Sunset Rally Report
4 November 2017
Title Glory for Greer in
N.I Rally Finale!
Round Seven of the 2017 MSA ANICC McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Rally
Championship
Saturday was a crowning day for Jonny
Greer and co-driver Kirsty Riddick, as they claimed second place on the
Magherafelt & District Motor Club’s Sunset Stages Rally at Nutts Corner to
clinch the 2017 MSA ANICC McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Rally
Championship. Their Citroen DS3 R5 prepared by the Greer family DGM Sport team
had run faultlessly and the crew had actually taken a narrow 0.3 second lead
going into the tenth and final stage. “We had the narrowest of leads, but
then on the start-line the rain came pelting down and the track was like a
bottle. We knew the championship was the important thing and we just chilled
out a bit and got round” said the Carryduff driver.
Derek McGarrity and James O’Reilly
didn’t need an invitation to snatch back time and took a three second victory
on the rally in their Skoda Fabia R5. Derek the seven times N.I Rally Champion
had demonstrated why he took those titles as he was now really confident in his
R5 car and took the lead on the second test at Superdrive Motorsports Centre.
Despite his best efforts he has to hand over his crown to Greer who has enjoyed
the competition with Derek. It’s been a memorable year for Jonny. “We didn’t
anticipate that we would ever be in this position at the start of the year. We
didn’t initially set out to do the championship, but when we won the first
round, we sort of carried on. I think that actually makes it feel more special
for me, as we went through the year the more interesting and enjoyable the
whole thing became. It’s the first time I have contested the whole series, and
some events I hadn’t done before like the Bushwhacker for example. I had often
heard my dad talking about some of the stages on these rallies, and we have
been competing on the famous stages in England and Wales for so many years so I
wasn’t sure how they would compare. However when I actually drove some of the
stages at home I understood why they had been talking about them for so long!
With the mixture of surfaces in the series, a good atmosphere and the events on
offer virtually on our door-step I actually feel that this is one of the better
championships out there to contest also. I have really enjoyed the race with
Derek and the camaraderie was good. He is the first person to congratulate you
if you have done well on a rally, and I’m sure he will come out fighting again
next year.”
There were other battles waged out on
the final round and Derek McGeehan took the Mini WRC to a fine third place,
with Gareth Sayers Ford Fiesta Proto in fourth. Alan Carmichael’s fifth place
in the S14 Impreza helped the Ballymoney driver claim third in the
championship, whilst Conor McCrossan took a fine sixth in his Super 2000 Skoda
Fabia. In seventh was Niall Henry in his class eight Evo 10, enabling him to
secure the class in the championship. In a fine eighth after a long lay-off
from rallying was twenty-four year old Omagh lass Amy Cox in a Skoda Fabia
Super 2000 kindly loaned by the McCormack family, with their daughter Caron
also in the co-driver’s seat. Just seven seconds behind in ninth was top two
wheel drive runner, Antrim’s James Kennedy in his MK2 Escort. James also
claimed the coveted N.I two wheel drive title, just a few points ahead of Kyle
White who was eleventh overall and first in class again with the 208 R2. Tenth
overall was a great result for Joe Hegarty in his Evo 6, whilst the top Group N
runners fell by the way-side with mechanical issues. Clive Kilpatrick wrapped
up the Group N championship after a good year despite a retirement on the
Sunset with a broken gear-box mounting. N.I Junior Champion Gareth Deazley
fresh from his great Rally GB adventure also retired his Honda Civic with
transmission issues.
In the Historic category too there was
drama, as Drew Wylie’s challenged sadly expired like his BDA engine on stage
one, and Raymond Johnston had to retire with clutch failure on stage six in his
similar RS1800.
However the Fermanagh driver had enough
points to become the new champion, from Philip Wylie who also suffered delays
on the rally. Armoy’s John Adams was top Historic finisher home in his class 11
MK2 Escort.
Another drive of note came from local
youngster Philip White. The former Junior 1000 front runner powered his now
1400cc Nissan Micra to an excellent twentieth overall, and first in class 3.
Other class winners on the Sunset event were: Michael Nutt- class 1- (Honda Civic),
David Christie-class 5 (MK2 Escort), Greg McCormack- class 12 (MK2 Escort).
The 2017 MSA ANICC McGrady Insurance
Northern Ireland Rally Championship class winning drivers are: Class 1-Gareth
Deazley, Class 2-Clive Kilpatrick, Class 3-Ryan Murray, Class 4-Kyle White,
Class 5-Stephen McFerran, Class 6- James Kennedy, Class 7-Dessie McCartney,
Class 8-Niall Henry, Class 9-Alan Carmichael, Class 10- Jonny Greer, Class
11-Philip Wylie, Class 12- Raymond Johnston, Ladies Champion- Michelle Morelli,
Group N Champion- Clive Kilpatrick, 2WD Champion- James Kennedy, Junior
Champion-Gareth Deazley, Historic Champion- Raymond Johnston
Thanks to the efforts of the
Magherafelt Motor Club for running their reserve championship round, the sun
has now set on the 2017 Northern Ireland Championship, but what of next year
and our new champion? “I would love to do it again next year if we can
get the budget all together, and also to encourage even more competition into
the series would be great. It’s been a good year and a massive thank-you to the
team for all of their efforts” said the 2017 champion.
2017 McGrady Insurance MSA ANICC Northern Ireland
Rally Championship-Round Seven results
1st Derek McGarrity / James
O'Reilly
Škoda Fabia
R5
20m31.2s
2nd Jonathan Greer
/ Kirsty
Riddick
Citroën DS3
R5
+0:03.1
3rd Derek McGeehan
/ Gary McElhinney Mini
WRC
+0:30.5
4th Gareth Sayers / Gareth
Gilchrist
Ford Fiesta
4X4
+0:45.6
5th Alan
Carmichael / Ivor
Lamont
Subaru Impreza WRC
+0:47.7
6th Conor McCrossan / Conor
Murphy Škoda Fabia
S2000
+0:54.1
7th Niall Henry / Aaron
Johnston
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 +1:19.5
8th Amy Cox / Caron
McCormack
Škoda Fabia
S2000
+1:19.8
9th James Kennedy / Heather
Kennedy Ford Escort
MkII
+1:26.2
10th Joe Hegarty / David Turkington
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI +1:32.0
2017 McGrady Insurance MSA ANICC Northern Ireland
Rally Championship-Top Five Points
1 Jonny Greer
59pts
2 Derek McGarrity
58
3 Alan Carmichael
40
4 Kenny McKinstry 28
5 Peadar Hurson
25
Posted by PMcCollum on 5/11/2017; Last updated by PMcCollum on 5/11/2017