2003 Jumping Jack Rally Report

7 February 2003

Willie McKeown and Patrick McCollum won the first round of the Association of Northern Ireland Car Clubs Navigation Rally Championship. The 2003 season started with the Queen's University of Belfast Motor Club's Jumping Jack Rally, with Alan Dorman being Clerk of the Course for the third time. The rally was based in Templepatrick, and used a loop of roads that brought it around Dundrod, Maghaberry, Lurgan and Glenavy.

Of the 30 cars that started, disappointingly only 5 were competing in the top two classes. Defending drivers' champion, Edward Murphy, led the field away with championship returnee William Brown navigating.

McKeown/McCollum took the lead when the crews were faced with a difficult circular herringbone. By half way, they led from Omagh's Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd and Murphy/Brown. It was the latter crew that performed best during the middle section of the rally, almost catching the leaders before 1 missed control and 1 wrong departure dropped them to 4th overall by the end. Young/Boyd finished 2nd on 28 minutes, but it was McKeown/McCollum, in the debut event for their Vauxhall Corsa, who held out to win on 17 minutes.

Gordon Simpson and Derek Graham had a steady run in their Peugeot 306, and moved from 4th place early on to 3rd by the finish. David Erwin and Jack Giff failed to finish as the navigator felt unwell.

An excellent entry in the Novice class saw 14 cars compete, with many of them graduates from Omagh Motor Club's rally school. But it was the crews from the host club who performed best, with Mark Cromie and Gareth Jackson leading from start to finish in their Vauxhall Nova. Clifford Auld and John Lindsay were 2nd in their Triumph 2.5Pi, a car well suited to the bumpy terrain covered. Paul Gray and Jim Smith recovered from 5th place at mid-way to finish in 3rd, on 40 minutes penalties. Colin and Pat Quinn finished 4th, and John Adams/Mervyn Elder, who had been as high as 3rd in class, fell away a bit to finish 5th.

Another Omagh rally school crew, Alister and Jonathon McKane, won the non-championship Class 4 by some margin. Raymond Kelly and Colin McDowell finished 2nd in class for the third consecutive event, again picking up a maximum 30 penalty in the last section. Ivor Barker and Arnold Telford were another crew to make expensive mistakes late on, picking up two 30s to finish on 112 penalties. James Horner and Kyle Wethers led the class by a country mile at the half way stage, having only amassed 4 minutes penalties after nearly 50 miles of regularity. Unfortunately, the second half proved somewhat more problematic with no fewer than four 30 minute penalties, which put them down into 4th in class on 145 minutes. Danny Mullan and Ciaran Carey, who have recently attended the QUB Motor Club's rally school, finished 5th in class on 155 penalties.

Patrick McCollum

Results:

Experts:

  1. Willie McKeown Patrick McCollum Vauxhall Corsa 17 mins
  2. Leslie Young Lewis Boyd Ford Sierra 28 mins
  3. Gordon Simpson Derek Graham Peugeot 306 43 mins
  4. Edward Murphy William Brown Vauxhall Nova 87 mins
  5. David Erwin Jack Giff Renault Clio DNF

Novices:

  1. Mark Cromie Gareth Jackson Vauxhall Nova 13 mins
  2. Clifford Auld John Lindsay Triumph 2.5Pi 22 mins
  3. Paul Gray Jim Smith Ford Escort 40 mins
  4. Colin Quinn Pat Quinn Rover 214 44 mins
  5. John Adams Mervyn Elder Peugeot 205 60 mins
  6. William Todd Maurice Cresswell Vauxhall Corsa 82 mins
  7. Patsy Branney Andy Gilmore Skoda Favorit 99 mins
  8. Michael Annett Bryan Heaney Opel Ascona 107 mins
  9. George Wallace Stephen Wallace Volkswagen Golf 111 mins
  10. John Henderson Jonathan Henderson Talbot Sunbeam 120 mins
  11. Ken McDonald Brain Harte Ford Escort 253 mins
  12. John McKay Vicki Milligan Peugeot 405 266 mins
  13. Gary Milligan Robert Milligan Citroën Saxo 309 mins
  14. David Gibson William Hamilton Ford Escort DNF

Beginners:

  1. Alister McKane Jonathan McKane Volkswagen Golf 34 mins
  2. Raymond Kelly Colin McDowell MG Midget 83 mins
  3. Ivor Barker Arnold Telford Ford Escort 112 mins
  4. James Horner Kyle Wethers Vauxhall Nova 145 mins
  5. Danny Mullan Ciaran Carey Ford Focus 155 mins
  6. Shane Sloan Val Rogan Mini 183 mins
  7. Nigel Campbell Colin Harkness Vauxhall Astra 199 mins
  8. Stuart Hyland Richard Hyland Ford Cortina 221 mins
  9. Richard Keys Nicola Milligan Ford Cortina 253 mins
  10. Mark McGirr Blaise McCartney Vauxhall Vectra 273 mins
  11. Stephen Whitford Philip Ford-Hutchinson Mini DNF
Posted by PMcCollum on 26/9/2008; Last updated by PMcCollum on 26/9/2008