BARRY MORRIS TAKES MAIDEN WIN ON THE DOGLEAP RALLY
Organiser: Maiden City Motor Club When: August 4 Where: Ballykelly, County Londonderry Championship: Junior 1000 Challenge Ireland Stages: 6 Starters 64.
Barry Morris took his maiden rally win by 15s on Saturday’s Dogleap Rally, after a switch to the family Darrian T90 GTR.
Morris – usually found in a Ford Escort Mk2 – and co-driver Declan Campbell surprised with a 10s advantage over Joe Mcgonigle on SS1. The Mini John Cooper Works WRC driver’s response came late in the day to reduce Morris’ 19s gap after SS4 by going fastest with Patrick Brides on the final two stages.
Damien Tourish and Rodney Stewart were third by the mid-event service and remained at the finish, although 51s back on Mcgonigle. They finished as the first Ford Escort Mk2 home, 14s up on John and Kayleigh Bonner.
Darren Mckelvey enjoyed the new format and said he would return following fifth place with Aaron Johnston’s notes. The Mitsubishi Lancer E9 set the same time as the Bonner team only to lose on the tiebreak.
One second later, Mark Massey’s Ford Focus WRC was sixth, ahead of Padraig Egan in a Mckinstry Motorsport Subaru Impreza S14 WRC, despite breaking a shaft on SS1 and two spins.
On his first rally, 15-yearold Kyle Mcbride won the Juniors by seven seconds in a Toyota Aygo with Darren Curran on the notes. Sam Adams followed.
Organiser: Trackstar When: August 4 Where: King’s Lynn Starters: 51.
Stuart Smith Jr produced a dominating drive in the first of the BRISCA F1 World Championship semi-finals to book himself a front row start in the big race at Skegness on September 22nd.
Smith jumped into the lead at the start of the race and led the entire distance. Behind him, Tom Harris negotiated his way through the pack to challenge Smith by the mid-point of the race but, as the track conditions changed, Smith pulled away and held a comfortable margin over his rivals to the chequered flag.
Behind the leaders, there was a tremendous scrap for the 10 qualifying spots. That meant only 10 of the 24 starters made it to the end. Ricky Wilson, who started on the back row of the grid, claimed the final transfer spot into the World final.
Smith Jr said: “Mat Newson tried to squeeze me on the start, but I knew what I had to do to give myself the best chance of winning the race, and I was able to do that on the opening lap. I saw Harris closing in, but I changed my style of driving and was able to pull away. My car might not have been the best on the day but it did the job.”
Harris, meanwhile, said that he simply couldn’t keep the pace late on.
“I had a good start and the car was good early on when the track was tacky and I thought I had the legs on Smith. But as the track dried and got slick, the car got loose and I couldn’t hold on to him. I am just sorry I couldn’t have made it a better race for the fans,” said Harris.
Mark Gilbank completed the podium places. He added: “I had a decent couple of laps at the start and I just sat tight. The car came good towards the end.”
The second semi-final takes place at Birmingham Wheels on Saturday, with a last chance race at Skegness on the day of the World final day, allowing the non qualifiers from the semis one last chance with a win.