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LinksMaiden City Stages - (Sat) 6 Apr 19
Posted: April 6, 2019 10:03 AM - 8980 Hits
Round 3 - 2019 Northern Ireland Rally Championship
Results by: RallyScore.Net
Facebook Live Reports from Onthepacenote.com
SS1 10:25
- Time and Distance Schedule
- NI Rally Championships Heads to Closed Roads Near Strabane and Donemana!
- PRESS RELEASE 2
- Seeded Entry List
- Today is deadline for Entries - (Mon) 25 Mar
- Entries Received
- Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers Stages Rally - Press Release 1
- On Line Entry / Regulations
NI Rally Championships Heads to Closed Roads Near Strabane and Donemana!
Posted: April 2, 2019 6:53 AM
The McGrady Insurance Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship bursts back into action this Saturday (06 April) with the Strabane based Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers Stages Rally!
Closed roads in the Donemana area will reverberate to the sounds of high-powered rally cars as almost 100 crews battle for the rally spoils. Competitors will tackle a total of six stages (two stages completed three times) with service based in Strabane's Canal Street area.
"Thanks must go to Derry and Strabane District Council for providing excellent facilities to allow an event of this size to be located in the town," said Clerk of the Course, Declan McCay. "The businesses in the area have been very accommodating and we've had a great response from residents along the route too."
Millions of pounds worth of rally cars will be competing for the spoils and an influx of spectators are expected to descend on the area, giving a massive boost to the local economy.
Leading Entrants
Reigning champions Derek McGarrity and Paddy Robinson will lead the field over the start ramp in their Fiesta WRC. They are among the favourites for victory and it will be the first event of the year for navigator Robinson.
The Letterkenny man is returning to action after his wife gave birth to a baby boy in March. He'll be aiming to help McGarrity to a record ninth NI title but it's been a fraught start to the season for the champion.
Retirement while leading the opening road put him on the back foot and although he won round two, the Glengormley driver still has some work to do as he holds a lowly ninth overall in the championship race.
Instead, the father and son team of Derek and Mark McGeehan share the championship lead with Stephen Wright, who has opted to miss this event. Wright intends to bounce back into action at round four's Down Rally in July so that gives the McGeehans an opportunity to make the number one position their own if they can secure another strong result in their Mini WRC.
They will be second on the road ahead of the Hyundai i20 R5 belonging to Alan Carmichael and Ivor Lamont. Ballymoney's Carmichael claimed a top-five result at round one but missed the second event so he's just outside the top 10 in championship terms.
Young gun Callum Devine will be one to watch in his Fiesta R5. The 24-year-old from Feeny, just 12 miles from Donemana, took sixth overall at the recent West Cork Rally, which was a round of both the Irish Tarmac and British championships. He and navigator Brian Hoy are both 'match fit' ahead of what could almost be classed as their home event.
Manus Kelly and Donall Barrett are multiple Donegal International Rally winners and have decided to join the fray. The Letterkenny based crew are using the opportunity to get more 'seat time' in their Hyundai i20 R5 having had a troubled started to their Irish Tarmac series campaign.
Strabane's Martin Cairns will have the benefit of Donemana's Peter Ward calling the notes in his Fiesta WRC while Frank Wray and Joe McNulty are another WRC powered crew at number seven in their Impreza.
A pair of Fiesta R5 crews follow with Sean Devine at number eight ahead of Mark Massey at nine while Kevin Eves completes the top 10 seeds in his potent two-wheel drive Toyota Corolla.
Other notable names outside the top 10 seeds include Nigel Feeney (Mini WRC) who is fifth in the series standings and James Leckey (Subaru Impreza) who holds sixth.
Two-Wheel Drive
The event will mark Kevin Eves' first foray into this year's NI Championship scene. He'll be taking the fight to the likes of Draperstown's Camillus Bradley, who finished second overall in the series a few years ago, as well as current 2WD championship leaders James and Heather Kennedy.
In fact, the 2WD category is very strong with a host of drivers capable of taking the spoils. They include Vivian Hamill, Mickey Conlon, Brendan McDaid, Barry Morris, Kyle White and championship sponsor, Fintan McGrady.
Event Start
The event gets underway around 10am on Saturday morning. Competitors will tackle two stages each run three times on roads closed in the Donemana area with service after stages two and four in Strabane.
The first car is due at the finish ramp shortly after 4.30pm when the winners will be crowned. Event programmes containing stage maps and times will be on sale in shops near the area.
