Kris Meeke scored a superb second place on the final round of the 2015 World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB. Throughout the event, Kris battled changeable grip levels in testing weather conditions. The remnants of a sizeable storm saw the North Wales countryside covered in a combination of low cloud and standing water. Kris started the final morning in a comfortable second overall, a position he had held from the second stage of the event. He remained focused on his main goal for the weekend: helping his Citroen team to secure second in the manufacturer’s championship. He had to keep a…
Author: Chris Andrews
Dublin-based comedian, Kevin McGahern puts Ireland’s car culture under the spotlight for the latest “Reality Bites’ documentary on RTE 2. The show promises to take us to the heart of Ireland’s modified car scene by getting inside the hearts and minds of the people who’s world revolves around all things automotive. In an attempt to understand why many young people choose to spend substantial money on their cars, the Republic of Telly front man attends car park meets to look at the motors on show and witnesses a diffing session. RTE state that documentary looks at the high risks generated by this…
Dani Pedrosa took a commanding second win of the season at the Malaysia GP, although the result was completely overshadowed by a spiky clash between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez. Prior to the race, Rossi had accused Marquez of obstructing him during the previous round at Philip Island. Marquez’s alleged crime – deliberately getting in the way in order to help fellow Spaniard, Rossi’s teammate and main rival for the championship, Jorge Lorenzo. During the opening laps of the race at Sepang, Rossi and Marquez were locked in an intense battle for third position. Both riders traded places with a string…
As the evenings draw in and sun slowly sets on another busy season in Irish rallying, there is no better place for a swansong than the legendary by-roads of County Donegal. The An Grianan Hotel Harvest Rally was set to bring the curtain down on the 2015 Sligo Pallets Border Championship, with an oversubscribed entry battling to decide final class honours. Centred around Burt, with service in Buncrana, a strong field was poised to take on 9 challenging special stages in the beautiful Inishowen Peninsula – the most northerly outpost of the Wild Atlantic Way. Top seed and first on…
Qualifying for Australia’s biggest motorsport event, the Bathurst 1000, was halted early into the opening session after last year’s winner, Chaz Mostert, crashed heavily. Mostert’s car bounced from wall to wall on the tricky Forrest’s elbow section of the Mount Panorama Circuit, before coming to rest in the middle of the track. The Pepsi Max Falcon V8 Supercar was approaching 120mph when Mostert lost control and came terrifyingly close to flying over the wall and off the circuit, where it would have then rolled down the mountain. Mostert was airlifted to hospital with a fractured leg and wrist. Five marshals were also…
Declan Gallagher and co-driver Ryan Moore secured a second consecutive Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Modified Championship at the Ace Signs Cork 20 rally, in their diminutive Toyota Starlet. Gallagher set a ferocious pace from the first stage, blowing away his nearest challenger, Frank Kelly. Any chance of a final round showdown between the two title contenders disappeared on stage 3 when the engine in Kelly’s Escort expired just before the finish. With Kelly out, Gallagher capped another dominant season with a commanding victory. By contrast, the Group N Championship did go the full distance. Since the start of the season,…
The world’s top ranked drifter and the only person to win Formula D and D1 GP titles, Daigo Saito, unveiled a very special car at Osaka Drift today. Saito displayed his new Lamborghini Murcielago drift car at the latest round of the D1 GP championship in Japan. The car, complete with Liberty Walk body kit, will replace his now legendary 1,000 kg / 1,000 bhp JZX100 Toyota Chaser, which he uses for events in his home country. The car has an incredible presence and RMS just happened to be in the right place at the right time to bring you…
The results of the annual JD Power survey on vehicle dependability, used as an indicator to determine who makes the most dependable cars, were released last week. The reason why you probably didn’t notice is only people who cover their rear seats with a tartan rug care about reliability. The rest of the world continues to buy cars based on how they look, what colour is the nicest and whether it’s considerably posher than the neighbour’s. Nevertheless, the outcomes were interesting and will bust some motoring myths. Skoda now make the most reliable cars on sale in the UK, closely…
Donagh Kelly secured his first Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship title, with victory on the Todd’s Leap Ulster Rally at the weekend. The Donegal driver, who has been the dominant force in Irish rallying throughout 2015, adds the ‘Tarmac’ crown to the National Championship, which he won in July. A steady, drama-free fun saw Kelly take maximum points for the fourth time this season, wrapping up the series with a round to spare. By contrast, Garry Jennings had a thoroughly miserable event. First stage mechanical problems coupled with a second stage time penalty appeared to dash any chance of success…
Filling up at the pump is always the biggest cost for any motorist in Northern Ireland. Discussions about the price of petrol and diesel are ubiquitous, with drivers desperate to find out where the cheapest fuel can be found. As an island region, stuck on the periphery of Europe and subject to some of the highest fuel taxation in the world, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that our petrol and diesel will always be more expensive that everyone else’s. However, in a total turn up, this isn’t actually the case! Remarkably, the AA fuel price report shows that diesel…
Donagh Kelly wrapped up the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, after a trouble-free run to second overall on the Sligo Stages Rally. The Donegal man, who has been in commanding form all season, needed to finish seventh or better in order to guarantee the title. He went some way to securing that place by setting the fastest time by almost 20 seconds on the opening stage. Whilst Kelly reveled on the first test, county compatriot, Declan Boyle, still appeared to be getting to grips with his new Ford Fiesta WRC. Despite some recent set-up tweaks, including springs more suited to…
The simplest ideas often have the biggest impacts. A number of years ago, a group of intrepid car enthusiasts, under the auspices of Belfast Car Scene (BCS), would organise a Sunday jaunt up the fabled and scenic Antrim coast run. The object: to have explore one the best bits of A-road Northern Ireland has to offer, to have fun in the process and raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. The cruise for cancer was born. Each year more and more cars have congregated in Carrickfergus and made the journey northwards to Portrush and Portstewart, which has meant more and more…