The death has occurred of Sean Newman, father of club member, John Newman.

Reposing at his home from 2pm today, Tuesday. Removal tomorrow, Wednesday morning, at 10.30am to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Ashbourne arriving for Funeral Mass at 11am. Cremation afterwards at 1.30pm at Glasnevin Crematorium.

May he Rest in Peace.

MAUGER PUSH OVER EPYNT!…

Simon Mauger arrives at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells for the start of the Eventsigns Mewla Rally as leader of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. Victory last time out, on the Tyneside Stages in his rapid Ford Escort MkII (see below - courtesy CMWI.NET), gave the Bicester driver the edge but now, as dropped scores start to bite, the pressure is on to maintain the top spot.

The 100-strong Mewla entry list is headed by last year’s winners, Peter Lloyd/Graham Handley in their Subaru S14 WRC. Although these two are registered for the REIS Championship, they are not in a position to fight for the title but their proven speed over the Epynt Ranges must make them one of the favourites on the day.

Behind Lloyd are Damian Cole/Craig Drew in their Get Connected! Ford Focus WRC. Having already accrued four maximum scores, one more good run virtually guarantees them this year’s title but, as everyone involved in rallying is only too well aware, there’s many a slip!...

The Asphalt Championship accounts for almost a quarter of the total number of starters who are spreads throughout the list. 2009 BTRDA Asphalt Rally Series Champions Adrian Spencer/Mark Hewitt return to put some more competitive miles on their recently-completed Subaru Impreza while, making their Championship debut in a Toyota Corolla WRC are Gary Le Coadou/Paul Hollingham. Both crews are using the latter half of this season as a warm-up to a full assault in 2011.

Having made their series debut on Epynt back in March, Jim Sharp/Amy Mackinnon return once again in their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9. Although the experience ultimately ended in retirement, good performances in the interim have seen them move up to 4^th place in the overall table, with a possibility of a Top 3 finish by the end of the season.

MSA Asphalt Championship registered contenders continue with :

* James Martin/Dylan James Vauxhall Astra GT/E

* Dave Price/TBA Ford Escort Mk6 RWD

* Steve Cressey/Sam Collis Subaru Impreza

* Mike Perkin/Alf Chanter Ford Puma

* Richard Clews/Barry James Ford Fiesta

* Chris Rice/Gareth Price Subaru Impreza

* Geoff Glover/Bob Brown Vauxhall Astra RWD

* Graham Muter/Steve Hallmark Ford Escort

* Tim Seipel/Martin Haggett MG ZR

* Craig Jose/Nigel Hewett Peugeot 205

* Ian Copping/Dave Rowley Ford Fiesta RWD

* Tim Daltry/Paul Ohren-Bird Peugeot 205

* Chris Daykin/Dan Megannity Subaru Impreza

* Chris Gravestock/Mark Harmer Peugeot 106

* Martin Newson/Peter Morris MG ZR

* Alison Lock/Russell Joseph Austin Mini Cooper

The first car leaves the start of the Eventsigns Mewla Rally on the Epynt Ranges at 8.00am on Sunday 29^th August and, eight stages and eighty-five miles later, the survivors will begin arriving back in Builth Wells at 5.00pm that afternoon.

Further details of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship are available from the Co-ordinator :

Andrew Haill – Tel : 0121 313 1416/E-mail : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

OR

by visiting the Championship website : www.asphaltrallying.co.uk

ALMC’s Meegan Takes Sixth Place on the Stonethrowers

ALMC member Eugene Meegan in his Mitsubishi Lancer finished in sixth overall and a credible second place in Group N on last weekend’s Stonethrowers Rally in Co. Tipperary, Eugene with Sorcha Kelly alongside on the notes lead the group N class for much of the day and was unlucky to lose the top spot to a hard charging Alan Ring to finish just six seconds adrift.

