Dulux Trade - MSA 2011 BRC Latest News ...
Local knowledge paid dividends for Marty McCormack who, driving his Citroen DS3 on this weekend's Toddsleap Ulster Rally NI recorded the first ever victory for an R3 car in the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship and scored the first win for a two-wheel-drive car since September 2000.
McCormack from Draperstown and co-driver David Moynihan from Mallow led the way from the first stage and, although they had to drive hard to maintain their position, remained in control throughout the event's 14 stages to win by one-minute 18 seconds, a substantial margin for the closely contested BRC series.
Second place also went to a two-wheel-drive car, with the Irish pairing of Tommy Doyle and Liam Moynihan in their R3 Renault Clio posting such an impressive performance that Doyle was presented with the Pirelli Star Driver Award at the finish. After a challenging event, third place went to three-times winners this year David Bogie and Kevin Rae in their Mitsubishi Evolution IX and, in doing so, the two Scots extended their British Rally Championship lead.
Starting from Antrim Town Centre on Friday afternoon, the first leg of the rally took crews north for a loop of three stages before a service halt at the town's Junction One retail complex. However, as crews crossed the start ramp, rain started to fall, which meant that the talk between the teams was that of tyres.
As it turned out, the first loop remained dry and McCormack and Doyle set the pace from the word go, topping the British Championship time sheets after SS1. However, by the time cars got back to Antrim after SS3, Carryduff's Jonny Greer had moved up to second in his Skoda Fabia S2000.
Most unfortunate of the BRC runners in SS1 were Welshman Elfyn Evans in the Pirelli Star Driver Subaru Impreza and Finn Mikko Pajunen in his R2 Renault Twingo. Both clipped the same rock at the side of the road and punctured a rear tyre, forcing them to stop, change wheels and lose over three minutes in the process however, Evans fought back to a creditable 6th place at the end of the event.
The sixth round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship sees the UK's premier series revert back to a gravel surface for the Scarborough-based International Rally Yorkshire on 23rd & 24th September.
Manx Telecom has reached an agreement with the Rally Isle of Man organisers to become the headline sponsor of the 2011 event which will now be known as the Manx Telecom Rally Isle of Man. The rally moves to 27th to 29th October and forms a spectacular finale to both of the UK's major rally series, the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, and the Dunlop/Wonago MSA British Historic Rally Championship, as well as the BRC Challenge and the charismatic event will see teams battle for two sets of points on the islands challeging roads, making the 'double header' round pivotal in deciding the championship outcomes
22nd August, 2011