Jottings from the Emerald Isle Classic
 

Leg One
The 1st Emerald Isle Classic started from Dublin Castle with nearly 50 cars on a bright but showery Sunday afternoon to a traditional Irish accompaniment from local musician Sean Garvey's band. The cobbled upper courtyard of the castle made a perfect start venue, made possible with the kind help of the Castle guardians.

After a drive through Phoenix Park it was off to the first time control and test section at Blanchardstown Golf Centre where normal play was interrupted to allow the cars to do a short driving test. Fastest on the test was the Triumph TR4 of Tom Callanan and Ed Gaffney. After leaving the test it was a short run up to Coolcarrigan where crews were treated to another test including a section through the cow shed - yes they moved the cows out first!

A Time Control at Charlie Welds bar in Robertstown was followed by the first regularity section along the banks of the Grand Canal. This was timed to the second and was set up as a practice regularity so would not count in the overall results but failing to visit the controls would, and seven crews failed to find the finish thereby incurring a five minute penalty. But it's a long event and not all is lost yet for these unfortunate crews.

As usual the first day of the event had a share of mechanical maladies. First to hit trouble was the Volvo PV544 of Paul Minassian and Tony Davies who had radiator troubles, Irish hospitality and "rallymanship" saw them arrive in Athlone without too many penalties. Chris Rees and Malcolm Heymer have snapped the axle mountings in their powerful Ford Mustang and will be looking for a good welder.

Bart and Jolijn Rietbergen had come all the way from Holland. They thought they might have to spend the week in a rental car when the gearbox of their Alvis broke in the UK but Clerk of the Course Mickey Gabbett lent them an aged Land Rover. They are now taking part in the Touring Category which does a slightly easier route with fewer regularities and tests.

Our night halt on Sunday was the superb Hodson Bay Hotel, but before crews could tuck into the group meal there was the "Molly Malone Trophy" to be contested. This extra special test involved pushing your fellow crew member around the access road of the hotel. No expense was spared to set up this challenge and Pat Neville had provided a wheelbarrow and hard hats to authenticate the experience. Some stunning times were set but at the end of the day the fastest time was set by Dutch crew Tom and Rosalie Gatsonides - no bad feat since Tom has been retired a good few years. There were loud boos from the happy diners when Tom and Rosalie (Tom is the son of the Gatso speed camera inventor) were awarded their prize for this high speed run!

Overall leader of the "proper" event at the moment is Robin Morgan and Chris Towers in an Alfa Romeo Giulia. For full results see the Results Pages.

Leg Two
There were a lot of happy smiling faces in Galway tonight at the group meal after a glorious days rallying around the mountains and moor lands of Connemara on the first full days competition of the Emerald Isle Classic.

One person who was less than happy however, was veteran navigator Willy Cave who uncharacteristically missed the timing point on the first regularity of the day at Sinking River, thus incurring 5 minutes penalty for Roger Byford's MGB GT.

However, Sue Green topped that feat on the regularity around Tully Mountain when she successfully arrived at the finish without actually getting husband Chris to the start. The organisers are still trying to work out how she managed that feat of navigation!

Although the weather has been kind to us today, offering crews magnificent vistas of mountain, lough and wild Atlantic seas, the bumpy Irish roads are giving less well prepared cars a few problems. Having now worked out the intricacies of Irish maps, Bart Simm and Shahed Khan were struggling - but still smiling - in their Jaguar XK140 with a leaking fuel tank and rear springs now supplemented by two sturdy fence posts.

However, the narrow bog roads posed no problems for the Vintage cars - their high ground clearance and wire wheels allowing them to ride the bumps and brows with ease. Still holding the lead of the Touring category (much to their own surprise) are David and Jacky Hall in their Chrysler 75 Roadster by just 4 seconds from Stephen and Cherry Roberts' Mercedes 230SL. However, leading novices Bert Van de Boel and Renilde Swinnen are closing fast in their Healey 3000.

It was not a good day for the Porsche's. Franco Lombardi and Claudia Malgrati had dynamo problems on their 356, now fixed at the overnight halt by Peter Banham and Andy Inskip, our trusty assistance crew. Phil Burgan/Des Wood attacked the final test with great gusto, only to clip a marker in the ex Frank Fennell 911, thus doubling their penalties for the day. And spare a thought for Jane Dillon-Postan. In the 30 seconds it took husband Alex's 911 to complete the Silver Strand test alongside the turquoise waters of Galway Bay - she had lost the time cards.....

At the front of the Sporting Category, the Alfa Giulia of Robin Morgan and Chris Towers still hold the lead over Philip Armstrong and Fred Bents Volvo with the nimble Mini Cooper S of Colin Forster and David Harvey in third. Herman and Elsa Arentsen are now leading the considerable continental contingent with a fine 8th place in their Triumph TR3A.

Leg Three
The west coast of Ireland looked its glorious best as the competitors in this years Emerald Isle Classic threaded their way southwards today from Galway to Killarney.

