Meeke's magnificent Lurgan Park

Kris Meeke showed his World Championship spec class on last weekend's Lurgan Park Rally, dominating from SS2 to the finish of the iconic event.

Kris Meeke

Competing on his first rally of 2012 in one of two Derek McGeehan run MINI John Cooper Works WRC's, the former MINI works driver was bested by double Irish Tarmac Champion Derek McGarrity in another MINI. But once Meeke got the hang of his car and the “green” stages, he was flying.

Within the remaining 7 stages, Meeke had amassed a lead of 30.3 secs over 'King of the Park' Kenny McKinstry. McKinstry was using one of his own hire cars, this specific one usually used by John McGaffin. King Kenny's usual X14 SRT was being used as a demonstration car.

Kenny McKinstry

A tense final stage fight between Garry Jennings and Derek McGarrity over 3rd place lead to Jennings claiming the position by 1.9 secs. Jennings entered the event in a forestry-spec Subaru Impreza 555, a dinosaur compared to McGarrity's MINI, and while the car wasn't a match for the competition, Jennings' crazy, all-or-nothing style certainly was. His co-driver on this occasion was his partner Kerry McCarter, who belied her lack of experience to keep her partner away from the trees.

Garry Jennings

The battle for fifth was even tighter, with Kevin Barrett's Impreza edging Derek McGeehan's new right hand drive MINI JCW WRC by 0.6 secs. Stuart Biggerstaff brought the glorious Metro 6R4 out for a run, and he, in a car over 25 years old, took the fight to Ray Brammer's Impreza WRC to edge Brammer by 1.5 secs and snatch 7th.

John McKeown's Ford Escort WRC popped and banged all the way to 9^th place. Alan Carmichael stalled his McKinstry Motorsport Impreza S11 on SS1, and struggled to get used to left hand drive. With Donegal International Rally winning co-driver Neil Doherty sitting with him, he claimed a solid 10^th place in The Park.

Alan Mullen

Alan Mullen won Group N in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, with Paddy McVeigh in second. Mullen received a slight scare when his throttle started to stick. Not something you want with the infamously solid Lurgan Park trees are only a few metres away, just ask Derek McGarrity what can happen.

Lurgan Park regular Mark Doyle campaigned his usual Toyota Celica, bring it home to 11^th. Doyle ran fifth after SS1, but slid off then ran out of wet tyres and plummeted down the order. His brother was dispatched to get some more wet tyres from his house, and with the new rubber fitted Doyle was back on form.

Gary Owens

Gary Owens won the historic class in his immaculate Ford Escort MK2 RS1800 by 10 secs over Raymond Nelson. Owens suffered a near major disaster when he managed to snap the gear stick off. Luckily, co-driver Denver Rafferty was carrying a lump hammer in his co-drivers bag!

Jimmy McRae

Jimmy McRae won the FIA Historic Class in Wesley Patterson's Ford Escort MK2. The legendary Scotsman remarked at the end “There's life in the old dog yet!”. Drew Wylie took second 2.7 secs behind with Raymond Johnston in third.

If any of our readers watch the BAFTA winning Irish TV programme Mrs. Brown's Boys, you may be familiar with the names Danny O'Carroll and Paddy Houlihan. More commonly known as 'Buster Brady' and 'Dermot Brown', respectively, both were in the co-drivers seat for the Lurgan Park Rally. Buster found himself in the hot seat alongside Stuart Biggerstaff, claiming 7^th O/A and class honours. Dermot was on demo duties alongside Philip Greenlee, and was involved in a small crash. There is a debate over whether Dermot called the note too late, or Philip misread the corner. Either way, the bright orange MK2 Escort was left a bit worse for wear after a fairly heavy thump!

Evans dominates ALMC stages

Melvyn Evans put in a stunning drive on last weekend's ALMC Stages Rally to head up a Subaru Impreza WRC 1-2-3, 1 min 28 secs ahead of James Belton in second.

Evans lead the rally from start to finish, and even held a lead of one minute by SS6. Another phenomenal time over the very next stage, SS7, allowed him to cruise over the final stage, to the finish.

Belton and Stephen Simpson, both driving cars prepared by rally winner Melvyn Evans, took their cars to second and third. Damien Cole was running second for a time, but problems with the throttle on the final stage dropped him to fourth.

