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22-11-2004 irish rally review of 2004 Full details will soon be released on the first book dedicated to Irish Rallying. Brought to you by crspics.com the IRR 2004 will cover all rounds of the National and Tarmac Championship in detail and also bring reviews of the other main championships. The IRR 2004 will be a hardbacked publication in a unique landscape format and will consist of over 166 pages of full colour photographs. B4 in size will mean that it will be 14in in width and 9.75 in height. The release date for the IRR 2004 will be Xmas week. price will be inthe region of E30.00 and it will be available on the online shop and through Easons. Keep in touch for further details. 23-10-2004 GALLIGAN SEALS CHAMPIONSHIP WITH FIFTH OVERALL Oldcastle's Rory Galligan took his second one make championship today with GpN victory on the Bulldog Rally to clinch a prize of a works Mitsubishi drive in next years BRC. Other Irish interest on the event saw Brendan Crealey retire out of second in GpN but Brendan Kelly and Derek Brannigan came home 14th overall two places ahead of Adrian McElvaney who was a further four clear of Aaron MacHale in 20th with his younger brother Gareth fourth in the Peugeot Cup in 34th place. 11-7-2004 FAST FREDDY’ RETURNS Peugeot World Rally driver Freddy Loix confirmed for PlayStation®2 Rally Experience Peugeot Sport works driver Freddy Loix has been confirmed as an entry for the PlayStation®2 Rally Experience at Punchestown on July 25th. The Belgian, who is making his second appearance at the international rally sprint, will drive a Peugeot 206 WRC and joins Ford Rallye Sport ace Markko Martin of Estonia as one of the star drivers who will compete in the one day motorsport spectacular. One of the world rally championship’s funniest and most likeable characters, Freddy will double drive Ireland’s sole Peugeot 206 WRC with the car’s regular driver George Tracey. A big hit with spectators in 2001 when he drove for the Ralliart World Rally Team on the event, ‘Fast Freddy’ as he is known to his fans gained a large number of Irish supporters and his return to Punchestown will be very popular with rally followers from around the country. Freddy will travel to Ireland fresh from competing in the Eifel Rally in Germany on July 15-17 which he and the Peugeot Sport team are using as preparation for the World Rally Championship counting Rallye Deutschland next month. ‘We are delighted to confirm Freddy as an entry for the PlayStation®2 Rally Experience. He really enjoyed his last visit to Ireland and has wanted to come back ever since to enjoy more of the Irish hospitality. Freddy gained a lot of Irish fans on his last visit so it is great that we have been able to organise for him to come back and entertain the crowds once again’, said event organiser Ronan Morgan. The PlayStation®2 Rally Experience takes place over a 4km asphalt stage at Punchestown Racecourse, on Sunday, 25th July and will see each of the 30 invited drivers compete over 8 timed runs of the exciting spectator course. In addition to giving Irish sports fans the rare chance to see top world rally championship drivers in action, the 2004 event will be a unique opportunity for WRC fans and gamers alike to preview WRC 4TM, the fourth addition of the only officially licensed game of the FIA World Rally Championship. Spectators will also be able to test their own rallying skills in a WRC Challenge in the PlayStation Dome which will be located in the main paddock. Full details of the PlayStation®2 Rally Experience including directions to Punchestown can be found by logging on to the event’s official web site www.punchestownrally.com
7-6-2004 RORY GALLIGAN WINS GROUP N ON THE MUTINY Rory Galligan collected his first overall GpN award of the year with a comfortable win on the Mutiny Rally in Wales. Top points in the Mitsubishi Lancer Challenge and sixth overall were his rewards after a hard day in the Welsh dust. Gareth MacHale's current good run was halted slightly with sixth overall after he suffered a broken wishbone on the opening stage. 31-5-2004 Sony Computer
Entertainment Ireland announce the Sponsorship of the
16-5-2004 MacHALE’S SOLID SECOND On his first ever venture into the
British forests Aaron MacHale took his Agip Mitsubishi Lancer to a
fantastic second in Group N. The Irish Tarmac Championship frontrunner
was starting his assault on the British Championship and the Welsh Rally
was only his third ever forest rally. Aaron was undaunted by the
challenge that lay ahead of him as his competitors would have far greater
knowledge of the stages
11-5-2004 MacHale’s Maximum Manx For Gareth MacHale competing on the Roush Manx Rally marked only his second ever visit to the island. Having previously been there at the age of five his lack of knowledge of the stages would put him at a great disadvantage. Gareth commented, “It is one of the classic events with very famous stages”. The McGarrity Motorsport tended machine was setup perfectly for the island though and a maximum charge was on the way. A clean run over the opening night stage on Friday evening was the only happy part of the first three stages as three overshoots on the next two would see Gareth drop well down the order. Fastest time on the fourth would promote him to third and leave him thirty seconds behind Chris Moore and Stuart Jones. Saturday morning would see the start of yet another MacHale comeback charge. Time was rapidly made up on the leader Chris Moore and when his driveshaft failed on the seventh stage Gareth was up to second and only a handful of seconds off the lead. The lead was soon to be Gareth’s and Stuart Jones was now struggling with driveshaft problems of his own. “Visibility was down to about thirty yards in places which was very tricky flying through the cattle gates.” With seven of the stages run in the fog Gareth found this to be his hardest challenge ever, but showed great composure to hold his nerve and the lead to the end. In doing so he held of Ieuan Rowlands by over twenty seconds and took his second victory of the year and returned to the head of the Peugeot TOTAL 206 Super Cup again. Not only did Gareth top the Peugeots but he finished inside the top thirty was the first homologated two wheel drive car home. “The stages were fantastic and I cannot wait to come back”. Next for us is the Mewla Rally and I’ll be looking to keep up our winning pace and will be going for win number three. As usual backing comes from Colm McEvoy Auctioneers, Garyaron Homes, Allsports Logistics and the irishrallycalendar.com.
