| EUGENE DONNELLY TAKES SUPERB SECOND CIRCUIT OF IRELAND VICTORY |
16-Apr-09
Eugene Donnelly took his second Circuit of Ireland Rally victory on the Easter weekend, and its 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. |
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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 Eugenes 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
Subarus 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 Hamiltons 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 Hamiltons 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 Hamiltons 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. |
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Issued on behalf of Donnelly Motorsport by Andrew Bushe Promotions.
For more information www.donnellymotorsport.com
Or contact Andrew on +44 7966 484201 or andrewbushe@btinternet.com
All editorial and images attached are copyright free. More images www.roydempster.com |
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