Over the Halloween weekend, Carrick on Suir Motor Club wrote a new page in their 52 year History by hosting the inaugural running of the Halloween Historic Stages Rally.
The event weekend got under way on Saturday evening with a ceremonial start, held on the main street in Carrick in front of a very enthusiastic crowd, the event then moved indoors to the Carraig Hotel where the “Question and Answers Rally Forum” kicked off at 9pm. The Rally itself started under wet conditions on Sunday morning and the unique event throwing up four individual winners as the crews returned to the finish ramp. Post Historic Winners were Frank Cunningham and Des Sherlock driving a Ford Escort Mk1. In the Classic category Kenny McKinstry and Robert Nolan took top honors with a flawless drive in the ex ARI Vatanen Ford Escort RS 1800 owned by Tom Geraghty. In the Modified section, local crew of Paul Mulcahy and Karl Baumann came away with victory in their newly built Toyota Starlet and along the with thrilled the crowds that lined the stages. Most important of all in the HISTORIC CLASS Ray Cunningham and Ross Forde sprayed the champagne, Cunningham the current historic giving a flawless exhibition of driving over the wet stages in Clonea, Mahon Bridge and Rathgormack area, to take a start to finish win in the historic section.
The Motorsport weekend got under way with the parade of all the competing cars up the main street on Saturday evening and the ceremonial start culminated in front of the Carraig Hotel, where a ramp was erected for television interviews and the usual array of photograph’s. Top Motorsport journalist Martin Walsh was on hand to interview the crews and get their opinions on the stages and hopes for the weekend.
Following the ceremonial start the entertainment moved to the main function room of the Carraig Hotel where the Rally Forum kicked off at 9pm under the stewardship of noted Motorsport historian Graham Robson and RTE’s John Kenny. Guests on the forum included 2010 Historic Champion Ray Cummingham, rally legends Russell Brookes, Jimmy McRae and Kenny McKinstry, Ford of Europe’s head of Motorsport Gerard Quinn, co driver Sean Mullally and from the Carrick Motor Club James Coleman, being the event main sponsor and also the chairman of the sports Rallies Committee in Ireland. Over the course of ninety minutes a crowd of about two hundred strong rally fans were brought on a voyage from the 1960’s and 70’s through the golden age of rallying in the 80’s and up to the current high tech cars in Ireland and on the world stage we see today. Young and should I say not so young were treated to stories from their hero’s as Russell Brookes and Jimmy McRae recalled great battles during their day’s in the Opel Manta, great fights with other competitors, including Tipperary’s own Frank Meagher, Bertie Fisher and Dubliner Austin MacHale. Ray Cunningham the current Historic Champion gave his view on Historic Rally and why he decided to enter the category and his hopes for a Historic Championship being setup in Ireland. Macroom’s Gerard Quinn who holds the position of director of Motorsport of Ford in Europe was on hand to give an in-depth insight to the running of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team and the WRC.
The rally action got under way on Sunday morning with stage one at Clonea and the drama quickly started to unfold; Jimmy McRae was the first casualty when the engine expired in his Ex Robert Droogmans Mk11 Ford Escort on stage 2. Jimmy was philosophical about his early exit when he returned to service and stated “This is not my first time to have a mechanical problem early in a rally, I can remember traveling to New Zealand and going out on the first stage, it’s all a part of rallying”. It was also hard look for Jimmy’s navigator for the event Mickey Joe Morrissey who had been looking forward to the occasion for a long time, Mickey Joe took in his stride but underline how great it felt to get through that initial test in Clonea. Heavy rain had started to fall during Saturday night and continued during Sunday morning’s first loop of stages and over the eight-stage event; caution was the order of the day. Ray Cunningham in the Galway Mini Centre Mini Cooper took control on the first loop in the historic section and even had time to try a new Dunlop tire on the second run over the stages. In the Classics Kenny McKinstry had three minutes to spare over Donnie Keating with Russell Brookes coming in at third. The Modified section was the competitive, where Dungarvan crew of Paul Mulcahy and Karl Baumann set the pace but were pushed early on by Viv Hamill until his exit on stage four when he when off in his Escort. In the closing stages there was a fight for second place as Trevor Culbert overhauled Sam Smyth to take second on the finish ramp but the winners on the day were Paul and Karl in their newly built Orange Starlet.
– Credit: www.rallybuzz.com