Trevor Harding/ Andrew Purcell Win in Wexford! Full Stage Times
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Full Event Details!

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Event Preview - Seems a Breeze for Breen, but Reid is right in the hunt.

On every rally this season the Hankook National forestry championship has provided exciting and closely fought Irish Motorsport Wexford Motor club make an exciting return to the championship. Last ran in 2000 and then won by Dominic McNeil in an Escort WRC the return of this event will be a new venue for many of todays championship players. Clerk of the Course for the event, Brendan Harpur has devised an excellent route in the sunny south east and there are ten good stages waiting for the crews that total approx 70km of competitive distance, a real challenge by anyone's standards.
The picturesque Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy will be the base of the event and mechanical scrutiny will take place Saturday afternoon at Wexford Mart on the Old Dublin Road from 4pm onwards.
First competing car leave parc ferme at the mart from 8.45am on Sunday morning. The action begins then with the first two stages of the day in Camolin Park and Slieve Boy. Then the rally moves to a service halt in Carnew and then the same two stages will be repeated again followed by a return to service in Carnew.
After their second visit to service in Carnew, the crews will compete on stages in Craughan, Mount Leinster and Gibbet Hill with these three stages repeated again in the evening to bring the rally to a finish.
The first car is due to finish the event back at the mart in Enniscorthy at approximately 5:20pm with the champagne reception for the winner and finishing ceremony due to take place shortly afterwards down at the Riverside Park Hotel.
Who can be that winner in 2008? The stages are in good condition and the club is looking forward to the support of competitors old and new. Ray Breen can no longer be classed as a new comer to the forests as he has won the last 3 events on the trot, once again his son Craig is absent due to clashing circuit racing commitments and Martin Brady will again deputise. John Reid is second on the road and second in the championship points. Buoyed by his consistent driving and the ever reliable Corolla WRC he and co driver Enda Shields are just close enough to Breen that he cant afford to make a mistake and risk a non score as it will put him right in the clutches of the Meath crew in their Toyota WRC. Denis Cronin & Helen O Sullivan are another crew who could challenge for victory, the Cork crew are improving with every mile as they adapt to the forestry series but have been gaining pace at an impressive rate. A top contender would surely be Andrew Purcell however this time he is not in the driving seat and has forsaken his championship challenge temporarily due to lack of a suitable car. This weekend he will still be in the hunt for overall honours as he will navigate for the very rapid Trevor J Harding in a Grp A Subaru Impreza which comes straight from Scotland with many winning laurels in its pedigree. Trevor J does not make regular appearances in the series but perhaps the acquisition of this car will change that, certainly any day he does appear then he is at the head of the race so expect this pair to be in the battle for overall honours. James Murphy had good times and better reliability in his Escort WRC on the last rally, he will have a slight advantage over the rest of the pack in Wexford because he was one of the pacesetters in 2000 when the rally last ran. He has placed a late entry and can be expected to go well. The victor could come from any of the above and none of the front runners are there to make up the numbers on a Sunday drive.
The Group N race will also be fierce. Colin Britton has been the man to beat all year, but Pete Mc Cullagh appeared at the last round with a new Evo and a serious pace. The battle between these two will certainly be close to watch, expect John Reddington and Sean Heaney to be in this battle also. Brian Lawlor was entered in his Evo but will now switch to his Escort MK2 after parts for his Mitsubishi did not arrive to him in time to ready the car.
The return to Wexford is set to be a triumphant one; but its not too late to join in, entries are still available via the very simple to use on line entry system on www.wexfordmotorclub.com it's guaranteed to be an enjoyable and novel days sport in Wexford.

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Press Release 1 - Event Details

The Riverside Park Hotel backed Wexford Forestry rally is the 5th round of the 2008 Hankook tyres forestry rally championship. Rally COC Brendan Harper and his team have put together a compact route totalling approximately 170km, 65 of which will make up the 10 special stages. The event will be based in the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy, on the banks of the river Slaney.
The series so far has been action packed, with former national champion Ray Breen holding the upper hand after 3 straight wins on the last three events. John Reid has been the surprise package of the series, the former Escort pilot getting more and more used to his new Corolla WRC, the car that took Gareth MacHale to the forestry title in 2005.
Tied for third are the Subaru’s of Andrew Purcell and Denis Cronin. Andrew started the season superbly, with a win on the opening round and then a second placed finish in Carrick. However, a non-finish in Limerick dented his hopes and then a salvage mission was the aim on the Moonraker which saw him take to the start in a hired Derek Jobb Evo 6, after his own car suffered mechanical problems at the 11th hour. He will be keen to get his championship challenge back on course in Wexford, a win being the definite aim.
Denis Cronin is another man to make the switch to gravel for 2008 and as stated, lies joint third in the championship at the half-way mark. Quite often it’s sons following in the footsteps of great family names from the past but for Denis, well he’s trying to emulate the achievement of nephew Keith, who had some outstanding results in the 2007 championship. Quicker round by round, could Wexford see Denis step up to the challenge for overall honours?
With more championship regulars like GpN leader Colin Britton, Brian “Stonemad” Lawlor, Sean Heaney and Jason Roche all expected to make the start, the event promises to be a cracker!

Regulations for the event will be available shortly here and on the event website!

Wexford Motor Club Website