Motorsport News – July 17, 2019

Tributerallycancelledduetorepairworks

Orrupgrades

intoToyotaGT

McDOWALL RETURNSIN TITLE-WINNINGOPELKADETT

AllanMcDowallgavehis

‘new’cara shakedown

atlastweekend’sMach 1

StagesRally.

HisOpelKadett,whichhe

usedtowinthe 2011 BTRDA

SilerStarSeries,nowhasa

2.5-litreMillingtonpowerunit

afterheswitchedtoa Ford

EscortMk2threeyearsago.

“I startedrallyingwitha

Mk1,thena Mk2beforeI got

theKadett,”saidAllan,“I was

thirdintheBTRDASilver

Starseriesin 2017 butsinceI

seemtohavemoreluckwith

theKadettI’mtryingthis.

It’sstillonforestsuspension,

soit’snotidealforroundhere

butit feelsreallyquick.”

McDowallhasplansto

contestmoreBTRDAevents,

adding:“I’mquitepleased

with14thoveralltoday.”

OrganisersoftheinauguralCarl

SorensenMemorialRallyhave

beenforcedtocanceltheeventas

it clasheswithvenuerepairsthat

willmakemanypartsofthe

proposedrouteunavailable.

TherallywasscheduledforAugust

18 atRAFPortreathinCornwall,

replacingthepopularBoconnoc

RallyFestivalwhichcouldnotrun

thisyearduetovenueproblems.

SouthHamsMotorClub’s

organisingteamdecidedtocancel

whenlandowners,theMinistryof

Defence,announcedtheywould

becarryingoutlong-awaitedrepair

workstolargepartsoftheradar

station’sperimetertracks.

Theproposedeventwasnamed

inhonourofco-driverCarl

Sorenson,whowasfatallyinjured

ina motorcycleaccidentinMay

thisyear.

Clerkofthecourse,PaulWatts,

said:“Wefullyunderstandthe

needtorepairthetracksat

Portreath.Neverthelessit is really

disappointingtohavetocancelas

thenewrallywouldbea fitting

tributetoCarl[Sorenson].We

wouldliketothankallthecrews

whohadalreadyenteredandthe

marshalswhohadvolunteered

theirservices.”

WattsconfirmedthattheTSH

StagesRally,whichalsorunsat

Portreath,willgoaheadnextMay.

lAnothereventnottakingplace

thisyearis theDonegalMiniStages,

whichwasduetorunonAugust10.

DonegalMotorClubmadethe

decisiontopostponetheevent

fora yearasa markofrespectto

thefamilyandfriendsofManus

Kelly,whowaskilledonthe

DonegalInternationallastmonth.

Organisershopetoholdthe

eventagainin2020.

ByJasonCraig

DefendingAsphaltRally

championDamianColehas

saidthathewillnotallowhis

inexperienceof competing

onNorthernIrisheventsto get

in thewayof a secondstraight

winin theseries.

Coleinheritedtheleadofthe

championshipwitha maximum

scorelasttimeoutonRallyvan

Wervik,hiscasehelpedwhen

titlerivalJasonPritchardretired

hisFordFiestaS2000with

brakeproblems.

Six-timechampionColehas

thechancetoextendhis17-point

bufferonthisweekend’sDown

RallyasPritchardis unableto

makethetripacrossfromhis

Welshbaseforpersonalreasons.

“Itwasimportanttogetthefirst

maximumscoreoftheseason

inBelgium,”saidCole.“Wewent

thereknowingwehadtobeat

Jason;wewereinfrontwhen

heretired,soit wasmission

accomplished.Weneedanother

maximumscoreinordertokeep

thepressureonourrivals.”

However,FordFiestaRSWRC

driverColehasneverstarted

theDownRallybefore,andlast

competedinNorthernIreland

threeseasonsagowhenhetackled

theCircuitofIrelandRally.

Despitethis,Cole– whois

reunitedwithPaulSpooner

forthefifthroundofthe 2019

AsphaltChampionship– doesn’t

believehewillbeattoomuch

ofa disadvantage.

“Wewillbegoingtheretodo

thebestwecan,”hesaid.“The

aim,asI havesaid,is tosecure

maximumpoints.