PRESS RELEASE 2
Posted: April 2, 2019 6:52 AM
With less than 1 week to go, Maiden City Motor Club’s premier event this year is preparing for a feast of rally Motorsport in the North West of Ireland.
Almost 100 crews have already signed up to compete in the Dunamanagh / Strabane based event.
Sponsored by Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers, the Stage rally plans 2 high quality closed road stages in the Dunamanagh area, with a Strabane as the central service area.
This Maiden city event, is the 3rd round of the Mc Grady Insurance NI ANICC Rally championship, which is currently being led by Stephen Wright ahead of Derek McGeehan, closely followed by Kenny McKinstry. Reigning NI Champion, Derek McGarrity, is in 9th place but will be out to impress on this event. Some late entries were received from Portglenone driver Desi Henry and Park’s Callum Devine. Local top drivers include father and Son Sean and Nial Devine, and Paul Britton, all from Dunamanagh. Strabane drivers Martin Cairns, Frank Wray, Alan Atcheson and Declan McGrory, will also be battling for top spots over the 6 stages. Interestingly, in the co-driver’s seat, the 2nd place championship place is Strabane’s Eathan McColgan, who will be hoping to hold or move up one place on the championship leader board after Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers Stage Rally.
Local interest in the event is strong, with a number of local and other Northern Ireland crews taking part, followed close behind by a number of top Republic of Ireland crews.
Sponsor of the event, Mr Peter Eakin, said he was “looking forward to the rally in the area again, and it had been many years since there was an Eakin Bros Stages Rally.”
Clerk of the Course for the event, said the team were in the final, stages of preparation, and with a team of over 60 marshals and 30 other officials working on the event to provide a safe rally for the competitors and spectators to enjoy.
He added that, “the Club would like to thank the residents in particular for their cooperation in running the two special stages, as we have received enormous support for many people in the running of the event in the area.”
The stages being run are Curryfree and Altishane and cover some of the most scenic terrain in Northern Ireland, and passes through ‘The Sperrins Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ in the Strabane and Donemana area.
The event starts early on Saturday 6th April, after 6am, in Strabane, with scrutiny and the safety and eligibility checks of the competing cars before the official start from Dock Street at 10am.
There will be two official services taking place in Strabane, when the cars return around mid-day and later in the afternoon.
Programmes will be available locally at selected outlets in Claudy, Donemana, Strabane, Letterkenny and Muff, Co. Donegal. This will contain full details for the stages locations, first car due times for each of the 6 special road closed stages, and entry list of the competing crews.
Spectators are reminded that up to date information is also available on the Maiden City Motor Club website.
The local communities are reminded of the road closing times, Curryfree roads are closed for a maximum time, from 9am until 5pm, while Altishane will be closed 9:20am and 5:15pm.
The Clerk of the Course continued with advice for residents, to read the information already given by the PR teams on the stages earlier this year, and speak to the marshals positioned around the course on the day of the event.
The rally is expected to be finishing in Strabane from 4pm onwards.
Seeded Entry List
Posted: March 28, 2019 4:02 AM
No Driver/Co-Driver (Car) [Class]
1 Derek McGarrity/Paddy Robinson (Ford Fiesta WRC) [9]
2 Derek McGeehan/Mark McGeehan (MINI WRC) [9]
3 Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont (Hyundai i20 R5) [8]
4 Callum Devine/Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta R5) [8]
5 Manus Kelly/Donall Barrett (Hyundai i20 R5) [8]
6 Martin Cairns/Peter Ward (Ford Fiesta WRC) [9]
7 Frank Wray/Joe McNulty (Subaru Impreza WRC S11) [9]
8 Sean Devine/Sean Ferris (Ford Fiesta) [8]
9 Mark Massey/Niall Burns (Ford Fiesta R5) [8]
10 Kevin Kevin Eves/Chris Melly (Toyota Corolla) [7]
11 Alan Smyth/MacKierans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) [9]
12 Paul Britton/George Tinsley (Subaru Impreza N16) [2]
