The long wait is nearly over for Donagh O’Sullivan, Clerk of the Course for the Halloween Historic Stages. The inaugural running of the new event, organised by the Carrick on Suir Motor Club is now only days away and the South Tipperary town is preparing itself for the host of Motorsport entertainment over the feast of All Saints Day.
The rally will kick off with a ceremonial start on Main Street in Carrick on Suir next Saturday evening at 7.30pm and the club are appealing to rally fans to get there early as a big crowd is expected. The ceremonial start will come to a climax outside the Carraig Hotel, where the top cars will drive onto the start/finish ramp. The voice of Irish motorsport Dougie Hughes will be on hand to get the views and hopes from the drivers and navigators for the weekend ahead. Mick Bracken of On the Limit Sports will again be recording all the action will accompany Dougie. Diane George and RTE’s John Kenny will also be filming the ceremonial start as they are in the process of making a DVD for John Leahy, the man behind “The Andrews Year’s Revival”.
Following the ceremonial start the action moves indoors to the Carraig Hotel for the eagerly awaited questions and answers Rally Forum. The forum is scheduled to get under way at 9pm sharp. Entry to the forum is €5 per ticket. Last weekend event committee member Eamonn Murphy, remarked, “The forum is creating an amazing amount of interest. From the time the club released news we were organising the forum, rally fans were eager to find out the guest speakers. Names like Russell Brookes and Jimmy McRae along will local hero Donnie Keating have had ticket sales do extremely well”.
The rally action gets underway on Sunday morning with the opening Clonea stage beginning at 09.13 hrs. The stage starts at Glennaphuca Cross, on the main Kilmacthomas/Carrick road, and then winds it way towards Clonea village before turning left just before the Castle, from here the stage circles around Croughaun Hill. As it approaches Ashtown Cross Roads it turns square left. On safety grounds the Motor Club have placed a NO SPECTATOR ACCESS point on the crossroads, this will be clearly marked on the official stage map in the event programme. The two best viewing points on the stage are just outside the village of Fews. The first is a square left and has access from Mahon Bridge, while the second is a square right and has access from Fews. The stage then ends just off the main N25 Waterford/Cork road. This stage is repeated as stage four and stage seven.
Stage two Mahon Falls forms the centrepiece of the rally and will be repeated as stage five. The stage is scheduled to start at 10.06 hrs and on the second run at 13.39 hrs. The first spectator viewing point is near the village of Kilrossanty, where the hairpin bend should attract a lot of rally fans to see the sideways action, the junction will be barriered and heavily marshalled. The best viewing points are at the highest point on the stage at “Mahon Falls”. If the weather is kind the falls makes the ideal place to see the cars being pushed to the limit, hairpin bends, uphill and downhill sections with large drops make this one of the toughest tests in the Country but to see the likes of Russell Brookes and Jimmy McRae here you’ll have to be there early. The club would also like to advise that the car parks at the top of the falls, will be closed and there will be a Garda presence in the area.
Stage three Rathgormack gives the largest number of viewing points and is the nearest to the Carrick on Suir, rally base. The first viewing point is at the top of Seskin Hill, where there’s a double hairpin, the second is at mid-point on the stages in Rathgormack village. The second half of the test throws up to viewing areas, the first is a square left with access from the old Carrick on Suir/Clonmel road. The second is a hairpin at “Glen Upper”. The first run of this stage is timed to start at 10.48 hrs. A full time schedule will be placed on the map on the event programme.
With some of the best stages in the Country being used the rally has attracted a top class field and this is reflected in each of the classes. The big names that undoubtedly will attract the most attention include Russell Brookes, driving the “Andrews Heat for Hire” Talbot Sunbeam, Russell is followed my Scottish legend Jimmy McRae, who will be driving the ex Robert Droogmans Mk11 Ford Escort. Behind McRae is local legend Donnie Keating with another Mk11 and making it three Escorts in a row is Kenny McKinstry who will be driving the ex Ari Vatanen RS 1800. Names to keep an eye on in the historic section include new Historic Rally Champion Ray Cunningham, Mark Falvey and Frank Cunningham, who has traveled from Boston in the US to take part in the rally. On the home front, there should be some interesting battles with Club members like reigning competitors club champion Seamus Anderson. Seamus will be debuting his newly rebuilt Ford Anglia, whish is also pictured in the event programme being driven by is father Jim, many moon ago. Keeping up Mk11 honors will be Shay Power and Pascal O’Shea. After having a very successful season in autocross Gemma Kerley will be turning her hand to historic rallying for the first time. Gemma has competed over the last few years in a D and B windows back Honda Civic but is expected to line on Sunday in a Mini Copper. In the modified category Dungarvan man Paul Mulcahy will be sure to put on a show in his new built Toyota Starlet. Paul debuted the car at this years Stonethrowers Rally and after some more testing now looks set to be on the pace next weekend.
– Credit: www.rallyprint.com