“IdidtheUlsterRallybackin

2004 andtheCircuitin 2016 soI

knowwhattoexpect.Thestages

overthereareverytechnical;

havingaccuratepacenotesfor

therallyis goingtobecrucial.”

Saturday’smeetingis alsoa

roundoftheNorthernIreland

RallyChampionship,which

DerekMcGeehanleads.

Hestartsatnumberfiveina

MiniJohnCooperWorksWorld

RallyCar,withreigningand

eight-timechampionDerek

McGarrityrunningseventh

ina FiestaWRC.

Leadingthefieldawayina

FordFiestaR5is lastyear’s

DownRallyvictor,JonnyGreer,

whois usingit asa warm-upfor

August’sUlsterRally,asis

reigningBritishRallychampion

MattEdwards(FordFiestaR5).

“Thetop 10 is verystrong– it

[thewin]couldbeanyone’s,”said

Greer.“Weknowwehavea

toughjobaheadofusif wewant

toreplicatelastyear’sresult,

butthat’swhywegorallying.

“Jon[Armstrong]willbevery

quickinthemorepowerfulWRC

car.Mattwouldalsohavetobe

oneofthefavourites,while

Meirion[Evans]hasbeengetting

fasterandfasterallseason.”

Jointlyorganisedby

BallynahinchandDistrictMotor

Club,andRathfrilandMotor

Club,Saturday’sDownRally

willconsistofelevenstages,

includinga spectatorspecial

stagewithinthegroundsof

BalmoralPark.

HOW THE BTCC HAS SHAPED UP PAGE 20

Photos: http://www.rallygallery.com, John Fife

Cole won last time

on Rally van Wervik

Reigning asphalt champion wants to capitalise on rival Pritchard’s absence

COLE AIMING TO GAIN UPPER

HAND ON DOWN RALLY

Stanley Orr has secured

a drive in a Millington-

powered Toyota GT

for this weekend’s

Down Rally.

The Killinchy man

will swap his Ford

Escort Mk1 for the

Japanese sports coupe

which belongs to David

Greer Motorsport. He

has already sampled

the rear-wheel-drive

car during a test at

Kirkistown race circuit.

But, despite quickly

gelling with the GT86,

Orr insists the priority is

to enjoy the experience.

“I haven’t been told,

‘you have to do this,

you have to do that’,

and I don’t have

anything to prove to

anyone. I’m under

no pressure,” he told

Motorsport News.

“There’s a lot of very

fast Class Seven cars on

the entry list, and a lot

of extremely capable

drivers taking part, so

I am not even thinking

[about winning].

“We aren’t going to be

breaking any records

but, at the same time, we

will have a damn good

go at it.

“It’s a completely

different proposition

to my Escort. For

starters, there is a

sequential gearbox in

the Toyota and you have

the benefit of power-

assisted steering. It

really is a mighty thing.”

The opportunity to

compete in the car

came after David Greer,

the owner of DGM,

approached Orr.

“David asked me a

couple of times before

and for one reason or

another it didn’t suit,”

added Orr.

“He saw that I had an

entry in for the Down

Rally, he called me,

and he offered me the

GT86. If there are other

chances to drive it again

in the future then I

would certainly be

up for it.”

After the Down Rally,

Orr will switch his

attention back to the

British Historic Rally

Championship, which

he leads.

The next round of the

competition takes him

to Wales for the

Harry Flatters Rally

on July 28.

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Crew managed to

finish 14th overall

TOPSEEDEDENTRY

DownRally,BalmoralPark,Lisburn,July 20

NO CREW CAR

1 JonnyGreer/KirstyRiddick FordFiestaR

2 MattEdwards/PaulMorris FordFiestaR

3 MelvynEvans/AledDavies SkodaFabiaR

4 ThomasPreston/CarlWilliamson FordFiestaRSWRC

5 DerekMcGeehan/MarkMcGeehanMiniJCWWRC

6 DamianCole/PaulSpooner FordFiestaRSWRC

7 DerekMcGarrity/PaddyRobinsonFordFiestaRSWRC

8 DanielHarper/ChrisCampbell MiniJCWWRC

9 JonArmstrong/NoelO’SullivanMiniJCWWRC

10 Stephen Wright/TBA Ford Fiesta RS WRC