Tim McNulty takes the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Seamus Burke makes a return to rallying in Ireland Rally after 26 Years

Tim McNulty opens his 2011 campaign with a victory at round one of the ITRC.  Picture © www.fordefotos.com

By Neil McDaid

Galway, Ireland. February 6, 2011.  Tim McNulty and co-driver Paul Kiely overcome flooded stages, driving wind and rain on their way to the overall victory at the 2011 Galway International Rally. Could this be McNulty’s year to take it all?

The strain of the Irish economy was clear by the limited amount of WRC cars in the top 10. Most notable, Garth McHale the 2010 IRTC Champion and defending 2010 Galway Rally champion would pull out due to last minute sponsorship issues. The main field would see a total of 76 Starters, 7 juniors and 20 Historic. The Galway International would also welcome back five expats from the USA.

Fast right out of the gate, McNulty in his S12B WRC Subaru took the opening stage and would go on to set the fastest time on every single stage thereafter. Galway has not been kind to McNulty in the past but this year he ruled supreme. Kevin Barrett and Sean Mullally also in an older WRC S11 Subaru would trail McNulty throughout the Rally, but they never seemed to put McNulty under any real pressure.

Derek McGarrity a two time IRTC Champion, seemed set to be in contention on the early stages, but he would retire his Evo 10 after the third stage with mechanical issues.



Quite possibly one of the most epic drives of the rally was Tommy Doyle and Liam Moynihan in a 2WD Renault Clio, Tommy would finish 4^th overall ahead of many more powerful AWD Cars, including several WRC cars. Picture ©Philip McHugh





Some 26 years after departing from his native Ireland, Seamus Burke, one of the most decorated Irish rally drivers in the USA, marked his first return to the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. 
Although Burke had returned to Ireland many times down through the years, this was his first time back competing in a rally car on the Irish stages.



Back in the day,

Seamus Burke was a regular competitor

on the Irish tarmac stages before

moving to the USA. Photo© http://www.rallyretro.com

For the 2011 Galway International Rally, Burke would be back behind the wheel of a classic 1979 MK11 Escort RS1800.  The car is owned by Frank Cunningham another ex-pat who’s originally from Galway.  Frank, who now resides in the Boston area, played a big part in Burke’s return for this event.

 Frank, a long time friend, has also navigated for Seamus on numerous U.S. rallies.   . 
The MK11 Escort is a very familiar car to Seamus as he had contested many rounds of the Irish and British Rally Championships in the early eighties in a very similar machine.

Burke would team up with co-driver Martin Brady,   Martin,  a familiar name to U.S. rally fans as he often makes the journey over to the U.S. to co-drive, most resently he sat with Tom Lawless at the New England Forest Rally.. 



Because of the car’s age and build it would be entered in the very popular historic class. Burke and Brady would start 18^th in their class but despite the horrendous weather conditions, wind and driving rain, the pair would soon start to make their charge towards the front.

“We got off to a cautious start,” said Seamus. “The wind and driving rain make the going really tough.  Although I have seen tough conditions at the Galway Rally in the past, I can’t recall anything like this. We had a bit of an intercom problem on the first stage, so Martin had to revert to hand signals.  It took a few stages to get a feel for the car. For the past ten years or so I have been driving four wheel drive Mitsubishi’s mostly on gravel. I was quickly reminded how much of a handful the MK11 can be.”



A slight break in the rain lets Seamus Burke and Martin Brady push a little harder getting some air under the historic 1979 Ford Escort RS1800. Picture ©  www.fordefotos.com



At the end of day Burke and Brady were sitting 3^rd overall in the Historic Class heading into the overnight halt in Galway. As daylight broke over Galway Bay the conditions on day two would prove to be just as challenging.  Pushing on, Burke and Brady would move to second.  They faced near disaster at the final service when the starter failed. Rather than changing the starter they decided on a push start to avoid a time penalty and prayed that the wee MK11 would stay running until the end. Despite the drama, they did eventually finish and managed to hold their position taking second overall in Historic and also claiming first overall in the Classic class.



The other U.S. based Irish drivers that also made the trek back to Ireland for the Galway Rally had some mixed results. Enda McCormick [NY] would have a big off on SS2 in his MK11 Escort ending his event. Frank Cunningham [MA] who ran in a Historic MK1 Escort, unfortunately would have to retire due to electrical issues.  Martin Donnelly [NY] in a Mitsubishi Evo 9 retired on last stage of the rally with Turbo problems, while Liam Egan [NY] finished 11^th overall in a Subaru Impreza N12B.

