are past winners of the event and will be looking to get their names on the trophy again, as their Fiesta WRC has racked up several victories to date. The first of the R5 cars run at number 5 in the hands of Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin in a Citroen DS3. This pairing currently lead the Tarmac championship after an excellent second place in Galway and will be strong favourites to add to their points total in Clonakilty. Alastair Fisher & Gordon Noble are appearing for the first time in West Cork and once again are expected to present a challenge to Cronin in their Fiesta R5 as they did in Galway. Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson were very impressive in Galway and are at seven in another Fiesta R5 with Sam finishing as runner up in West Cork last year. Desi Henry makes his first trip to West Cork with Corkman Liam Moynihan on the notes and his Skoda Fabia has been repaired after its heavy accident in Galway when lying fourth overall. Local driver Kevin Kelleher is at 9 in a Subaru Impreza WRC and for this event will have vastly experienced Welshman Gwynfor Jones as co-driver. Gwynfor co-drove John Dalton to many fine results over the years and will see the West Cork stages as home away from home. Rounding off the top ten is Roy White & James O'Brien in a Fiesta WRC as he looks to get more seat time in his new car. This is Roy's first attempt at West Cork since 1997 when he drove a Peugeot 205. There is much more quality outside the top ten with drivers such as Owen Murphy, Josh Moffett, Alan Ring, Stephen Wright, Jonny Greer & Joe McGonigle all in class five cars, while David Guest will be looking to extend his lead in the Group N category of the Tarmac Championship in his Lancer Evo 9, Other drivers to feature on the list include the spectacular modifieds of Wesley Patterson, Eugene Meegan, Frank Kelly, Mark Straker and Brian Brogan to name but a few. Current Billy Coleman Award winner Rob Duggan has also entered in a class 2 Peugeot where he will take on drivers such as Callum Devine, Marty Gallagher and William Creighton.

The Historic Rally will be led away from the fifth stage by John Coyne & Christy Farrell in their iconic Sunbeam Lotus while they will be followed by several Escorts in the hands of James O'Mahony, Dewi Bowen, Wyn Hughes, Frank Cunningham and Philip Wylie to name but a few. The Junior Rally is currently oversubscribed and is led by Mitchelstowns Colin Roche in a Toyota Starlet with Fergus Hurley next up in a Mk2 Escort and Galway Junior Category winner Kieran O'Donoghue at three in a Civic. The Rally is also the opening round of the FIA Celtic Trophy which features four rallies in Ireland and Rally Isle of Man. There is no registration fee and any FIA homologated car is eligible. The top three in each class qualify for a final shoutout against the other regional winners in November to become FIA European Rally Trophy Champion. As always the event is the opening round of the PlasticBags,ie Southern 4 Rally Championship and this clubman championship is always very popular. Parc Ferme is in the Model Railway Village as usual and the cars will leave here at 10.30am to tackle the first stage of eight stages on Saturday. Service will take place after every two stages at Darrara Agricultural College. The first car is due back into Parc Ferme on Saturday evening at 6.15pm. Sunday will see the first car leave Parc Ferme at 11am and head into service before tackling three stages before returning to service again. These three stages are then repeated before the first car is due at the finish ramp at 4.15pm. The Stages for the weekend are as follows; Stage 1 & 3 Inchybridge, Stage 2 & 4 Ballinascarthy, Stage 5 & 7 Ring, Stage 6 & 8 Dunworley, Stage 9 & 12 Shanaway, Stage 10 & 13 Sams Cross, Stage 11 & 14 Ardfield.

You can keep up to date with live results on http://results.westcorkrally.com over the weekend while there will also be updates on Twitter (@westcorkrally) & Facebook (West Cork Rally). Brian & Liz Patterson will be providing their usual excellent "Rallynews" bulletin service.

