Mayo Motorsport Club

Pre-event News:

Press Release: Tues. March 3rd
High speed action and drama will be the order of the day this week-end, as many of the best drivers and co-drivers in the country head westwards to battle for glory on the 2009 TF Royal Hotel & Theatre Mayo Stages Rally.

Despite these recessionary times, the rally has attracted a near capacity entry, with in excess of 130 competitors due to take the start. The Mayo Stages Rally is once again part of three major series – the Dunlop National Rally Championship, the Border Rally Championship - which this year welcomes a new title sponsor in the form of Donegal based Henderson Auto Sport & Spares (HASS), and the 205 Challenge.

Clerk of the Course Jonathan Rice and his experienced team of officials have spent the last number of months hard at work preparing for this major sporting occasion. The result is a mouth-watering selection of stages that will test competitors to the limits, while showcasing some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. Using roads over the Sheeffry Hills and Partry Mountains in the south of the county, a total of eight stages run over three tests provide a total of 118 km stage mileage, enough to ensure plenty of thrills and spills before a winner is declared back at rally headquarters on Sunday evening.

Thanks To Sponsors
Title sponsor of the rally is once again the TF Royal Hotel & Theatre in Castlebar, which is also the rally headquarters for the week-end. Over the past number of years the TF has become well established as a firm favourite with rally competitors, and the club wishes to thank Pat Jennings and all the staff at the TF for their help and assistance in running this major sporting occasion.

Mayo & District Motorsport Club would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors who have supported the running of this rally, in particular the stage sponsors Casey Autoworld Castlebar and Ballina, West Tyre of Ballinrobe, and Carney’s Quarry of Aughagower.

A Full Days Rallying
The action gets underway on Sunday morning, March 8th with the first competitors leaving the TF at 9 am before tackling the first loop of three stages. Crews will then head for service, which is located in the Westport area, before tackling the same three stages a second time. After another refettle in service, final runs over the first and third stages in the loop will see the rally return to the TF in time to declare a winner at around 5.45 pm.

Leading Runners
2008 saw local success with Mayo & District Motorsport Club members Aaron MacHale and Killian Duffy recording a memorable victory. They are not competing this year, however much interest will focus on Aaron’s brother and number one seed Gareth MacHale, who debuts a new Opel Corsa Super 2000 in Mayo. This fabulous sounding machine, which competes in the Group N Showroom category, is the latest of a new breed of rally car, a variation of which is tipped to take over from the current World Rally Cars in 2010. He may find it difficult to challenge for overall victory but you can be sure Gareth will be pushing the little Opel to the limit over the Mayo stages.

Behind Gareth are a trio of Subaru WRC drivers who look set to fight it out for championship honours this year. Leading the challenge will be reigning National Rally Champion Patrick Elliott. The Cavan man has never won in Mayo but in the past year has become the man to beat at National level. Victory on the opening round of the championship in Birr two weeks ago underlines his determination to claim back-to-back championships.

Running at three is former multiple champion Niall Maguire. The popular Monaghan driver has already won in Mayo in 2002 and 2004, and would dearly love to claim a hat-trick of victories. Behind Niall is Kildare’s Kevin Barrett, sure to be close by to pick up the challenge for victory should the leading drivers falter.

The Group N battle for showroom specification cars also promises plenty of action with Anthony O’Halloran from Clare hoping to build on his recent strong result in Birr. He faces strong opposition from the likes of Gary Jennings, Sean Flanagan and last year’s winner Danny McBride. Meanwhile the Modified runners will be putting on a show as always, with the Escorts of Trevor Mulligan and Russell Woods leading the fray.

Local Competitors To The Fore
Needless to say, many local competitors will be hoping to bring glory to Mayo on their local event. John Higgins from Kiltimagh is the highest seeded local co-driver at number 8 sitting alongside Brian O’Mahony in a Renault Clio Super 1600. At 17 Westport’s Tom Muldoon and Tommy Nugent will be hoping to mix it with the leading Group N runners, while at 33, Gerry Casey from Castlebar, sponsor of stages one, four and seven, pits his Escort against the rapid opposition. Other quick local competitors in Escorts included James Culliney from Bekan and Colin Loughney from Killala at numbers 42 and 46 respectively, while watch out also for the fabulous sounding BMW M3 of Club Chairman Sean McHugh at 48.

