EUGENE DONNELLY TAKES SUPERB SECOND CIRCUIT OF IRELAND VICTORY
Eugene Donnelly took his second Circuit of Ireland Rally victory on the Easter weekend, and it's the second victory in a row for Eugene, his co-driver Paddy Toner and the Skoda Fabia WRC. It's a win that puts the pair firmly in the lead in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, going into the third round in Killarney. With four tarmac titles under his belt, could Eugene equal Austin MacHale's all time record of five? The Circuit of Ireland victory also boosts Eugene’s Irish Tarmac Championship rally winning tally to sixteen, a formidable figure for the likeable Maghera driver.
Whilst the victory on the opening round in Galway was in horrendous conditions, morning sunshine greeted the crews for the Easter Saturday start in Banbridge for the Circuit of Ireland. Eugene's rally got off to a good start, fastest on stage one. "We had a really good test in the car on Thursday night. The McGeehan team had really worked with me to get the car really good on the bumps, as this is where I reckoned if we could carry speed it would be a real advantage. We also planned the event carefully regarding the stages, and when we were going to make changes. We were a bit worried about the weather though, that if it was dry we thought that the Subaru's would have the legs on us, and it did turn out dry." Eugene's predictions looked to be correct as after stage two, the legendary Hamilton's Folly, the Subaru's of Derek McGarrity and Peader Hurson where one-two, but only one second separated the top three. At the first Banbridge service, Phillip Moynihan from Ears Motorsport advised the move up to a harder compound of Kumho Tyre, with slight cuts being put into them with a knife blade. It was a well advised move, as Eugene pounced on the lead with two superb runs through the repeat Lough Island Reavy and Hamilton's Folly stages. "The K11 compound Kumho tyres worked very well on the first tests, I was just being a bit cautious, but as things got warmer the move to the K21 compound was a good choice. Tyres were critical al weekend and I was really happy with the whole package of car, set up and tyres." It was on Hamilton's Folly 2 that Eugene literally leaped the Digiprintz Fabia into a nine second lead, from Hurson and McGarrity. At this point Tim McNulty was fourth, reigning Tarmac Champion Eamonn Boland fifth, and Gareth MacHale sixth. However as the Skoda reached service the McGeehan mechanics were to pull out all the stops, and this is where Eugene feels the rally swung in his favour. "The final four stages of the day were a lot smoother and less jumpy, so we decided to change the set up completely on the car. The team lowered the ride height, changed the anti- roll bars and hardened up the suspension. This made a big difference to the car and it proved it." But the close of day one Eugene had pulled out a twenty five second advantage over Peader Hurson, with Eamonn Boland moving into third following Derek McGarrity's retirement.
The first two stages of Easter Sunday where on the tricky Slieve Gullion mountain drive, and Eugene played it cautiously, soon discovering that second placed Hurson had failed to start day two due to an oil leak on the Subaru. The Fabia again received some major set up changes at service for the final four Sunday stages, which were known to be challenging, very bumpy and in places very easy to punish the driver for a momentary lapse in concentration.
“We just had to play it carefully at times, but not go too steady either, as Eamonn wasn't too far back. The wee car was working well though and it didn't miss a beat, and Paddy was doing a superb job. On one of those stages he had to read twenty- six pages of pace notes in nine miles!" The Kumho Tyres too were suiting the conditions, and as Eugene reeled of the final miles, they arrived at the Dundalk finish for a momentous victory, in the slightly outdated Fabia WRC. "It's really all down to the team this weekend. We had a great team, from Padriac Price on the gravel notes, to Derek and the boys servicing, the Kumho Tyres people and of course Paddy who was super on the notes. I am really looking forward to Killarney now in May, and we hope to continue out title race." The Killarney Rally of the Lakes marks round three of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, Ireland's premier motorsport championship. Eugene has won the event in the past, but it's been a few years since he has climbed the top spot on the podium. The faster, smoother roads might not suit the wee Fabia as well, but as it is re-fettled in his Draperstown workshop, Derek McGeehan will be doing everything to make the car as fast as it has been in Galway and on the Circuit.
Photo by: www.roydempster.com
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