Rally New York 2009

Ulster County Legislative Representative, Susan Cummings (R-C-I) Starts Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino @ Rally New York 2009

"The Excitement is Back" Rally New York, 2009
Report and pictures by Neil McDaid

Ellenville, New York - After a long and snowy winter rally fans in the Northeast finally got back out onto the stages for the 2009 running of Rally New York. This was round one of the United States Rally Championship. Despite the wind, a couple of torrential downpours and a few snow flurries for good measure, rally fans were treated to some high speed action and a front row seat to some big moments over the two day event. The 2008 Rally New York champion, Team Subaru USA driver Ken Block, and co-driver Alex Gelsomino were back seeking a repeat. And repeat they did in dominating style.

Despite the still struggling economy [in case you needed reminding] Rally New York enjoyed a healthy entry with 39 cars set to take to the stages on day one. Much excitement, anticipation and speculation swirled in the weeks and days leading up to the rally with this very competitive lineup in place.
After a ceremonial start in Kerhonkson, NY, the rally finally got underway on Friday morning. The first stage was just a few miles from Rally Headquarters, which was at the newly renovated Honor’s Heaven Resort in Ellenville. SS1, named once again in honor of wounded gulf war veteran Sgt. Eddie Ryan, would give the crews a taste for the conditions that lay ahead.
As returning champions Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino would lead the charge. Block would drive his 2007 car, as his new style ‘09 spec Subaru was already on its way to the Olympus Rally on the west coast.

Subaru Rally Team USA Drive Ken Block at full tilt on ss14

Block was followed on the road by the Donegal duo of Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries in their Mitsubishi Evo 9. Third on the road, coming out of a semi-retirement from rally, representing the Co Louth, "Lawless by name and lawless by nature" - Tom Lawless. He had big hopes, or should I say big predictions, for his newly developed Mitsubishi. Otis Dimiters, flying the colors of his native Latvia, would start fourth on this opening day. Rounding out the top five was the promising newcomer to rally, Joseph Burke.

Unfortunately for Joseph and co-driver Ole Holter in their Kearney Motorsport Subaru, their Rally would come to a spectacular and sudden stop just several miles into the very first stage. Joseph has had some very successful outings on gravel, but the tarmac and SS1 at Rally New York are definitely proving a challenge for the young gun. Not 200 yards from where he rolled in 2007, Joseph went off hitting several large trees. Thankfully, both driver and co-driver walked away unharmed.

As most slipped and slided through the first stage, struggling for traction on cut slicks, Ken Block and Team Subaru had clearly made the correct tire choice and ran on full wets. They were rewarded with the stage victory, some 7 seconds faster than Tom Lawless who claimed second.
At the first service stop of the day, with six stages complete, Block had already put a 25 second gap between him and the rest of the competitors. Otis Dimiters was sitting second, with Tyrone man Charlie Donnelly in third.

After an impressive start, Seamus Burke would limp into service with a mangled right
front corner on his Mitsubishi. Burke had been caught out on a slippy crest near the end of SS6, where he got up close and personal with a section of Armco barrier at over 95mph! Burke dropped to fourth. Tom Lawless and Brian Sharkey rounded out the top five.

Robert Martai became the second victim of the rally, when he slid wide in his brand new Evo 10 on SS4 and relocated an outhouse. Thankfully, the facility was vacant at the time. Robert was able to make repairs and return under the super rally rules later in the day.
Rain and thunder continued to pummel the undaunted fans as they lined up on SS7 for one of three passes for the very popular and exciting "stone pillar hair pin." Again, Block would set a blistering pace on the short 4.1 miles stage, Block was a second a mile faster than Dimiters who was stilling on the 2nd place.

Brothers Josh and Jeremy Wimpy had been dominating the pace among the two drive cars in their VW Golf, but late use of the hand brake on SS9 ended their rally as they demolished two of the stone piers resulting in a broken axel.

With the rain finally letting up the teams would make the transit to Monticello for the final four stages on day one, a high speed attack down the service road that ran through the middle of Concord Golf Course. Block would take three of the four stages in Monticello, with Otis Dimiters eking out a .06 advantage to take the stage victory, SS15, which was the last stage on day one.
As crews returned to Ellenville for the overnight halt, it was clearly Ken Block’s rally to lose. He was now ahead of Dimiters by 51 seconds. Despite their hair rising moment on SS6 and turbo problems on SS7, Burke and Fries fought and scratched their way back to third. Further down the field Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann in their Mayo Group sponsored Nissan were taking control of the 2WD class.

Day one would also see the retirement of Charlie Donnelly and Barry Smyth despite being well in the hunt early in the day and setting the fastest time on SS9. Rally New York is Charlie’s Achilles Heel, as he just can’t seem to finish the event.

Tom Lawless, getting back in form after being missing from competition for some time.

Day-two, with the sun making a brief appearance, drivers were quickly awakened with the steep and twisty challenge of SS 16-17 "South Gully." Tom Lawless, with the bit between his teeth, managed to better Block by a few ticks of the clock on the first test. Keeping things in check, Block took the second charge up the hill, to claim his 14th stage win of the rally.
The rally would then move some 70 miles northwest to the town of Walton for the final six stages. Rally New York lost a great member of their team earlier this year to a medical condition, Steve Bogart. In his memory three of the six stages in Walton were named in his honor.

As the crews started the first of the Walton stages, the weather again rapidly deteriorated. Winds gusted to 30mph with rain and occasional snow. These were some of the fastest tarmac stages seen at Rally New York in years, and they were made even more treacherous by the mud and gravel pulled onto the roads with each pass, as the front runner cut the corners to shave time. Average speeds were well in access of 80mph.

