Rally Ireland 06

[alan273]

Was a great event, seemed to run a bit better this time. Disappointing to see such a big drop to the entry with only 46 or so started the first stage.



Now it’s the waiting game to see if it was all worthwhile.



Cant fault Rally Ireland on their hospitality during the event – marshals, timekeepers etc where all extremely well looked after.

 

[ray]

was a few stages in between times when i was workin

thought the rally was alright nothing special like

would have liked to have seen more top drivers enter

 

[Graham]

Rally Ireland 2006 - http://www.reallymeansounds.com/report.php?event=257

 

[Designated Driver]

some great pics G!

 

[Max]

indeed, great pictures graham!!

 

[jonny106]

A well run event although poor attendees-was hoping to see more WRCs tbh. Nice to see J McGs new Evo/paintjob/wheels are lovely although i only saw it on first stage of Sunday and at service-i think it went missing after:

 

[Graham]

he had major brake problems and went off on day1 causing some damage to box etc and retired, then on day2 he was allowed to run again but handling and brake problems forced him to pull out sadly

 

[Graham]

Rally Ireland 2006 finished in Sligo city with Ireland’s Eugene Donnelly taking first, Eamon Boland taking second, Swedish WRC driver (currently ranked 6th) Daniel Carlsson took third and Australian WRC driver Chris Atkinson (ranked 9th) winner of Group N, finished in fourth place overall.

Commenting on the event, Rally Ireland 2006 winner, Eugene Donnelly said: "It would be a dream come true for someone like me who is a true rallyman at heart to have the WRC come to Ireland. We’ve shown that we can provide great challenging stages and inject new ingredients into WRC that will make it special and unique. And I’m delighted to win Rally Ireland."

Chris Atkinson said: ”These are great challenging stages. I'd love to tackle them in my regular WRC car and hope I get a chance to do just that when Rally Ireland gets into the World Championships.”

Sweden's Daniel Carlsson: "This is my second time in Ireland and the stages and atmosphere are great. It is would be a real challenge for the top WRC drivers. It would be great to see Rally Ireland in the WRC.

Gareth MacHale, disappointed to have crashed out of the Rally in Stage 8, looks forward to the prospect of a WRC event in Ireland: “Per capita we have more WRC cars than any other country and the fan base is amazing; they have a great loyalty to the sport. Our roads are unique, the sort of tarmac roads you don't have anywhere else. If it does get into the WRC, which I hope it will, it will be very challenging for the top international teams and drivers.”

Despite retiring on Day 1, French Champion Nicolas Bernardi was impressed with what he saw: "It is very different tarmac to what I am used to in France. The stages are safe and I think Rally Ireland can fit into the WRC calendar very easily as a tarmac round of the championship. People here are very friendly and crazy about rallying."

The top ten:

1. Eugene Donnelly (Derry) 2:20:35.1
2. Eamon Boland (Wexford) +1:57.8
3. Daniel Carlsson (Sweden) +4:31.6
4. Chris Atkinson (Australia) +5:30.9
5. Patrick Elliott (Cavan) +8:00.4
6. Aaron MacHale (Dublin) +12:02.2
7. Garry Jennings (Enniskillen) +12:35.8
8. Shaun Gallagher (Donegal) +14:56.2
9. Paul Harris (Donegal) +16:08.3
10. Conor McCloskey (Cavan) +16:26.4

 

[J8MCG]

Thanks jonny, Mtec graphics done a great job with the new stickers on car. Strange looking at a white evo instead of the yellow.
We had a long hard weekend with alot of problems so we decided to pull out as there was too much wrong.

 

[Steve]

Awesome photos graham