22-4-2004 WHO WILL TAME KILLARNEY
TARMAC? 20-4-2004
George Tracey is to Debut the first privateer Peugeot 206
in Britain & Ireland at the Killarney Rally of the Lakes,May 1-2. The ex
Freddy Loix car is the first to rally privately in Ireland or the UK and
is bound to attract huge attention from both media and rally fans alike.
George from Cabinteely in Dublin,Ireland has been involved in various
forms of motorsport over the last few years,
this however will be a big change for George as he has to
date mainly competed in Group N. " I am really looking forward to seeing
what the 206 will be like. I did a couple of rallies in 2003, the last
being the Killarney historic in December, so I think I will be going
somewhat faster through Molls Gap over the May weekend!.It will
obviously take me time to adjust to the new machinery so don't expect me
to be swapping times with the big boys just yet,"said George. It will be
a learning curve weekend for George as he will have little time to test
the car as he will be abroad prior to the event. " I am looking firstly
to finish the event and get as many miles under my belt with the new car
as I can, if we can get a top ten finish and learn about the car,I will
be very happy."
George will have support from Eircopters Helicopters.
McGARRITY DOES THE DOUBLE Derek McGarrity completed a start to finish win on this years Circuit of Ireland Rally and in doing so did the double and will look for a hat trick next season. Second throughout and putting up a great fight was Eugene Donnelly and Donie O'Sullivan won the Focus battle with Austin MacHale to take third. Group N went to long time leader Dessie Keenan. 11-4-04 Gallagher Wins Opening French
Peugeot Round 8-4-04 Entering round two of the Peugeot Total 206 Super Cup as championship leader Gareth MacHale was looking to increase his championship lead. Knowing he was coming up against some stern local knowledge from Ieuan Rolands and Stuart Jones, Gareth was prepared to have a good go at the North Wales event. As with most things in life not everything goes according to plan, and when a re-seeded car left the road in front of him on the opening stage the Championship leader had to stop to offer assistance. Fortunately the crew were unhurt and Gareth continued but dropped about twenty seconds to his rivals. Trying hard to make up some of this time on the following stage would see a high speed overshoot over some logs and a time consuming engine stall was the result. Ending the first loop some 55 seconds adrift of the leaders and in eight place Gareth decided to put in one of his customary charges and try and salvage some championship points. Climbing swiftly to fifth place Gareth was soon to find himself swapping times with the leaders. With too big a gap ahead Gareth decided to pace himself to the finish. With the stages being very muddy a sensible and mature approach would see him take fifth. “The stages were very slippy, but I would love to have done them on a dry event as the mud made it a bit of a lottery” Next on the list for the Dubliner in the Pacenotes backed 206 is the Manx National which returns to Gareth’s favoured surface, tarmac. As usual backing comes from Colm McEvoy Auctioneers, Garyaron Homes, Allsports Logistics and the irishrallycalendar.com.