Otis Dimiters and co-driver Dominik Jozwiak had a heart stopping spin on SS18. The
car would aquaplane on some standing water and rotated 360 degrees, at well over 110mph. They mowed down several small pine trees before coming to rest on a grassy lane. Somehow the cars sustained only minor damage and were able to continue. The entire moment was caught on in-car video and is making the rounds on YouTube. Tom Lawless set a blistering time on SS21, Houck Mountain 2 to take his second stage win of the rally.

After two very challenging days Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino were joined on the podium by Otis Dimiters and Dominik Jozwiak in second and Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries in third. Daniel O’Brien [Kerry] and Paddy Brennan [Cavan] took fourth and fifth to round out the top five.
Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann had the tri-color flying as they celebrated taking the win in the2WD category. Another great time @ Rally New York was in the bag.
Next up: Block heads west to continue his pursuit of his first Rally America Championship. For the Irish it’s onto round two of the USRC @ Rally Tennessee in May, Block has also confirmed he will attend this rally, and will debut his newly prepared Mk11 Escort, I hope he got a few spare taillight and bumpers.

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.

International Rally New York

Burke takes rally Victory at International Rally New York
By Neil McDaid

Ellenville NY, September 7, 2007. It has been many years since Ulster County has heard the sound of race engines roar through the Catskill Mountains. The last official event was back in the seventies when racers attacked the historic Ellenville Hill Climb. International Rally New York (IRNY) would bring motorsports and rally fans back to Ellenville for round seven of the United States Rally Championship, which was run in conjunction with the Rally New York Championship.
The rally would be contested over two days, combining some fantastic tarmac stages on day one with some proven gravel tests on day two. For the defending USRC champion, Seamus Burke, it was an opportunity to avenge his disastrous showing in the Catskills earlier in the year. The headquarters for IRNY was located at Nevele Grande Resort just outside of Ellenville, a majestic property which is also making a comeback after some tough years.
Charlie Donnelly and co-driver Noel Gallagher would come into IRNY as the 2007 points leaders in the USRC and therefore would start number one on the road Friday. As the teams set out to tackle the 15 tarmac stages, Mitsubishis would make up the top five starting positions in the rally and were all piloted by Irish crews.
SS1, “Wintish 1,” a short 2.9 mile test would offer up a few hairy moments for those a bit rusty on their tarmac skills, none more so than Joseph Burke and co-driver Jeremy Wimpy. Joseph would roll his Acura in spectacular style about half way into SS1. Both driver and co-driver would walk away unharmed apart from a bit of bruised pride that is.

Joseph Burke, [left] would walk away unharmed from his big roll on SS1 [Piture: Neil McDaid]

Despite having some problems selecting forth gear Seamus Burke would set the fastest time on SS1 by some eight seconds over Charlie Donnelly. Enda McCormack charged to within one second off Donnelly’s time for third. Over SS2, Old “Greenfield 1,” Burke would again set fastest time, but the gap had narrowed as Charlie closed the stage time to three seconds. In one of his rare showings, New York publican Gerard Coffey took a break from pulling pints and set some very respectable times on the early tarmac stages in his Evo 8. He would set the fastest time over SS 3.

Enda McCormack had a great drive on day-one before gearbox problems arose. [Picture: Neil McDaid]

At the end of the first leg of the rally, which covered six stages, Seamus Burke had eked out a 32 second lead over an excellent drive from Gerard Coffey and Dave Dooley who moved up to second. Enda McCormack and Bernard Farrell held their starting position in third. Flying the flag for Poland, Maciej Przybysc and Constantine Mantopoulos in the Impreza held forth. Despite a big moment on SS5 Martin O’Flynn and Damien Treanor would round out the top five in their Mitsubishi Eclipse.
Trouble for the championship leader Donnelly as he rolled into the first major service of the day, almost a minute down to Burke. Charlie’s Mitsubishi was only running on three cylinders. Rally leader Burke was also having some mechanical issues; he had all but lost forth gear over the early stages.
On to leg two, SS7 “Tempaloni 1”. Those expecting to see Charlie Donnelly running first on the stage were somewhat surprised to see Burke running first. We would later learn that Donnelly returned to service with continuing problems.

A hairpin turn on SS7 would prove a little difficult for some. O’Flynn slid wide and leveled a section of stone/wood fence. Not to be outdone, Arkadiusz Gruszka would better the Irishman as he took out two sections. The rally would move from Ellenville to Monticello for the fast sweeping stage through the Concord Resort and Golf Course. It would be run four times to make up the final stages on day one. Despite missing forth gear Burke controlled all but one stage on the opening day to stay ahead of the pack. Despite a great effort on the tar Gerald Coffey would not enter the gravel section of the rally on day two.
The first of the gravel stages on day two, SS16 “Rogues Harbor 1,” would start just outside of Ellenville where the local residents turned out to get a stage-side seat for all the action. Running first on the road, Burke would roll to a stop at the spectator area suffering continued issues with gear selection. After a few frustrating moments, Seamus managed to get a gear and was off again. Maciej Przybysc would not get away as easily. Pushing hard through Burke’s dust trail, Maciej would lose control of his Impreza and collide hard into a tree ending his event. Charlie Donnelly would make a return on day two under the super rally rules but it was short lived. Donnelly would blow his engine on SS17.
With Burke still leading the charge, crews would make the long transit over to Narrowsburg for 8 stages, which were run utilizing two sections of forest roads. At the first short service on Saturday with Przybysc and Donnelly out, Enda McCormack was settling into second; Cyril Kearney held third. McCormack would begin to report gear selection problems on SS20 and things went quickly downhill from there. Coming into the only major service of the day, Enda had no clutch and could not engage 4th or 5th gears.

