Kelleher to tackle Mayo Rally

By Martin Walsh Saturday March 13th, 2010

AS THE Dunlop National Rally Championship heads to the west of Ireland for the Claremorris based McWilliam Park Hotel Mayo Rally on Sunday, there is an unfamiliar look to the top of the championship leaderboard that is headed by Welshman, Mel Evans, who won the opening round of the ten round campaign in Nenagh.

The organising Mayo and District Motorsport Club has attracted an entry of some 135 crews that will be headed by former Dunlop champion, Aaron MacHale, who will be co-driven by Diarmuid Falvey.

MacHale will use his championship winning Ford Focus WRC on the nine-stage event. Having annexed maximum Dunlop points in Nenagh, where he led from start to finish, Mel Evans renews rivalry with the likes of Niall Maguire, Kevin Barrett and Derek McGarrity, as the Subaru WRC quartet concentrate on Dunlop points.

Former triple national champion, Niall Maguire, has finished runner-up in Mayo for the last two seasons. In 2008, he finished seven seconds behind Aaron MacHale while last year he lost out to Patrick Elliott by six seconds. The Monaghan driver seemed set to clinch third in Nenagh only for a blown turbo that relegated him to fourth.

Meanwhile, Kevin Barrett, a non-finisher in Nenagh due to a sheared wheel stud, will be aiming to get his Dunlop title bid off the ground in Claremorris. The Maynooth driver showed good pace in County Tipperary and was second overall for part of the event.

Reigning Northern Ireland Rally champion, Derek McGarrity (Subaru WRC) illustrated his potential in the closing stages in Nenagh and knows that he can mount a challenge in Mayo right from the start. A time consuming spin cost him dearly in Nenagh and as he grew accustomed to the ex-Eamonn Boland Tarmac Championship winning Subaru S12B, he will be a potent threat in Mayo.

Billy Coleman award winner, Craig Breen, will give the all-new Ford Fiesta S2000 its Dunlop National Rally Championship debut. Having finished second overall to Gareth MacHale in the Galway International Rally, it will be interesting to see how the talented 20 year old – who is currently working with the World Rally Championship team, M-Sport – will fare against the top quintet.

CLONAKILTY

Reigning Patterson’s RallyNews Group N champion, Clonakilty’s Kevin Kelleher, who claimed the final podium place in Nenagh, will also try and match the WR brigade for pace. The showroom entry in Mayo also includes Donegal’s Danny McBride (Mitsubishi), Meath’s Sean Flanagan (Subaru) and Donegal’s Trevor Bustard (Mitsubishi).

McBride is a former category event winner in the Dunlop series whilst Flanagan showed an increased turn of speed in last month’s Galway International Rally.

Promising Monaghan driver, Daniel McKenna (Ford Escort), is seeded behind Kevin Kelleher, having won the inaugural ‘Driver of the Day’ award in Nenagh for his recovery from 92nd on the opening stage to 22nd overall at the finish.

McKenna will be hard to beat in the Modified category where opposition will include Donegal’s Manus Kelly, another driver that showed scintillating pace in Nenagh and the evergreen, Maurice Moffett (Monaghan) in his trusty Toyota Starlet.

Indeed, with the likes of Camillus Bradley, Damien Gallagher, Trevor Mulligan, Eugene Ferry, Russell Woods and Victor Hunter, all in Ford Escorts, the category should be very well contested.

An interesting entry is that of St. Alban’s based, Cork driver, Michael O’Brien, who makes a rare foray onto Irish tarmac onboard his Ford Focus WRC; he is seeded at 14. Other entries include Mark Courtney (Toyota Celica), Toyota Corolla duo, Raymond Conlon and Stuart Darcy and Anthony Hand (Ford Escort).

The ceremonial start in the Square, Claremorris, takes place on Saturday evening (March 13th). Proceedings get under way at 8pm with the cars due at the start ramp at 8.40pm. Norwegian rally ace, Mads Ostberg, will pilot Mick McQuaid’s Mk. 2 Ford Escort as one of the 00cars. The first of Sunday’s nine stages will begin at 9.34am.