14 Camillus Bradley/Crawford Henderson (Ford Escort Mk2) [7]
15 Vivian Hamill/Andrew Grennan (Ford Escort Mk2) [7]
16 Declan McCrory/TBA (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) [9]
17 Amy Cox/Caron McCormack (Skoda Fabia) [8]
18 Nigel Feeney/TBA (MINI WRC) [9]
19 Aaron McLaughlin/Darren Curran (Ford Fiesta) [9]
20 Jonny Morrow/Simon Morrow (Mitsubishi Mirage RS) [9]
21 Mickey Conlon/Martin Connolly (Ford Escort Mk2) [7]
22 Brendan McDaid/Noreen McShea (Ford Escort Mk2) [7]
23 Fintan McGrady/Cormac McGrady (Ford Escort Mk2) [7]
24 James Kennedy/Heather Kennedy (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
25 Barry Morris/TBA (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
26 Alastair Cochrane/TBA (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
27 John Devlin/John McCarthy (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
28 Alan Atcheson/Micheal Laverty (Ford Fiesta) [9]
29 Drew Stewart/David White (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
30 Niall Devine/Liam McIntyre (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) [2]
31 Anthony Cairns/Tba Tba (Subaru Impreza) [9]
32 Kyle White/Sean Topping (Peugeot 208 R2) [4]
33 James Leckey/Jordan Murphy (Subaru Impreza) [9]
34 Gary Cairns/Garry Monteith (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) [2]
35 Frank O'Brien/Niall McGonigle (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [2]
36 Lee McLaughlin/Martin Farren (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [9]
37 Gary Rodgers/TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [9]
38 Chris McGurk/Eathan Colgan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) [2]
39 Darren McKelvey/Dean O'Sullivan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [9]
40 Joe Hegarty/David Turkington (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [9]
41 Robert Erwin/Andrew Wilson (Toyota Corolla) [4]
42 Paddy McDaid/Timmy Lunn (Ford Escort Mk2) [7]
43 Allan Mackay/TBA (Ford Anglia) [6]
44 Seamus McDaid/Tim Duggan (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
45 James Convery/Joey Walls (Subaru Impreza) [9]
46 Bob Riddles/Ian Kidd (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
47 Colm McFall/Ronnie Craig (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [2]
48 Kieran O'Kane/John Frew (Opel Ascona) [7]
49 Martin McAteer/Oran Mullan (TBA) [7]
50 Shaun Murphy/Damien McKenna (Ford Escort) [6]
51 Shane Murray/Conor Laverty (Ford Escort) [6]
52 William Morgan/John Henderson (Ford Escort) [7]
53 Jamie Grant/Joe Agnew (Toyota Starlet) [6]
54 Paul Ward/Paul Hone (Ford Escort) [6]
55 Derek Gurney/Sean Doherty (Ford Sierra) [6]
56 Niall Carey/Ciaran Carey (BMW Compact) [7]
57 Marc Johnston/Colin Irvine (Ford Escort) [5]
58 William McClurkin/Damian McCann (Ford Escort Mk2) [5]
59 Conor Gillespie/Marty Harte (Ford Escort Mk2) [5]
60 Seamus Morris/Aiden Campbell (Darrian GTR) [7]
61 Seamus Branniff/Barry Savage (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [2]
62 Kyle McGettigan/Dale McGettigan (Ford Escort) [7]
63 Robert McKelvey/Declan Campbell (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [2]
64 Joe Gallagher/Mo Downey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [2]
65 Drew Wylie/Allan Harryman (Ford Escort) [10]
66 Stephen McFerran/James McKeefry (Ford Escort) [10]
67 Stephen Whitford/Steven Dowds (Nissan Micra) [3]
68 Clive McGonigle/Steven Tinney (Ford Escort) [6]
69 Michael McGarrity/Damien Garvey (Citroen DS3) [6]
70 Mervyn Tate/Sarah Tate (Talbot Sunbeam) [3]
71 Gerard Neeson/Michael Murray (Peugeot 106) [4]
72 Raymond Gurney/Andrew Robinson (Ford Sierra) [6]
73 Mark Convey/Aidan McMullan (Ford Escort G3) [6]
74 Liam McMullan/Aodhan Gallagher (Honda Civic) [6]
75 Tom Devine/TBA (Honda Civic) [4]
76 Robert Reilly/Eamon Conway (Honda Civic) [4]
77 Daniel Hamill/Nathan Quin (Peugeot 106) [4]
78 Adrian Grant/Olivia Coulter (Ford Escort Mk2) [5]
79 Emmett Kelly/Gene McDonald (Honda Civic) [4]
80 Philip White/TBA (Nissan Micra) [3]
81 Daniel MacBride/Evan MacBride (Honda Civic) [4]
82 Stephen Caldwell/Steven McCrossan (Vauxhall Corsa) [3]
83 Eamon McLaughlin/Steven Boyle (Ford Escort) [3]
84 Alistair Glenn/Lee Simpson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [2]
85 Michael Nutt/Dessie Nutt (Honda Civic) [1]
86 Jack Cairns/TBA (Honda Civic) [1]
87 Joel Eakin/Graham Henderson (Peugeot 106) [1]
88 Kyle Elder/Mark Elder (Honda Civic) [1]