Finton Seeley and Carrie Wilburn were in the hunt until their retirement on day-two [photo: Neil McDaid]

Despite taking full advantage of McCormack’s problems and moving to second, things were not all rosy over in the Kearney service area. Cyril had clipped a rock and cracked the casing on his rear differential. Luckily he had a spare and his crew made the swap within the time limits. Leaving service for the final three stages of the rally, McCormack would have to get the car rolling using the starter. It was questionable if he could hold onto third or even finish the rally.
In the end McCormack would hold onto third despite a late objection from another competitor. A delighted Cyril Kearney would claim second some eleven minutes adrift of overall rally winners, the Donegal crew of Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries.
Rafal Liptopad whose VW Golf stalked the injured Mitsubishi of Enda McCormack through the final stages would claim top honors in two wheel drive.
Unofficially, this victory moves Burke ahead of Charlie Donnelly in the point’s race for the USRC. Enda McCormack sits third. With only one event left on the east coast, the Eastern States Rally Championship is wide open and will be decided at Black River Stages at the end of the month.
From there it will be onto Laughlin, Nevada for the final showdown in the desert to the decide the USRC title.

*Some video footage from the Rally can be found at

www.youtube.com/Abhusanseo

Burke Takes Round Five of the United States Rally Championship

Burke and Fries storm to victory at Rally West Virginia [Photo Neil McDaid]

By Neil McDaid

Elkins, West Virginia - August 3, 2007. Seamus Burke takes maximum points at Rally West Virginia in his bid to retain the United States Rally Championship title. Round five of the USRC took place in the high hills of the mountain state. The rally would not go down without its fair share of drama and excitement along the twisted back roads of Randolph County.

Rally West Virginia also counted as round three of the Eastern States Rally Championship, along with the added bonus of been a part of the 2007 Max Attack Triple Crown Series.

Day one would see the 38 crews tackle the first of the very technical all gravel mountain stages. Lined with hairpin turns and incredible drop offs, crews were given both written and verbal warnings of several triple cautions on the Friday stages.
As expected, Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries in the Shamrock Building Systems sponsored Mitsubishi would push the early pace setting the fastest time over SS1, “Turbodawg Long”. Some 34 seconds off the pace of Burke, fellow Irish driver Charlie Donnelly would claim second.
Justin Pritchard and Kyle Sarasin would lock bumpers for third.

Before the end of the first stage several crews would fall victim to the tough twists and turns of the tight country roads. Tyrone man Martin “the other” Donnelly out of NYC, who has been away from the sport for a few years, was out for the first time in his new Mitsubishi Evo 8. Martin would be first to explore the West Virginia scenery. Brake failure on a nasty downhill section into a tight hairpin turn at the bottom would be the demise of Donnelly and co-driver Stephen Duffy’s Friday stages. Luckily for the crew the car came to rest against a large tree only sustaining minimal damage. With some donated parts and a great effort by their service crew they would be back in action for day two.

Donnelly and Duffy would make a return Saturday after their off stage adventure on Friday [Photo NeilMcDaid]

Unfortunately, Carrie Wilburn’s Subaru Impreza would not come off as lightly. Carrie would leave the road and land hard on the front of the car then collided with a tree, eventually ending up on her roof. Thankfully both Carrie and navigator Damian Treanor managed to escape unharmed.
Brian Rutledge would also damage a ball joint on his Impreza, forcing him to retire. He would make repairs and return Saturday

Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher, the current point leaders in the USRC, would get within 6 seconds of Burke’s pace on SS3, but trouble loomed for Donnelly on SS4. They would break a front drive on their Evo 2. Unfortunately, the car was not repairable and their rally was over. At the end of day one Seamus Burke held a two minute advantage over Justin Prichard in his Subaru. Putting in a fantastic drive teenager Kyle Sarasin was holding down third in his Ford Focus.

Day two saw crews hit the road bright and early heading south of Elkins for the first of 13 special stages. Not using the conventional continuation of stage numbers from day one, rally organizers would start the first stage on Saturday as SS1, a little confusing for some.
SS1 “Adolf Expressway” could have been more appropriately named the “eye opener.” The rally organizer suggested that this stage could possibly have more turns per mile that any other stage in the country. It would be another rerun of the Burke and Fries show; they would set fastest times over the first four stages of the day. Justin Pritchard would hold his ground maintaining second over Charles Sherrill in third.

All two wheel drive cars entered in the rally were eligible to contest for the Max Attack cash prizes. The two wheel drive competition, at times, was more exciting that the battle for the overall rally lead. The top six finishers in two wheel drive would all receive cash ranging from $800- $2,000. Mere seconds separated the top contenders throughout the rally.
Little did Seamus Burke know entering SS5 that his 4 minute advantage over the field would be erased. About half way through the stage, Burke’s gear selector would jam leaving the car stuck in high gear. Burke pulled off the stage to make repairs. After losing some six minutes he managed to get going again, his rally lead gone.

Heading into SS6, Burke was now down almost two minutes to Pritchard. He would throw caution to the wind and set a blistering pace over “UberDeustchland 3.” Burke was some 25 seconds faster than Enda McCormack who also obviously liked the conditions and found his form taking second. More importantly Burke was some 29 seconds faster than rally leader Justin Pritchard.

Justin Pritchard found himself in first if only for a while due to Burke's gearshift problems [Photo NeilMcDaid]


After setting the fastest time on SS6 over his fellow Max Attack competitors, a ruptured gas tank would be the end of the road for Seamus Burke’s son Joseph. In only his second rally “Young” Burke in his G2 Acura, with Boston’s Eamonn Sweeney guiding his way on the notes, would catch and pass several cars throughout the rally. Obviously, the apple did not fall far from the tree. We expect to see some great stuff from Joseph in the future. We would also lose Greg Healy in the Datsun 280Z. Greg would slide off the road into a field of cattle.

