Wexford Mini Stages 2009

Wexford Mini Stages 2009

Rally Results

KERRY 2007:

With getting a terrible seeding at 197 putting them on 45 on reserve the ruth motorsport team had no chance of getting a run, but navigator Sorcha Kelly got another spin for her local event in with John Hickey in the 4x4 mk 2 escort better know a s a "fubaru" because of its subaru running gear. a very good result was achieved by sorcha finishing a very good 19th overall and 2nd in class

With galway international being the first round of the irish tarmac championship, Jp and Sorcha were hoping for a good result and after rebuilding the new car to the ruth motorsport spec all was ready for the rally, with a really good recce done Jp was confident that he could go well on the galway stages. On saturdays first stage out the frost was out to greet all competitors, Jp knew by the first junction that the car was a good car to go dispite wrestling with the car to keep it on the road as conditions were the worst the kilkenny man had seen, stage 2 was alot tighter and harder that the first stage and he settled himself well to lie 3rd in the class, not bad considering he had not tested the car prior to the event, but on stage 3 the fastest stage of the day heartbreak struck for the pair as their hopes were dashed when the engine blew and bent 3 of the valves on the stage, leaving them to watch their rivals go by, Not the start they wanted  for the season but they look forward to the next event the west cork stages rally in march.

Fresh from their class win on the fastnet rally, JP and Sorcha decided to gain more experience and get more used to each other that the kerry mini stages would be a good event to do so, with a late entry sent in the crew were placed on the reserve list but luck being on their side enough of cars dropped out for them to get a run, a good recce was on hand and again Mentor Bob Kelly was on hand to make sure all was in place. with the first stage being block on the crew this unsettled JP a little bit and he felt he was too far off the pace on stage 2 but indeed he was not too far away as he was 30 seconds faster than the the next rival in the class, with 2 stages to go JP was really going for it and his hard work paid off, the crew of Ruth and Kelly won class 7 by 3minutes and 2 seconds and finished a brillent 40th overall ahead of some well established drievrs. Its a great finish to a year that statrted off so bad, but not just for JP his hard was not only rewarded but to all the team and the people who helped us out, they are some many who worked so hard but its a bright look for next year........till next year keep er at it

Tired, emotional and broke from rebuilding the astra after the wexford rally JP and his trusty mechanic Willy Reilly had  turned the group n astra into a full blooded group A machine, New alcon super1600 kit car brakes were fitted along with a Ruth Motorsport fabricated pedal box, The gearbox was upgraded to a Quaife F20 close Ratio and new Group A drive shafts were added. For the lack of power problem it was decided the trottle bodies were to replace the standard injection systen and a new omex 600 ecu engine management systen was fitted and we were on our way, With a little bit of testing done in the car and a few miles under his belt before the event the team was ready for action. A new addition to the team was the new navigator no other than Miss Sorcha Kelly. Sorcha is a daughter of experienced co driver Bob Kelly who has more experience than i can ever imagine..JP with his new navi and new mentor Bob Kelly things were looking up for him,. The recce went really well and i picked up a lot of pointers from bob the will sharpen up my driving. Freezing cold conditions heavy rain,mist, fog, mud and standing water greeted us as we tackled some classic west cork roads. we settled in very well and everything was going good we were winning our class and looking good. Our closest Rival that weekend was Aidan Dunlea in the kitcar escort maxi, we knew we were in the lead but not sure by how much so we decided to go flat out on the last 2 stages, we had a real cut on the last stage and we both really enjoyed it. We won our class by 3minutes and 11seconds and finished a very respectfull 51st overall. it was the first outing for JP and Sorcha and what better way to start off by with a class win, its a good start for the pair and no doubt we will see them in action on the stages soon...till the next time...keep er at it!!! 

On the weekend of the 10th of september JP took part in the wexford stages rally. With being busy preparing the car and looking for a navigator he was starting to doubt competeing in the rally, then a navi was sourced at the last minute the experienced Denis Foley from waterford was hauled it. With the crew doing their recce on the thursday and friday they were under pressure from the start having to write their own notes,check them, finalise them and be happy with them. none the less they were ready for action with the saturday stages  being based around Enniscorthy they were way off the pace on the first stage by 42 seconds buy they didnt mind as it was along rally, over they weekend JP upped his pace but never really got going hard enough to make any serious impression on the class leaders. On the sunday morning stages JP had a few good time and moved up into 3rd in the class just a few seconds off of  2nd place and it was well in his grasp till a puncher lost the crew almost 3 minutes. we were lucky in fairness says jp as we were traveling fairly hard when the tyre just blew out i dont think we clipped anything, i felt the tyres were going of earlier in the stage and they may of over heated and just blew out with heat. however they finished up 4th in the class. but at the end of the event JP felt it was time for a few changes, i was unhappy with the car it lacked the little bit of speed and power, but im sure we can solve that in the future. till the next time........keep er at it

on the 6 of august JP and his navi Ken blanche contested in the almc rally based in virginia with stages around nobber,mulllagh and kells. this one day classic organised and run by the Air lyngus motor club (ALMC) saw JP and Ken seeded way down the reserve list but were happy to get their entry on friday evening. the first stage was cancelled due to an accident the second stage seen JP settle into this new vauxhall machine, a few steady runs over the next few stages saw him get to grips with the car but on stage 5 a burst brake pipe cost him 25 minutes, having to resort to clamping the brake pipe with a vice grip to get off the stage with just brakes on 3 of the 4 wheels, crawling through stage 6 and limping back to service where crew of Joel Hurley and Annmarie Carroll had a new brake pipe and fittings organised for JP to fit in ultra quick time. arriving at stage 7 JP had no real convidence in the brakes but by the end of the stage he was back on form, with driving flat out over the last two stages and getting miles and confidence in the car. JP and Ken found out then that they were the only car left in class 3 so its was an easy win all the same but to "finish first first you must finish" and thats what they done. its was the first win for jp since feb 2005 and it was long over due. its also a big confidence boost for the team after have 7 retirements in a row. the next outing for jp will be the wexford stages rally on september 10th

Thanks to Peter Boyd of www.peespeed.com for these photos