Callum’s Cookstown Sizzler
The 2023 Circuit of Ireland Rally was that in name only. Yes, the Ulster Automobile Club were listed as organisers, but it was the promoters Cookstown Motor Club who ran the event on the ground this year, and they did so very successfully.
Based in Cookstown (the Co.Tyrone town famous for its sausages) the compact one-day rally had four repeated closed road stages which circled the town. The stages totalled 68 miles. This was the third round of the 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
For my part, myself and Victor were “double-jobbing” as timekeepers and radio operators at the end of the 8-mile SS1/5 Wolfs Hill. A total of 120 cars started and four went missing on the first stage. The biggest accident happened when Frank and Lauren Kelly lost control of their “Baby Blue” Ford Escort Mk.2 mid stage. They were badly shaken but otherwise ok. The car was not, a full rebuild will be required.
Second time round we had just 93 cars but thankfully no major incidents. There was a serious accident on SS8 when the Polo of Declan Boyle and Patrick Walsh crashed out of sixth place. One spectator was injured by flying debris and taken to hospital. Neither crew members were hurt. Our own BMMC rescue crew attended the incident.
Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan led the rally from start to finish in their VW Polo GTI R5. The only challengers were Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes in a Hyundai i20 R5. After the eight stages Moffett finished 10.2 seconds down. Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson were third in another Polo a further 37.1 seconds back. NI Champion Jonny Greer’s Citroen C3 Rally2 finished fourth with Naill Burns, just 2.8 seconds behind Evans. Sam Moffett/Keith Moriarty were fifth in their new Hyundai i20 Rally2. Best of the 2WD finishers were Jason Black and Karl Egan in their Toyota Starlet. There were 29 R5/Rally2 cars on the start list and only one Word Rally Car, how times have changed!
McGarrity Strikes Back
The 2023 Northern Ireland Rally Championship resumed last month with the Maiden City Stages. Held over six sealed surface tests within the Shackleton Airfield Complex at Ballykelly this was round three of five. We would be covering radio and rescue on the day, which turned out to be totally dry despite the rest of the province suffering persistent rain.
Jonny Greer led the Championship going into this event which was sponsored once again by Eakin Bros. of Claudy. Desi Henry was a late entry and being a Shackleton expert started first on the road with number 83 on the doors of his Citroen C3 Rally2. Jonny Greer and Niall Burns were next in a similar car followed by Gareth Sayers/Gareth Gilchrist’s Fiesta Rally2.
As the rally got underway, the fourth car driven by Derek McGarrity was fastest out of the blocks. He and Graham Henderson were in a VW Polo GTI R5. Then Greer took over the rally lead until the fourth stage when a damaged manifold slowed the C3 dropping the Carryduff driver to second place 12 seconds behind McGarrity. Despite his service crew working on the problem, Greer’s car ground to a halt on SS5 and into retirement.
McGarrity had a 12 second lead over Sayers going into the final 8-mile stage but a spin near the finish almost cost the Glengormley man the rally win. In the end Derek prevailed, just, he won by the smallest of margins; 0.7 seconds. It had been another strong finish from Gareth Sayers in second unfortunately his class 11 Fiesta is not registered for overall points. Third went to the fast finishing Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson. They had been as low as fifth at one time but gradually got the C3’s set up sorted and we’re just 9.5 seconds behind the winners in the end.
Best of the two-wheel-drive brigade were Damien Tourish/Brendan McElhinney who finished 11th in their Ford Escort Mk.2. In total we had 77 starters and 69 finishers.
With regard to the NI Rally Championship, eight-time title winner Derek McGarrity now leads on 85 points. Stuart Biggerstaff, who was seventh at Shackleton, is second with 78 and Aaron McLaughlin third on 77. Jonny Greer is back in eighth place 24 points behind McGarrity. The next round is the first of the two road-closed events, the Go Power Tour of the Sperrins this month (see diary)
Craig Breen
Motorsport Worldwide is still in a state of shock following the tragic passing of Waterford’s Craig Breen during a private rally testing accident in Croatia last month. The Irishman died instantly when his car slid off the road at a relatively low speed and made contact with a wooden fence. A post from this fence entered the cabin of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 through the driver’s side window. Co-driver James Fulton was unharmed.
