Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally season

FOR ALL rally fans in the south east, the coming of autumn means only one thing, and that’s the countdown to what is now the Wexford Volkswagen Stages rally, which is due to take place over the weekend of September 11 and 12.

The 230km, 15-stage, two-day event is the only one of its kind in the south east and draws big interest from both home and across the water.

The event is seen as one of the best value for money events in the country, with the fast flowing nature of the stages popular with both drivers and spectators alike.

This year also heralds the exciting launch of Volkswagen Wexford as the main sponsors of the event.

In these times, Volkswagen Wexford’s commitment to a ground-breaking, five-year sponsorship deal shows great faith and belief in not just the club, but the event itself, and will hopefully prosper to see the event evolving into a festival weekend in the town for years to come.

The weekend will also see the beginning of Rallyfest - a festival centred around the rally held in partnership with Wexford Volkswagen, Wexford County Council and other stakeholders to create a family-friendly event.

Entries for the Volkswagen Stages Rally currently stand over the 70 mark, however, last year’s winners Mark Straker and Michael Coady will not be returning to defend their crown. After their popular win on last year’s event, their 2016 plans were foiled in West Cork with an early retirement which has seen the blue rocket parked up.

Mark’s plan is to return to the stages in 2017 and we hope to see him back in Wexford too.

Those at the top of the list at this stage include the Subaru WRC’s of Paddy McVeigh / Gary McElhinney, Steve Wood / Keith Moriarty and Kevin Barrett / Sean Mulally. Wood was right in the hunt for victory last year until turbo problems ended his event while McVeigh will be looking to replicate his Sligo victory earlier this year in his ex-Patrick Elliot S12B Impreza.

Kevin Barrett has been a stalwart of Irish rallying, recently being highlighted through his sponsorship of the National Championship series. His S14 is ideally suited to the Wexford roads and Kevin will be hoping for a good run.

Another two crews who could spring a surprise are Tomas Davies in his R5 spec Ford Fiesta and the turbo charged Mitsubishi Colt of Sean Crowley & Emma Jones.

The wide-arched Colt in particular is a rare sight on Irish stages and it will be interesting to see how this crew, who retired early on from last year’s event, fair out against their rivals at their second attempt at the Wexford stages. Added to this are Graham & Tomas Scallan who were in the top five last year until mechanical problems intervened.

The modified battle is always a fiercely fought affair in the model county, with the winners taking home the coveted John Joe Galvin memorial award. This is usually 2.5 Millington Power territory with the award being lifted by the mighty plant since its inception in 2011. 2014 winners, Lisburn’s Wesley Patterson, navigated by Johnny Baird finished a fine second overall last year to the Darrian of Straker.

After a third overall in 2014 and a second overall on last year’s event, could the blue Escort possibly lift the 2016 crown? He definitely won’t have it his own way with a gaggle of Escorts looking to make their mark. Frank Kelly finished third to Wesley last year and with local man John McGrath on the notes, the Moy man will be looking for a good run in what has been an indifferent season for him. Another northern man with local knowledge on-board is Tyrone’s Adrian Hetherington with Gary Nolan on the notes. Adrian of course finished top 2wd and 3rd overall on this event in 2011. They are another crew to have a mixed season, finishing second 2wd to Brian Brogan in West Cork before crashing out of the lead of the National section on the Donegal International in June. Adrian however likes the fast flowing Wexford stages and will be aiming to repeat his 2011 result. Enda O’ Brien / John Butler topped the 2wd standings on both the Raven’s Rock and Stonethrowers rally and will be looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in Wexford while David Condell / Eugene McGrath and Brendan McDaid / Karl Reid in their 2.5 KGP Vauxhall engined Escort are both crews who will have their eyes on lifting the John Joe Galvin award come Sunday evening.

However, the 2 litre men will be making sure the bigger powered cousins don’t have it all their own way. Jack Newman finished a fantastic second overall on the National section of the Killarney Rally of the Lakes last May. The Meath man is a serious charger and he’ll be looking to rattle the 2.5 men in the chase for 2wd honours. Local man Liam Howlett is always a hard charger. He followed Newman home in Killarney to a fine 3rd in the National section and with Enda Kennedy on the notes, he’ll be eager to pick up the battle with Newman once more on his home stages. Patrick McHugh and Pauric O’ Donnell were quick last year and they’re another crew who are fans of the fast Wexford stages, while Alistair and Debbie Fingleton could be dark horses in the class 13 battle.

Wexford has always been a county with a strong rallying contingent, in turn meaning the class battles can get very hot and heavy between the local men! 2016 appears to be no different with many locals looking for a good run on their home event. Class 11F is always hotly contested and this year will be no exception with the Honda Civics’ of Simon Reid, Tommy Kelly, Andy Nash and Conor Moore just some of the expected front runners, while class 1 for the more standard versions see’s Eamon Bates and Bobby Hennessey renew their Stonethrowers battle. James Pettit (BMW Compact) and Richard Moore (Escort) will be trying to make inroads on the class 14 battle while Johnny Murphy will face a similar challenge aboard his Ford Escort Mk2 in class 13.

Wexford has always been a favourite destination for the mad Welsh rallying fraternity! Memories of Bob Fowden’s big Rover Vitesse, John Price’s Renault 5 Turbo and various Metro 6r4’s along with his son Stephen and more recently the Darrian of John Dalton and the Escort of Phil Collins are just some of the memories that immediately spring to mind. The event always saw the crews from across the water come in their droves and even though the EARS / Motoring News championship has now ceased, it is still great to see so many overseas crews coming over for the weekends “craic”. Crews such as Wayne Evans / John Smithwick (Adopted Welsh!), Adrian Evans /Martin Henry and Emyr Davies / Gethin Sollis are just some who have entered for this year’s event.

As with every rally, it cannot be run with vast amounts of manpower and Wexford is no exception. For anyone who is willing to help the club with marshalling over the weekend, please contact chief marshal Sean Sammon on 087 4372757.