The unseasonably cold weather and some heavy snowfall caused the cancellation of the Easter Stages Rally. It was very unfortunate for the organisers to have to pull the plug on the event at such late notice, but under the circumstances they were left with little choice. Deep drifts had made several of the stages impassable and with the wider community suffering hardship it was decided to cancel the event. Volunteers from within the UAC helped local farmers and others in difficulty in the area by clearing snow over the weekend of the event, and the club are to be complimented on their actions. The event had attracted a full entry and had a reserve list as well which made the cancellation all the more disappointing. The Championship are giving the UAC some space to see if they can find a new date, and any such new date would have to be approved by the Championship Executive Committee.
All eyes now turn to the south west and the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes on 4th & 5th May. The “Lakes” will now become the second round of the championship and the event has even alwaysvaltrexonline.com more significance due to being included in the prestigious European Historic Rally Championship. The sound of Lancias, Porsches and Escorts should reverberate around Molls Gap on the Saturday morning and bring a large crowd to Killarney which hosts the fourth round of the thirteen round series. It will be a great occasion which promises to showcase some of the best stages in the country to a wider European audience.
After the first round in Galway, Keith Cronin leads the championship on 24 points, followed by Eugene Donnelly on 18 points. Declan Boyle, Derek McGarrity and Donagh Kelly make up the top five places. In the “Modified Challenge” section of the championship Fergus O’Meara leads David Armstrong with Jason McSweeney currently in third place overall. The Historic section of the championship is currently being led by James O’Mahony (Volvo) with Ray Cunningham (Mini) and John Spiers (Porsche 911) second and third. The Historic championship has already had two rounds completed having started their championship campaign at the Killarney Historic Rally in December.
Kevin O’Driscoll
TROA Press& Media Officer
Telephone: +353 86 286 6256
Email: troapro@gmail.com