Craig Breen was a one off; a perfect gentleman, a superbly talented rally driver and a real character. Craig had brightened up the normally dull and robotic WRC stage-end interviews with his off-the-cuff and emotional comments which have since become legendary. The Hyundai WRC team paid its own tribute to their driver by decking out their i20 Rally1 cars in the colours of the Irish flag for Rally Croatia. When Elfyn Evans won the rally for Toyota, he and co-driver Scott Martin (who had been Craig’s co-driver for five years) dedicated the victory to the memory of Craig Breen. The rally continued with full support from the Breen family, “It’s what Craig would have wanted” they said. There were no celebrations, everyone one was very subdued and they really didn’t want to be there.
My own memories of Craig Breen are several. Accompanied by my son David I witnessed the end of the 2011 Wales Rally GB when Craig and Gareth Roberts were crowned WRC Academy Champions in a freezing-cold sheep shed in Builth Wells. It felt like all of Ireland was there to celebrate the €500k prize-winning drive. David was lucky enough to spend a few hours interviewing Breen for the original RallyBuzz website when the up-and-coming star was involved in promoting a new WRC computer game. A high-speed run with Craig in the driver’s seat being the highlight of the day. A mark of the man’s honesty was revealed when he told David that he thought the game wasn’t very good! That was Craig Breen to a tee!
When Craig took the first of his two back-to-back European Rally Championship Circuit of Ireland victories in 2015 he described the classic Hamilton’s Folly stage as quote: “The best tarmac stage in the World”. He always enjoyed rallying in Ireland and won the Irish Tarmac Championship in 2019. I have seen him compete on numerous events over the years including Rally GB, Donegal, the Circuit and the Ulster Rally. Actually only last month Craig’s father Ray was competing on the 2023 Circuit of Ireland in his Subaru Legacy.
On behalf of BMMC Northern Ireland Region may I send my sincere condolences to the Breen family circle at this extremely sad time. We are so sorry for your loss.
Still Hope For 2024 WRC Rally NI
The deadline for a proposed Rally Northern Ireland to be included in the 2024 World Rally Championship has been pushed back one month until the end of May. Originally the end of April was the deadline for a UK round to be submitted for inclusion in next year’s calendar but now Simon Larkin, Event Director at WRC Promotor GmbH, has given Bobby Willis and his team extra time to find funding for such an event. Larkin said; “The potential for a World Rally Championship event in Northern Ireland is an opportunity that is just too good to give up”.
Motorsport UK say they are “fully behind” the Northern Ireland WRC project, which they estimate will cost one million pounds of public funding to secure. Somewhat surprisingly though, MUK CEO Hugh Chambers also revealed that other parts of the UK are now being considered as possible candidates, with a return to north Wales currently in the mix.
Ian Paisley MP is supporting the NI bid and he has said that if WRC Rally NI came to the province next year it would be a “fitting tribute” to the memory of the late Craig Breen. Craig was a staunch advocate of such a venture and never missed an opportunity to vocally support the Rally Northern Ireland proposal. He knew the value it would bring to Northern Ireland’s economy and to the enthusiastic rally fans.
Rally Diary
Sat. 20th May.
Tour of the Sperrins
Round 4 of the 2023 NI Rally Championship. The “Go Power” Tour of the Sperrins is based in Magherafelt and organised by Magherafelt and District Motor Club. There are 6 closed-road stages (3 repeated) in Counties Tyrone & Derry. The stages total 41 miles and include the well-known Barnes Gap. A full entry list of 120 cars are expected to start. As a club we are providing timekeepers, radio cover, rescue, recovery and stage marshals. Big question is will current champion Jonny Greer bounce back after his Shackleton disaster or can points leader Derek McGarrity stay on course for his ninth NI title? All will be revealed on this challenging event. Sign-on via rallyscore.net as usual.
Fri.16th—Sun.18th June.
Donegal International Rally
Round 5 of the 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Based in Letterkenny and organised by Donegal Motor Club. We are timekeeping for the three days. Expect a full entry of 150 cars in the main event. Friday’s stages are close to Donegal Town while Saturday and Sunday feature the usual classic tests including Knockalla and Atlantic Drive. Callum Devine is the driver on form. The Claudy man has won the last two rounds of the championship in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 and leads the standings. Josh Moffett (Hyundai i20) and Meirion Evans (VW Polo) are the closest challengers. Donegal will test them all!