Photos
© http://www.rallyretro.com/
© http://www.fordefotos.com/
©Philip McHugh

FORD RACING ANNOUNCES 2011 RALLYCAR CONTINGENCY PROGRAM

Team O’Neil the exclusive U.S. supplier of the Ford Racing R2 Kit is currently working on building several 2011 Ford Fiesta R2’s. TON driver Verena Mei, pictured here at a resent Winter RallyX gets in as much seat time as she can, in anticipation of her Rally debut. Picture: PJ Corrales

Ford Racing has announced its 2011 RallyCar contingency program to support competitors who campaign Ford entries in three classes of the 2WD division. The Ford Racing contingency payouts will be available for all Ford competitors at the RallyCar 2011 Rally America National Championship events as well as for Fiesta entries at RallyCar regional events.

Ford Racing contingency program will award competitors competing in the Fiesta Sport Trophy (FST) championship featuring the R2 Fiesta as well as competitors in Group 2 and Group 5. Ford Racing will also award a championship prize of $5,000 to a Ford driver for wining the overall 2WD Rally America National Championship.

"Our program in RallyCar has been a big part of establishing the Fiesta brand in the United States," said Scott Denby, Ford Racing Business Manager. "Fiesta offers competitors a great Rally platform which has benefitted from years of development in Europe and we're committed to helping reestablish 2WD rallying in the U.S. with Fiesta. From our involvement in the Team O'Neil Fiesta Rally Experience, to our growing support of RallyCar, their competitors and enthusiasts, we are excited for the future of the sport."

"Ford is bringing support and excitement to 2WD rally that RallyCar has been missing," said J.B. Niday, RallyCar Managing Director. "The Ford Fiesta Sport Trophy should develop into an exciting series and their contingency program support for any Ford demonstrates their broad commitment to rally racing."

For more details on the Ford Racing 2011 RallyCar contingency program go to rally-america.com or go to fordracingparts.com and click on contingency to register.www.fordracingparts.com/register/ www.fordracingparts.com/Register/Contingency.asp


R2 PayoutFord Sport Trophy Entrants
1st$2,000
2nd$1,500
3rd$1,000
4th$500
5th$250



Overall 2 Wheel Drive National Championship: $5,000



Group 5 FiestaNational Event EntrantsRegional Event Entrants
1st$750$350
2nd$500$200
3rd$250$100Group 5 (Ford Car/Non-Fiesta)
National Event Entrants
1st$500
2nd$250
3rd$100





Group 2 FiestaNational Event EntrantsRegional Event Entrants
1st$750$350
2nd$500$200
3rd$250$100Group 2 (Ford Car/Non-Fiesta)
National Event Entrants
1st$500
2nd$250
3rd$100



About Ford North America Motorsports

Ford North America Motorsports, based in Dearborn, Mich., is responsible for major racing operations in North America, including NASCAR (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Camping World Trucks), Grand American sports car racing, NHRA drag racing, RallyCar and USAC midget car racing. The department also oversees the development and marketing of Ford Racing Engines and Performance Parts, the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts, and the marketing of the Ford Racing brand. For more information regarding Ford Racing's activities, please visit http://www.fordracing.com/.

About RallyCar  

Based in Golden Valley, Minn., RallyCar sanctions the premier performance rally series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2011, RallyCar is conducting six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Olympia, Washington to Newry, Maine. RallyCar competitors reach speeds of well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses consisting of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, RallyCar sanctions the 2011 U.S. Rallycross Championship featuring rally cars racing door-to-door on tricky tarmac/dirt race tracks. More information about rally and rallycross can be found at www.rally-america.com, and videos can viewed at www.youtube.com/rallyamericaseries.

RPM Motorsports TV - Galway Rally 2011 Day 2

ANTOINE L'ESTAGE OVERCOMES CONDITIONS TO DOMINATE RALLYE PERCE NEIGE



February 5, 2011; Maniwaki, QC, Canada; Driver Antoine L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard win the Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki, Round 1 of the Canadian Rally Championship in their 2009 Mitsubishi Evo X. : Photo ©Andrew Harvey



MANIWAKI, QUEBEC, FEBRUARY 5, 2011 – Antoine L'Estage (Ste-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC)

and Nathalie Richard (Halifax) of the Rockstar Mitsubishi team opened the 2011 Canadian Rally

Championship with a definitive win at the Rallye Perce Neige. Canada's only true winter rally, the

Rallye Perce Neige is also one of the longest, with more than 200kms of competitive stages covered

in just one day of racing.

