The hillclimb weekend in Gary Nolan's words
Website office(Wexford)
John Dier
Saturday 21st April
Gary Nolan kindly emailed me this article on Tuesday of this week to put on the site giving the lowdown on the hillclimb weekend to which I informed him that I was going to put it on site that night when I got home from work. Little did i know that in the following few hours I would end up crushing the middle finger on my right hand at work resulting in the flesh at the nail being torn and the bone being shattered at the tip. With it being one of the few fingers that I type with, it has taken me till now to develop a slightly different typing style to do any site changes. Now that this is perfected, take it away Gary.
Oh yeah! thanks to the good work of Cecil Orr, You can get a link both days results at the bottom of Gary's article.
The opening hill was at Glynn, near New Ross and as always with Hillclimbs, it was eleven tenth’s from the start! Wexford man Michael Roche was the early pace setter, the double Irish champion out to reclaim his crown which he lost last year to Frank Byrnes. The Delta of Paul O’ Connell was next up with Rory O’ Brien chasing the leading pair, with Simon McKinley in his spectacular Escort and rally ace Don Butler hot on the heels of the single seater specials.
As the day went on, times plummeted and going into the last run, it was still Michael Roche fending off a hard charging Paul O’ Connell. However, on the last run, it was the O’ Connell in his Delta T79 that snatched victory, with Michael Roche having to settle for second, and the honours in class 7, followed by the Reynard of Rory O’ Brien which rounded off the top 3. Fourth on the day and the winner of class 3B was the spectacular Simon McKinley with championship sponsor Peter Dwyer finishing fifth overall and taking class 6 honours in his Delta T85. Sixth overall and first rallycar was Don Butler, the Waterford man making a welcome return to the sport in his Sierra Cosworth. Seventh overall after an off-form day was reining champion Frank Byrnes while eight overall and the winner of class nine was the highly spectacular James Stafford who was now displaying his rear-wheel drive talents aboard his new Darrian. Ninth and winner of class 3A was Wexford man Peter Bogan in his Zakspeed Escort while another motor club member Stephen Gillis rounded out the top ten.
Further class winners on the day included Ian Quinn, James Doherty, Gerard O’ Connor, Alan Boggan and Richard Cleary.
Day two saw the crews tackle a new venue, with the event starting right in the heart of Ballyann. This hill was not for the faint hearted and it was little surprise that it was the Escort of Simon McKinley that leapt to the top of the time sheets in the early stages, the Millington-Diamond powered Escort leaving tyre marks everywhere as it set a pace the others simply couldn’t match. Paul O’ Connell was in second, Saturday’s winner applying most pressure to McKinley. Frank Byrnes was having a better day, the current champion getting closer to the leaders in the 4.5 litre Pilbeam.
Once again in perfect conditions, times were dropping and the pace was seriously fast. In the end however, it was indeed the Escort of madman McKinley that took a popular victory, with Saturday winner O’ Connell taking second on the day, class seven honours and the overall award for the fastest combined times over the weekend. Frank Byrnes claimed third, the current champion not having the best of weekends. Fourth overall on Sunday and the winner once again of class six was the Premier Machine Tools Delta of Peter Dwyer while the Sierra Cosworth of the ever entertaining Don Butler took fifth. Sixth was Rory O’ Brien, the Reynard not quiet on the same pace as the previous day while another man to entertain the crowds was James Stafford who claimed seventh overall and once again class nine honours, despite a niggling misfire. Eight overall was Lee Stanforth in his Reynard, while James Doherty took ninth overall and class two honours, a fabulous result in his 1600cc Starlet. Rounding out the top ten was Peter Bogan who once again took the honours in class 3A.
Other class winners included Mike Griffith, Ken McAvoy, Brian Bogan, Dermot Roche and Barry Murphy, although Barry success was slightly tainted by the fact that he was beaten by his old car which was driven to second in class by Darren O’ Connor. Yes Barry we know, it’s only the number plates!!
Who was fastest up the hill on Saturday
Who was first to the pub on Sunday evening, and who followed quickly afterwards
JD