The elder Burke would continue to claw back time on SS7 but the cancellation of SS8 due to communication problems piled the pressure on Burke as stage miles dwindled. Burke could not afford to lose the rally or his hopes of retaining the championship title would be gone.

SS9 “Boney Turk,” a high speed challenge on smooth fast small gravel with a few hairpins and crests to make things interesting, scores high as a driver’s favorite. Again it was Burke that threw down a time of 4:07 over the 6.61 mile test; Charles Sherrill could only manage 4:20 to claim second.

Burke would continue his domination over the final stages to reclaim the lead and ultimately the overall victory. Justin Pritchard claimed second with Charles Sherrill taking third. Continuing his fantastic drive, Kyle Sarasin claimed forth in the FWD Focus beating out many more powerful all-wheel drive cars. Kyle would also claim the top prize in the Max Attack.

Up next for the east coast will be round seven of the USRC, International Rally New York, September 6-8th. This year the rally headquarters will relocate to Ellenville. With Donnelly still well ahead in the points Rally New York is shaping up to be a great battle. I expect to see strong entry from the Irish teams for this local event. For more information: http://www.rallynewyork.com/

STPR 2007

Pinker puts Jack Daniels Back on the
Top Shelf
By Neil McDaid
Wellsboro, PA. June 2, 2007. Australian Andrew Pinker, along with his English co-driver Robbie Durant, powered their Jack Daniels sponsored Subaru STI to victory in round five of the 2007 Rally America Championship. This victory pushes Pinker to the top of the championship points standings and also qualifies him for a place in the second running of the rally at the ESPN X-Games in L.A. this August.
The Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally or, as it’s known to most, STPR is now in its 31st year. It is definitely one of the fastest gravel rallies run in the USA. With its many long straights, speeds can get up in access of 100mph. Throw in multiple tricky hairpin turns along the tree lined stages and the occasional thunder shower, it generally makes for a challenging, and at times, a treacherous rally. The surface varies between hard packed clay surfaces that can become very slick when wet to sections of small to medium stones that roll like marbles under the tires.

Although the rally did not officially start until Saturday, standing on the practice stage on Friday evening one would be hard pressed to tell it from an actual competitive stage. The pace was ballistic.
There is a slight crest at the end of the practice stage where there have been some hairy moments in the past. Ken Block, with co-driver Alex Gelsomino, had a narrow escape there in 2005, when they landed in the middle of a swamp after taking the jump at full tilt. They were lucky to land on their wheels not their roof.

Close call for Block and Gelsomino on the shake down stage, as they have a Monster of a wreck. [Photo/ Neil McDaid].

This year the crew of Car #43 would not make it as far as the jump. A little over a mile into the practice stage they would slid wide and connect hard with a large tree, resulting in heavy damage to their open class Factory team Subaru. Alex would suffer a mild concussion; Ken was shaken but unharmed. Making every effort to preserve his slight lead in the Rally America Championship, Subaru USA Rally team opted to send to Vermont for the back up car . Because of Alex’s concussion, Block would also have to locate another co-driver to get back into the rally.
Step up veteran US Rally Champion Driver, and sometimes co-driver, and also multiple winner of STPR, John Buffum. With a great effort by the Subaru service crew that ran into the wee hours, Block and Buffum were ready to roll from the green in Wellsboro on Saturday morning.

Down from previous years, some 52 teams were scheduled to start the rally. Despite the lower entry the quality of equipment had improved greatly over prior years, STPR would also enjoy one of the largest number of spectators ever.
The action got going on SS1, “Asaph Run.” Andrew Pinker, behind the wheel of his black Subaru STI, would throw down the early marker. Running first on the road, he set the fastest time for the stage with Canadians Antoine L'Estage, in the Hyundai, in second and Andrew Comrie-Picard flying the Mitsubishi colors, at full of rack through the spactator area in third.

Seamus Burke, with Eddie Fries on the notes, would lead the attack for the Irish in their Evo 8, starting seventh on the road. Unfortunately for Burke, about half way through the first stage he would catch Otis Dimiters who had lost time due to a slight off. Battling the dust and stones from Dimiters, Seamus could only manage tenth quickest over the 9.8 mile stage. He would also suffer a severely cracked windscreen from the rocks.

Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher would set fastest time for the Irish on SS1, posting a time good enough for ninth overall. Despite the great effort by the Subaru service team throughout the night, fuel problems would force the retirement of Ken Block and John Buffum on SS2.
Without question the most popular stage for spectators at STPR is the “Subaru Water Splash.” In the past this stage had been run as the first stage, but this year the organizers would change it to SS4. It gets its name from the dramatic flying finish in the middle of a small river which has been notorious over the years for ending the event early for some.
The large number of spectators in attendance at the Subaru Water Splash were not disappointed with the nonstop action. Antoine L'Estage would set the fastest time by some four seconds over Andrew Pinker. Seamus Burke would set the sixth fastest time but would have a few tense moments after crossing the water as he struggled to keep his partially drown Mitsubishi running.
With 4 of the 10 scheduled stages complete, teams would return to Wellsboro for the lunch

break and the longest service of the day.

Donnelly takes the victory in the Sherwood Forest rally, before it would all come to a suddent stop on SS9.[Photo/ NeilMcDaid]

In conjunction with the main Rally America national event, two regional rallies are also run on the same stages. Competitors can opt to enter one or all three events. Stages 1-4 would make up the Sherwood Forest Rally. Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher would take the top honors. Taking second overall would be fellow Irish driver Paddy Brennan with Barry McCann. It would be the highlight for the Irish at STPR as trouble loomed ahead.
Under heavy skies, the competitors would make the long transit to SS5 and the beginning of the evening section of the rally.
SS5 “Twelve to Lebo 1” would be the first stage victory by the defending Rally America Champion, Travis Pastrana, who had struggled to get on the pace all day. Pastrana had just returned from Ireland where he took first place in the motorcycle technical freestyle competition in the Red Bull X-Fighters Tour, which was held in front of 35,000 at Slane Castle.
Ramana Lagemann would take his second stage of the day setting the fastest time on SS6 “Francis Lee 1.” Andrew Pinker would take second and the Donegal duo of Burke and Fries would find their pace to take third. Pastrana would capture fourth, after a close encounter with a

ditch.

