Halfords in Craigavon was the venue for the second round of the sound off season. This marks the first EMMA show under the management of Paul Houston from Sound in Motion and Phil Neil from Audio Advice.
Despite the poor weather there was a good turn out of SQ and SPL cars there was also a reasonable crowd of spectators looking on as the SPL runs were completed.
The numbers in the SPL competition may appear lower than last years scores but this is mainly due to rule changes. In ESPL the microphone is placed on the passengers seat (as opposed to the front windscreen) and the choice of CD is restricted to the ESPL cd.
The scores increased somewhat in the Outlaw section where competitors placedthe mic on the windscreen and could play a cd of their choice, this class saw the Fusion 206 and the <em>Iceman’s</em> Gary McCarrol break the 150 db barrier. The frequent showers prevented competitors from leaving their cars open but I did manage to get a good look round Barry Orchins Yellow Coupe and I can say it’s very impressive. The Judges must have liked it too, he scoped 1st place in the Amateur 1-600w class followed by the very tidy Baleno of Mark Overend. In the professional class it was business as usual for Davy Whighams red BWM 3-series coupe taking the first place with Sidewaysbuff taking 2nd place in his Lotus Carlton.
<p align=”left”>All in all an enjoyable show, I think it will take time to get the shows running smoothly and the competitors used to the new rules but so far it’s looking good for the rest of the season.
<p align=”center”><u>Results</u>
<table width=”95%” align=”center” border=”0″><tbody><tr valign=”top”><td width=”51%”>
<font size=”2″><strong>SQ Classes</strong>
<strong>Novice Under €2500</strong></font>
<font size=”2″>1. John Fleck</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Novice Unlimited
</strong>1. David Marshall
2. Kenneth Hall</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Amateur 1-600 watts</strong>
1. Barry Orchin
2. Mark Overend
3. Johnathan Cromie</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Amateur Unlimited
</strong>1. Jonathan Smyth
2. Eoghan Kinane</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Amateur SQ Only</strong>
1. Jackie Maxwell</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Pro SQ
</strong>1. Audio Advice
2. Mark Luney</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Pro SQ only
</strong>1. Stuart Patrick</font>
</td><td width=”49%”>
<font size=”2″><strong>ESPL Classes
</strong>Rookie</font>
<font size=”2″>1. David Haugh 295.1 Pts
2. John Garman 268.8 Pts</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Amateur 4 Woofer
</strong>1. Sam McFadden 290.3 Pts
2. George Dawson 286 Pts
3. Craig McCann 286 Pts
(<em>George Dawson had the higher cumulative SPL reading)</em></font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Amateur 8 Woofer
</strong>1. Richard Hoey 311.1 Pts
2. Paul Jefferies 306 Pts
3. Neil Thompson 299.1 Pts</font>
<font size=”2″><strong>Pro/Expert (Open Class)
</strong>1. Gary McCarroll 315.6 Pts
2. Paul Connolly 313 Pts
</font><font size=”2″><strong>Car of the Show
</strong>1. Paul Jefferies’ 206
2. Mark Luney’s Lotus Carlton</font>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