89 Darren McGrath/Tony McGovern (Honda Civic) [1]
90 Mark Faulkner/TBA (Nissan Micra) [3]
91 Malcolm Pedlow/Billy Regan (BMW 2002tii) [10]
92 Adam Vance/David Vance (Honda Civic) [1]
93 Stanley Ballantine/Tba Tba (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) [2]
94 Paul McErlean/Michaela McGinn (Ford Escort Mk2) [6]
95 Sean McQuaid/Ivan Wilkinson (Ford Escort Mk2) [5]
96 Johnny Mulholand/Charles Gallagher (Ford Fiesta) [4]
97 John Bradley/Cathal Mulgrew (Ford Escort) [6]
Today is deadline for Entries - (Mon) 25 Mar
Posted: March 25, 2019 6:56 AM
Today is deadline day for the EAKIN BROS BRAIN JAMES TRAILERS STAGES RALLY which will run on the 6th of April.
We are delighted to have 80+ entries so far but we can still take a number of entries today.
Remember, this the 3rd round of the MCGRADY INSURANCE NORTHERN IRELAND RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP and is the first closed road tarmac stages rally of the championship.
We will run 6 stages, 2 stages run 3 times around the Donemana area with the rally being based from Strabane.
A leading pacenotes supplier has described the stages as 'brilliant fantastic stages, challenging but enjoyable'.
The UNSEEDED entry list so far can be seen in the pics, we have some MAGNIFICENT CARS in the line up and some TOP DRIVERS, its worth spending a couple of minutes having a look.
We've put an immense amount of work in behind the scenes to ensure the event runs smoothly and everyone has a safe enjoyable rally. We're confident that this will be one to remember.
We are working to have coverage live on facebook on the day of the event.
Seeding will be completed this week after the entry is closed tonight. Keep an eye on the page for a seeded entry list.
Programmes will be available from a number of outlets near Derry, Strabane and Donegal.
The RECCE will run on only Sat 30th March from Donemana
We still need a number of MARSHALS, please contact Jude O Neill, Caroline Mc Guinness or Sean Meehan if you can assist on the day. Marshals will be provided with a cooked breakfast and a lunch during the day. It will really help us if you could make contact and let us know if you can assist. With out our volunteers there simply wouldnt be any rallying and we're forever grateful for any help we receive.
Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers Stages Rally - Press Release 1
Posted: February 22, 2019 10:34 AM
In preparation for the upcoming event on Saturday 6th April, the Maiden City Motor Club are proud to announce that the main sponsor for their tarmac stages rally, will be Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers.
Based in Claudy and Maydown, MD Peter Eakin said there had been a long association with Eakin Bros and Maiden City MC for over 40 years, and when the Club were included in the NI Rally Championship for 2019, it was an excellent opportunity to assist promote the event on the NW sporting stage.
Clerk of the Course for the event, Declan McCay, said he was pleased that Eakin Bros and Brian James Trailers were again headline sponsor for this key event, as it was bringing two strong brand names to be associated with the Club.
Giving some details about the event, Mr McCay said the entries for the event were opening shortly, with regulations and entries available now. There is expected to be a high level of interest.
As it is the third round of the McGrady Insurance Motorsport UK NI Rally Championship. It is expected that there will be a strong entry from the championship contenders, with many top level cars and drivers expected to take place.
The event will be using road closed stages local to the North West. While based in Strabane, the 2 rally stages will be in the Dunamanagh area.
Mr McCay said,
“We are lucky to have excellent roads in the area, and there has been a great response from the residents along the route, receiving help to organise the event beforehand, and on the day.”
He added, “In Strabane, the service area will be utilising the Canal Street area, and thanks go to the Derry City and Strabane District Council for providing the excellent spaces to allow an event of this size to be located in the town. The businesses in the area have been very accommodating, and providing help to ensure the easy use of the area.”
Programmes giving rally stage details will be available before the rally takes place, and will be on sale locally.
Upcoming