After the run out to Ballyvaghan, Paul Richards and Steve Davies were forced to cut much of the route due to falling oil pressure in their Cortina GT - fixed by the breakdown crew but not until they rebuilt the oil pump. For the rest, the day's action kicked off with a 24km regularity through the lunar landscape of the Burren where a number of crews got lost in the maze of lanes.

However, the MacAllisters put their Irish knowledge to good use on "Black Biddy", the second regularity of the day, to pull themselves into the top five overall and best mixed crew into the bargain. Also amongst the best scores on this regularity were Richard and Jon Sandiland who, by dint of accurate map reading and timekeeping, were slowly working their little Standard 10 up amongst the leaders.

Those leaders included Alistair Caldwell and Brian Johnson in the formers Mercedes 280SL, whose time on the twisty little test after lunch at Glin Castle catapulted them into 2nd place in the overall classification, a position they held onto for the rest of the days run. In fact it was a good day for Mercedes, Stephen and Cherian Roberts inheriting the lead of the Touring category in their similar car.

After taking the ferry across the broad estuary of the River Shannon, the competitors faced 3 regularities around Tralee and on the spectacular Dingle peninsula. Victoria Mossop and Nick Robinson ruined their days run by getting stuck on a hairpin, and then in a ditch near the end of "Desmonds Grave", while the Jaguar E type of Dennis and Sadie Wilkins was seen by the course car heading in the wrong direction well off route near Dingle.

But the glorious Kerry scenery lifted even the lowest spirits as the cars headed along the cliff face of this westernmost part of Europe to Slea Head, before turning inland again for the final TC of the day at Tom Creans "South Pole Inn" at Anasacaul.

A craftily sited secret check on the last regularity of the day in the Slieve Mish mountains was missed by no fewer than 11 crews including the McEwan's Mini Cooper S, and the Bentley Le Mans of Robert Harley and Trina Walsh (pictured above). However, Harley was soon drowning his sorrows in the bar at the Killarney Plaza Hotel, his efforts at trying to drink Ireland dry earning him a special award at the group dinner that evening!

Leg Four
Today's run around the mountains and lakes of Killarney held enough traps to catch the unwary but Robin Morgan and Chris Towers in their Alfa Romeo Giuilia GT had another trouble free day increasing their lead in the 1st Emerald Isle Classic to nearly a minute from the Mercedes of Ex McLaren F1 team boss Alistair Caldwell and co-driver Brian Johnson.

On roads barely wider than a pony and trap, local knowledge is always an advantage, and both Philip Armstrong and the McAllisters were able to pull up a couple of places in their Volvo's to creep into the top five. More amazingly, given the width - or lack of it - of the mountain roads, is the performance of the two huge Ford Mustangs! With his front suspension held together by chain, Chris Rees is still gamely holding onto 5th overall in his red version. However, Belgians Leempoel and Lootvoet have now joined him in the top ten in their black Mustang despite having to stop and pull the Mini Cooper of Colin Forster and David Harvey out of a ditch near the end of Regularity 3.

Despite being very short, this regularity overlooking Killmackillogue Harbour, caught out a number of people including Herman and Elsa Arentsen who missed the finish control as did Roger Byford and Willy Cave in their MGB GT. Although today's run featured no less than 6 tests, there was also time for a quick blast around the car park of the Eccles Hotel at Glengarriff. The Irish normally excel on this type of test but this time it was the Jaguar E type of Alan and Carol Pontin who took fastest time, while the Van de Boel/Swinnen Healey 3000 took the honours for this test in the Touring Category.

At the front of the Touring category, the Halls have retaken the lead from the Robert's Mercedes, despite their Chrysler 75 Roadster needing some chassis welding after the bumpy mountain roads had taken their toll. Leo and Ans Schildkamp are also moving up the leader board in their Lancia Lambda, courtesy of a cracking best time of zero on the first regularity at Molls Gap. The larger cars are actually coping rather well, David Moffats big Bentley S2 handling the brows and dips of the spectacular "Priests Leap" road with great aplomb.

However, the walking wounded include Andrew Johnson and Richard Sears who are looking for a new differential for their MG, whilst Paul Minassian and Tony Davies look to be out of the 2000km event with gear box problems in their Volvo PV544.

The Sporting only afternoon session around Macgillkuddys Reeks saw a few changes, including the Standard 10 of the Sandilands, which dropped off the leader board after a bad regularity time over Ballaughbeama Gap.

But with the event now half over, the top five crews appear to have established themselves in position, leaving the others to fight it out for the class awards. However, it is still a long way back to Dublin and with around 1000km remaining to the finish, anything can still happen.