Seeded Entry Lists

Posted: March 3, 2016 6:07 AM

2016 Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally Main Field Seeded List
1 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC) [7]
2 Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Subaru Impreza WRC) [7]
3 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) [7]
4 Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Ford Fiesta WRC) [7]
5 Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5) [5]
6 Alaistair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
7 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
8 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Skoda Fabia R5) [5]
9 Kevin Kelleher/Gwynfor Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC) [7]
10 Roy White/James O'Brien (Ford Fiesta WRC) [7]
11 Owen Murphy/Anthony Nestor (Skoda Fabia S2000) [5]
12 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
14 Stephen Wright/James Fulton (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
15 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Ford Fiesta R5+) [20]
16 Jonathan Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroen DS3 R5) [5]
17 Joseph McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Skoda Fabia S2000) [5]
18 David Guest/Paddy Robinson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
19 Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
20 Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (BMW 1M) [14]
21 Mark Straker/Michael Cody (Darrian T90GTR) [14]
22 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
23 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
24 Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
25 Enda O'Brien/John Butler (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
26 Aaron MacHale/Enda Sherry (Skoda Fabia S2000) [5]
27 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O'Kane (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
28 Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
29 Robert Duggan/Ger Conway (Peugeot 208 R2) [2]
30 John Bonner/Leon Jordan (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
31 Mike Quinn/Donal Balfe (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
32 Fergus O'Meara/Brian Doherty (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
33 Vivian Hamill/Paul Sheridan (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
34 Andy Mahon/Eamon Hayes (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
35 Brian O'Keeffe/Sean Hayde (Subaru Impreza N14) [4]
36 Jason McSweeney/Stephen Quinn (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) [20]
37 Jer O'Donovan/Derek Tobin (Subaru Impreza R4) [5]
38 Washington James/Paul Williams (MG ZR) [20]
39 Vincent McSweeney/Michael Keirney (Honda Civic) [11F]
40 Cal McCarthy/Eamonn Dullea (Citroen C2 R2) [2]
41 Callum Devine/Keith Moriarty (Opel Adam R2) [2]
42 David Carney/Ray Fitzpatrick (Citroen DS3 R3) [3]
43 Andrew Hockridge/Aled Edwards (Citroen DS3 R3) [3]
44 Jason O'Mahony/Breda O'Driscoll (Honda Civic) [11F]
45 Jason Ryan/Peter Falvey (Toyota Starlet) [11F]
46 Noel Kelleher/Ronald Riordan (Honda Civic) [11F]
47 Bernard Foley/Gavin Sheehan (Honda Civic) [11F]
48 Davy Armstrong/Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
49 Fintan Canty/Denis O'Mahony (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
50 Ray Cat O'Sullivan/Derek O'Brien (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
51 Eoghan Calnan/Conor Calnan (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
52 Charlie Hickey/Johnny Hickey (Ford Escort MkII) [14]
53 John Hendy/A.N Other (BMW M3) [14]
54 Conor Curley/Nigel Frazer (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
55 Ed Murphy/Diarmuid Lynch (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
56 Ross Marshall/Dave Robson (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
57 Wayne Evans/John Smithwick (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
58 Adrian Evans/Martin Henry (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
59 Patrick McHugh/Pauric O'Donnell (Ford Escort MkII) [13]
60 Philip Cross/Tony Hennessy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [17]
61 Sean O'Donovan/Sinead O'Donovan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) [20]
62 Diarmuid Keohane/Peter Keohane (Ford Escort) [13]
63 Mark Nangle/Nollaig Breen (Subaru Impreza WRX) [20]
64 John Hickey/Carmel Culloty (Ford Escort) [20]
65 Richard Whelan/James Whelan (Citroen DS3 R3) [3]
