Craig Breen will give the “Kick Energy” Ford Fiesta S2000 its second competitive outing on tarmac this weekend as he competes in the Mayo Stages Rally. This will be the second event in seven days for the Waterford driver as he builds up for the Circuit of Ireland over the Easter weekend.

The rally is the second round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship and is based in the town of Claremorris with the headquarters in the Mc William Park Hotel. Craig is seeded at number six and for this rally he will be partnered by Dai Roberts, brother of his usual co driver Gareth Roberts.

Craig will face stiff opposition as he comes up against Aaron MacHale who is the number one seed. Last time out in Galway Craig held the upper hand by taking second overall on the Safety Direct International and Aaron finishing third. Aaron will be looking to put the young charger in his place but I’m sure Craig will have something to say about that. Both Aaron’s Ford Focus WRC and Craig’s Fiesta S2000 will be prepared by the one and only Tom Gahan which will add some more flavour to the battle. Between Aaron and Craig in the top six are a foursome of Subaru drivers. Seeded number two is Melvyn Evans, who took victory on the opening round of the National Championship at the Birr Stages Rally on the 14th of February. Evans put in a storming performance that day and will be eager to keep his winning run going. In third and fourth we have Niall Maguire and Kevin Barrett. Maguire finished fourth at the Birr Stages and will now want to get his season back on track with a good result. Barrett suffered bad luck in Birr when a wheel nut sheared off one of the front wheels of his Subaru but put in some good times and will want to improve. In at fifth we have Derek McGarrity in the ex-Eamonn Boland Subaru S12B. Derek could be the dark horse as he is still getting to grips with the Impreza and finished second on the podium in Nenagh.

The rally gets underway with a ceremonial start on Saturday evening 22.00 hrs at the Square, Claremorris. The rally action gets under way on Sunday morning with the first stage scheduled for 9.37 hrs. The rally has a nine stage layout, using a three stage repeated format.

Event Links:

Rally Guide

Event Website

Entry List and Results

Club Website

Headquarters

Click here to view the embedded video.

Some clips from the Circuit of Ireland Rally 2003 - 2009.

Speaking at the launch of the 2010 event, seven-time winner Jimmy McRae said: "The Circuit of Ireland holds dear memories for me and the re-introduction of the night-time stage evokes special thoughts having battled rally greats such Billy Coleman, Russell Brookes, Pentti Airikkala and David Llewellin across the famous Circuit.

"I’ve known Bobby Willis [Rally Director] for many years and support his plans to re-awaken the sleeping giant that is the Circuit of Ireland and restore it to its past glory."

Waylander Rally Clips

Photo: Roy Dempster www.roydempster.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Sunseeker Rally in Poole 2010 and Marcus Dodd did what he does best by winning his home event.

video by AMTVMotorsport

2010 Rallye Sunseeker Results

1, Marcus Dodd/Andrew Bargery - Hyundai Accent WRC - 55:02.1
2, Andrew Burton/Robin Kellard - Peugeot Cosworth - 55:35.8
3, Steve Perez/Paul Spooner - Ford Focus WRC07 - 55:48.8
4, Roger Duckworth/Mark Broomfield - Subaru Impreza WRC - 56:17.5
5, Paul Bird/Kirsty Riddick - Ford Focus WRC08 - 56:46.3
6, Jonny Milner/Ian Windress - Toyota Corolla WRC - 57:51.6
7, Anthony Willmington/Andrew White - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6 - 58:21.3
8, Dave Weston Jnr/Ieuan Thomas - Subaru Impreza - 59:09.0
9, Jonathan Greer/Brian Crawford - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 - 59:40.4
10, Stephen Petch/John Richardson - Hyundai Accent WRC - 1:00.23.5

Photo: Brian Butcher

Up-and-coming Frenchman Pierre Campana will make his Super 2000 competition debut in Italy this weekend, at the Rally of Montecchio Maggiore-Arzignano in the Veneto region.

Competitors will drive just one 13.5-kilometre asphalt stage four times in a clover-leaf format. The event is traditionally used by several well-known Italian drivers as a valuable warm-up for the season ahead.

For Pierre, it is the perfect opportunity for his Super 2000 debut, driving a Peugeot 207 run by the Munaretto team: which is based just 20 kilometres away. The Frenchman had his first taste of Super 2000 machinery in the Savoie area of France last month, when he tried out a Peugeot 207 S2000 and a Fiat Grande Punto S2000 on asphalt. Now the 24-year-old steps up to real competition with the Peugeot.

Pierre has already shown his adaptability in the past by recording some stunning results in one-off drives, such as third in the Junior World Rally Championship classification on the Tour de Corse - France's round of the WRC - two years ago. More recently, he won the Renault Clio R3 category on his first trip to the legendary Sanremo Rally in Italy and finished 12th on the Monte Carlo Rally in January. On both those occasions, his Clio was run by Munaretto.

On this weekend's Italian event, Pierre's car will once again carry backing from Ellip6, a ground-breaking French simulator company based near Avignon. Ellip6 specialises in bringing simulator experiences to the public in a way that has never been seen before, so the synergies with Pierre's rally campaign are obvious.

"I'm very much looking forward to the chance to drive a Super 2000 car in competition for the first time, which is also my first event in a four-wheel drive car."  said Pierre. "These are the machines that the World Rally Cars of the future will be based on, so it is a real taste of the pinnacle of the sport. My objective this weekend is simply to learn as much as possible about the way to drive these cars, because I definitely see them as the next step for me. I'd like to thank Ellip6 for their valuable support, and also the Munaretto team. I don't know a huge amount about the rally so I'm not entirely sure what to expect from the stages, but I am sure that it will be a lot of fun."