But that’s just a sample of the many local competitors taking part; full details of all the crews, stage times and locations are included in the rally programme which will be on sale from Friday evening at all major service stations and shops in the Castlebar and Westport regions.

Press Release: Fri March 6th
Having seized the initiative on the opening round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, defending champion, Patrick Elliott heads to the TF Royal Hotel & Theatre Mayo Rally (Sunday March 8th.) intent on scoring more valuable Dunlop championship points. The Cavan driver, who won his maiden national title last season, has no special plan for the eight stage encounter in the west of Ireland, "I'm going to keep doing the same thing, stay focussed on my driving. In Nenagh, I didn't feel fully match fit but I think the pace will increase as the season evolves. I have no doubt that Niall will crank up his pace too. Mayo is always a tough rally, the roads can be dirty as it's a busy time for the farming community. I'm certainly not over confident, any little mistake and you certainly pay for it." Elliott set fastest times on all but one of the eight stages in Nenagh.

Meanwhile, Maguire knows that he cannot afford to allow Elliott dominate to the extent he did in Nenagh. The former triple national champion lost time with suspension related problems on the first pair of stages and a puncture on the sixth test ended any hopes of reeling in Elliott. Maguire will again be co-driven by fellow Monaghan man, Enda Sherry.

The Dunlop title-chasing duo of Elliott and Maguire are the respective second and third seeds with Gareth MacHale heading the entry in the Opel Corsa S2000 car. The Dubliner had intended to compete in Nenagh but wasn't in possession of all the necessary homologation papers.

Maynooth's, Kevin Barrett in the McKinstry prepared Subaru WRC occupies the number four berth, he was fourth in Nenagh, like Elliott and Maguire, he is also aware that it will take a few events to raise the pace of the series.

Having led the Group N category after the first stage in the opening round, Fermanagh's, Garry Jennings (Mitsubishi) will be very determined on making up for the disappointment of retiring on the second stage with a throttle sensor issue. Indeed, he is quite capable of securing a top three finish in Mayo. Clare's, Anthony O'Halloran, also in a Mitsubishi, currently second in the Patterson's RallyNews Group N category, had a steady run in County Tipperary and will be keen to stay the pace. Meath's, Sean Flanagan (Subaru) has regular co-driver, Brian Duggan back on the pacenotes and they are seeded at number seven.

Forced to retire some two kilometres from the finish of the final stage in Nenagh, Brian O'Mahony (Renault Clio S1600) aims to get back amongst the points in Castlebar. The Cork driver, a former Irish national Class 6 champion and Irish and British S1600 champion, dominated the two-wheel drive element in Nenagh, it will be interesting to watch his progress in Mayo. His co-driver is Kiltimagh native, John Higgins.
Donegal's, Danny McBride (Mitsubishi) was a Class 4 winner on the final round of the Dunlop series in 2008, a significant result could bring further championship involvement. The top ten is completed by Camillus Bradley (Ford Escort), the Derry driver has a fine turn of speed and will have drivers such as Trevor Mulligan, Russell Woods, Daniel Conaghan and Eugene Ferry, all in Ford Escorts, as his opposition in the rear wheel drive category.

Elsewhere, the Mayo entry also includes Eamonn Daly (Mitsubishi), John Cairns (Subaru), Trevor Bustard (Mitsubishi), local Mayo driver, Tom Moldoon (Mitsubishi), Jack Maguire (Escort Cosworth), Gary McElhinney (Subaru Legacy), Raymond Conlon (Corolla) and Anthony Hand (Escort). The S1600 Citroen Saxo of Andrew Bushe and the Mitsubishi of Paul Elliott are also on the entry list.