"Don't cut".Travis cuts a little to much on ss6,

Paddy Brennan and Shane McCann would approach our location about 8 miles into SS6, with smoke billowing from the car from a suspected blown turbo. To avoid further damage, Paddy pulled his Subaru aside and retired from the event.
SS7 would be canceled due to spectators problems. At the final service of the day, with three stages remaining, Andrew Pinker had a firm hold on the overall lead with a 17 second advantage over Ramana Lagemann. Pastrana would hold third and Seamus Burke was holding down fourth.
Defending STPR Champion Matt Iorio would not come out of the last service. A mishap in fuel filling earlier in the day left Iorio battling gasoline fumes in the cockpit and ultimately forced them to retire with a damaged transmission.

Lagemann, holds down second, to seal his spot in the X-GAMES [Photo/ NeilMcDaid]

SS8, “Twelve to Lebo 2” would see Lagemann putting pressure on Pinker setting the fastest time by a mere 2 seconds.

SS9 “ Francis Lee 1” would prove to be a disaster for the remaining Irish drivers in the hunt. Two miles into the 10 mile stage, Seamus Burke would clip something on the road and puncture a front wheel. Rather than loosing the three minutes it would take to change the wheel, Burke would drive the remain 8 miles on the rim. By the end of the stage the flapping tire shred and the disintegrating rim tore the front fender [wing] to pieces. Burke would be 2:38 off the pace of Andrew Pinker, who set the fastest time for the stage.

For Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher their rally would come to a sudden and spectacular end on stage 9. “We slid wide just before we wrecked,” said Donnelly. “I think we must have damaged a rear control arm. The car just became uncontrollable and we went off. I think we rolled three times; we were lucky to walk away.”

Charlie had a bit of a stiff neck but apart from a bit of bruised pride, he and Noel were just glad to be walking around. For the car, that might be a different story as it sustained heavy damage.
There are two major rally championships in the USA; Rally America and the United States Rally Championship. Charlie set out in ‘07 to focus on the United States Rally Championship and, up until this point, things were going according to plan. He is still currently well ahead in the points. This was his first and only planned rally in the Rally America series. Hopefully the car is repairable and Charlie can get back on track for the championship.

The final stage of the rally was also canceled due to continued spectators issues. In the end it would be all Andrew Pinker, collecting his second outright victory of the year, which moved him to the top in the Rally America Championship. Ramana Lagemann was second and Travis Pastrana third overall. Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries would have to settle for fifth overall after the puncture on SS9. They were also the only surviving Irish team left in the event.

Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries approch the water crossing on SS4[Photo/ Neil McDaid ]

After STPR, the nine drivers expected to secure an X-Games invitation are: Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, Colin McRae -- the three medalists from last year's race -- and Tanner Foust, Andrew Pinker, Matt Iorio, Paul Choiniere, Ramana Lagemann and Andrew Comrie-Picard. All but Pinker competed at last summer's X-Games.Round six of the Rally America series moves to the northeast in July for the New England Forest Rally, formally known as The Maine Rally. One more top finishing driver is expected to earn a last-chance invitation which will be decided in Maine. Can Seamus Burke step up and grab a place in the X-Games to represent the Irish? Rally America also plans to extend two more special invitations but there are no indications yet as to who those final drivers might be.

Between now and Maine we are off to the Donegal International Rally. The organizers are expecting to see the largest turnout in the rally’s history. There’s not a bed or a shed available for miles. All this is due to the entry of WRC Champion Sebastian Loeb, who will come to Donegal to test for Ireland’s first WRC event. Look for a full report in the coming weeks.

Rally Tennessee

The old dog for the hard road

Still looking for a trouble free run, Seamus Burke would have

to dig deep to keep Donnelly at bay.

By Neil McDaid

Linden, TN. May 5, 2007. Coming back as Rally Tennessee’s defending champion, Seamus Burke was looking to just finish the 2007 event. Burke, who has been plagued by mechanical issues in his last two outings, came into Rally Tennessee trailing his fellow Irish driver Charlie Donnelly in the 2007 United States Rally Championship.

Rally Tennessee is one of very few all tarmac tests in the USA. It is known as a fast technical rally;definitely not for the faint of heart. The rally got underway at 8.20am from the Perry County High School in Linden, TN.

Charlie Donnelly, with co-driver Noel Gallagher in the ex-Lawless Mitsubishi Evo8, would set off first on SS1. Donnelly stopped the clocks on the 5.85-mile stage with a time of 4mins 50secs. Running second on the road, the defending USRC Champion, Seamus Burke, with co-driver Eddie Fries, was determined to set the pace early on SS1, “Tree Farm Stage”.

By the end of the first test, Burke had placed his Shamrock Building Systems sponsored Mitsubishi in first with a time of 4mins 44secs.

Third fastest on the opening stage was the defending Eastern States Rally Champion, Danny O’Brien. Dominick Jozwiak would be charged with calling the notes for O’Brien in his newly built Subaru STI. O’Brien would set a time of 4mins 54secs. Eoin McGeogh and Stephen Duffy would set a time of 4mins 58secs to put them fourth overall in their Evo IV.

