 Results Event Preview Final Instructions and Time and Distance Schedule Entry List Entries closing this Saturday, 17th March Regulations Available
Great result for Stephen Moore and Tony McHugh with Billy Coleman Award runner up Keith Cronin in an impressive second place.. Download Full results and Stage Times here! Results
1 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC) 69m 06s,
2 Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Connell (Mit. Lancer Evo 7) GpN 69m 56s,
3 Stuart Darcy/Andy Donoghue (Mit Lancer Evo 6) 71m 57s,
4 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Mit. Lancer Evo 9) GpN 73m 33s,
5 Kevin O'Kane/Martin Brady (Subaru Impreza WRC) 73m 40s,
6 James Coleman/Michael Haley (Ford Escort 2.0) 76m 53s,
7 Connie Smith/Breen McNamee (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4) 78m 48s,
8 Damien Quinn/Peter Conlon (Subaru Impreza WRC) 80m 33s,
9 Michael Murphy/Will Kiely (Subaru Impreza) 81m 32s,
10 Sean Heaney/Liam McLaughlin (Mit. Lancer Evo 6) GpN 81m 51s. Round 2 of the Hankook Tyres National forestry championship is already upon us and the forests of Mitchelstown are the venue for the action. The championship already has had an exciting start in the rain soaked Carrick on Suir event and despite the difficult conditions the pace was frantic with as many as 4 drivers holding the lead at separate times. Ultimately it was Stephen Moore who made it out of the final stage victorious and set his championship off to the best possible start with maximum points.
This weekends rally in Mitchelstown will hopefully bring less rain and just as much speed and competition. Clerk of the course Jim O Brien has put together a challenging event of just over 100km of stages which will see the crews visit all the well known classic stages of the area.
Firstly the event leaves Mitchelstown at 9am and heads to SS1 Kilworth, a real fast and flowing stage that needs full commitment if a good time is to be secured. Then the rally moves to SS2 Goatenbridge this stage has some tight uphill sections as it climbs up toward the Liam Lynch Monument and consequently then some tricky downhill sections towards the finish, a faint hearted approach is not the key to success in here.
Then the rally will have service on the main road just past Cahir on the N8 southbound. After that short service the cars will be heading for Kilcoran again a fast stage but with a real good surface, no doubt it will be a pleaser for crews and spectators alike. To complete the loop is the famous Caumbaun stage, the one that sweeps for 11km across the Galtee Mountains mixing hairpins with fast sweeping sections in a stage that has something to challenge every car and driver.
The rally then moves to service in Galtee Meats factory in Mitchelstown and the crews return back out to complete the same loop of stages once more with another service on the N8 after SS7 before those who complete the final SS8 returning to Mitchelstown for 17:30 approx and a champagne shower at the finish ramp in the town centre for the victorious crew.
And what of the crews that could be victorious this weekend? Well the short odds has to be on number 1 seed Stephen Moore & Tony McHugh in their Ford Focus WRC, Stephen is unbeaten in this championship since September 06 and he proved in Carrick that he has the pace and consistency to continue that trend. Stephen had the pace to win the rally last year in a Grp N car so his pedigree in these Forests is well proven. Second seed Trevor Harding lead the last round before mechanical woes blighted his speed, he returns again this weekend in the McKinstry S8 Subaru and with a new co driver Alistair Wylie. Could Tipp native Trevor be the one to take Moore off the top step of the podium this weekend? Next on the road is James Murphy in the Escort WRC, James is due a turn of good luck after mechanical problems on round 1, when machine allows it there is no problem with the pace of the man here and he is always one to be watched on the timesheets. Kevin O Kane & Martin Brady take up 4th on the road coming to the rally from a solid 3rd 0/A in round 1 they will be looking for more of the same as they continue to adapt to the P2000 spec Subaru WRC. At 5 is Brian Mc Gillin & David Doherty various problems kept Brian down the leader board in round 1 but when he got a clean run at the stage times then his pace was right up at the front, with miles under his belt in the Hyundai WRC he can only be an increasing threat to the leaders spot.
Dominic Mc Neil & Francis Kenny are next up at 6, expected to start in an Escort WRC and never one to be on anything other than a front runners pace in these woods. Frank Kelly & Liam Brennan are the first 2wd on the road and with Franks giant killing pace from Carrick it is safe to assume he will be right on the heels of all the wrc cars in front of him, spectators be advised this will be the man to watch for spectacle and action. Andrew Purcell in the Grp A Subaru is next on the list his times in Carrick were impressive and on the leading pace before a minor trip to the scenery ended bogged him down into retirement. Having been 4th o/a on last year’s event in a 1600 Civic it would be no surprise to see him above and beyond this placing on Sunday evening.
