Irish rallying is still in shock following the tragic deaths of Bertie Fisher, his son Mark and daughter Emma as a result of a helicopter crash last Sunday.
Rally competitors and fans from Ireland and Britain gathered in their thousands in Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh to join with a grieving community at yesterday's funeral.
Bertie Fisher (51) was a formidable and fair competitor in rallying for three decades and will be sadly missed. Mark Fisher (27) inherited much of his father's skill and was destined for big things in rallying, including the ultimate works drive for a World Rally Championship team.
Rallying also suffered a sad loss on January 5th when Timmy O'Sullivan (31) was killed in a road accident in dense fog near Ferbane, Co Offaly. From Cullen near Mallow, he was married with a young daughter, and was co-driver for his brother Donie in a Ford Escort Cosworth. Dublin photographer Frank Fennell is recovering from severe injuries suffered in a collision with a non-competing car on the Retro Monte Carlo Rally.
Meanwhile, Saturday night's navigation trial, round five of eight in the EARS Motorsport National Championship, has been postponed as a mark of respect for the Fisher Family.
Sunday's Forestry Rally, the penultimate round of the KBB Doors National Championship, goes ahead and will be run out of the Mitchelstown, Co Cork by the Tipperary Light Car and Motor Cycle Club. The leaders in the points standings will lead the race through the forest, including Kevin O'Kane (Subaru Impreza) 44; Niall Driver (Mitsubishi Evo VI) 41; John Donnelly (Ford Escort Cosworth) 40; Michael Nevin (Escort Mk.2) 29; Dominic McNeill (Escort Cosworth) 28.
The final championship event will be the Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club's Willie Loughman Memorial Rally on February 18th.
Talks of an Irish Grand Prix are merely the ramblings of pipe dreamers and those who are not au fait with the financial and organisational enormity of running a Formula One World Championship race. Staging a World Rally Championship round is a far more realistic alternative. We have the stages, the facilities and the organisational capability but we just don't have the money and the international clout to make it happen.
It is interesting to note a number of Irish rallies are included in British Championships in 2001. The Ulster Rally on August 31st-September 1st is the penultimate round of the British Rally Championship which will see a number of Irish crews competing.
The Annual Inter-Centre Conference of the Motor Cycle Union of Ireland takes place tomorrow in the La Mon House Hotel, near Belfast. The road racing season starts with the Cookstown 100 on April 28th.
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