66 Joe Connolly/Richard Connolly (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
67 Patrick Kearney/Alistair Wyllie (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
68 John Molholland/John Henderson (Skoda Fabia) [5]
69 John O'Sullivan/Eoghan McCarthy (Honda Civic) [11F]
70 David Fleming/Mark Horgan (Honda Civic) [11F]
71 Paul Fitzgerald/Pierce Doheny Jnr (Ford Escort) [11R]
72 Ross Hunter/Callum Atkinson (Peugeot 205) [13]
73 William Walsh/Carol O'Keeffe (Toyota Corolla) [11R]
74 Marty Gallagher/Dean O'Sullivan (Ford Fiesta) [2]
75 William Creighton/Liam Regan (Peugeot 208) [2]
76 Simon Reid/Billy Ryan (Honda Civic) [11F]
77 Colin Moynihan/Maul Aprati (Honda Civic) [11F]
78 Paul Browne/Daniel Hanratty (Honda Civic) [11F]
79 Jason Roche/John McCarthy (Ford Escort) [13]
80 Seamus Ronan/Aoife Fitzpatrick (Honda Civic) [11F]
81 Brendan McDaid/Mac Kierans (Ford Escort) [14]
82 John Reddington/Paddy Mc Crudden (Ford Escort) [14]
83 Cathal Bob McCarthy/Declan Buttimer (Honda Civic) [11F]
84 Tony Rees/Geraint Thomas (Talbot Sunbeam) [13]
85 Peter O'Kane/Tommy Cuddihy (Mitsubishi Evo) [4]
86 Ed Twomey/Sean Hassett (Citroen DS3) [3]
87 Frazer Mullholland/Geoff Patterson (Ford Fiesta R2) [2]
88 Conor McCarthy/Dylan Coffey (Ford Fiesta R2) [2]
89 Ollie Williams/John Joe Williams (Ford Escort) [14]
90 Rob Jones/ Gary Kinghorn (Ford Escort) [14]
91 William Kenneally/Finbarr Fogarty (Ford Escort) [13]
92 Sean O'Carroll/Niall O'Sullivan (Ford Escort) [14]
93 Neil Spain/Ian Taylor (Ford Escort) [13]
94 Fergal Kelly/Graham Kelly (Ford Escort) [13]
95 Donal McGrath/Brian McCarthy (Toyota Corolla) [11R]
96 Colin Rowe/David Booty (Fiat 131) [13]
97 Gerard Seaman/Tim O'Donovan (Mitsubishi Lancer) [20]
98 Gavin Rogers/Georgina Clark (Ford Escort) [13]
99 Victor Beamish/Susan Beamish (Vauxhall Nova) [10]
100 Steven O'Donovan/Mike Cleary (Ford Escort) [10]
101 Jerry O Mahony/Willie Buchann (Ford Escort) [10]
102 Dan P Kelleher/Kevin Enright (Ford Escort) [13]
103 Steve Roberts/Jack Carroll (Ford Escort) [12]
104 Paul Casey/Vincent Goggin (Ford Escort) [12]
105 William Buttimer/Vincent Bennett (Ford Escort) [12]
106 John Forde/Eamonn Bates (Citroen C2) [10]
107 Shane Stanley/Adam Power (Honda Civic) [11F]
108 Andrew Lehane/Cliff Desmond (Honda Civic) [11F]
109 Aaron O'Regan/Derek Butler (Honda Civic) [11F]
110 Denis O Brien/Denny Greaney (Opel Corsa) [10]
111 Brian O'Mahony/Michelle Gallway (Honda Civic) [17]
112 Colum Browne/Laurence McGrath (Honda Civic) [11F]
113 Kyle McGettigan/Dale McGettigan (Toyota Corolla) [11R]
114 Tadgh O'Sullivan/Eoin O'Leary (Ford Escort) [13]
115 Michael Canny/Gavin Downey (Ford Fiesta) [13]
116 Tiernach Maguire/Nicky Hegarty (Ford Escort) [10]
117 Thomas Walton/Darragh Smyth (Mitsubishi Evo) [20]
118 Nick Barrnett/Martin Brady (Honda Civic) [17]
119 Patrick Calnan/Trevor McCarthy (Peugeot 106) [17]
120 Michael Forde/Jim Cunningham (Talbot Sunbeam) [11R]
121 Tony Canny/Joe O'Brien (Ford Escort) [13]
122 Andrew Duggan/Tara Duggan (Ford Escort) [11R]
123 Derry Collins/Stephen Collins (Vauxhall Nova) [9]
124 Noel McCarthy/John Caverly (Ford Escort) [9]
125 Carl Gower/Anthony O'Sullivan (Ford Escort) [13]
126 Liam McIntyre/Shane Byrne (Honda Civic) [11F]
127 Barry McKenna/Declan Tynan (Ford Escort) [13]
128 Sean Hickey/Con Lucey (Toyota Starlet) [12]
129 Michael P Kelleher/Iarla McCarthy (Ford Escort) [10]
130 Derek Flynn/Patrick Murphy (Honda Civic) [17]
131 Andrew Leacy/Stephen McGinn (Toyota Corolla) [11R]
132 Michael Walsh/Martin Walsh (Honda Civic) [11F]
133 David Cremin/Johnny O'Shea (Ford Escort) [12]
134 Richie Dalton/Ger Brett (Subaru Impreza) [20]
135 Ian Morris/Adrian May (Ford Escort) [13]
136 Denis Hickey/Sean Nolan (Ford Escort) [12]
137 Stephen O'Shea/Anne Marie O'Driscoll (Toyota Starlet) [11F]
138 Frank Hurley/Kevin Hurley (Ford Escort) [13]
139 Colm Forde/A.N Other (Honda Civic) [13]
140 Guilherme Nascimento/Robbie Ward (Honda Civic) [17]
141 Barry Archer/Eugene Cronin (Honda Civic) [17]
142 Darren Cremin/Liam Dennehy (Honda Civic) [11F]
143 John Browne/Sean O'Coileain (Honda Civic) [11F]
144 Seamus O'Donovan/Barry McCarthy (Suzuki Swift) [9]
145 Mark Donovan/David Duggan (Ford Escort) [11R]
146 Denis Buckley/Declan Casey (Ford Escort) [10]
147 David Swanton/Alan Shannon (Suzuki Swift) [9]
148 Pat McDonagh/Marie McDonagh (Ford Cortina) [10]
149 Owen Crowley/Dave Kelleher (Ford Escort) [10]
150 Liam Eyre/Katy Ford (Peugeot 205) [10]
151 JJ Harrington/Kenneth Fuller (Honda Civic) [11F]
152 Stevie Coffey/David Devane (Ford Escort) [9]

