17/10/06 - Rathfriland Motor Club’s McGrady Insurance Down Rally kicks off this Saturday in what may prove to be the Pacenotes Northern Ireland Rally Championship decider!

Current championship leader, Glenn Allen, is missing from the event entry list, and if Kevin Lynch finishes among the top seven N.I. series registered crews, the title will return to Dungiven for another year.

Lynch has taken the championship by storm in recent years, with a string of victories to his name. It will be his first visit to the Down Rally, but this will not have any effect on his performance. He has been unbeaten since September 2004, and is once again the odds on favourite for victory.

While Lynch and navigator Martin McNicholl are the number one seeds, last year’s winner Sean Devine starts the event at number two. The 2005 rally was not a counting round of the N.I. series but Devine’s experience of the roads will help him defend his Down Rally title.

Young Darren Gass starts at number three with a Toyota Celica GT4 at his disposal for the first time. Gass, son of Maurice, decided to put in a late entry and could be a surprise among the pack. He recently piloted his father’s Skoda Fabia WRC at Aghadowey Race Circuit and was quickly on the pace. The Down Rally, an all forestry event, will be more challenging though, and the big Celica will be a different animal to try to control among the tree-lined stages. However, Gass isn’t afraid to put his foot down, so he could spring a surprise result.

Outside the top three, Neil McCance and Sean Ferris are first of the Group N runners in their Evo 9. They finished second overall in 2005 and will face stiff opposition from the likes of Errol Clarke, John Walker and Stanley Ballantine. Kevin O’Kane completes the top six seeds in his Subaru Impreza WRC.

In the hotly contested two wheel drive category, Andy Magee and Mark Barnett are set for another titanic battle in their Escorts. Paul Ward and Andrew Trotter also join the fray while Andy Hawthorne is aiming to take his Astra to the top of the front wheel drive tree. Marcel Heaney adds a bit of variation to the field with his bright yellow Mark 1 Escort and Cool FM’s Sonya Mac is hoping to stay out of the ditches in her pink Ka!

The McGrady Insurance Down Rally starts on Saturday morning with the first car flagged away from Newcastle centre’s Central Promenade at 9am. The first of nine stages starts in Donard Wood at 9.10am with the first car due to cross the finish ramp in Newcastle centre at approximately 5pm.

[ Home ]        [ Latest News ]