Pic: Seamus Counihan @ www.crspics.com

Eugene was ALMC’s sole entrant on last weekend’s Tipperary Stonethrowers the eight round of the 2010 National rally championship, Eugene got off to a blistering start setting fastest group N time through the opening test from Alan Ring in his Lancer. Through stage three and Eugene lost his lead of Group N to Ring, Eugene feeling that his Lancer need a fresh set of Spark plugs as the car was starting to misfire a little. The closing stages of the rally Eugene and Sorcha continued to battle hard with Alan Ring setting impressive stage times on their way to a worth sixth overall and second in Group N.
Check back for more news on ALMC Motor Club members exploits on motorsport events through the year, if you are a member and competing or have a story to tell, let us know and we would be delighted to include your story on the site email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Annual Meeting between the Rallies Committee and the Clubs which was due to take place on Wednesday next August the 18th in the Green Isle Hotel Dublin has been postponed until Wednesday September the 15th.(Also in the Green Isle Hotel at 7.30), This is as a result of requests from clubs to have the "The Way Forward" document put on the Agenda of this meeting and also to allow clubs a chance to meet and discuss this Document which all clubs received on Friday last August the 13th.As a result of these requests the Rallies Committee have decided to Defer this Meeting to Wednesday September the 15th at 7.30pm in the Green Isle Hotel Dublin.   

Regards
Richard Talbot.
Secretary 2010 Rallies Committee

Following on from the events in the latter half of 2009, a letter from MI has now been published outlining progress to date of The Way Forward Committee and is available for download by clicking here.

It is very important that all members read this detailed letter, and should the need arise, forward on your comments as soon as possible to the Motor Club. This is YOUR opportunity to have a say in how the sport develops in the future.

The next Club meeeting is on the 1st September, and as the deadline for comments is the 14th September, now is the time to prepare your response, and this will then be forwarded on your behalf.

In conjunction with Castle Automobile Club, ALMC members wishing to obtain Stage Commander licences are invited to attend a Training night next Tuesday, 17th August, in the Oldcastle House Hotel, Oldcastle. The course will commence at 2100 sharp, and please attend if at all possible, as we would like to get as many members as possible qualified to Stage Commander level.

Club contact for the Training night is Louise Conachy, at 0870606614. Please call or text to confirm attendance. Louise will also be Assistant COC for the Rally on 5th September.

Highlights of this years Stages Rally will be broadcast on Motors TV this Saturday night, at 2220. Motors TV is on Channel 413 on Sky, so tune in for all the action from this years Rally!

With reference to the Club Calendar, all Club members are asked to attend the following events to help out with marshalling;

• Sunday 5th September, Castle Mini Stages
• Saturday 11th September, Killilane Bike Races
• Friday 17th-Sunday 19th September, IMRC Rally Retro
• Sunday 17th October, GSMC Mini Stages
• Sunday 24th October, our own ALMC Rally Sprint

Meeting point information for all remaining events will be added to the Club site when available.

Citroën Racing Trophy round three

Jim Clark International Rally 28/29th  May 2010

Barrable makes it two from three!

