Forestburgh, New York (June 25, 2012) Danny O’Brien and James McKiernan driving a
Subaru Impreza WRX STi won the Rally New York Summer Rallysprint 2012 this past
Saturday. The Rallysprint took place on the roads of the Ten Mile River Scout
Reservation on Narrowsburg. The event was a round of the New York Rally
Championship – Thunder 102 Cup.
Summer
Rallysprint 2012 is a short rally with 50 miles of special stages and the total
length of 86 miles. This one-day Rallysprint offers full reconnaissance in the
morning followed by competition that starts in late morning. These roads will
become part of the International Rally New York on October 20 – 21 that will be
the final round of the 2012 United States Rally Championship.
A small but
strong field assembled under the sunny skies of Southern Catskill Mountains of
New York. Three strong entries withdrew shortly before the event: Enda McCormack
in a Mitsubishi Evo 6, who is competing in Ireland this season, and Aidan
McCormack also in a Mitsubishi Evo 6 had to fly to Ireland on the day of the
rally to attend a funeral of a brother of another Rally New York competitor
killed as a passenger in a car accident. O’Leary brothers withdrew because
their car was not ready.
A single 6.25-mile gravel,
challenging and bumpy stage was run two times in each direction and this was
repeated again after the lunch break. Watching rally cars blasting down the long
hill followed by a high-speed turn at the Aquehonga Spectator Area was a real
treat for true rally enthusiasts.
The first seeded entry of Martin
Donnelly and Dominik Jozwiak in a Mitsubishi Evo 9 had a mechanical failure on
the first stage and had to withdraw. Martin is another driver competing in
Europe this year. From that point on, Danny O’Brien with James McKiernan in
McKiernan’s new Subaru Impreza WRX STi were in control and remained in the lead
for the rest of the rally. They were closely followed by Cyril Kearney with
daughter Caitlyn in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi and by Alvin Fong with Billy
Machin in a production Mitsubishi Evo 9. The fast team of Fong and Machin got
as high as the second place but unfortunately had an accident on the next to
the last stage and were blocking the road for the following cars. The accident
ended the rally for Fong and Machin. Officials considered throwing that stage -
special stage 7 - but found that this did not change the overall standings and
in the end all eight stages were classified.
The last year’s winners Niall
Johnson and Daniela Manago in a Subaru Impreza WRX finished third overall and
won the Production All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) category. Ivan Orisek with Olga Orisek
codriving in another Subaru Impreza WRX placed fourth overall and second in
Production AWD. Tom Barton with Joachim Sandgaard in a Mitsubishi Evo 4, which
Tom was racing for the very first time, acquainted themselves well with an AWD
car after Tom drove a Two-Wheel-Drive (2WD) car for several years. In spite of
some suspension problems, they finished in the fifth place, third in AWD.
In the 2WD
category, the winners were Keith Liggett with Scott Beliveau codriving in a
Ford Focus, who ended up in the sixth place overall. Joao Ferreira and Seth
Achilles in a VW GTI suffered a bent axle and were forced to withdraw. They did
not leave the rally and graciously went and helped on a stage crew.
The prize money
went to O’Brien / McKiernan, Johnson / Manago and Liggett / Beliveau for
winning their respective categories.
Results:
1. Danny O’Brien / James
McKiernan, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, 1st AWD, 0:46:13.4
2. Cyril Kearney / Caitlyn
Kearney, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, 2nd AWD, 0:48:17.2
3. Niall Johnson / Daniela
Manago, Subaru Impreza WRX, 1st PAWD, 0:51:40.5
4. Ivan Orisek / Olga
Orisek, Subaru Impreza WRX, 2nd PAWD, 0:54:07.6
5. Thomas Barton / Joachim
Sandgaard, Mitsubishi Evo 4, 3rd AWD, 0:54:16.9
6. Keith Liggett / Scott
Beliveau, Ford Focus, 1st 2WD, 0:59:14.5
7. Martin Donnelly /
Dominik Jozwiak, Mitsubishi Evo 9, AWD, DNF
8. Alvin Fong / Billy
Machin, Mitsubishi Evo 9, PAWD, DNF
9. Joao Ferreira / Seth
Achilles, VW GTI, 2WD, DNF
10. Enda McCormack / Bernard Farrell, Mitsubishi Evo 6, AWD, DNS
11. Aidan McCormack / Kieran McElhinney, Mitsubishi Evo 6, AWD,
DNS
12. Michael O’Leary / John O’Leary, Mitsubishi Evo 10, PAWD, DNS
Photos by
Liviu Hrituleac www.lhimages.com