Evans had made the decision to compete on the Irish leg of the REIS Get Connected Championship was to take back lost points in the championship after withdrawing from the Jim Clark Rally. However it was announced that his victory wouldn't count towards the championship table as he, and other competitors, hadn't fitted mud flaps that comply with the regulations to their cars. This now means that Cole retains the championship lead, over Simpson.

Chris Armstrong put in an excellent drive in his MK2 Escort to seal fifth. The 22 year old Cavan driver was fastest 2WD to boot, only headed by the championship leading World Rally Cars. Amazingly, it was only Armstrong's third event in the car! David Armstrong took sixth in another MK2.

Problems befell pre-rally favourites Eugene Donnelly and Thomas Fitzmaurice. Donnelly's Toyota Corolla WRC suffered even more engine problems, and on the first stage too. Subaru-mounted Fitzmaurice pulled out when co-driver Fionn Foley took ill.

Dick Mauger dominated the Historic section in his Ford Escort MK2, winning by 2 mins 7 secs over Roy Smith's Porsche 911. Philip McKibbin took third in his Ford Cortina, 3 mins 7 secs behind.

McKibbin was being guided by rookie co-driver Padraig Foran, the young Kerry lad put in an excellent performance in the hot seat on his very first rally. A short highlights video of Philip and Padraig's rally will be uploaded in the next few days. Keep an eye on this young co-driver, he could be well on his way to big things and GRN wishes him all the best!

Kevin McLaughlin put in a stunning drive to win the Junior section of the rally by 1 min 36 secs. He beat Sean Brady's Peugeot 205 into second place, with Jill White almost 5 mins behind.

Finally, on a very sombre note, news broke yesterday of the death of Peter Donnelly, father of Eugene and Charlie Donnelly.

Eugene, multiple Tarmac Champion, said of his father: "Dad was always very supportive in everything we did. That was the kind of man he was and typical of his life story. Regardless of what we decided to do, be it in business, Motorsport or anything else, he always gave constructive advice and his full support, and offering any help he could. Dad was such a loving man and will be miss terribly by all of us".

GRN sends our most sincere condolences to the Donnelly family at this difficult time.

Delecour hungry for Romanian victory

Francois Delecour has shocked the IRC establishment by declaring his intention to win the Sibiu Rally this week.

Delecour, who has made one start in this years IRC (Corsica in a Renault Megane RS), is planning on winning the rough gravel event, based in the Romanian city of Sibiu. However his plan may not be as audacious as some may see it, as outright speed won't win this rally.

“I have a very good feeling with Romania and all the fans and I am going there to win; that's the target for sure. How realistic an objective that is, I don't know: we will only find out when we get to the stages.” he said.

The French ace will be driving a Peugeot 207 S2000, but updated to the new 2012 specification.

“But I've tried to keep myself in shape and my car is very good as well: it is new and with the 2012 specification.” Delecour said.

The Sibiu Rally has been likened to the Acropolis Rally, sporting extremely tough gravel stages which will ruin an unaware driver's car. Given Delecour's previous experience on the Acropolis Rally, two fifth places in 1992 and 2001, and the fact he competed on the Sibiu Rally last year, he could prove a major threat to the works Skoda's.

“I have very good memories of the rally last year. It's a beautiful rally; it reminds me a little bit of Greece but I mean the nice bits of Greece: not the parts that are really rough,”

The 49 year old ex-Ford, Peugeot and Mitsubishi works driver also noted that good pace notes and a good rhythm are vital to being fast in the rally.

“There is a definite rhythm to the stages, and you have to understand that rhythm in order to be fast. So it's a rally where you need good pacenotes so that the car really flows: you want a smooth style, nothing too aggressive, and a neutral set-up. You make the car work for you and not force it, because that is best for the nature of the stages on this rally.” he concluded.

Cuts "won't impact our WRC programme": Citroen WRT

After the PSA Peugeot Citroen group announced 8,000 jobs would be lost and one car-building factory would be closed last week, the Citroen Total World Rally Team have announced that the cuts will not impact on their WRC programme.