Of the six Citroën Racing Trophy UK (CRT) crews on the Jim Clark International Rally, three took turns to lead the event but only one emerged victorious, Irishmen Robert Barrable and Damien Connolly eventually streaking over a minute clear of the pack after 130 miles of asphalt action.
The third round of both CRT and Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship began in fine weather, despite forecasters predicting showers, with a blast through the centre of Duns where racing legend Jim Clark grew up.
First round winners Mark Donnelly and stand-in co-driver Emmet Sherry took first blood but the gap to Luke Pinder and Peter Scott was less than two seconds, although the Yorkshireman was already suffering with electrical problems. The car cut out before the stage start and the crew would fail to make the re-start on Saturday, becoming the one-make series’ first retirement of the event
Stage two, the technical Abbey St Bathans, saw a change of lead in the form of Richard Sykes and Simon Taylor, who posted a storming time over six seconds clear of Donnelly and ten ahead of the eventual winner. It was Barrable who struck back on the third test, stopping the clocks a second sooner than Sykes, but the Midlander remained at the front, Donnelly splitting them in second.
Another run through Duns saw Donnelly fastest again, but all Sykes’ hard work was undone on the re-run of Abbey, a problem with his rev-counter causing him to change gear too soon. Barrable took advantage of his misfortune and having never contested the Jim Clark Rally before, his second runs through the stages were considerably quicker. He stunned the rest of the field and with a time 23 seconds clear of Donnelly and leap-frogged to the front of the field, moving another six seconds ahead on Friday’s final night time stage.
Meanwhile Irish crew Joe McGonigle and Niall Burns pulled away from Australian Molly Taylor with last year’s champion co-driver Phil Clarke, who had only one goal; to get to the final service of the day so an ailing gearbox could be changed.
By the second service on Saturday, Sykes joined Pinder on the list of retirements with a seriously sick sounding engine, this elevated McGonigle and Taylor who had swapped places on every stage, until the Australian admitted she had started making silly mistakes, allowing McGonigle to pull clear after resolving a rear brake problem.
At the front Barrable was on a mission, setting fastest times on all but one stage on Saturday. Donnelly took the sensible approach, considering the championship, although he did admit to an excursion into a field, thankfully only pride damaged in the process.
So it was Robert Barrable and Damien Connolly who took the Citroën Racing Trophy UK honours in Duns, placing ninth overall and highest placed two wheel drive crew on the International Rally. Their second straight win moves them five points clear at the head of the championship table and nets them €5,000 in prize money, certainly worth the effort on their first Jim Clark International Rally.
2010 Citroën Racing Trophy UK
Jim Clark International Rally Results/prize money
Pos     Driver/Co-driver                             Prize
1        Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly    €5,000
2        Mark Donnelly/ Emmet Sherry        €4,000
3        Joe McGonigle/Niall Burns               €2,000
4        Molly Taylor/Phil Clarke                  €1,500
5        Luke Pinder/Peter Scott                 DNF
6        Richard Sykes/Simon Taylor           DNF

For more information on the Citroën Racing Trophy visit www.c2r2.co.uk

Tim on Top in Cavan

Last Sunday’s Cavan Stages Rally marked the halfway point in the Dunlop National Championship, the event had a strong representation of ALMC club members with seven crews containing club members plus a large number of members marshalling and supporting the event organisers. With less than fifty days to the ALMC stages rally (Sunday 18th July) the club is busy recruiting marshals, time keepers, radio operators and competitors alike. ALMC’s leading entry taking to the Cavan Stages was Tim McNulty who was using the opportunity to test for the next round of the Irish Tarmac Championship taking place in Donegal later this month, Tim not registered for championship points left the main national championship competitors to do battle for maximum points.
Tim McNulty with now regular co-driver Paul Kiely calling the Notes was fastest through the first stage and led the rally but not for long a spin and a stalled engine on the third stage of the day Loughduff handed the overall lead to Derek McGarrity in a similar Subaru WRC. Stage four followed the first service halt of the day and Tim set his sights on reducing the gap to McGarrity in first, helped along with advice from last year’s tarmac championship winner Eugene Donnelly. The second visit to Loughduff stage saw Tim regained the lead of the rally a position he would hold and not relinquish through the closing stages, he continued to pile on the pressure to emerge winner by a margin of fifteen seconds from Derek McGarrity and James McKee. Tim won his first class award on the Cavan Rally many years ago in a Nova. Tim heads to Donegal with ALMC hopes of an overall win in the TROA resting on his experienced shoulders.