Pierre and his co-driver Sabrina de Castelli will have a short test in the car on Friday before carrying out the recce on Saturday. The rally takes place on Sunday.

The Frenchman is planning to contest an exciting programme of selected events this year, which is due to be announced shortly.

Classic viewing from Ford films of the 1978 Sedan Products British Open Rally Championship and the 1979 World Rally Championship.

A Little Bit Sideways features action from the Circuit of Ireland, Welsh, Scottish, Burmah, Manx and RAC rallies.

Works entries from Ford, Fiat, Vauxhall and BL, put the series on a par with the world championship and featured top drivers which included: Markku Alen, Walter Rohrl, Hannu Mikkola, Pentti Airikkala, Kyosti Hamalainen, Russell Brookes, Jimmy McRae, Roger Clark, Tony Pond, Malcolm Wilson, Brian Culcheth, Billy Coleman etc.

Mikkola, Brookes and Clark finished first, second and third in the series, driving the all conquering Ford Escort.

Coup de Grâce is Des Lynham's authoritative report on the first year of the drivers' championship in which Ford Escort men Hannu Mikkola and Bjorn Waldegard battled it out all season, with the Swede taking the title by a single point.

Ford also claimed the world championship for manufacturers, in their final year as works team until they returned in 1986.

This era was perhaps the greatest period for International rallying and the Duke DVD captures the best of the action from that particular time.

A Little Bit Sideways and Coup de Grâce
Running Time = 62 mins
RRP £17.61 (Duke Price £14.99)

RallyBuzz readers can receive a 10% discount by entering ‘RBUZZ’ at the checkout online www.dukevideo.com, or if ordering by phone on 01624 640000 just quote the code ‘RBUZZ’.

MEEKE DOUBTFUL FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Perez picks up win after Bird picks up punctures

Fresh from victory in last weekend’s Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil, Ulstermen Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle have cast serious doubts on their chances of returning to attempt a hat-trick of wins on Sol Rally Barbados (May 29/30), which celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the inaugural running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) International All-Stage Rally.

Nagle told the recently-launched web site maxrally.com that they will almost certainly be unable to make it, because of the close proximity of the recce for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, the fourth round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), which takes place the following weekend (June 4-6).

He told reporter Charlie Contadeli: “There’s just no way we could do the rally and be ready for the start of the recce in Sardinia, because they’re just one week apart. It’s not great, because it’s a great event, but Kris and I know our priority is the IRC.”

Meeke’s victory in the Kronos Racing-run Peugeot UK-backed 207 Super 2000 was his second in the two-day gravel rally in Brazil, and his fifth in the IRC, marking a new IRC record. With two of the 12 rounds run, reigning IRC Champion Meeke is equal third with Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen in the standings, trailing Skoda drivers Guy Wilks and current leader Juho Hanninen by one and four points respectively; Peugeot lies seven points behind Skoda in the manufacturer standings.

Meeke and Nagle have won Sol Rally Barbados for the past two years, first in a Toyota Corolla WRC, then last year in a Subaru Impreza WRC S9; British crew Paul Bird and Ian Windress finished second (Impreza S9 in 2008, Ford Focus WRC 07 in 2009) on both occasions, with third place occupied by Jamaica’s Gary Gregg and Hugh Hutchinson (Focus WRC02) in 2008 and by local crew Paul Bourne and Stuart Maloney (Impreza WRC S9) last year.

Sol Rally Barbados Chairman Barry Gale said: “Naturally, it will be disappointing not to see Kris and Paul competing this year, particularly as they have been such a hit with our fans and fellow competitors alike, but changes to the IRC calendar mean their next event is two weeks’ closer to ours than it was last year.

“And, on behalf of everyone here, I must say ‘congratulations’ to Kris and Paul on their second win in Brazil. Caribbean fans have a habit of ‘adopting’ the overseas competitors who come all this way to entertain us, such as Kris and Mark Higgins, and we follow their exploits around the world with great interest.”

Perez picks up win after Bird picks up punctures

Photo Credit: Sharon Bixley - mccrash media, www.mccrash.co.uk

Rally Barbados regular Steve Perez won the Malcolm Wilson Rally, based in Cockermouth in the north of England on Saturday (March 6), despite losing a minute on the second stage of the day, when he slid off in treacherously icy conditions; with regular Welsh co-driver, Paul Spooner, alongside in the Kick Energy Ford Focus WRC07, his winning margin was 17 seconds.

His second consecutive victory on the event came at the expense of Paul Bird’s ambitions to claim a record-breaking fourth win on what is his home event. With Scottish co-driver Kirsty Riddick, Bird built up a 22-second lead after four stages in the Rockstar Energy/Vent-Axia/supercasino.com Focus WRC08, as they headed for two tough stages in Grizedale Forest.

In Grizedale North, Bird extend his lead to 41 seconds but, on the penultimate test in Grizedale South, the pair suffered a puncture very early on in the 10-mile stage; not long after, a second puncture proved terminal, and the 2005 National Champion had to limp out of the stage and into retirement.

By then, Perez had battled his way back up to third, which became second following Bird’s demise; courtesy of three stage wins in the final four tests, he beat Jonathan Greer and Jonny Hart, also in a Focus, by 17 seconds.

Sol Rally Barbados (May 29/30) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 23) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB2010 marks the 20th Anniversary of the inaugural running of the Club’s International All-Stage Rally.

For further information:
e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web site - www.rallybarbados.bb