It’s a busy weekend for Derek McGarrity, who heads the entry for Saturday’s McGrady Insurance Bishopscourt Rally, round two of the Hankook Northern Ireland Rally Championship. Former NI Champion George Robinson (Subaru WRC) and Gary White (Subaru 555) complete the top three for the six-stage event.

IRISH

The Irish pair of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle (Peugeot S207 S2000) scored a start to finish victory in the Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil, the second round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. They finished 46.7 seconds ahead of the Skoda Fabia S2000 of Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh.

1. K. Meeke/P. Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000) 1h. 42m. 45.4s; 2. G. Wilks/P. Pugh (Skoda Fabia S2000) 1h. 43m. 32.1s; 3. J. Hanninen/M. Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000) 1h. 44m. 05.6s; 4. J. Kopecky/P. Stary (Skoda Fabia S2000) 1h. 44m. 34.7s.

IRC Standings: 1. J. Hanninen 14 pts; 2. G. Wilks 11 pts; joint 3rd. M. Hirvonen and K. Meeke 10 pts; 5. J. Kopecky 9 pts.

In the second round of the World Rally Championship, the Corona Rally Mexico, Citroen drivers filled the podium positions. World champion, Sebastien Loeb, finished 24.2 seconds ahead of Petter Solberg, who claimed second spot, a mere 1.1 seconds ahead of Sebastien Ogier for third by 1.1 seconds. Mikko Hirvonen, who won the opening round, finished fourth; his team-mate, Jari Matti Latvala held the position until team orders came into play.

1. S. Loeb (Citroen C4 WRC) 3h. 42m. 41.7s; 2. P. Solberg (Citroen C4 WRC) 3h. 43m. 05.9s; 3. S. Ogier (Citroen C4 WRC) 3h. 43m. 07.0s; 4. M. Hirvonen (Ford Focus WRC) 3h. 44m. 29.2s; 5. J-M Latvala (Ford Focus WRC) 3h. 44m. 56.8s.

The Carrick-on-Suir based Willie Loughman Forest Rally, the second round of the Petro Systems National Forest Championship was won by Cashel’s Pat O’Connell (Mitsubishi). Leading from the start, he finished the six stage event 32 seconds ahead of the Toyota Corolla WRC of John Reid. Ballyvourney’s Gerard Lucey (Toyota Celica) finished second in Class 6 and eleventh overall.

Mallow’s Sarah Moynihan (Mitsubishi), who was in the top five after the second stage, retired on the third stage with a sticking throttle.

1. P. O’Connell/M. Wiley (Mitsubishi) 43m. 29s; 2. J. Reid/E. Shiels (Toyota Corolla WRC) 44m. 01s; 3. E. McNulty/P. Sheridan (Subaru) 45m. 44s; 4. J. McLaughlin/R. Fitzpatrick (Mitsubishi) 45m. 59s; 5. J. Drislane/L. McLaughlin (Mitsubishi) 47m. 20; 6. M. Cuddihy/R. Coady (Toyota Starlet) 47m. 40s.

Ovens driver, Owen Murphy, in his Kilumney Inn sponsored Mitsubishi won the Group N category and was seventh overall in the Malcolm Wilson Rally in Cockermouth last weekend. Although he suffered a puncture on the second stage, he had a consistent run over the remaining stages.

Paul Bird (Ford Focus) was on course to take victory until two punctures on the final stage forced him to retire. Steve Perez (Ford Focus WRC) took full advantage – finishing 17 seconds ahead of the Ford Focus of Northern Ireland’s Jonny Greer.

Pirelli TEG Sport driver, Keith Cronin, expressed satisfaction with his test at the same event where he drove his new Subaru as one of the 00 cars. The Ballylickey ace also tested at Sweet Lamb a few days prior to the event.

Don Giles (Westfield) finished third overall in the Limerick Autotest at Newcastle West on Sunday last.

Newly crowned Irish Rallycrosss champion, Tommy Graham (Fiesta RSC) rounded off the season in style with victories in both the Super Final and the Supercar A Final at Mondello Park.

Close on 160 entries were received for the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally by the cut-off mark on Monday last. Liam McCarthy, Tim McNulty, John Dalton, Michael Barrable, Denis Cronin, Hugh Hunter and JJ Fleming are all set to be seeded in the top ten. Next week’s issue of The Southern Star will feature a full preview of the event.