N.I. Championship Website Closed
The official N.I. Rally Championship website has now closed. Thank you to everybody that has supported the website during the past six years. Thanks also to everybody who has visited the site during that time…there were some 75,000 visitors, totalling more than 320,000 page views, in 2011 alone! An exciting year lies ahead for the 2012 N.I. Championship, which will begin with the Magic Bullet Stages in February. For future series updates, please log on to the ANICC website for details.
Kelly Wins Down Rally!
Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan secured victory at this year's F&M Contracts Down Rally! Driving their Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, they secured the win on the final stage of the event, overhauling Kenny McKinstry and Kenny Hull. McKinstry lost 17 seconds on the stage to the hard charging Kelly, with the 2011 champion finishing 14 seconds adrift in second position. Full results available from the link below...event report will be online soon! Download Full Results
McCloskey Seals Bushwhacker!
Former Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Champion, Connor McCloskey, made a succssful return to the series by winning the McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally, round eight of the 2011 series! Navigated by Francis Regan, McCloskey led the event from start to finish in his Subaru Impreza WRC. Fastest on the opening stage by eight seconds, they went on to win the event by 31 seconds from leading Sunoco Fuels Group N contenders, Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan. Newly crowned 2011 champion Kenny McKinstry secured third in his Impreza. Navigated by Kenny Hull, he had been embroiled in a battle with Stuart Biggerstaff and Anthony Nestor ...
McKinstry Heads Stunning Bushwhacker Rally Entry!
Kenny McKinstry, the newly crowned 2011 Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Champion, heads the entry list in his Impreza WRC for this Saturday's McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally. Navigated by Kenny Hull, McKinstry will head the 104 strong field off the start line for what is a joint round of the Hankook series and the Valvoline Irish Forestry Championship. With seven World Rally Car crews seeded inside the top 10, Omagh Motor Club has attracted one of the strongest fields seen in the series this year. McKinstry will have his work cut out to secure another Bushwhacker victory, as a number of former champions ...
CHAMPION DRIVE: McKinstry Is 2011 N.I. Champion!
(Image: Martin McCorriston) Kenny McKinstry has sealed the 2011 Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship title! Victory at the Fisher Engineering Lakeland Stages Rally saw the Banbridge driver secure his sixth maximum points haul of the season, and with it, the prestigious 2011 title. His tally of 72 points has put the title beyond reach of his rivals. Second in the standings, George Robinson, has a total of 41 points. Even if Robinson won the remaining three rounds, he could only manage a maximum haul of 71 points after dropped scores come into play. McKinstry's success comes more than 20 years after he ...
McKinstry Wins Modern Tyre Service Mourne Rally!
It seems there is no stopping Banbridge rally ace, Kenny McKinstry. At Saturday's Modern Tyre Service Mourne Rally, round five of the Hankook MSA N.I. Rally Championship, McKinstry secured another victory, as well as his fifth maximum points haul of the season. With Harvey Bell navigating on this occasion, the event saw McKinstry secure an emphatic win of almost one minute, bolstering his chances of securing the 2011 Hankook title. However, he found himself languishing in fifth overall after the second stage. While McKinstry grabbed the rally lead by two seconds from George Robinson on stage one, an overshoot on stage two ...
This Saturday: Modern Tyre Service Mourne Rally!
Round five of the Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship takes competitors to the Mourne Mountains this Saturday for the Modern Tyre Service Mourne Rally. At a press launch at Modern Tyre Service in Newry, Des O’Loan from Newry and District Motor Club announced that the 39-year-old Mourne Rally, which will be held on Saturday 4 June, would continue to be sponsored by local tyre company Modern Tyre Service. This year’s event will start from the Modern Tyre Service complex in Carnbane Industrial Estate in Newry on the Saturday morning followed by 13 stages, with some familiar classics including Slieve Gullion ...
McKinstry Wins Sperrins Thriller!
(Image: John O'Neill) The McKinstry steamroller express continued at last weekend's C. Bradley Motorsport Tour of the Sperrins Rally, as Banbridge rally preparation expert, Kenny McKinstry, secured his fourth Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship victory on the trot! Navigated by Kenny Hull, McKinstry made it four wins from four events at the Magherafelt & District Motor Club event, which was Northern Ireland's first carbon neutral rally. However, McKinstry didn't have it all his own way. In fact, it was only after stage five of the seven stage event that the Subaru Impreza WRC pilot moved to the head of the field. During ...
C. Bradley Motorsport Tour of the Sperrins
(Image: Graham Chambers) Round four of the Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship takes place this Saturday with the C. Bradley Motorsport Tour of the Sperrins Rally! Based at Walsh’s Hotel, Maghera, the event will mark an historic occasion as the Magherafelt and District Motor Club event becomes Northern Ireland’s first environmentally friendly rally. Clerk of the Course, James McKeefry, took the initiative in having a complete environmental impact survey of the rally carried out by Carbon Footprint Ltd. The company assessed the environmental impact, also known as the 'carbon footprint', of the Tour of the Sperrins. The total carbon emitted was ...
Event News
Kelly Wins Down Rally!
Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan secured victory at this year’s F&M Contracts...
McCloskey Seals Bushwhacker!
Former Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Champion, Connor McCloskey, made a succssful...
Read more posts from Event News
Championship News
N.I. Championship Website Closed
The official N.I. Rally Championship website has now closed. Thank you to everybody...
R1: Magic Bullet Regs/Entry
Regulations and entry forms are available for the Magic Bullet Stages Rally, round...
Read more posts from Championship News
Competitor News
Biggerstaff Ready For Circuit Challenge
Reigning Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Champion Stuart Biggerstaff is gearing up for this weekend’s Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally. The Kinallen man, who currently lies eighth in the series standings, is hoping to make up for lost ground. Engine failure at round one of the championship forced him to retire from second overall, throwing... [Read more of this review]
Stuart follows in father’s footsteps
Reigning Northern Ireland rally champion Stuart Biggerstaff has already started 2011 in winning ways after being awarded the prestigious British Motorsport Marshals Club driver of the year 2010, which was presented by the club’s Vice Chairman Robert Coursey at the ANICC awards dinner held at the Armagh City Hotel on Saturday, 22nd January. Robert... [Read more of this review]
Read more posts from Competitor News