28-2-2004 FLYING START FOR MacHALE Gareth MacHale continued on where he
left off after winning the last round of the winter cup with victory on
the opening round of the new Peugeot 206 Cup on the Sunseeker rally in
Bournemouth. A cautious approach to the two opening Super Specials around
the promenade in Bournemouth would see Gareth enter the forests six
seconds down on 206 expert Chris Moore. 28-2-2004 GALLIGAN WINS FIRST ROUND Rory Galligan stepped back into a rally car competitively for the first time in over a year to win the opening round of this years Mitsubishi Lancer EVO challenge. Rory had a seven second margin over his old sparing partner Paul Wedgbury at the finish. Rory also nothced up third in Group N and tenth overall. Other Irish interest saw Brendan Crealey win GpN and finsih sixth overall, two places ahead of Stephen Harron. Ollie O'Donovan headed home Roy White in 17th and Michael Curran took 23rd. Padraig Price took a rare trip into the woods with 32nd and a welcome return for Brendan Kelly saw him take 40th. John Foley Jnr was the next Irish contestant home in 45th with Gareth MacHale leading the Peugeot 206 runners home in 47th and also be the first two wheel drive car home. Rodney Wilton came home 64th. 28-2-04
Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes 2004
Press Release 1
27th February 2004 (Immediate Release)
25th ANNIVERSARY RALLY OF THE LAKES
PROMISES STERN TEST OF TARMAC ELITE
The Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes 2004, now just
over two months away, is set to attract some of Europe's most
spectacular drivers to Killarney and the south-west of Ireland, to
decide one of the sport's most coveted titles. The rally, which takes
place on May 1st and 2nd, celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year, and
the organisers, Killarney & District Motor Club, are making plans
to ensure that the occcasion will be a memorable celebration of the very
best in Irish motorsport.
A testing route has been laid out to challenge competitors on the 2004
Rally of the Lakes, comprising of nineteen special stages in total,
eleven on Day One and eight on Day Two. The format will be broadly
similar to that of the 2003 event, which saw Maghera's Eugene Donnelly
and co-driver, Paul Kiely, take victory ahead of the local crew of
Donie O'Sullivan and Paul Nagle.
Ordnance Survey Ireland will be the main sponsor of this year's Rally
of the Lakes, (as it has been since 2000), and its continued support
is greatly valued by Killarney & District Motor Club. Killarney's
Gleneagle Hotel will again serve as the Rally Headquarters. The
Gleneagle has become an integral part of the Rally of the Lakes over
the years, and vice versa. Both have progressed extensively during
the last quarter-century.
Noreen Marshall will be the Clerk of the Course for the Ordanance
Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes 2004 . She previously served as
Rally Secretary, and now takes over the COC position from her
husband, Mike Marshall, who moves into the new role of Event
Manager. Mike was the Clerk of the Course for the event since its
inception in 1979, and his record of twenty-four years in charge of
a major Irish rally is unlikely to be matched in the near future, if
ever.
The 2004 Rally of the Lakes will be a round of four championships: the
Pirelli Irish Tarmac Rally Championship; the West Euro Cup; the 023
Tiles Southern Four Championship
and the Ford Ireland Focus Rally Championship.
The Pirelli Tarmac Championship is the premier rally series on this
island, comprising of six International events throughout the Republic
of Ireland and Northern Ireland, plus two further rounds in Scotland and
on the Isle of Man. The 2004 Tarmac Championship is currently being led
by Finland's Tapio Laukkannen, following his victory on the Galway Rally
earlier this month.
The West Euro Cup has rounds in Norway, Ireland, France, The Netherlands
and the Isle of Man. 2003 saw the WEC gain its first Irish champion,
when Navan's Paddy White wrapped up the title on the Golden Tulip Rally
in The Netherlands last September.
As the name suggests, the Southern Four Championship, is based in the
southern part of Ireland, and it attracts significant support from
competitors in this area. Killarney & District Motor Club members,
Johnny O'Sullivan and Denis Cronin are among the past Southern Four
champions.
Once again, the Ford Ireland Focus Rally Championship gets its season
underway at the Rally of the Lakes. This popular one-make series is
part of Ford's 'Staircase of Talent' for up and coming drivers, with the
championship winner being awarded a test in a Focus World Rally Car at
the end of the year.
Regualtions and Entry Forms for the Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the
Lakes 2004 will be available soon from:
Event Secretary,
International Rally of the Lakes,
14 Muckross Grove,
Killarney,
Co. Kerry,
Republic of Ireland,
Tel. + 353 (0)64 32026,
Fax.+ 353 (0)64 35963,
15-2-04 KULIG DIES IN RAIL CRASH 14 Feb, 09:43 29-1-2004 Austin McHale today ended months of speculation with the launch of his new Ford Focus WRC03 rally car. The team which will receive major backing from Sanyo was launched at the Moran's Red Cow Hotel by M-Sports John Steele. Plans were announced for an assault on both the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship and the British Championship.
EUGENE DONNELLY TEST NEW COROLLA FOR
THE FIRST TIME. CLICK BELOW 10-1-2004 BIO-TECH Water Treatment
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