Old cars given chance to hit rally trail again

MOTORISTS driving around the Killarney Kenmare Glengarriff area on Sunday could well be excused for thinking they have been whisked back in a time capsule to the halcyon era of the Circuit of Ireland of the 1960s, when the Porsche 911 competed against the Ford Escort RS and the little MiniCooper S was starting to run put of puff after some giant killing, performances.

It's all to do with the Killarney Historic Stages Rally, sponsored by Finol Lubricants, for which an excellent entry of 107 has been received by the organisers, Killarney and District Motor Club.

Five powerful Porsche 9115 are listed in the first seven seeds headed by John Keatley (Fermanagh), Dessie Nutt (Derry), Frank Fennell (Dublin), Brian Powley (Shropshire) and Paul Kane (London). Keatley has won the Irish Historic Rally Car Championship for this year, with Nutt second.

Fennell has the flair and the skill to really push the Northerners in his first retro rally in a Porsche, rather than his usual Volvo Amazon. Des Wylie is seeded number three in his nimble Lotus Elan, behind Keatley and Nutt. However, the somewhat fragile Elan was more suited to circuit racing than to rallying.

Of the 18 Mini Coopers entered, car number eight, driven by the experienced Mervyn Johnson of Fermanagh, will be the one to watch. Another of the hotted up Minis will be driven by Rea Kelleher of Tralee, making a return to rallying after an absence of more than 20 years.

The 1995 and 96 National Rally Champion, Stephen Murphy" is the top contender in the classic section, for cars built from 1973 to 1979. The Carlow driver will be at the wheel of a Ford Escort Mark One instead of his usual Ford Escort Cosworth, and will no doubt be strongly challenged by Ed Synan (Limerick), Liam McGarth (Cork), and Tom Randles (Kilgarvan).

The rally starts from Killarney's Gleneagle Hotel at 8.30 am. The first stage at Moll's Gap will be followed to two loops of stages at Borlin, Tim Healy Pass and Killmackillogue. Service will be in Kenmare, with the eighth and final stage at Moll's Gap (in the opposite direction to the morning run). The finish, back in Killarney, is scheduled for around, 3.39.

Eamonn Byrne (150 points) is set to improve on his current eighth position on the Hewison Trophy leader board in the two weekend autotests run by the MG Car Club at Mondello Park. However, Byrne may have to wait until the New Year to seriously challenge the leaders, JJ Farrell (180) and Clive Peterson (158), and go for his sixth Hewison title.

Of the five sporting trials held so far in the winter series, the Erskine Harley Davidson Special has won the lot four wins by Gordon Erskine and one by his twin brother Philip. They aim to maintain their unbroken record in tomorrow's mud plug run by the MEC at Kilruddery near Bray.

Victory in the final round of the All Ireland Trials series won the championship for Ulster rider Andrew Perry by five points from 1995 champion Paul McLoughlin of Greystones, Co Wicklow. Perry won five of the 12 rounds, while McLoughlin had four wins. Paul's brother Brian McLoughlin won Grade B. Stuart Martin added Grade C to his MCUI Southern Centre Championship and Dublin and District MCC Championship, wins.