They were followed by Charles Sherrill, in a similar Mitsubishi, with a time of 5mins 5secs to put him fifth quickest.

Enda McCormack and co-driver Bernard Farrell would fall victim to a high speed spin in the first loop of stages. McCormack’s Evo would get light over a fast crest. Despite the best efforts of Enda the car would go off into a ditch with some large embedded rocks causing enough damage that the team could not continue.

Stage 2, Owl Hollow, would see Burke extend his margin by 5 seconds over Donnelly to lead by 11 seconds. Never one to hold back, Donnelly would charge back and take a full 6 seconds off Burke on SS 3, Tree Farm.

Eoin McGeogh would be the second of the seven Irish teams entered to retire with a broken half shaft in his Mitsubishi on SS3.

Burke responded on SS4, Owl Hollow. He was quickest by just 2 seconds to end the first loop of stages with a 7 second lead over second placed Donnelly. Danny O’Brien would hold on to third but was beginning to suffer from overheating problems. He decided to save the motor and pulled out of the rally.

On the second loop of stages Burke’s Mitsubishi would develop a fuel problem causing the car to run on three cylinders. Donnelly would take full advantage of Burke’s mechanical issues to claw back some time, narrowing the gap to just 5 seconds after eight stages.

While Burke and Donnelly battled it out for 1st and 2nd, Charles Sherrill was having a battle of his own keeping the Wimpey brothers, Josh and Jeremy, at bay for third.

Josh once again drove the door handles off his M2 VW Golf, staying within mere seconds of the faster Evo4 on several stages.

Thanks to his hard working service crew Burke’s Shamrock Building Systems car would leave the service area to tackle what was to be the final loop of stages, running on all four cylinders.

A cautious run by Burke on SS 9, Short Cree, in a time of 1min 28secs, would open the door for Donnelly to narrow the gap when he posted a time of 1min 26secs. Burke still held the overall lead but the gap to Donnelly was just 3seconds.

There was high drama for Burke on SS10, Hohenwold. About 9 miles in to the 11.5 mile stage, Burke’s brake paddle would go to the floor. Miraculously, he somehow managed to continue to the end of the stage posting a time of 9mins 9secs over the tricky 11.5 mile stage.

Despite his lack of stopping power, Burke was faster by 9 seconds over Donnelly, who would post a time of 9mins 18secs.

Burke had again widened the gap to maintain an overall lead of 12 seconds with two stages remaining. Knowing that Donnelly would charge all the way to the finish line, Burke would push his pace a little too hard on SS11, Short Creek, resulting in a hairy high speed off road excursion through some trees. Luckily for Burke and Fries they managed to get back onto the road unharmed, but lost about 5 second on their time. Heading into the final stage of the day SS12,Hohenwold, there was a mere 7 seconds separating first and second, Burke and Donnelly.

To add to the tension on the final stage, the skies would open and rain would begin to dampen the roads. With most drivers running on dry slick tires, nerves were on edge. Burke would put to good use his many years of experience on Ireland’s wet tarmac stages. He drove his Mitsubishi to victory on the final stage, setting a time of 9mins 31secs; a blistering 13seconds faster than Donnelly.

Seamus Burke and co-driver Eddie Fries won the 2007 Rally Tennessee. Burke covered the 70.96 stage miles in a time of 57mins 44secs, beatingDonnelly’s time of 58mins 04secs.

Unfortunately for Donnelly he would be handed a 5 minute penalty for a chicane infraction, relegating him to third overall. Charles Sherrill would take second place. The Wimpy brothers put in a fantastic drive to grab 4th overall, also taking 1st in the G2 Class.

Rally Tennessee counts as round two of the [ESRC] Eastern States Rally Championship and round four of the [USRC] United States Rally Championship.

Donnelly still holds a commanding advantage in points in the overall race to the 2007 United States Rally Championship.

Rounding it out for the Irish in seventh overall, brothers Michael and John O’Leary were very satisfied with their achievement. Making the long trek down from Boston, Larry Duane and Eamon Sweeney brought their Sea-Biscuit Racing Corolla home in eighth overall and third in G2 Class.

Roll on STPR!

Rally Tennessee

New York, NY, May 1 2007. Charlie [Celsus] Donnelly the current points leader in the United States Rally Championship heads south this week to Tennessee, where he hopes to keep his winning streak alive. Charlie [right] pictured here with his co-driver Noel Gallagher will compete in his open class Mitsubishi Evo 8 this coming Saturday at Rally Tennessee.
A welcome departure for the dusty gravel stages, Rally Tennessee will be an all tarmac event, and will count as round four of the USRC.
This will also be the second event on the east coast where we will see Motorcycles compete in the new RallyMoto series. Some 25 cars and 9 motorcycles are expected to start from the town of Linden, TN.

For more info on the event and results go to www.rallytennessee.com

Click here for more pictures from Rally New York

Donnelly's winning streak is alive and well
By Neil McDaid

Monticello NY, March 31st. It’s 5 am Saturday morning, in the darkness of a frosty spring morning we’re awakened from our sleep by the sound of a rumbling beast in the hotel car park, it’s Seamus Burke Mitsubishi Evo warming up to tackle the stages of Rally New York 2007. With the first of the days stages scheduled to start at 7:13 it was the beginning of one of the longest days we would witness for a single days rallying. For Burke it would also be the start of another disappointing day for the defending United States Rally Champion.

Most crews would get to the service park in Narrowsburg at around 6 am to make any last minutes adjustment before they would tackle the 20 special stages that would make up Rally New York 2007. The Boston based crew of Larry Duane and Eamon Sweeney would find themselves under pressure early as the gearbox fails on their Toyota Corolla, with the help of their service crew a replacement box was installed in record time and they just about make the official start time.