Teams started from downtown Maniwaki in the morning, running two in-town stages before heading

into the forest roads west of town. Short and fast, the in-town stages rarely present an opportunity to

win an event, but ample chance to lose.

Subaru Rally Team Canada driver Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and stand in co-driver Leanne Junnila

(Calgary) were the first team to tackle the stages in their Subaru Impreza STI. Attacking right from the

start, they set the pace to beat for rivals L'Estage and Nathalie Richard in the Rockstar Mitsubishi.

Both drivers hold multiple national titles, and after eight stages, the two teams were separated by less

than one second.

“Running first on the road can be really hard, but maybe Pat had the right tire choice” said L'Estage,

referring to the Subaru driver's choice of his Yokohama snow tires heading into a midday stage.

Conditions were a difficult mix of snow and ice, and start order played heavily into what tires would

work best.

A timing error arriving at the first service resulted in a one minute penalty for the Subaru team, who

broke a wheel a few stages later, losing a massive seven minutes while replacing the wheel. Taking a

gamble on tire choice, Richard hoped to make up some time to get back into a points scoring position,

vital in his hunt for the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship title.

“I can't make the same choice as Antoine because we're so closely matched, we'll get similar times.

To make up any time I need to gamble on tire choice and try something different,” said Richard.

With the pressure off, 2010 Canadian, North American and Rally America champion L'Estage was

finding it challenging to drive at the correct pace to keep his first place position secure.

“I have to find the right rhythm. I can't go too fast and make mistakes, but it can be harder to keep

focus when you slow down.”

Further down the order, a battle was shaping up for the other podium positions. Bruno Carre and Yvan

Joyal (Laval, QC) drove cleanly and smoothly all day, a style that earned the team their first National

win at this event in 2010. The team finished second, nearly 30 seconds ahead of third place.

“It's a great feeling, and our approach was similar to last year,” said Carre at the finish. “We tried hard

to keep out of trouble, and that paid off.”

Swap Shop teammate Craig Henderson (Saint Constant, QC) and co-driver Peter Watt (Peterborough,

ON) were struggling to find the right pace and were uncharacteristically further down the order,

making space for 2010 Canadian Novice Champion Ugo Desgreniers (Orford, QC) and Erik Kirby

(Sherbrooke, QC) to move up the leaderboard, in turn battling with “Crazy” Leo Urlichich (Toronto) and

Martin Headland (Caledon, ON).

In the final stages, Desgreniers moved into a comfortable third after Urlichich drove off the road. For Desgreniers, the result is a career best, and one year anniversary of

the his first rally finish.“It wasn't a perfect rally,” said Desgreniers. “The shifter broke and we had to drive with just a short piece sticking up from the gearbox until we could fix it. I'm so happy for the result, it's amazing to have come so far in just one year.”

Richard and Junnila finished just off the podium in fourth place.“It's not what we wanted, and was a tough event, but still, there's no excuses,” said a frustrated Richard after the rally. “I had a four minute gap to make up to get to the podium, and we made up about three minutes in two stages, but it wasn't enough.”

Road conditions were especially tough for the two wheel drive teams. Covered in slick ice, the roads

made for slow progress and rough sections also took a toll on the cars. Just one team, Jan and Jody

Zedril (Winnipeg) finished in their two wheel drive Mitsubishi.

The brothers managed their pace carefully through the entire event, showing why they are reigning champions.“This event was so much about survival, just getting to the end.” said Jan.
“Once we knew that we were the only 2WD car left, we slowed down to make sure we would finish.”

Interim rally coordinator Terry Epp was very positive about the event, where remote locations and

limited communications prove very challenging for organizers.

The event has a 46 year history and the reputation of being a marathon event, demanding of teams and volunteers alike.“We've been in a rebuilding process for this event, trying to ensure it has a long future. I'm happy tosay that the rally ran extremely well this year and is good hands moving forward.”

The 2011 season continues May 26-27, at the Rocky Mountain Rally, headquartered in Calgary.

Though the event has been changed for this season, it still features the high mountain roads and

unpredictable conditions that make the event so compelling.

The Canadian Rally Championship is comprised of six events held nationwide in a season that

extends from February to November. The series is presented by Subaru Canada, supported by

Yokohama Tire Canada and features contingency programs from Subaru Canada and Mitsubishi

Canada. The Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) is the official sanctioning body for rallying in

Canada.

RAW FOOTAGE -Galway Rally 2011 Day 1