Elsewhere in the Cavan Stages ALMC crews were competing for class honours, Eugene Meegan in car number 41 with Sorcha Kelly alongside in their Mitsubishi EVO 10 battled with Gary Jennings and David Moynihan in the older Mitsubishi for group N, Eugene emerged second in Group N and a very credible eight overall just a minute behind Jennings. Nigel McGinn in his Mitsubishi EVO 6 drove a strong rally to finish third in class eight having briefly held second in class after stage 8. The first of the ALMC co-drivers James Flood in car no 66 alongside driver Danny McCormack in his Vauxhall Corsa competing in class 11, had a good run through the opening stages until their rally ended when they did not emerge from stage five. Next up in the ALMC co-driver seat’s Willie Fitzpatrick in car number 73 the Ford Escort Mk2 of Pa Bellew competing in class nine, the crew made a steady climb from fifth to second in class and a credible forty ninth overall a fair result on the difficult Cavan stages. Finally but by no means least came Shane Carberry in car number 117 partnered by Kevin Malone on the notes competing for class two honours in their Honda Civic, they went on to finish 70th overall and fifth in class two. Once again ALMC crews and marshalling members did the club proud, looking forward to seeing all the ALMC crews on their next rally and in particular taking part in our own stages rally in mid July.

Jim Clark National Rally (28/29th May)
MSA Asphalt Rally Championship (Round 4)


Fresh from their success on the Manx Telecom Rally, Damian Cole and Craig Drew have taken their second maximum points score in the Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship in a month by winning the third round, the Jim Clark National Rally, outright. Their Ford Focus WRC suffered from gear selection problems virtually from the off – the car stuck in 6th gear on the opening stage! - but survived to give them one of the best results of their careers to-date.

Championship leaders ALMC’s John Stone with Lee Carter on the notes rounded off the Top Three with another calculated drive in their Skoda Fabia WRC. After a slow start on the Friday evening, the pair settled into the task in hand and, by the end of the rally, were setting fastest stage times.   Top 10 starters who didn’t fare so well included Mark Jasper, who was without ALMC’s Don Whyatt alongside on the notes, hired a Hyundai Accent WRC for the event. The car suffered a puncture on the opening leg in a narrow part of a stage and, before Mark was able to pull over, the tyre had delaminated and a flailing piece of rubber had removed the alternator belt. The engine quickly overheated and a possible blown head gasket saw his early exit.

Website News Item   
12th May 2010


ALMC’s Jack Newman Misfires in Carlow
Honda Cup Ireland – R2 Carlow Stages

Richard Whelan and co-driver Colin Fitzgerald crossed the line of last weekend’s Lord Bagenal Hotel Stages Rally to record their first ever win in the Honda Cup Ireland. They took the lead on stage six when early front-runners JP Logue/Patrick Durning retired with a broken driveshaft.
The event, which started and finished in Leighlinbridge just south of Carlow, featured eight stages on closed roads. These comprised a loop of three stages run twice followed by a final loop of two stages, the total providing a competitive distance of 135 kilometres.
Stage one saw Logue/Durning (Open Class) set the fastest time, 21 seconds ahead of ALMC crew of Jack Newman/Tom Murphy (Super-Production) whose car had developed a misfire. Logue/Durning extended their lead on SS2, whilst Newman/Murphy was pleased that the misfire had now disappeared and were making up for lost time. Even after overshooting a junction, Jack Newman was the fastest of the Hondas, going three seconds quicker than Logue/Durning and Whelan/Fitzgerald who set equal times.
ALMC’s Jack Newman with Tom Murphy alongside on the notes increase in pace was short-lived, when the misfire from SS1 returned with a vengeance and this time it was terminal – the distributor later found to be the cause.
Final results showed that Richard Whelan and Colin Fitzgerald were the clear winners by over three minutes, with John Moran and Dave Cummings second with Adrian Cannon and Jonathan Rooney third. With no recorded finishers on the opening round, the current series standings reflect the results from the Carlow event. Competitors now prepare for round three, when the Honda Cup Ireland heads to Dundalk for the North East Stages Rally on 4th July. Fingers crossed for a better run for Jack on the next round.