Burke with Eddie Fries on the notes would be first off the line on SS1 Marthias Weiden (1), running on cold tarmac tires the duo would soon find out that they had little or no grip, they were no distance into the stage when they slid wide and ended up in a large drain. After loosing some precious seconds the all wheel drive Mitsubishi would eventfully claw it’s way out and they were again underway, amazingly Burke would still manage to set fastest time on the stage.

Unfortunately for the crew of Burak Tuglu and Mustafa Samli they would not be so lucky, they would have a nasty roll over in the beautifully prepared Spec Ford Focus on SS1 that would end their rally.

Paddy Brennan and Charlie Donnelly would set matching times on SS1 for a tied second place and Danny O’Brien would lock down third.

On to SS2 Blind pond, the first of four runs on this stage, again Burke would through down the mark to beat, Danny O’Brien would push his newly build Subaru into second. Enda McCormack showed no fear over the large jump at the start of the stage, matching times with Charlie Donnelly for a tied third place. After years of trouble free rally’s for the Kerry man, Dan Broslan his open class Nissan Sentra would blow it’s engine on SS2 making Dan and his navigator spectators for the day.

The beast that awoke us in the early hours of the morning would be silenced on SS3 the second run over Marthias Weiden (2) not 100 yards from the end of the stage, the car would die. Something had worked it’s way in behind the timing cover and damaged a sensor, most likely a small stone, which could have been collected in the earlier off. This is now 3 DNF’s (did not finish) for Burke in his last 3 rally’s, speaking with Seamus at one of the spectator areas later in the day he said, “The car would going great, we were definitely on the pace, we would have giving the boys a run for it, we just did not have enough time to test before the rally, we will be back!”. Despite the lack of brakes Danny O’Brien and co-driver Dominik Jozwiak would set fastest time on SS3.

After the first four stages of the day the cars would return to Narrowsburg for service. Danny O’Brien was now in first overall, with Paddy Brennan and co-driver Shane McCann just seven seconds adrift in second . Enda McCormack and Bernard Farrell would hold down third. Struggling to stay in contention with Turbo waste gate problems, Charlie Donnelly and co-driver Noel Gallagher was back to forth. Rounding out the top five was Patsy Lilly with Thomas Taggart in their Subaru.

After service the teams would head out and tackle the same stages again, with his waste gate problems sorted while in service, Charlie Donnelly would start his charge to the front, setting fastest times over SS6-7. There was a few anxious moments for NYC based Doengalman, Michael Gillespie on SS6 Blind Pond (3) he would fall victim to some of his wheel studs working their way loose. After taking the big jump at a decent clip, Gillespie’s car would loose a wheel on landing, Michael made great work to try to keep control of the car, but in the end he was along for the ride as his open class MK11 Escort ploughed into the ditch. Thankfully both Michael and co-driver Brian Kirby both walked away unharmed.

Danny O’Brien would remind Donnelly he was still there on SS7, by matching time with the hard charging northern man. Donnelly was untouchable on SS8, Paddy Brennan would be some 4 seconds off the pace of Charlie. Enda McCormack would take third fastest on SS8, while Danny O’Brien would loose a lot of time due to a high speed spin while fighting continued braking problems.

Paddy Brennan’s pace thorough the day would see him tied for the overall lead with Charlie Donnelly after eight stages, but it would all come to a sudden end on SS9. Paddy would slide his Subaru wide on some loose winter gravel and connected with a large rock on the roadside, making Spaghetti of his rear suspension arms and rear wheel, a very disappointing end to a great drive.

A high speed roll on SS11 would also end the rally for Boston based driver Dave Fury, remarkable Dave and his co-driver walked away from his VW Golf which was a total wreak.

After 12 hard fought tarmac stages the teams would return once again Narrowsburg, which was also the host town for the Rally for a much needed break. While the drivers and co-drivers stopped for lunch, their service crews prepped the cars for the remaining 8 stages of the day which would be run on gravel.



Heading into the gravel section Charlie Donnelly was holding first overall with Danny O’Brien in second and Enda McCormack in third.


We would see the O’Leary brothers Michael and John retire with clutch problems on their Mitsubishi after the first of the afternoon gravel stages. The gravel stages were made up using two stage roads eight times in alternating directions. Talking with a few of the drivers after the first run over the gravel stages they all agreed that it was tight going over a two mile section that was very wet and sloppy on the Cochecton Turnpike stage, but they really enjoyed the rest of the gravel stages.

Rally New York enjoyed a large turnout of spectators the most we have seen in years, and although there was a limited entry down somewhat from years gone by, those spectators that lines the roads were not disappointed in the action.

Despite the numerous offs the rally was somehow kept fairly close to its original schedule.
In the end the Irish teams would lay claim to 5 of the top 10 places overall. Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher both out of the New York City area would hold onto a nice lead into the darkness to take the overall victory at Rally New York.

Second and third would be separated by only 7 seconds after the long, long day of racing. Enda McCormack [NYC] would take the edge over Danny O’Brien who had to settle for third. An amazing drive by the brothers Joshua and Jeremy Wimpy in their VW Golf GTI would see them split the Irish drivers and claim 4th overall and 1st in two wheel drive. Despite turbo problems late in the day, Gerry Coffey and Dave Dooley would hold on to 5th keeping Big Patsy Lilly at bay in 6th.

The victory for Donnelly puts him well ahead in the points for the 2007 United States Rally Championship, but I truly expect to see Charlie tested very soon, next up is the all tarmac, Rally Tennessee on May 5th. For more in check out http://www.rallytennessee.com/

Donnelly takes victory for the Irish in Adirondack Park
By Neil McDaid

October 7th, Harrisville, NY. Perched behind the wheel of one of the top Mitsubishi Evolution Rally cars in the USA, Charlie [Celsus] Donnell, formally from Fintona Co Tyrone, would claim victory in the final round of the 2006 NASA/ESRC. On a day in which many of the top drivers in the event were caught out on the early stages, Donnelly was able to steer his very powerful open class Mitsubishi between the many rocks, jumps, off-camber bumps and some very large pine trees to take the victory at The Black River Stages Rally.

