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!
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