Series Standings
Richard Whelan/Colin FitzGeraldSuper-Production        10
Adrian Cannon/Jonathan RooneyProduction            10
John Moran/Dave CumminsSuper-Production        7
-    JP Logue/Richard DurningOpen                0
-    Jack Newman/Tom MurphySuper-Production        0
-    Gary Caldwell/Niamh CaldwellProduction            0
-    Martin Cunningham/TBCSuper-Production            0
-    David Guest/Liam Moynihan Super-Production        0
-    Kieran O’Connell/Gerard BuckleyOpen            0
-    Jason Ryan/Tadgh O’SullivanSuper-Production        0
-    Gavin Walsh/Ger KeohaneSuper-Production        0

Website News Item
10th May 2010

ALMC Competitors Lead the Way - Manx Telecom Rally (7/8th May)

3rd place overall on the Manx Telecom Rally at the weekend gave Damian Cole & Craig Drew their first maximum points score in the Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship. Apart from requiring a clutch change, their Ford Focus WRC behaved faultlessly to open the pair’s account in the points table.
ALMC members performed well on the weekend’s event, after 120 miles of stages on the closed public roads on the Isle of Man, John Stone and Lee Carter were less than a minute behind the championship point’s winners in their Skoda Fabia WRC. Still on a steep learning curve with the recently-acquired car, Stone now leads the MSA Asphalt Championship and this fine drive earned him the ‘John Horton Motorsport Management Star Performance’ salver for his efforts. Due to the non-availability of their Hyundai Accent WRC, Legend Motorsport team-mates Mark Jasper with ALMC co-driver Don Whyatt on the notes wheeled out their trusty MG Metro 6R4 for the trip to the Isle of Man. In comparison with the World Rally Car rivals, the 6R4’s wheelbase is a bit short for the yumps and bumps of the roads on the Manx event, nevertheless, a Top 10 finish puts them in second place in the championship right behind John Stone and Lee Carter.

Dave Price and Mark Mason put a miserable opening round behind them to take 3rd points in their Ford Escort Mk6, arriving back at the TT Grandstand finish just ahead of the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO5 of Chris Marshall and Simon Hunter who are lying in 3rd place in the points table. A three-week break sees the Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship moving up to Kelso for the Jim Clark National Rally on 28th/29th May.

For press information & photographs contact:
Alan Binley of AB Consultants
E: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or M: +353 (0) 86 2582 663 www.almc.ie

Hot of the press, Eugene's new Exo X for Killarney!

Best wishes to Eugene and navigator Sorcha Kelly this weekend!

Website News Item

26^th April 2010

Pirelli C2R2 Goes to ALMC’s Barrable

ALMC club member Robert Barrable took Citroën C2R2 honors on last weekend’s Pirelli International rally and took home the lion’s share of the twenty thousand championship prize money. There were six Citroen C2R2 Max cars took to the start of the second round of the 2010 Dulux Trade British Rally Championship, all of which were battling for their share of the €20,000 Citroen Racing Trophy prize fund. R2 class honours were set to be a tough challenge with stiff opposition from Jarkko Nikara and Matti Rantanen in the two Renualt Twingo’s. PG Andersson was also set to be an unknown quantity in the M-Sport Fiesta R2 but the former Junior World Champion would almost certainly open a few eyes during the rally. Mark Donnelly/Paddy Robinson were the highest seeded Citroen crew at No.20 with ALMC’s Robert Barrable with Damien Connolly on the notes at number 22 and Richard Sykes & Simon Taylor at 23, the stages were set for an epic battle.

It only took the first stage for the class drama to unfold with Mark Donnelly due to be the first of the Citroen C2R2s through the stage but he was delayed at the start with a split water pipe, this left the Robert Barrable to lead the Citroen’s after stage one. By the end of stage two Australian Molly Taylor had crashed her Citroen C2R2 Max off the road with both crew members reported OK. Richard Sykes was now highest placed Citroen C2R2 contender leading Robert Barrable by a slender seven seconds.

