Irish teams set to dominate

at Rally New York Seamus Burke pictured here on his way to victory in the 2005 Rally New York.

Picture©Neil McDaid

Narrowsburg, New York, March 30th. The very popular Rally New York makes a return after having to cancel the scheduled fall Rally in 2006. The rally will count as round two of the 2007 United States Rally Championship [USRC]

The rally will run on some tried and well tested stages in Sullivan County. Rally New York is unique in its format. The first 12 stages will be run on tarmac. From there crews will quickly change the setup on the cars to run 8 more stages on gravel.

With 18 of the of the 36 teams entered being Irish, there is no question that we will see a strong showing from the boys in the top ten.

Charlie Donnelly in his Mitsubishi Evo will be gunning to continue his winning streak, Charlie chalked up victories at Black River stages [06], Team O’Neill Rally [06] and most recently he took the overall victory at Sandblast Rally.[07] Sandblast was round one of the 2007 USRC, putting Donelly ahead in the points.

Donnelly will need to be on his game as the Atlanta based 2006 USRC rally champion Seamus Burke with Eddie Fries on the notes will be pushing the pace early over the tarmac stages.

Enda McCormack out of New York has no plans to relive his last adventure at Rally New York. Enda lost control after taking the yump on the Blind Pond stage and ended up-to his door handles in a small lake, word has it that McCormick has installed a few life vests under the seats of the Mitsu just in case. Enda is slated to run third on the road.

After taking the overall victory at the regional rally in February at Rally America’s 100 Acre Woods, Paddy Brennan in his Subaru STI will be looking to maintain his pace in New York. Also look for a strong showing from Danny O’Brien, who is the current Eastern States Rally Champion.

Rumors were running rampant here on the web regarding which car Patsy Lilly is going to show up with this weekend, the latest is that Patsy has done a deal with Austin McHale for the Focus he ran in WRC Mexico… I don’t think so, if anything I expect to see Lilly behind the wheel of a Subaru.

Boston based Emilio Arce and Sarah Gardecu will be making a come back after their roll on SS2 at Black River stages last fall.

A great selection of cars is set to line up at Rally New York this weekend, make sure and hang around for all the cars, a rare Mk11 Ford Escort will be running last on the road.
For more details check out www.rallynewyork.com

Photo©Neil McDaid

Rally Ireland appoints Eddie Jordon as chairmain for it's first WRC event.

Jordan Grand Prix founder Eddie Jordan and former rugby international Trevor Ringland have been appointed as Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Rally Ireland Management Ltd, the promoters of the Irish round of the World Rally Championships which will take place in November this year.
Dublin-born Jordan started his career as a driver in karting and Formula 3 prior to setting up Jordan Formula 1 in the early 1990's where he scored some considerable success, including giving Michael Schumacher his first Formula 1 outing.
“This is a huge sporting opportunity for Ireland,” said Jordan. “We have a wealth of talent in motorsport, both as competitors and organizers, and being part of WRC will allow us to develop that talent for the future.”
“Rally Ireland also gives us the opportunity to take a fresh approach to the planning and delivery of World Championship events and I believe the plans and strategies we are putting into place are creative, innovative and will become models of good practice within motorsport and beyond,” he concluded.

Former International winger Trevor Ringland has 34 caps for Ireland and was a member of the Triple Crown winning side of 1985 and a Lions player. He is now a solicitor practicing in Belfast. He is also Chairman of the “One Small Step” campaign, whose objective is to encourage individuals and organizations to build a shared inclusive society.
Ringland said: “Given the global exposure Rally Ireland will receive in over 200 countries, and the contribution of EUR46 million (£30 million) it is set to make to the economy here, this is a fabulous opportunity to showcase not only our sporting talent, but our capacity for co-operation and our ability to deliver as one of the best in the world.”
The other members of the Rally Ireland Management Board are co-founders Seán O'Connor and Ronan Morgan and Chief Executive Officer David Marren. The four-day event will run from 15th — 18th November and will be based mainly in the north-west.