2016 Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally Historic Field Seeded List
H1 John Coyne/Christy Farrell (Talbot Sunbeam) [K]
H2 Dewi Bowen/David Owen (Ford Escort) [D5]
H3 Wyn Hughes/David Davies (Ford Escort) [D5]
H4 James O'Mahony/Kerrie Barry (Ford Escort) [E]
H5 Frank Cunningham/Ross Forde (Ford Escort) [K]
H6 Philip Wylie/John Young (Ford Escort) [D5]
H7 Ian Davies/Ryland James (Ford Escort) [D5]
H8 Duncan Williams/Guy Weaver (Ford Escort) [D3]
H9 Alan Watkins/Grace O'Brien (Ford Escort) [D3]
H10 Tim Lenihan/A.N Other (Ford Escort) [C2]
H11 Donal O' Connor/Sac o Spuds (Ford Escort) [C3]
H12 George Swanton/Kevin Barry (Ford Escort) [C2]
H14 Ned Flahavan/Leslie Wolf (Lancia Fulvia) [B2]

2016 Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally Junior Field Seeded List
J1 Colin Roche/Warren Tighe (Toyota Starlet) [J2]
J 2 Fergus Hurley/Eric Deane (Ford Escort ) [J2]
J 3 Kieran O'Donoghue/John Falvey (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 4 Justin Ryan/Maul Aprati (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 5 Kevin Horgan/Stephen Horgan (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 6 Noel Murphy/John Burke (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 7 Eric Calnan/Aileen Kelly (Peugeot 106 GTI) [J2]
J 8 Patrick Lawlor/Kevin Rohan (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 9 John O'Flaherty/PJ O'Dowd (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 10 Sean Fleming/Niall McLarnon (Ford Fiesta) [J2]
J 11 Padraig Deasy/Edel McCarthy (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 12 Anthony Sheehan/James Lucey (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 14 Jack Shealy/Billy Shealy (Toyota Corolla) [J2]
J 15 Denis O'Connell/Maurice Malone (Peugeot 106 GTI) [J2]
J 16 Jamie McCarthy/Donagh Hurley (Peugeot 106) [J2]
J 17 Diarmuid Hallahan/Padraig Walsh (Honda Civic) [J1]
J 18 Brian Keohane/Donal Keohane (Vauxhall Nova) [J1]
J 19 Alan Donovan/Mark Hurley (Honda Civic) [J2]
J 20 Anthony Keating/Des Roche (Ford Escort ) [J1]
J 21 Christy McCarthy/Cathal Quill (Honda Civic) [J2]
R J 22 Eamonn McCarthy/Packie McCarthy (Honda Civic) [J2]

