2003 Tour of the Mournes Report
17 October 2003
Phil and Alan Dorman clinched the Northern Ireland Navigation Rally Championship after winning Rathfriland Motor Club's Tour of the Mournes. It was the fifth win of the year for the Vauxhall Nova crew. Phil had been runner up before, in 1999, with his father, Brian, navigating. Since then, Brian has retired from competition, but Dorman junior has certainly upheld the family tradition of top class navigating.
The rally started in Rathfriland itself on yet another perfectly dry Friday night. The compact route took the 17 crews on two Co Down loops past Mayobridge, Warrenpoint, Newry and back to Rathfriland.
The Dormans and Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart were on 1 and 3 penalties respectively at the midway break, which was well ahead of the rest. Both Willie McKeown/Patrick McColllum and Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd had initially plotted an incorrect route from TCD. McKeown/McCollum then noticed their error, and turned to correct themselves. They did find the control at a crossroads but proceeded to take a wrong departure and picked up a maximum 30 anyway. At half way, Young/Boyd were in 3rd place on 32, McKeown/McCollum on 36 and Trevor and Ricky Reid on 42.
The event turned out to be a little unusual in that almost every section had the potential for catching crews out. So crews that had had a bad run in the first half were not out of contention and were able to claw back up the leader board. In fact, by the end, every one of the expert crews picked up at least one maximum 30.
The Dormans were still on 1 penalty going into the final section, but even they were eventually caught out. It made no difference, as they had enough of a lead to afford the 30 plus time penalties without losing the lead. Murphy/Taggart not only were very late at the first secret check on the second half, but they also missed a control on a section described by an unusual style of herringbone to leave them 3rd by the end on 62.
Willie McKeown/Patrick McCollum (Vauxhall Corsa) got the least penalties of any Expert crew during the second half, lifting them from 4th to 2nd on 48 penalties. Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd finished 4th on 84 penalties. The Reids seemed to cover more miles than most, and finished on 112.
In the Novice section the early leaders were Jonathan Charlesson/Stephen Wishart, who had swapped seats for the event. On the last section before the midway halt they made the first of many expensive errors, which handed the lead to Clifford Auld/John Lindsay at the break. Then Chris Ragg/James Woods, in a Mini, picked up only 3 penalties in the entire second half to move them into the lead and claim their first championship class victory. Auld/Lindsay had penalties for lateness through the last two sections, but they were still 2nd, just 2 penalties behind the winners, but it was enough to win them the Novice Championship with one round to spare. Eddie Robinson/Alan Shilliday were another Novice crew to shine in the second half. They also picked up only 3 penalties, which earned them 3rd in class in their Peugeot 106. Paul Gray/Jim Smith actually managed to clean the 2nd half, but their 37 penalties from the first half left them in 4th by the end. William Todd/Maurice Cresswell (Corsa) were 5th on 57, then George and Stephen Wallace (Sierra) on 60. John Adams/Mervyn Elder (Peugeot 205) got 7th, although it was only on the "further cleaner" rule, as they had tied on 73 penalties with Jim Bearns/Ian Paget (Mini). Jonnie and Wishee finally got their Mk II Escort home in 9th place on 107 penalties. John Stafford/Maurice Kyle (Mini) came 10th on 182 penalties.
Ivan/Gareth Hawe (Renault Scenic) won the Beginners' Class from Nigel Campbell/Colin Harkness (Golf).
The only question left for the championship is can the Dorman's match the record set by Eric/Glenn Patterson of 6 wins in a season. If they start the final round, they are guaranteed a maximum championship score of 68 points no matter how they finish.
Patrick McCollum
Results
Overall
- Phil Dorman/Alan Dorman Vauxhall Nova 35 mins
- Willie McKeown/Patrick McCollum Vauxhall Corsa 48 mins
- Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart Vauxhall Nova 62 mins
- Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd Ford Sierra 84 mins
- Trevor Reid/Richard Reid Peugeot 205 GTi 112 mins
Experts
- Phil Dorman/Alan Dorman Vauxhall Nova 35 mins
- Willie McKeown/Patrick McCollum Vauxhall Corsa 48 mins
- Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart Vauxhall Nova 62 mins
- Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd Ford Sierra 84 mins
- Trevor Reid/Richard Reid Peugeot 205 GTi 112 mins
Novices
- Chris Ragg/James Woods Mini 15 mins
- Clifford Auld/John Lindsay Triumph 2.5Pi 17 mins
- Eddie Robinson/Alan Shilliday Peugeot 106 30 mins
- Paul Gray/Jim Smith Ford Escort Mk I 37 mins
- William Todd/Maurice Cresswell Vauxhall Corsa 57 mins
- George Wallace/Stephen Wallace Volkswagen Golf 60 mins
- John Adams/Mervyn Elder Peugeot 205 73 mins
- Jim Bearns/Ian Paget Mini 73 mins
- Jonathan Charlesson/Stephen Wishart Ford Escort Mk II 107 mins
- John Stafford/Morris Kyle Mini Clubman 182 mins
Beginners
- Ivan Hawe/Gareth Hawe Renault Scenic 101 mins
- Nigel Campbell/Colin Harkness Volkswagen Golf 144 min
Posted by PMcCollum on 26/9/2008; Last updated by PMcCollum on 26/9/2008