The Group N battle begins at 9 with Brian Lawlor or Stonemad to his fans- Mr Mad was in fact leading this event last year before mechanical gremlins ended that. If better luck prevails this weekend then Brian and Co driver Peter Kavanagh have the pace to take a well deserved result. Pete Mc Cullagh & Andrew Lehane are next Grp N runners, Pete in the yellow Lancer Evo 7 is always a lightning man out of the blocks and this pairing set impressive times on their last outing on the Bushwhacker 06 so don’t be surprised to see Pete shake off the winter lay off and be the Grp N man to beat on SS1. If not Pete at the head of the timesheets then surely it will be Keith Cronin & Anthony O Connail. This Cork crew had an unfortunate retirement on round 1 in their Hankook backed Mitsubishi so no doubt they will be anxious to secure a solid finish by Sunday evening. Stuart Darcy rounds off the top 12 and is expected to start in his newly rebuilt Grp A Subaru. Further down the Grp N battle Kevin Duggan & Keith Bovaird debut their new Evo 9 Mitsubishi and this change in machinery is sure to see them even closer to Grp N victory. Also in the hunt for the Grp N spoils are Justin Dunne, Patrick Keenan and WJ Dolan. Sadly Brendan Creally & Greg Shinnors wont make the start in their Grp N Hankook backed Evo as it is still being repaired after accident damage on round 1.
The next 2wd Challengers to Frank Kelly are Mk2 Escort crews with James Coleman & M Haley at 15 and Seamus O Connell & Brian Duggan at 16 and 17 Adrian Hetherington & Terry Walkingshaw. In this battle both Duggan and Hetherington will have to re programme themselves from Cork Tarmac to Cork Gravel after both having results on last weekends West Cork Rally, expect them to remain in sideways form however! As with every round of the championship this year the top 2wd crew win the Superdrive prize and with it comes a voucher from www.superdriveni.com for part payment of entry fees for another round of the Championship to the value of €150.00 for first 2WD and €75.00 for 2nd place 2WD.
So once more the scene is set for the second round of the 2007 Hankook Tyres National Forest Rally Championship, looking forward to seeing you all in a hopefully sunny Mitchelstown.
Rally HQ & Documentation: The Firgrove Hotel Mitchelstown.
Scrutiny: O’ Donnell’s Esso Station Fermoy Rd Mitchellstown
Scrutiny from 16:00 – 21:00 Saturday 24th
Hankook tyres will have their on event tyre service available here and in service, phone Gary on 00353872379203 for enquiries.
Drivers Briefing: Firgrove Hotel 8am Sunday
Service:
Before ss3 & 7, outside Cahir, along main Cork rd (N24).
And after SS4 in Galtee Factory Mitchelstown.
Maps:
Colour maps will be available for purchase in the event programme.
First Car Finished Finish Ramp, The Square Mitchelstown 5:30pm Sunday Click here for Final Instructions Click here for Time and Distance Schedule Entry List
No Driver/Navigator (Car) [Class]
001 Ger Fitzgerald/TBA (Escort MKII) []
002 Diarmuid Danager/TBA (TBA) []
003 Kieran Roche/TBA (TBA) []
1 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Ford Focus WRC) [7]
2 Trevor J Harding/Alistair Wyllie (Subaru Impreza WRC) [7]
3 James Murphy/ (Ford Escort WRC) []
4 Kevin O’Kane/Martin Brady (Subaru Impreza WRC) [7]
5 Brian McGillin/David Doherty (Hyundi Accent WRC) [7]
6 Dominic McNeill/Francis Kenny (Ford Escort WRC) [7]
7 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Ford Escort MK2) [5]
8 Andrew Purcell/Eoin O’Neill (Subaru Impreza 555) [6]
9 Brian Lawlor/Peter Kavanagh (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
10 Peter McCullagh/Andrew Lehane (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) [8]
11 Keith Cronin/Anthony O’Connell (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) [8]
12 Stuart Darcy/TBA (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [6]
13
14 Don Keating/Nick Condon (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [8]
15 James Coleman/Michael Haley (Ford Escort 2.0) [5]