The Rally was run in the northeast corner of the vast Adirondack Forest Park in upstate New York, only some 30 miles from the Canadian border. The first frost of the fall would greet the rally crews early Saturday as they headed for the start of SS1 “Power Line 1”. At little over seven and a half miles this would be the longest stage of the rally. Danny O’Brien would set the early mark with a fastest time of 6:25 with Donnelly some 4 seconds of the pace.

Retirements would strike early for the Irish. Donal McGivney and Noel Gallagher, in their Subaru, dropped a front control arm over a crest. Donal managed to bring the Impreza to a safe stop, despite every effort by Donal and Noel Gallaher they were unable to get the Impreza up and running ending their rally.

SS2 “Fishing Hole 1”. Running first on the road, Charlie Donnelly was on a tear as he pushed the Mitsubishi at full tilt almost sideways through the entire stage. With no recce allowed on the stages driver and co-driver would have to rely on the stage notes provided by the organizers. Although these notes are generally very detailed they do not always highlight every hazard, like hidden rocks.

Hardly a mile into this short three and a half mile stage a series of left-right-left bends would claim a few victims. Danny O’Brien, running second on the road, would attack SS2 with the same commitment as the opening test. The notes called a “left four short” into a “right five short” into a “left six”.

Danny would enter the ‘left four’ a little too hot forcing him to slide into the right five. The rear of the car would clip a large rock hidden between the bends launching the car into a series of spins. I was perched about a hundred yards down the road and watched the Subaru head into the bushes. Within few seconds O’Brien had the car fired up and somehow got her back up onto the road. Unfortunately, the damage was done. The impact had broken a rear wheel and Danny had to pull over and change it, losing some 5 minutes.

Early trouble for O'Brien on SS2 as he makes junk of a rear wheel



Fellow Irish driver Enda McCormack, in a Mitsubishi, would also struggle through the same tricky section that caught out O’Brien. He would also spin but was lucky to get going again with no damage. Running ninth on the road Massachusetts driver Emilio Arce and co-driver Sarah Gardescu would have the biggest moment on the stage when they also came into the tight section with way to much speed. They would, unfortunately, roll the Impreza twice before coming to a rest against a stump of a large pine tree. Both Emilio and Sarah walked away uninjured. The same could not be said for their Impreza.

Brennan finds his mark after Turbo problems on the morning stsges

Stages three and four would be a repeat of SS1 & SS2. Cavan man Paddy Brennan, a sure contender for the overall victory going into the rally, would do his best to stay on the pace while suffering mechanical problems early in the day because of a turbo pipe that would not stay connected on his open class Subaru.

Heading into the first service of the day back in the small town of Harrisville Charlie Donnelly, with his cousin Barry McCann as navigator, had built a commanding lead of 1 minute and 48 seconds over the second place crew of Brennan and Brady. Enda McCormack and Kieran McElhinney, also out of New York, would round out the top three for the Irish. With O’Brien’s off on SS2 he was now sitting in 14th some 4:24 back from Donnelly.

Meep! Meep! a photgraphers nightmare, O'leary & O'leary

Much like Donnelly and Brennan, O’Brien, who had just clinched his third consecutive Eastern States Rally Championship title for 2006, had been one of the favorites for the overall victory coming into this year’s return of the Black River stages.

Further down the running order in the hotly contested M2 class a bit of a battle was taking place between the Boston Irish crews of Larry Duane and Eamon Sweeny in the Toyota Twin Cam Corolla and “Big Dan” Broslan and Martin Skelton in the Nissan Sentra. Sitting in second behind Dan Cook in the Datsun, Duane had pulled out a forty second lead over Broslan in third at the first service stop.

The afternoon stages would be made up of four stages all run twice. Danny O’Brien would go on the attack early to try and work down the time lost with the damaged wheel on SS1. The first time over SS5, “Jayville In,” O’Brien would set the second fastest time, just seven second off the blistering pace set by Donnelly. Again, on SS6 “Jayville out,” O’Brien would push Donnelly coming within four seconds of Charlie’s stage time.
Danny O’Brien would eventually set the fastest time over SS7 “Goose Pond in,” some six seconds faster than leader Donnelly, and also the stage win on SS12.

In the end, when the time cards were verified after a long day of 12 special stages over some very deceiving forest roads with hidden hazards, Charlie Donnelly would bring home the victory. After struggling for many years, pushing hard and trying to be competitive in lesser equipment Charlie finally proves his worth in the same Mitsubishi Evo that brought Tom Lawless to the overall victory in the United States Rally Championship in 2005. Charlie finished with a comfortable 2:21 cushion over Paddy Brennan who, despite numerous issues, was able to hang on to second.

Enda McCormack encored a 20 second penalty for a late arrival to time control 7, pushing him down to forth behind Randy Zimmer and Travis Sleight. Despite all the hard work from O’Brien, in the end it was a bridge too far to make up the difference lost on SS2, and he had to settle for 5th overall.


Showing some great driving form, Liam Mulvey, with Stephen Duffy on the notes, kept the tail out wherever possible on their Mazda RX3 as they took the class victory in M1 and 6th overall.

In M2 Class, Duane and Sweeney in the Corolla, in only their second full season in rallying, claimed the M2 class victory and 7th overall. Dan Broslan, who chased Duane all day, had no answer for the every increasing pace of his fellow Boston crew.

Looking forward to BRS 2007!