Leg Five
Numbers were depleted by one as crews left Killarney. The automatic Jaguar E-type of Trevor and Alan Wragg had suffered a failed starter motor which not even Peter Banham and Andy Inskip were able to fix in the time available. The car was left to be transported to Dublin. Another crew to be suffering from mechanical maladies was the MGB of Andrew Johnson and Richard Sears, they had lost all drive during the preceding afternoon and diff failure had been diagnosed. Local help an unearthed a differential that would fit but it seems that there are two types of differential fitted and this was the wrong type so another had to be obtained from further afield. This was fitted and Andrew and Richard rejoined later in the day.

First Control of the day was at the Kilgarvan Motor Museum, run by the Mitchell family. Crews then went on to tackle three regularity sections before lunching at Blarney. There was opportunity to kiss the Blarney stone for crews who thought that it may assist their future progress. After lunch it was straight into the test around the Blarney Castle estate. This was the competitors first experience of the estate tests and some decided to investigate the unsurfaced areas of the estate - the Burgan / Wood equipe now christened Team Flymo as the appropriately coloured 911 spent a considerable amount of time on the grass!

An uncharacteristic error by former leaders Robin Morgan and Chris Towers saw them clock in early at the Texaco fuel station in Ballymakeery thereby incurring a two minute penalty. They had been suffering as first car on the road and thereby not having the advantage of crews either side of them to compare times. Going well today were the Dublin crew of Richard and Jo McAllister who worked their way up to 2nd place with consistent low scores on the regularity sections.

Lowest penalty for the day was Chris Rees and Malcolm Heymer in the Mustang who seemed to have now got the teething problems with the Mustang sorted and are sure to be competitive on the Classic Marathon in September.

The Touring route is led by David and Jacky Hall in the Chrysler 75. David had been off to the garage in Killarney the previous evening to have the suspension mounts re-welded. Second in the Tourers is John Tooher and Richard Black, and third place is Cherry and Steven Roberts who are putting up some good performances in their Mercedes 230SL.

The crews from the Sporting Route go out again at 21:00 for a short night section in the lanes north of Dungarvan.

Leg Six
Crews driving the Sporting route had a traditional Irish night section around the lanes to the north of Dungarvan. It was a wet and foggy night so only a good crew would complete the night without penalty. In the end only one crew achieved this - the Volvo PV544 of Philip Armstrong and Fred Bent. Chris Rees and Malcolm Heymer, Robin Towers and Chris Morgan both dropped a minute, from here on the penalties increased rapidly as crews struggled in the deteriorating conditions, thankfully mechanical maladies were rare with only John and Jane Murray suffering broken fanbelt in their Volvo Amazon.

Alex and Jane Dillon-Postan were not so lucky and had a what Alex described as a typical Porsche accident - they slid off into a ditch and sustained damage to the offside front corner but more significantly damaged the pipes to the oil cooler. They walked back down the road and in the gloom saw a local garage that looked as though the best it could cope with would be basic servicing on the local jalopy but when the doors were opened it revealed and exceptionally well equipped workshop, the oil pipes were repaired and the car taken back to Dungarvan. Judicious use of large hammers saw the bodywork back into some sort of shape and careful application of a top coat of white tank tape saw a very presentable car leave Dungarvan the next morning.

The marshals from the night section were full of tales about hearing cars but not actually seeing them with the poor weather accentuating the difficulty in finding some tricky slots.

At the start of Leg 7 from Dungarvan only one minute thirty seconds separated the top five crews so nobody could afford to relax for long.

An early start from the Clonea Strand hotel took crews to Piltown for the start of the first regularity section of the day, unfortunately the regularity was interrupted by a furniture delivery lorry stuck across the road. At the end of the leg the inevitable decision to cancel the regularity was taken because so many crews had not been able to complete the section.

Two driving tests followed, the first at the estate of Mickey Gabbett, joint Clerk of the Course, followed by a farmyard test at nearby Kells before a coffee stop at the famous Mount Juliet Golf Club. A regularity section around Mount Leinster preceded lunch at Aughrim.

A short afternoon session with a regularity section led crews to the finish at Killruddery House, home to the Earl of Meath where crews completed the final test of the event on the estate roads. Just 100 metres after the test finish the crews were greeted under the finish gantry by Event Director Jeremy Dickson while the band of Sean Garvey playing in the background.

Overall winners of the Sporting Route were Philip Armstrong and Fred Bent - Volvo PV544, second Chris Rees and Malcom Heymer - Ford Mustang with third place taken by Alistair Caldwell and Brian Johnson - Mercedes 280SL.

In the Touring Category David and Jacky Hall secured their first ever win in the Chrysler 75. Second was John Tooher and Richard Black - Jaguar E Type and third Cherry and Stephen Roberts - Mercedes 230SL.

There was much praise for the Route Designer - Keith Baud and for the work put in by Clerks of the Course Frank Fennell and Mickey Gabbett. The seeds have been sown for what surely promises to be one of the most popular events on the Classic Rally calendar, tulip route books will be introduced for the Touring Category on next years event and there will be further tests for those who like things to be competitive.