McCourt Wins Down Rally; Greer is NI Champion

Last month saw the Carryduff Forklift Down Rally take place. The fifth and final round of the 2023 MSUK McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Rally Championship consisted of 4 closed-road special stages run twice including the famous Hamiltons Folly at 8.59 miles. The event, based in Lisburn and organised jointly by Rathfriland & Ballynahinch MC’s, was also round 6 of the MSUK Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship. There were 108 starters which included 25 Rally2/R5 cars.

For my part, I covered start line radio on SS1/5 Drumaknocken (5.6 miles) BMMC also provided rescue cover for these stages. We also had timekeepers on duty. A new tracking system was used for the first time here. It was the radio operator’s job to activate the system using our mobile phones. Teething problems as far as I was concerned involved not having Wi-Fi coverage but by the second run (SS5) and with Rory’s help, we managed to sort this out.

With regards to the event, both our stages ran to schedule and without incident although the weather was pretty gloomy and the tests very slippery. Tyrone driver Cathan McCourt and his co-driver Brian Hoy dominated the rally in a Ford Fiesta Rally2. They won 6 of the 8 stages. Second place went to the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Desi Henry/Paddy Robinson but they were 46.3 seconds back. Making it 3 different manufacturers on the podium, Jason Mitchell/Paddy McCrudden finished third in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.

Fourth place was good enough to insure that Jonny Greer took the 2023 NI Rally Championship win. This was his fourth championship and also three-in-a-row. Unfortunately Jonny’s co-driver Niall Burns missed round one and didn’t take that title. Greer had a difficulty rally in the slippery conditions. The Citroen C3 Rally2 driver settled for a measured championship winning top five place rather than push for a second Down Rally win and risk going off. Apparently next year Greer may have a brand new Toyota Yaris Rally2 to play with! Remember, you heard it here first!

Cathan McCourt was not registered for the NI Championship and so he ran a larger turbo restrictor giving him the extra power to be able to clock up those stage wins.

Desi Henry therefore scored the maximum 30 championship points and as Mitchell wasn’t registered either, Greer took the runner-up points and of course the title. Henry finished second in the championship and Derek McGarrity third. Paddy Robinson won the co-drivers title.

Top finishers in the Protyre Asphalt Championship were Steve Wood/Robert Fagg who were 8th overall in their Citroen C3 Rally2. Second in that section were Neil Roskell/Andrew Roughhead in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, only 0.1 of a second behind!.

Best of the 2WD cars were Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly who finished 13th overall in a Toyota Starlet with a famous number plate MSD 222W. That car (or at least the reg. number) must be 40 years old! The Starlet was used to great effect by George Robinson in many events throughout Ireland way back in the 1980’s/90’s.

Altogether 85 cars finished the 2023 Down Rally, which was hailed as a great success. The spotlight was most definitely on the event due to the recent horrific and fatal accident on the Sligo Stages Rally. Thankfully all incidents on the Down Rally were minor and the eight stages ran to schedule and without any problems.

Might I just add that my condolences and that of all of the BMMC NI Region go to the families and friends of Gene McDonald and Daire Maguire who both lost their lives in Sligo. Our thoughts are also with the rescue crew, doctors and other officials who attended the incident.

Rally Diary

Sat. 5th August.
Maiden City MC Shackleton Rally Time Trial

NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO A LACK OF ENTRIES

Fri. 18th—Sat. 19th August.
Modern Tyres Ulster Rally

Round 4 of the 2023 British Rally Championship
Round 7 of the 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship

Based in Newry the 2023 Ulster Rally will run 10 closed-road stages totalling around 97 miles in counties Armagh/Down. There are two repeated stages on Friday, the first one in the Rostrevor area and the second close to Banbridge. The repeat runs will be in dusk and darkness! Then on Saturday, there will be three repeated tests between Armagh and Newry. A challenging event and undoubtedly changeable weather conditions as per usual! BMMC/BRMC are providing rescue, recovery & radio cover, officials and marshals.

The Irish series may well be decided before the Ulster Rally. Callum Devine heads to the penultimate round, the Cork ‘20’ International Rally on August 5-6 with a chance of clinching the title. He has won the previous three rounds in Killarney, Cookstown and Donegal and is well ahead of second place West Cork winner Josh Moffett and Meirion Evans who won round one in Galway. Robert Barrable is fourth and Jonny Greer fifth.

The ITRC drivers will take on the runaway 2023 British Rally Championship leader, Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux in the “works” M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2. The former WRC driver has won the first three rounds. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top in Newry. As I write there are 102 entries. Closing date is Thursday 3rd August.

Sat. 2nd September.
Lakeland Stages Rally

Round 2 of the 2023 ANICC McGrady Insurance NI Forest Rally Challenge
Round 5 of the 2023 Irish Forest Rally Championship

Organised by Enniskillen Motor Club. There are 6 gravel stages in the forests of Belmore, Ballintempo and Carrigan. Rally HQ and service area will be in the former Grosvenor Barracks, Coleshill Road, Enniskillen. We are providing rescue, radio cover plus other marshals & officials. Sign on is available at rallyscore.net or on the event. As I write, there are only 10 entries and the minimum requirement to run the event is 60 so hopefully the event (sponsored by Trailer Parts & Spares) will go ahead. Closing date for entries is August 23rd, so plenty of time yet! Check Sportity (LSR2) or rallyscore.net closer to the date for latest information.

Fri. 15th—Sat. 16th September.
Bushwhacker Rally

Round 3 of the 2023 ANICC McGrady Insurance NI Forest Rally Challenge
Round 6 of the 2023 Irish Forest Rally Challenge

A big change this year. The Bushwhacker Rally will run two stages, Lough Bradan and Carrickaholten in darkness on the Friday night. Then on Saturday daytime the same tests plus two Killeter Forest stages will complete the two-day event. We will be helping out as usual with rescue & radio cover, timekeepers and stage marshals on the Omagh MC organised gravel rally (popularly known as the “Tyrone Grand Prix”) More details next month.