2010 Tour of the Mournes Report
22 January 2010
Rathfriland Motor Club had the pleasure of hosting the first round of the 2010 Northern Ireland Navigation Rally Championship, which this year is being sponsored by McGrady Insurance.
The crews started off from the Old George in Rathfriland on a terribly foggy night. Navigation rally competitors often have to deal with fog on events, but this was a particularly dense and persistent fog that made for difficult progress all night.
Eighteen crews tackled the 82 mile route, which while not a large entry, was notable for the numbers competing in the Expert class. Eight crews were in this class, and it has been many years since such a number of top navigators were gathered together at the same rally. The route stayed West of the host village and took the crews in the direction of Banbridge.
Three crews were hard to separate throughout the rally. These were the current champions, Willie McKeown and Patrick McCollum, 2009 runners-up Eddie Murphy and Barry Taggart and Gary Sheridan and Lloyd Cochrane. At the half way point, only 2 marks made the difference between 1st and 3rd, with McKeown/McCollum just holding the lead. The second half looked like it belonged to Murphy/Taggart as running second on the road they caught and passed the lead car several times. Going into the final section, they held the lead by 2 marks from McKeown/McCollum, but they lost a full 8 minutes in finding the final control and handed victory to the champions. Gary Sheridan and Lloyd Cochrane could also have won where it not for a time consuming section 3 from the end. They ended in 3rd place, just 3 marks behind the winners.
A little distance behind these three, the chasing pack were led home by John and Jonathan Henderson, who are keeping their close rivalry with the Preston family alive as they were quite evenly matched throughout most of the rally. In fact, the Prestons held the upper hand for nearly the whole rally bar the approach to the Relaxed section. Crews were told to take the shortest route to the last control, but approach it from a less than obvious direction. The Prestons ignored this approach request, picked up a 15 for their trouble and to add insult to injury missed the preceding secret check. These two penalties in quick succession gave the Hendersons bragging rights for now.
A welcome return to competition were Gordon Simpson and Clerk of the Course for the Omagh round, Derek Graham. They were holding their own in the first half, but made a similar error to the Preston's on the approach to Relaxed and eventually finished up in 6th place, one ahead of the Fiat Tipo of Clifford Auld and John Lindsay. One crew that most likely would have challenged the leading three was the most improved crew of 2009, Leslie and Gareth Hawe. Unfortunately it wasn't to be as transmission woes brought their Clio to a halt 6 miles from the start.
Andrew Hughes and Neil Anderson, on their first attempt the Semi-Expert Class, where the instructions are that bit tougher to solve than they would have been used to, won the class from Ken McDonald and Rachel Muldoon. The latter crew were better in most sections, but when they went wrong, they made sure to make it count. One missed control and that tricky approach to the Relaxed control cost them the class win. William and David Howard were the other Semi-Expert crew, but didn't finish.
The best of the Novice Class crews were Richard Beattie and Ian Hawthorne who led the class from start to finish. Barry Gilpin and Denis Morton were just that bit behind the leaders in most sections but claimed 2nd in class. Richard and Mark Hughes were 3rd, but if hadn't been for one missed control costing them 30 minutes, they would have won the class. But how many stories at the end of a rally start with "If only I hadn't..."? Ian and Aaron Johnston had a good steady run in their Micra ruined by a missed control just after relaxed, which meant a 4th place finish, with Clive Latimer and David McElroy behind them. Neither Patsy Branney/Michael Gilmore, nor the only Class 4 entrant, a returning James Horner and Kyle Wethers made it to the finish.
Eight more rounds make up the championship, with the next stop being the Jumping Jack Rally in three weeks time.
Patrick McCollum
Results
Overall:
- Willie McKeown/Patrick McCollum (Expert, Vauxhall Corsa) 19 marks;
- Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart (Expert, Vauxhall Corsa) 21;
- Gary Sheridan/Lloyd Cochrane (Expert, Proton) 22;
- John Henderson/Jonathan Henderson (Expert, Nissan Micra) 62;
- David Preston/Kyle Preston (Expert, Citroën Saxo) 87;
- Gordon Simpson/Derek Graham (Expert, Citroën C4) 104;
- Clifford Auld/John Lindsay (Expert, Fiat Tipo) 108;
- Andrew Hughes/Neil Anderson (Semi-Expert, Peugeot 306) 129;
- Ken McDonald/Rachel Muldoon (Semi-Expert, Peugeot 205) 145;
- DNF Leslie Hawe/Gareth Hawe (Expert, Renault Clio) DNF;
- DNF William Howard/David Howard (Semi-Expert, Vauxhall Astra) DNF
Experts:
- Willie McKeown/Patrick McCollum (Expert, Vauxhall Corsa) 19 marks;
- Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart (Expert, Vauxhall Corsa) 21;
- Gary Sheridan/Lloyd Cochrane (Expert, Proton) 22;
- John Henderson/Jonathan Henderson (Expert, Nissan Micra) 62;
- David Preston/Kyle Preston (Expert, Citroën Saxo) 87;
- Gordon Simpson/Derek Graham (Expert, Citroën C4) 104;
- Clifford Auld/John Lindsay (Expert, Fiat Tipo) 108;
- DNF Leslie Hawe/Gareth Hawe (Expert, Renault Clio) DNF
Semi-Experts:
- Andrew Hughes/Neil Anderson (Semi-Expert, Peugeot 306) 129;
- Ken McDonald/Rachel Muldoon (Semi-Expert, Peugeot 205) 145;
- DNF William Howard/David Howard (Semi-Expert, Vauxhall Astra) DNF
Novices:
- Richard Beattie/Ian Hawthorne (Citroën Saxo) 26;
- Barry Gilpin/Denis Morton (Rover 414) 43;
- Richard Hughes/Mark Hughes (Vauxhall Corsa) 54;
- Ian Johnston/Aaron Johnston (Nissan Micra) 73;
- Clive Latimer/David McElroy (Seat Ibiza) 101;
- DNF Patsy Branney/Michael Gilmore (Škoda Favorit) DNF
Beginners:
- DNF James Horner/Kyle Wethers (Toyota Celica) DNF
Posted by PMcCollum on 23/1/2010; Last updated by PMcCollum on 26/1/2010