Great result for Gallagher at WRC Jordan

Image: World Rally Team Ireland

By Neil McDaid
Jordan, April 27, 2008 -- Ireland’s Shaun Gallagher gets his first ever WRC rally podium finish in the second round of the 2008 J-WRC Championship.
This is a fantastic result for this Letterkenny, Co Donegal native who has been working hard to make a name for himself after winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2007. His 2008 campaign got off to a rough start when he fell victim to a viral infection at the first round of the championship, Rally Mexico. It severely hampered his ability but, nonetheless, he managed to muster up a sixth place finish.
A new and spectacular addition to the WRC calendar for 2008, Rally Jordan would not only test driver’s ability to get through the fast and technical stages, but also their personal endurance to keep going through the incredible desert heat. The rally would set up headquarters some 30 miles south of Jordan’s capital Amman, in the spectacular natural and spiritual landscapes of the Dead Sea, the lowest land point on earth.
Rallying under the sponsorship of Tommy Mullen’s “World Rally Team Ireland” Gallagher would get a change of navigator for Rally Jordan. He would now be teamed up with the vastly experienced Paul Kiely from Sligo. Paul helped guide Eugene Donnelly to many a rally victory, along with several Irish Rally Championships to boot; his experience would surly help Gallagher achieve his goals.
After the first day of competition the Irish duo were holding their own despite the grueling heat and some niggling technical problems. "It's very physically demanding, the heat saps every bit of energy from your body. I am just totally focused on keeping the car on the road. It is tough going, but I am really getting a feel for the car,” said Gallagher.
Into day-two their Citroën C2 S1600 now began to develop gearbox problems further adding to the challenge for the Irish team. Nonetheless, the team would push on in an effort to capture as many coveted championship points as possible.
Heading into day three Gallagher and Kiely were holding down fourth overall despite still suffering gearbox problems. The team had all but given up the ghost of catching J-WRC rally leader Patrick Sandell and focused their attention on third. As fate would have it, rally leader Sandell would go off the road on SS17 retiring him from the event. The Citroen of Frenchman Sebastien Ogier would move to first. Jaan Molder would move to second while Gallagher would find himself in a podium position in third. On the penultimate stage, SS20, with pressure from Gallaher for second, Molder made a costly mistake and drove his Suzuki Swift S1600 off the road and retired.
In the end Sebastien Ogier would claim the victory with an elated Shaun Gallagher in second, “The last stage was amazing - the windows wouldn’t go up at the start of the stage so we just had to go. Now we’re covered in dust and it was really hard to see the road for 40 kilometres! It was such a tough event and testing in so many ways, I can’t believe it after the gearbox problems we’ve had all weekend. It’s unreal! This morning I said to [co-driver] Paul to forget about the gearbox and just drive, and it worked! I hope to have a smooth run in Sardinia and get some more good points.”
This victory now puts the Irish World Rally Team second overall in the championship, a great position heading in to round three of this six round championship. Gallagher would go on to say, “I am delighted to have finished in second place. It was a tough, hard rally and I will be looking forward to getting back to the temperatures of Letterkenny in Donegal!” After the rally, CEO of World Rally Team Ireland, Tommy Mullen, said the result was a testament to the incredible talents of a young and ambitious rally team. “Shaun Gallagher & Paul Kiely did Ireland proud out here in Jordan. We were very worried with the mechanical problems in the gearbox and I did not think we were going to make it to the finish of the rally. “

Ken Block dominates at Rally New York

By Neil McDaid

Ellenville, New York, April 4, 2008. Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block, with co-driver Alex Gelsomino, claim top honors at Rally New York, effectively stripping the Irish of their grip on the rally from its onset. The victory now puts Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino ahead in both the United States Rally Championship and the Rally America National Championship, a position that has never been achieved before.
With the entry of Ken Block in this very popular east coast event there was clearly a heightened sense of excitement Thursday evening as legions of Subaru-driving rally fans began to descend into the quiet little Catskills town of Ellenville. The rally would be run over two days; each day would count as a separate rally. The total overall positions for both days combined would be scored as points towards the United States Rally Championship for 2008.

Drivers and co-drivers were given the opportunity Thursday to take a two pass recce over the special stages which were to be contested throughout Ulster and Sullivan Counties. Although the weather conditions for the recce were bright and sunny the forecast for day-one of the rally was bleak, to say the least. By 8pm on Thursday evening the local forecast was calling for overnight snow and rain. You could see a mild panic sweep through the service area as crews scrambled to make extra cuts in their tires in a bid to compensate for the unknown conditions that their drivers would face the next day.