16 Seamus O’Connell/Brian Duggan (Ford Escort BDA) [5]
17 Adrian Hetherington/Terry Walkingshaw (Ford Escort 2.0) [5]
18 Pat O’Connell/Mark Wiley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7) [8]
19 Colm McBride/Rodney Hicks (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [8]
20 Justin Dunne/Sean Duggan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) [8]
21 Kevin Duggan/Keith Bovaird (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [8]
22 Connie Smith/Breen McNamee (Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4) [6]
23 John Meade/Kevin Kearney (Subaru Impreza) [6]
24 Patrick Keenan/Francis Regan (Mitsubishi Lancer) [8]
25 WJ Dolan/Brian Doherty (Subaru Impreza) [8]
26 Vivian Hamill/Paul Hamill (Ford Escort) [5]
27 Sean Heaney/Liam McLoughlin (Mitsubishi Evo 6) []
28 Andrew Ritchie/Garnet McFetridge (Mitsubishi Lancer) [8]
29 Stephen Dolan/Colin Fitzgerald (Subaru Impreza) [8]
30 Pat Price/Seamus O’Connor (Subaru) [8]
31 Paul Fitzgerald/Ger Fahy (Ford Escort) [3]
32 David Wright/David Hamilton (Mitsubishi Evo 7) [6]
33 Lloyd Hutchinson/Kevin Flanagon (Austin Coopers) [1]
34 Michael Nevin/Alan Higgins (Ford Escort) [2]
35 Jim Fagan/Rachel Fagan (Ford Escort) [2]
36 Dan Mulcahy/Donnacha O’Callaghan (Ford Escort Cosworth) [6]
37 Jason Roche/Raymond Greene (Ford Escort) [5]
38 Jimmy Devane/Michael Buckley (Nissan Sunny) [5]
39 Michael O’Sullivan/Brian O’Connor (Ford Escort) [4]
40 Andrew Fanning/Declan Crogan (Ford Ka) [1]
41 Michael Ormond/Paddy King (Honda Civic) [3]
42 Gerard Lucey/Peter Somers (Toyota Celica) [6]
43 Damien Quinn/Peter Conlon (Subaru Impreza) [7]
44 Mark Murphy/William Kiely (Subaru Impreza) [6]
45 Sean William Benskin/TBA (Ford Escort) [4]
46 Clement Lonergan/Martin Luddy () []
47 Mossy Fitzgerald/Denis Cremin (Toyota Corolla) [3]
48 Owen Mulcahy/Paul Dwane (Ford RWD Fiesta) []
49 Sean Sheehy/Eamon Sheehy (Honda Civic) [3]
50 William Lawrence/Gabriel Mayde (Ford Escort MK2) [3]
51 David Dunne/Ciaran O’Connor (Ford Escort ) [2]
52 Michael Doyle/John Brophy (Ford Fiesta) [2]
53 Jason Walsh/Patrick Walsh (Ford Escort ) [3]
54 Joe Conway/Donal Lennon (Ford Escort MK2) [2]
55 Mike McDonnell/Blue Spillane (Mazda 323) [6]
56 Jonathan Ralph/TBA (Ford Puma) [3]
57 Kevin Byrne/Donal Ryan (Toyota Corolla) [1]
58 Emmet Watchorn/PJ Doyle (Peugeot 106) [3]
59 Sidney Bourke/Adam Coffey (Peugeot 206) [3]
60 John Curran/John Finnegan (Subaru Legacy) [6]
61 Martin Sheehan/Barry Murphy (Subaru Legacy) [6]
62 Nicky Hegarty/ (Toyota Corolla) []
63 Alan Dineen/Tony Dineen (Vauxhall Nova) [2]
64 Ciaran Mahon/ (Ford Escort MK2) [3]
65 JJ Walsh/Patrick Wall (Peugeot 106) [1]
66 Hans Matthia/Paul O’Dwyer (Peugeot 106) [3]
67 Colm Cronin/Brian Sharley (Peugeot 206) [3]
68 Simon Kehoe/Enda Kennedy (Peugeot 306) [4]
69 John O’Connor/TBA (Ford Escort) []
70 Richard Dolan/Tadgh O’Sullivan (Escort MK2) [3]
71 Peter Leahy/Martin Roche (Talbot Sunbeam) [3]
72 Michael Piggott/Breeda Piggott (Honda Civic) [1]
73 Vinnie Hayes/Declan O’Reilly (Subaru Impreza) [8]
74 Alan Kelly/Keith Tierney (Honda Civic) [3]
75 Declan Stafford/Pat Condon (Honda Civic) [3]
76 Alan O’Mara/Frank Curtin (Ford Ka) [1]
77 Colum Browne/Lawrence McGrath (Ford Ka) [1]
78 Stephen Wright/Ashley McAdbo (Vauxhall Corsa) [9]
79 Jason Carey/TBA (Peugeot 205) [1]
80 Mark Farrell/Sean Rooney (Ford Escort) [2]
81 Paul Conlon/TBA (Peugeot 205) [2]
82 Paul Dowling/TBA (Vauxhall Nova) [2]
83 Paul Quinlan/Damien Cronin (Talbot Sunbeam) [2]
84 Eoin O’Mahoney/Eamon Clohessy (Peugeot 205) [9]
85 John Byrnes/Kenneth Sheil (Honda Civic) [9]
86 Gary Higgins/Keith Murray (Ford Escort MK2) [9]
87 Paul McMahon/Derek Bulter (Ford Escort MK2) [9]
88 Robert Hughes/Gus Kearney (Opel Corsa) [9]
89 Benny Kennedy/Tom Kenneally (MK2 Escort) [9]
90 Sean O’Donovan/Karl Atkinson (Honda Civic) [3]
91 Noel Lawlor/ () []  Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh(rally winner 2006) Download the Regs here Download the Entry Form here |