Press Release 2 - Rally Launched

Posted: February 13, 2016 3:21 AM

The 38th Quality Hotel West Cork Rally which is promoted and organised by Cork Motor Club will take place on the 12th & 13th March next. The event is the second round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the opening round of the FIA Celtic Trophy (part of the new European Rally Trophy), the opening round of the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship and a round of the Cork Motor Club Championship. The Quality Hotel Clonakilty will once again be title sponsors and headquarters for the event, while club are also delighted to announce that Jim Davis & Sons Building Contractors will come on board as associate sponsors for the event.

The rally will run under an international permit for only the second time since it began in 1977, and the only previous time it did so was in 1986. The 2014 & 15 winner Donagh Kelly has signaled his intent to come back to attempt to become the first driver to win the rally three times in succession and the reigning Tarmac Champion also regards Ardfield as one of his favourite stages in rallying. With Class 5 now being the highest class eligible to win the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship, the closeness of the competition in Galway should give spectators a lot to look forward to, with championship leader Keith Cronin among those expected to take part.

There is a lot of interest in the event throughout the island of Ireland while England and Wales will provide the bulk of the overseas entry. The Clonakilty West Cork Rally Committee who raise funds for the event each year is offering ?100 in vouchers to the first 20 overseas entrants to the rally. Two Cork drivers will be upgrading to newer machinery for the coming season, with Owen Murphy making the switch to an ex Freddy Loix Skoda Fabia S2000 and Clonakilty driver Cal McCarthy having purchased a Citroen C2 R2.

Clerk of the Course Greg McCarthy has said the format of the event will remain the same as previous years, eight stages on the Saturday and six stages on the Sunday with centralised servicing in Darrara Agricultural College. Road mileage will be low in comparison to stage miles and will feature many of the classics such as Ring, Ardfield and Sam's Cross, some of which are on the Wild Atlantic Way, showcasing the stunning scenery around West Cork. Regulations can be downloaded from www.westcorkrally.com and www.corkmotorclub.com and further event details will available on these sites in the coming weeks.

Regulations / Entry Form

Posted: February 10, 2016 4:17 PM

Available at:

• West Cork Rally
• Cork Motor Club

Rally Launch - (Fri) 12 Feb 15

Posted: February 10, 2016 8:51 AM

Rally Launch will take place at the Quality Hotel Clonakilty on Friday the 12th of February at 8pm.

Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally 2016 Press Release 1

Posted: December 8, 2015 7:08 AM

The Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork Rally will take for the 38th time on 12th & 13th March 2016 and for only the second time in its history it will run under an International permit. The last time the event ran as an in international was in 1986, and was won by the late Frank Meagher in a Mk2 Escort.
The rally has been included as a round of the inaugural FIA Celtic Rally Trophy (subject to FIA World Motorsport Council approval in early December) which also includes a number of other TROA events. After a successful and popular 2015 event, the rally is once again the second round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship for the coming season.

Greg McCarthy will be Clerk of the Course for the second year and the Quality Hotel Clonakilty will be the Rally HQ as usual. The format of the rally will remain the same for 2016, with eight stages run on the Saturday and six on the Sunday over a very compact route with low road mileage. The entry fee for the various categories will also remain unchanged from the 2015 event. More information will be available on www.westcorkrally.com and www.corkmotorclub.com in the coming weeks.

Event / Club Website

Posted: December 8, 2015 7:07 AM

• West Cork Rally
• Cork Motor Club