Circuit of Ireland top seeds represent different ends of the rallying spectrum
The event is the second round of the Irish Tarmac Championship and a counting round of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship.
With four wins in the Easter classic, Derek McGarrity (Subaru WRC) knows what it takes to win, however, 22-year-old Armagh ace Darren Gass represents his greatest challenge.
The Circuit is no longer the marathon of old and like most of the other rounds in the Tarmac series, it’s essentially a two day sprint where time losses of over 30 seconds are rarely retrievable.
In his second year as event director, Bobby Willis, knows he still has work to do to bring the rally back to that of its halcyon days. He has taken control at a difficult time, but is open to change. For example, the decision to run the rally under a national permit was well advised, it’s only a shame it wasn’t made much earlier.
Perhaps the biggest crux is that the Killarney Rally of the Lakes takes place six days after the Circuit, a situation that the TROA (the organisers of the Irish Tarmac series) failed to resolve leaving both clubs to find a solution.
However, all of that will fade into the background tomorrow just after midday when the first of the 16 stages gets underway. McGarrity reverts to a Subaru WRC from the Mitsubishi EvoX he used in the opening round of the Tarmac series in Galway and the opening round of the Dunlop series.
Meanwhile, Gass will be buoyed by his victory in the Circuit of Kerry. There’s no doubt he has the pace, it is how he maintains and deals with the pressure over the two days. Maynooth’s, Kevin Barrett, who was second to Gass in Kerry, is also Circuit bound while former double Tarmac champion, Kenny McKinstry (1991 and 1994) has never won the title.
Tarmac series leader, Tim McNulty is an absentee, having decided to concentrate on the third round in Killarney.
Meanwhile, the top Group N entry is that of Fermanagh’s, Garry Jennings in his Mitsubishi EvoIX), he should have a good duel with Kerry’s, Alan Ring (Mitsubishi EvoIX), who is second overall in the championship. Another Mitsubishi pair, Dubliner, Aaron MacHale and Monaghan’s, Sam Moffett should also be in the mix.
The magnificent Lancia Stratos in the hands of Steve Perez and the Mk. 2 Escorts of John Waring and Wesley Patterson complete the top ten line-up. Elsewhere, for the first time in well over a decade, Phil Collins (Escort) returns to the Circuit while Camillus Bradley (Escort), Philip Morrow (Mitsubishi), Donagh Kelly (Mitsubishi), John Dalton (Darrian), Adrian Hetherington (Escort) and the Subaru WRC quartet of Stuart Biggerstaff, Emma McKinstry, George Robinson and John McGaffin are some of the others entries.
Just four of the top ten in the Circuit have entered for next week’s Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes, the third round of the Tarmac series.
The Killarney top ten is: 1. Denis Cronin (Subaru WRC); 2. Tim McNulty (Subaru WRC); 3. D. McGarrity (Subaru WRC); 4. TBA; 5. K. Barrett (Subaru WRC); 6. Daragh O’Riordan (Subaru WRC); 7. Aaron MacHale (Mitsubishi EvoIX); 8. Alan Ring (Mitsubishi EvoIX); 9. Barry Meade (Ford Escort); 10. Fergus O’Meara (Ford Escort).
The Darren Swanton Memorial Cork City Rally Sprint (May 22) will be launched on Wednesday at the Lifetime Lab, Lee Road, Cork. The sprint at the Cork Amenity site will be underpinned by Great Stuff Caterers and will help raise funds for Marymount Hospice. GAA star, Noel O’Leary, Munster rugby player, Billy Holland, double British Rally champion, Keith Cronin and Ford’s European Motorsport Director Gerard Quinn will attend the launch.
In motor racing, Formula Vee and the new GT Endurance series dominate Sunday’s IMRC races at Mondello Park. In Formula Vee, Lee Newsome and John Downey, each with a win, should have a good battle in the third round.
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