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Valvoline Forestry Rally Championship
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08-02-2012 12:24pm#1
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Craig Breen headlines Class Field on Carrick Forest RallyReigning National Forestry Rally Champion Owen Murphy, 2nd Overall in 2011 Vincent McAree and winner of the opening round of the 2012 series Garry Jennings will be
among the main attractions for next Saturday’s Carrick on Suir, Wm. Loughman Memorial Forest Rally but all eyes will be on recently announced ‘Waterford Person of the Year 2011’ Craig Breen as the Carrick on Suir Motor Club welcomes round two of the 2012 Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship.
Innovation was the outstanding feature of last year’s Willie Loughman Memorial Forest Rally as the Carrick on Suir Motor Club introduced an all-inclusive one day event which included both scrutiny for the competing cars and was followed by afternoon and night stages. The club continues this successful format for 2012 which takes place next Saturday the 3rd of March. The highlight for both competitors and spectators comes by way of a mouth-watering 25 Km stage, the longest in the forest championship this season in the Gurteen Forest Complex near Kilsheelan and for the passionate rallyfans in the South East the event moves to pastures new as the rally revisits the Village of Portlaw as the famous stages of Towerhill and Bealough make a welcome return after a long absence.
The rally is again centralised in Carrick on Suir as the Carrick Motor Club continues its successful partnership with co-sponsors the Carraig Hotel and Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery. Rally HQ is based in the Carraig Hotel but the main hub of the event will be in the Mill River Business Park which contains mechanical scrutiny and the service area.
The one day event format will see competitors arrive in the morning to get their respective rallycars scrutinised, then the main event is set to begin with the first stage scheduled for 15.21 hrs in Gurteen.
Forming an integral part of the Valvoline National Forestry Championship, the Carrick based event fits in this year as the second round. The opening round was held on January 28th in Donegal was dominated by Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings driving a Gp A Subaru Impreza. Jennings, the current Group N Irish Tarmac champion romped to victory, leading the rally from start to finish. Second place on the day was Monaghan’s Stephen Wright in a Mitsubishi EVO VI and the top three overall was completed by Colin Britton in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX Gp N.
The excitement was no less intense in the 2WD class, where Frank Kelly (Ford Escort Mk II) was on the top rung finishing 6th O/A with a margin of eighteen seconds over Adrian Hetherington (8th O/A) in the V6 Rover powered Mk II. Third in the class was claimed by Shane McGirr (9th O/A) in the Toyota Starlet RWD.
As we head to round two of the series next Saturday all of the above are making the trip to Carrick and the big names are not curtailed to the pace setters in Donegal. Reigning National Forestry Rally Champion Owen Murphy missed round one when he hurt his back prior to the event but now after some recuperation the Co. Corkman is itching to get back on the stages and after winning last year’s Carrick event and the subsequent championship I’m sure Owen will be eager to get his 2012 season back on track. After taking a year out Pat O’Connell, the National Champion in 2010 is back again in Carrick next weekend and with Mark Wiley calling the pacenotes the Cashel duo in their EVO IX will be fighting for top honours. The Lucey Brother in their EVO VIII Lancer, are another Cork crew who’ll be ones to watch and after finishing 7th in Donegal, I’m sure they’ll be looking for a higher finish as the championship moves down south.
The rally also signifies the opening of the TRITON SHOWERS South East Stages Rally Championship. This regional rally championship organised and promoted by THE CARLOW; CARRICK-ON-SUIR; MUNSTER; TIPPERARY AND WEXFORD MOTOR CLUBS is a clubman affair and in 2011 all top three overall honours went to Carrick Club member. Shay Power/John Rafter, Ford Escort MKII took the title in Wexford on the final round, narrowly pepping follow club mates, Father and Son team of Alan and James Commins. The top three in the series was rounded off by James Coleman and Michael Haley also Carrick Club members. All three crews are back again this year and will make the Two Wheel drive section of the rally very interesting.The rally has attracted a host of other club members including Pierce Doheny who’s back to his Opel Corsa this year, Gemma Kerley will be partnered by Lynn Martin as the all lady crew will be out in their Subaru Impreza. This is Gemma’s first rally in a 4WD car but she will be hoping for a good result after building up experience over the last few years at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla. John Murphy (Boo) with co-driver Niall Fitzgerald are out in their trusty MKII and are followed by Paschal O’Shea and Robbie Hennessy in yet another Mk II Escort with both crews forming part of the Buckstown Motorsport dynasty, the king of the Buckstown stable Seamus Anderson is however not taking part as on this occasion he is working on the event and is the stage commander for the Towerhill test.
Looking through the field the scene is set for an excellent day of forestry entertainment but icing on the cake comes in the form of FIA WRC Academy World Rally Champion Craig Breen, who’s also taking on his local event as he builds towards round three in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) in Portugal at the end of March.
On entering the rally the Waterford driver said, “I’ve had a few weeks off since SWRC Sweden, we have had a hectic beginning to the year but it’s all been good. Winning in Monte Carlo was a perfect start and backing up that result with second in Sweden was great. I’ll be looking to continue that form in Portugal and taking part in next weekend’s Willie Loughman will be the ideal test session for me. It will be my first gravel rally of the year and I’ll be perfecting my car setup for our trip to Portugal.” Breen who is also a member of the Carrick Motor Club also went on to say, “Entering my local event is always an honour, I get a huge amount of support from the club and I delighted that the rally fits into my schedule.”