The company will close their car-manufacturing plant in Aulnay, near Paris, by 2014. The plant employs more than 3,000 people. However the French government have said they will ensure Peugeot help find new jobs for all the affected workers. A second factory in Rennes will shed 25% of it's 5,600 strong workforce.

"The announcement of last week won't impact our WRC programme. However, we are doing our best to look at options to reduce the financial support of the brand in our sporting package." said a spokesperson from Citroen Racing.

Immediate concern arose within the rallying world that Citroen's phenomenally successful rallying programme, which has won the manufacturer's title seven times, eight consecutive drivers' titles (thanks to Sebastian Loeb) and 80 individual wins. Citroen is also the only manufacturer to win Rally Deutschland since it's first running!

Peugeot's endurance racing programme was cut at the start of this year, another successful programme. Cost cutting was sited as the reason, and even then concern arose for Citroen's programme.

Currently, Citroen WRT have contracts with four drivers, being Sebastian Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen in the works team, and Theirry Neuville and Nasser Al-Attiyah in their respective satellite teams.

At this point in the championship, both Citroen and Loeb lead their respective championship's. Loeb leads the drivers championship by 38 points, and Citroen lead the manufacturers' championship by 96 points.

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Breen will fight on

Craig Breen will return to the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship at next month's Rally Finland, after having made the “hardest decision” of his life.

Breen has been out of rallying since the tragic death of his long-time co-driver Gareth Roberts on the Targa Florio Rally last month. Breen and Roberts were entered in the Italian event on a one-off drive in a Peugeot 207 S2000, similar to the one they drove at the Circuit of Ireland for the Sainteloc team.

By now, the events of the tragedy are well known. But Breen hasn't stepped in a rally car since then, and as a result missed Rally of New Zealand. Hayden Paddon won the event, and now leads the championship by 19 points.

But, in an incredibly brave move, and with a blessing from Roberts' family, the Waterford ace had made the decision to come back to rallying, and go all out for the SWRC crown. 2009 IRC Champion co-driver Paul Nagle will navigate for him on Rally Finland, as they bid to close the gap to Paddon.

“This has been the hardest decision of my life. I will never fully come to terms with Gareth’s death. It’s only with the support of my own family and Gareth’s family that I’m now ready to take the next step. I will never forget Gareth, we were firstly a driver/co-driver partnership but most of all we were best friends.” said Breen.

Breen admitted that getting back to competing again with out 'Jaffa', as Roberts was affectionately known, will be tough. But he also knows that getting back to the sport he loves and has been successful at is exactly what 'Jaffa' would have wanted.

“Getting back behind the wheel again without the little man will be emotionally very hard but I know that Gareth would want me to continue. From our first event together we were winners and now I want to continue on that road with the same ambition.” he added.

He also announced that in honour of Roberts life and career, Breen will offer a section of his personal website, www.craigbreen.com, in memory of Roberts.

“To honour Gareth I will be adding a new section to my website to remember him. In this section there will be the book of condolence that already carries over 2000 messages, The Eulogy from Gareth's funeral by Howard Davies, full details of how you can donate to the Gareth Roberts fund and three years of photographic and video memories.”

Black Motorsport Videos

GRN would like to proudly welcome on board Black Motorsport Videos as our newest sponsor. Run by Jason Black, they are the creators of spectacular, all-action videos and DVD's from Irish rallying up and down the country. One such video is the RWD Madness - Opposite Lock video, which can be found below. If you like clips of RWD cars hitting the rev-limiter whilst on full opposite lock, sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy!

Solberg hails "very, very useful" test

Rallying and closed-circuit racing are two completely different disciplines, with rallying condition completely determined by the conditions of the roads at the time of road closing. Circuit racing is less dependant, as there are regulations that have to be followed when laying the tarmac for the circuit. But, it was these constant conditions that helped Ford make a “huge step forward” with the development of the Fiesta RS WRC.

Instead of finding a road somewhere and testing up and down it all day long, the Ford World Rally Team weighed in to the Circuit des Ecuyeres in Fary, France last week to complete another part of the development programme. The team's last remaining Championship hope, Petter Solberg, was tasked with driving for the four days.

Solberg noted how Ford's design guru Christian Loriaux suggested a track would be the best idea, and given how it offered the chance to test in the exact same conditions over and over again, it wasn't a bad idea.