As the first glimmers of morning light crested the Catskills it would reveal some very unpredictable conditions for the crews. Although it had only snowed lightly at rally headquarters, with the vast elevation changes in the Ellenville area it was anyone’s guess what surprises the stages would hold for the first cars out.
Just a few minutes before 9am on Friday morning, the first of some 35 cars were at the starting line. SS1 would be named in honor of Sgt. Eddie Ryan a local veteran injured in Iraq. As victor of the prior running at Rally New York in 2007, it would be the defending United States Rally Champion, Seamus Burke that had the daunting task of running first on the road. Unfortunately the wet, slick stage conditions would be the least of Burke’s troubles. This was the first time out in his open class Mitsubishi after it had been repaired following his big off in Laughlin last Fall. Based on Burke’s pace on the first test it was clear that all was not well with the car.

As if sensing Burke’s troubles, and despite the slick conditions, fellow Irish driver Charlie Donnelly attacked hard on the first stage, bettering Burke’s time by two seconds. But it would be Team Subaru driver Ken Block, seeded third in the start order, who would make his presence known early. Block would stop the clock 4 seconds faster than his nearest rival. He then went on to set fastest times on all but one of the first six stages of the opening day. Despite putting in a great run to match times with Block on SS3, Charlie Donnelly was down by 25 seconds at the end of section one. Polish driver Otis Dimiters would round out the top three. Ivor Wigham would be the first retirement of the rally after going off the road and hitting a stone wall on SS4.

As the crews set out for section 2 of the rally, things would really start to unravel for the Irish drivers. SS7 was the last we would see of both Seamus Burke and Charlie Donnelly. Their Mitsubishis would be sidelined with mechanical problems. A failed front differential would send Donnelly’s car to the trailer and a failed gearbox would end Burke’s hopes of retaining his Rally New York title. The abrasive tarmac stages would also take their toll on Enda McCormack’s Mitsubishi; Enda also retired with differential problems on SS7. Despite the loss of some of his top rivals, Block would not lift. Taking full advantage of his first full tarmac outing, he would continue to push and test his pace on the black stuff. A hard launch off the start line on SS9 would break a front axle on Paddy Brennan’s Subaru knocking him out of the running on day one.

At the end of section two and the completion of 10 stages, like an old tarmac pro Block was holding a one minute advantage over Otis Dimiters in second. Representing the Irish hopes, Martin Donnelly and Stephen Duffy were holding onto the final podium spot in third.
The rally would complete two additional stages in Ellenville before moving west to Monticello for the final 4 stages of day-one. Block would, again, dominate by setting the fastest times on all stages on section three.

It was quickly becoming apparent that unless Ken Block made a mistake or encountered a mechanical problem on stage, he was going to be all but impossible to reel in. At the conclusion of the first day’s competition, the top three were Block, Dimiters and C. Donnelly.
Day two would see the competition move to the township of Neversink for the first of six special stages. Some of the competitors that had dropped out on day one took advantage of the rally format and would re-enter. Irish drivers Enda McCormack, Seamus Burke and Paddy Brennan were all back. But for Burke it was all too short lived as he would retire after only one stage with continued gearbox problems.

Otis Dimiters set the pace on the opening test of day two, eking out a two second advantage over Block. As the morning stages progressed it was a repeat of day one - a total domination by Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino. Despite a spin and a flat the Subaru team would go on to take the overall victory by over four minutes ahead of Otis Dimiters. Martin Donnelly and Stephen Duffy would manage to salvage the final podium place for the Irish bringing their Mitsubishi home third.

Block was clearly pleased with his first outing on a full tarmac event. “I really enjoy the tarmac form of rally because it is so different and more technical than gravel. You have to be so precise, but that challenge is what made it such an amazing experience,” said Block. “We were here primarily to get some more reconnaissance experience but I have wanted to run a full tarmac event for a long while now. I adapted better than I expected to the tarmac and I am looking forward to racing some more tarmac events again sometime in the future.”

He has also shown interest in competing on some of Ireland’s world famous tarmac events. Both Donegal and Killarney had been mentioned, but at this time no confirmed plans are in place.
Other notable finishes for the Irish, from the New York area, were Gerald Coffey and Dave Dooly who managed to capture sixth overall despite multiple problems on day one. Brothers Michael and John O’Leary captured seventh overall and were definitely a big hit with the spectators with their “never a dull moment” driving style. Michael Cosgrove and Seanie “Legend” O’Reilly would claim first overall in pre-mod AWD on day one. Keeping the lights on for the Boston Irish was “Broslan” (Dan Broslan), who would take 3rd overall on day two in the 2WD open class. Next up for the Irish will be Rally Tennessee in May.