Saturday morning and the dust that hampered many of the crews the previous evening had settled, the battle for the R2 class raged on, PG Andersson still lead in his Fiesta while Richard Sykes/Simon Taylor led the Citroen C2R2 charge overnight from ALMC ‘s Robert Barrable & Damien Connolly. By the end of stage six young Dubliner, Robert Barrable had moved into the lead of the Citroen Racing Trophy contenders. Richard Sykes who lead into the “Glen Dhu” stage struck a ditch ending his hopes of a win in the trophy category. The remaining stages were not enough to allow Luke Pinder catch Robert who held on to a lead of over a minute to claim top trophy honours. Jarkko Nikara survived all sorts of clutch problems with his Twingo to win the R2 class, with Robert finishing the rally in a credible 12th overall with Luke Pinder 2nd and Donegal man Joe McGonigle 3^rd in the Citroën Trophy. Roll on Killarney and the Rally of the Lakes where Robert and co-driver Damien hope to build on their Pirelli success.

Check back for more news on ALMC Motor Club members exploits on motorsport events through the year, if you are a member and competing or have a story to tell, let us know, we would be delighted to include your story on the site email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ALMC Motorshow – City North Hotel Sunday 9^th May 2010

In spite of the recession, thousands of car enthusiasts, young and old, are revving up for this year’s ALMC Motorshow on Sunday 9^th May 2010 at City North Hotel in Meath (just off Junction 7 on the M1) where stunning cars from all over the country and overseas will be on display in the hotel car park from 11.30am to 5pm with plenty of exhibition stands and children’s entertainment to add to the fun.  Entry is free to the Motorshow and all the family can get close to the famous big name cars such as BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus and many more while enjoying the facilities of the four star City North Hotel.  This is the second year of the show, organized by members of the ALMC Motor Club from Dublin, Fingal, Meath, Louth, where supercars from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s are showcased alongside modern day classics from the world of rallying and high performance, all in aid of the Jack & Jill Children’s Charity.

A wide and varied selection of fabulous cars and motorbikes upwards of 200 will be on display at this year’s show including the supercharged Ariel Atom, with 300bhp and weighing only 500kg it is one of the world’s fastest accelerating cars, capable of 0 to 100mph and stopping again all inside 10 seconds. The Ford GT will also be on display a supercar built as a limited edition from 2003-2006 to celebrate Ford’s centenary. The designers drew inspiration from Ford's classic GT40 race cars of the 1960s and the GT is sometimes mistaken for its 1960s counterpart.The GT will be displayed alongside the Porsche 997 GT3 RS, the most focused and racetrack-oriented street legal car that Porsche have manufactured.

For Motorbike enthusiasts Neil Hodgsons 2010 Yamaha R1 British Superbike, built by Rob McElnea to Factory Specification will be on display. Built with Traction Control and onboard Gyroscope, the bike develops a max power output of 218bhp and is still in its full Superbike Livery. This will be displayed alongside one of the late Martin Finnegan's bikes.

Another highlight of the show is a raffle including impressive motoring-related prizes and all proceeds go to the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation which provides home nursing care and respite to the families of 300 children nationwide who are born with or develop brain damage and who suffer from sever intellectual and physical developmental delay as a result.  Books of 16 tickets at €10 per ticket, with each book covering the cost of one night’s care from a qualified nurse, are available on the day, or in advance from www.almcmotorshow.com.

Photographs courtesy of Paul Connell www.connellphotography.ie, additional photographs available on request.

Editor’s notes:

The ALMC Motor Club www.almc.ie was founded in 1963, with operations currently based at the City North Hotel. Club activities generally centre on two annual club events – the ALMC stages rally, and a rally sprint. The 2009 stages rally will be held locally on July 18^th, with details available at www.almcstagesrally.com.

www.Octane.ie is a non-profit website created and run by Irish car enthusiasts, celebrating all marques and organising trackdays and motoring events for its members.

For the past 13 years the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation has provided frontline homecare and respite services to families of children who are born with or develop brain damage and who suffer from severe intellectual and physical developmental delay.  It has an annual budget of €3 million, 19% of which is provided by the State, and most of Jack & Jill’s is raised through mobile phone recycling and fundraisers like this.  Since 1997 the Foundation has supported over 1,200 families by providing home visits, practical advice, emotional support, information and guidance to access the range of additional assistance available, bereavement support and funding for up to 80 hours of home nursing care per month for children up to the age of 4 years old.