Stage Schedule: The action starts on Saturday afternoon at 15.21hrs with stage one in the Gurteen Forest near Kilsheelan and it’s a monster with the full Gurteen complex run as a complete test taking in 25 kms. We then move to Portlaw for stage 2, Tower Hill beginning at 16.28hrs and the final stage in the loop, Bealough is scheduled to get underway at 16.48hrs. Service back in Carrick is 17.30hrs and the second loop begins as darkness falls at 19.00hrs
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Sunday Mar 11th. 2012
Breen wins Carrick rally, Jennings extends Valvoline lead
Round two of the Valvoline Forest Championship witnessed a professional and dominant drive by Craig Breen on the Wm Loughman rally, hosted by the Carrick-on-Suir MC.on Saturday March 3rd
Based in Carrick-on-Suir, the Loughman rally consisted of two loops of three stages, the first loop on the afternoon with the repeat visits under the cover of darkness in the evening. Stage one (and four) was a mammoth 25 km test in Gurteen near Kilsheelan.
Breen the current WRC Academy winner and leader of this years WRC S2000 Champioship took time out of his international commitments to compete on his home rally. The Waterford man was at the wheel of his Fiesta S2000 and was partnered as usual by Gareth Roberts. The crew led from start to finish and they recorded fastest time on every stage.
Garry Jennings was runner up in his GpA Impreza which was no match for the latest technology of Breen’s Fiesta, but the Fermanagh driver takes consolation by claiming maximum Valvoline Championship points and extending his series lead.Jennings was second fastest on four stages and fifth on two, definitely best of the rest.
Third overall was claimed by Vincent Mc Aree who was fortunate to survive a spin on the first stage and oil pressure issues on the fourth, and the Monaghan driver was once again very quick in the dark.
Colin Britton was very competitive on round one in Donegal and he continued in that vein of form last weekend.The Strabane driver would have finished third in Carrick but for incurring a 2 minute penalty whilst servicing a stricken clutch. Britton is now second in the Valvoline series.
Fifth overall and best 2WD was claimed by Kilkenny man Shay Power. The winner of the last years South East Stages Championship, he started off 2012 in great style with some very competitive stage times. Power had a trouble free event in his Escort Mk2.
Niall Henry was next up, just ahead of Stephen Wright who lost over 4 minutes on stage one but did recover to record some respectable stage times. The Newbliss driver slips to third in the Valvoline, albeit two points behind Britton.
Eighth was claimed by Ian Chadwick, and he was followed by Adrian Mc Elhinney who also won class three in the 206. The Donegal driver now leads the 2WD and class three section of the Valvoline.
Ian Downey had a great run in the Corsa to win class nine, the junior section. The Dubliner had an intense scrap with the Civic of Dean Raftery (for three stages) and he went on to finish tenth overall and now he leads class 9 in the championship and second in the 2WD section.
With 54 starters and 26 finishers Carrick was an attritional event. Early casualties included Ian Cochrane Enda Mc Nulty and Ger Lucey Shane Mc Girr and Mark Murphy. The current Valvoline champion Owen Murphy suffered a puncture on stage 1 (losing a minute to Jennings) and the Corkman rallied back to fifth place only for the wheel nuts on his Evo9 to sheer on the last stage. The 2010 champ was no luckier, Pat O Connell was third on Stages one and two and a drive shaft issue delayed him on three. However on stage 4 the Tipp man lost his sump guard on his Evo9 which forced him onto the retirement list as well. Other drivers to succumb on stage 4 included the Escorts of Adrian Hethrington, Seamus O’ Connell, Paul Fitzgerald and Mick Nevin.
Desi Henry finished the rally despite losing a mammoth 15 minutes in the Citroen DS3 due to spark plug problems. The Portglenone man was giving Citroen’s rally car its inaugural race in Irish forestry and if the Co.Antrim driver was not been delayed on stage one he could have finished as high as fourth and first 2WD.Henry is in second place in the BRC as a result of his excellent second overall in the recent Sunseeker rally.
Top 15 positions of Carrick-on-Suir Rally Round 2 Valvoline Forest Championship
1 Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000 42.34 00:00 00
2 Garry Jennings/Dave Moynihan Subaru Impreza 45.55045.55:00 00:00
3 Vincent McAree/JP McAree Mitsubishi EVO9 46.52 04446:00 00:00
4 Colin Britton Arthur/Kierans Mitsubishi Evo9 48.31
5 Shay Power/Johnny Rafter Ford Escort Mk11 48.46
6 Niall Henry/John Rowan Subaru Impreza 49.290:00 00:00
7 Stephen Wright/Susanne Wright Mitsubishi Evo 6 50.44 0:00 00:00
8 Ian Chadwick/Stephen Quinn Subaru Impreza 51.1200 00:00
9 Adrian McElhinney/Shane Buckley Peugeot 206 52.10 0:00 00:00
10 Ian Downey/Sean Brunton Opel Corsa 52.16
11 Mickey McGillin/Aaron Johnston Ford Escort Mk11 53.02
12 Jer Connors/Owen O'Neill Subaru Impreza 53.28
13 Matt Shinnors/ Catherine Levis Ford Escort 53.38
14 Ray Benskin Jnr/Nicky Hegarty Ford Escort Mk11 54.43
15 Paschal O Shea/Robbie Hennessy Ford Escort 55.35
Valvoline Championship positions after round 2:
G.Jennings 42, C.Britton 36, S.Wright 34, N.Henry 27, A.Mc Elhinney 22.
2WDA.McElhinney 36, I.Downey 33, A.Fanning 23, F.Kelly21, S.Power 21.
Next round Valvoline Forest Rally Championship Moonraker: Sunday April 15th.
www.irishforestrally.com
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