Solberg hailed the test as “very, very useful”, saying: “It was very, very useful. We learned so much from the time in the car. We changed everything on the car and from a philosophy and a learning perspective it was fantastic. We have taken a huge step forward during the test.”

The results of this test may prove the pivotal moment in the title chase, as Ford were competitive in Monte Carlo at the start of the year on tarmac. With this test, and the team's usual test before Rallye Deutschland, under their belts, the Ford World Rally Team may finally be able to break Citroen's stranglehold on the German stages.

Four of the final six rallies in the WRC calendar feature tarmac stages, so the extra testing time may be vital in the hunt for the elusive Manufacturer's Championship, and Solberg's elusive first win in almost seven years.

Solberg hails "very, very useful" test

Rallying and closed-circuit racing are two completely different disciplines, with rallying condition completely determined by the conditions of the roads at the time of road closing. Circuit racing is less dependant, as there are regulations that have to be followed when laying the tarmac for the circuit. But, it was these constant conditions that helped Ford make a “huge step forward” with the development of the Fiesta RS WRC.

Instead of finding a road somewhere and testing up and down it all day long, the Ford World Rally Team weighed in to the Circuit des Ecuyeres in Fary, France last week to complete another part of the development programme. The team's last remaining Championship hope, Petter Solberg, was tasked with driving for the four days.

Solberg noted how Ford's design guru Christian Loriaux suggested a track would be the best idea, and given how it offered the chance to test in the exact same conditions over and over again, it wasn't a bad idea.

Solberg hailed the test as “very, very useful”, saying: “It was very, very useful. We learned so much from the time in the car. We changed everything on the car and from a philosophy and a learning perspective it was fantastic. We have taken a huge step forward during the test.”

The results of this test may prove the pivotal moment in the title chase, as Ford were competitive in Monte Carlo at the start of the year on tarmac. With this test, and the team's usual test before Rallye Deutschland, under their belts, the Ford World Rally Team may finally be able to break Citroen's stranglehold on the German stages.

Four of the final six rallies in the WRC calendar feature tarmac stages, so the extra testing time may be vital in the hunt for the elusive Manufacturer's Championship, and Solberg's elusive first win in almost seven years.

Toyota return kicked up a gear

Suggestions of Toyota's mooted return to the WRC have been kicked up a gear, with President of the Japanese powerhouse's Motorsport Division, Yoshaiki Kinoshita, said that a return for the 2014 was a strong possibility.

“We hope we are ready in 2014. Of course the final target is the WRC programme, but to get back in WRC we need several steps.” said Mr. Kinoshita in an interview with Autosport magazine.

Toyota were a dominating force during their spell as a full works-backed team from the mid 80's through the 1990's. They started to become a regular challenger in the WRC with the Group B Toyota Celica TCT, and went on to claim four Driver's Titles and three Manufacturer's Titles in the space of nine years from 1990 to 1999 with various evolutions of the Celica and finally the Corolla WRC.

However, they were not with out controversy. Toyota were thrown out of the WRC for 12 months in 1995 when they were discovered to be competing with an illegal turbocharger. The offending units were able to be bypassed to create more power, and they utilised a clever system to fool the scrutineers and pass scrutineering.

Towards the end of the WRC programme, Toyota began to run a programme in endurance sports car racing with the GT-One in 1998 and 1999. The car was never really successful, combining technical failures and bad luck.

Both the rallying and endurance programme were ended when Toyota joined Formula 1. The F1 programme was not successful, with only 13 podiums out of 140 races in eight years.

Mr. Kinoshita said that the team would need time to prepare for a WRC comeback, but it would be possible to run a campaign in tandem with their fledgling endurance racing programme. But, the hardest part would be re-gaining all the knowledge required for a successful WRC campaign. Being almost 13 years since they last competed in rallying, most if not all their technicians and engineers would have gone on to different teams.

“Because we stopped [the] rally programme in 1999 and after that most of the people are gone, there is no know-how inside the company. What we need is to prepare engines, and homologated chassis, and build up our knowledge again. Then we are ready.” added Mr. Kinoshita.

The possible major problem may be getting the Yaris, their proposed base car, accepted by the FIA and rival teams. The Yaris is 15cm shorter than the FIA regulated minimum length of 3.9m.