Results for last weekends MVAT are now available for download in the Downloads section.

Also Paul Connell at www.connellphotography.ie has added a Slide Show in Youtube of yesterdays action!

The death has taken place of Paul McGeown, Club Treasurer for many years.

Saturday 10th April - 10:20pm - Tour of Epynt
Saturday 5th June - 10:20pm - Manx Trophy Rally
Saturday 26th June - 10:20pm - Jim Clark National Rally
Saturday 17th July - 10:20pm - Rally of The Midlands
Saturday 14th August - 10:20pm - ALMC Stages Rally
Saturday 28th August - 10:20pm - Tyneside Stages
Saturday 25th September - 10:20pm - Mewla National Rally
Saturday 23rd October - 11:35pm - Patriot Stages Rally
Saturday 20th November - 10:20pm - Cheviot Keith Knox Rally

Website News Item

13^th April 2010

Noel Goes All Retro!

Noel Devlin ALMC Stages COC tells us all of his return to the competition seat.

It was nearly five years since I sat on my ‘potti’ as a navigator in a retro, despite being COC for the IMRC Retro in the interim, its different when you have to calculate, change speeds and navigate on the go. David Ronaldson and I were seeded at 30 on the TDC Retro in our trusty Mini Cooper S, and in the most competitive Class in the event. We were up against retro regulars like Eamonn Byrne/Anthony Preston, Geoff Hall/Paul Bosdet, Lucy Whitford/Kathryn Millington, Ernie Campbell/ Davey Johnston, Robert Bolton/Ian McCulloch, all accomplished autotest pilots and each partnered by champion navigators. We set off last on the road on a sunny Saturday morning from Enniskerry. Initial regularity and tests dusted off the cobwebs, but this changed on the special test (a forest track) around Castle Howard near Avoca, when we slid off the road and avoided dropping down the ravine by hitting a tree.  Just like a James Bond movie, Q came to the rescue in the form of Robert Ganly in his Q7 and extracted the mini from the tree. Once again we set off for some strong coffee and tackled more regularities and test before the tea stop at Inch, near Gorey.

Photo courtesy of Peespeed Photography

With the mini getting a fuel stop and the crew some food before more plotting for the night regularities and navigation section. Shortly before nine we were on the road again, tackling regularity in the now fading light, but the earlier shunt somehow caused the wheel nuts to come loose on one wheel and this dropped us 2 minutes on the repair.  Onward we drove, through the dusty lanes and farmyards to claw back the time but just not fast enough and we dropped 6 seconds into the secret check. The Night navigation was over ten time points, but a plotting COC’up sent us wrong slotting collecting a wrong approach penalty, otherwise we only dropped 4 minutes on the route. The final part of the night and some of which was rough nearly ended our adventure, when the steering shaft jumped a couple of splines. We made the end control and then began a crawl back to Dublin.  Overnight my driver stripped his Riley Elf of its steering column and fitted it to the Cooper, and we were back on song early Sunday morning all be it a little tired.

Sunday had more special tests so our 998cc Cooper was at a disadvantage against the 1400cc others in the Class, nevertheless, David gave it plenty of gas (until we ran out on the way to lunch)  through some great farmyards and dusty lanes followed by a regularity trek over the Glen of Imaal.  We finished 19^th overall and 6^th in Class!

It was a great weekend and I feel that as COC/Retro Registrar I have now regained some competitive knowledge after his weekend and some ideas of how to inflict pain on crews when they tackle the IMRC Retro in September. Other ALMC crews out there were Andy Hennessy / Peter Murphy, coming home   22^nd Overall and 2^nd in Class in their Anglia, check out the TDC website for more photographs and full results of the event. Well done to Noel and David and we hope to see you out with your ‘potti’ again soon.