Mallow set to roar into life for rally

MALLOW comes alive to the sound of rally cars next Sunday as the Valvoline Forest Rally Championship makes its annual visit to the super-fast, super smooth stages of the Boggeragh Mountain range.

Regarded by many as the finest forest rally stages in the country there is huge interest in this event.

The stages where the action takes place are located west of Mallow.

The event features three stages run twice, two of the stages are old gravel classics, SS1/4 Mount Hilary near Banteer and ss2/6Bweeng, each 8km in length. SS3/5 is the new 16km Boggeragh Drive stage.

There is centralised service after every two stages in Dairygold car park on the Park Road, kindly provided by Dairygold. The first car is away at 9.30am and returns to the finish ramp at 4.30pm. Scrutiny on Saturday evening is at EARS, Quatertown, and Parc Ferme is at the council offices at Annabella.

Leading entries include Sam Moffett and Connor McCloskey, both in state of the art Ford Fiestas. Adrian Hetherington lines out in the older but still very capable Toyota Corolla WRC and could prove to be a dark horse in Cork, Stephen Cullen drives a similar WRC Corolla and also entered is former rally winner Mick O’Brien with Liam Brenan on the notes in a Focus WRC.

Local ace and current leader of the Valvoline Forest rally championship,Ger Lucey will aim to maximise his points take in an effort to consolidate his lead at the top of the points table.

Jonny Leonard, Darren McElvey and Ian Graham, all in a brace of class 20 Evo’ s should prove quick on the super-fast Cork stages.

Top GPN runners include Cathan McCourt, Jordan Hone and Conor McCourt all equipped in a further trio of Evos.

The two-wheel drive battle is shaping up to be another exciting affair. Last year’s Mark 2 Master David Crossen makes a return but is sure to be under pressure from the likes of Mickey Conlon and John Gordon both in very quick MK2 Escorts.

In the juniors, Derek Mackarel leads the field with a host of hard charges on his heels including Stephen Dickson, Shane Kenneally and Jonny Mulholland, with the later switching to a Fiesta R2 for Cork.

The Junior 1000 championship battle concludes in Cork with Jason Murphy leading Alex Byrne by just a single point.

Programmes go on sale on today, Thursday with maps times and more information on the event For more information log on to www. Corkmotoclub.com or the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally FB page.