Ah isn’t it just great that racing is back. This year saw a later start in the year than most recent times this is probably a good thing given the weather in Ireland the past few weeks. Con Connolly picked me up at 6am (I’d say bright and early but it was still dark) for the drive to Kirkistown that went through frost glistening fields and a fiery sunrise over the snow capped Mourne Mountains, it was the sort of morning poets dream about. I was surprised to see snow still piled on the roadside when we reached Hillsborough and it lasted until we reached the coastline of Strangford Lough. We arrived at the track and our first stop was the cantina for a breakfast, after which I wandered around the paddock for a while chatting to a few people, and having a few cups of tea. Feeling jetlagged from my recent holiday I went for a nap in the back of the Leastone truck emerging for the start of racing. John Murphy and Colm Blackburn won the Formula Ford, and Formula Vee qualifying races before lunch. Discussing ice cream with JayTee Jay Tee alerted me onto the ice cream stand in the paddock so I tried some at lunchtime. A local farm makes it and it was out of this world. Rhubarb and custard was the top flavour if you’re heading that way during the season. The wind picked up over lunch making for a cold afternoon. I stayed at the chicane and Fishermans for most of the afternoon and watched some close racing. There were wins for Ivor McCoullough, Dylan Curley, David Beatty, and Stephen Davidson. Kevin Seane won a thrilling Sheane race that produced controversy when Robbie Allen was excluded post race, while Ray Moore ran away with the Vee race. A few incidents led to delays as the afternoon wore on and as 5pm approached there were still a few races to run. The Fomula Ford race was stopped several times for incidents, but the racing was brilliant at the front. McCoullough took his second win of the day, as the young guns of Stephen Doyle and Niall Murray gave a good account of themselves. The final races were cut short but it was still nearly 7pm by the time it was all over which was a bit late to be leaving for the drive back to Dublin.

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Kirkistown Blog- with Cregor Elliott

As Paul Mulcahy unloads the Suirway Forklifts/Farm  Machinery Mk11 Escort, Peugeot Rally Academy’s Craig Breen eagerly waits, eyeing  in detail the newly liveried car that he is about to drive for the very first  time. The sun visor with the word ‘BREEN’ in capital letter catches his  attention and with a cheeky smile he says “I like it James!” He is of course talking to James Coleman, owner of Suirway  Forklifts/Farm Machinery, family friend and loyal sponsor of Craig for many  years. James smiles back saying “Yeah, we need to let people know  who you are Craig.” another laugh between the two as they watch Paul give the  Escort a final check before handing it over to its new driver for the weekend. April is gone and the summer season is about  to start but for Irish rally fans the beginning of the month of May holds a very  specific importance. All roads lead to Killarney and the annual trip to ‘The  Rally of the Lakes’. With WRC appointments over the last three years 2010 was  the last occasion for Craig Breen to drive those famous Co. Kerry stages. This  year however it’s a different story and after being approached by James Coleman  a package has been devised where Craig will drive the Suirway Forklifts/Farm  Machinery sponsored Mk11 on this year’s event. Before Craig can take on Molls Gap next Saturday morning  he needs to put the Mk11 through its paces and finalise his setup. After a very entertaining few hours Craig, James and Paul  call an end to the test. Craig exits the cockpit of the sky blue Mk11, broad  smile across his face, uttering, “I can’t wait for the Gap.” Craig Breen- Mk11 Test “I was first struck by the way the car looked, it was just  amazing. There’s something very special about a Mk11 in full tarmac spec. After  deciding on which tyre compound to use we agreed that I would make a few passes  on the test stage to bed myself in and after this initial drive I could start to  make adjustments. The car felt awesome from the first spin, of course completely  different from what I’m used to. It just leaves you with a huge smile on your  face when you exit every corner. Finalizing a setup came very quickly as the  roads were dry but will need to make a judgment on changing something’s on  Saturday morning but overall I’m delighted and can’t wait to get off the  start-line.” “I would like to thank James for making this project  possible. It was disappointing not having any home event planned this year but  now we have two of the best rallies in the Country to look forward to and it’s  all down to James and his company Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery.” “I would also like to thank Paul Mulcahy for building such  a fantastic car. I know he has put a huge amount of work in and the proof is  there to behold. The car is a credit to him, thanks very much.” Rally of the Lakes – Recce; “It’s been a few years since I’ve been to the ‘Lakes’ but  after driving the stages today both Paul and I are very excited. The stages are  fantastic and I can’t wait to get going on Saturday morning. With no  championship pressure it will be a weekend of enjoyment and plenty sideways  action.” James Coleman- “Craig’s first reaction to seeing the car confirmed to me  that I had made to correct decision. After the initial few runs to get a feel of  the car, tyre temps, gauge breaking distances etc. it was down to what can only  be described as mind boggling, 100% commitment, sheer speed and magically car  control. To hear the Tom Casey built 2.1L engine and the blip of the Santz flat  shift gearbox through the valley even the cuckoo found it hard to compete. I  regularly attend WRC and ERC events to watch Craig but this was special. My  passion is rallying and I love driving but to see the ‘Suirway Mk11’ in the  hands of the current SWRC champion has instilled a memory that will stay with me  forever. I have made the trip to Killarney on many occasions but this year is  going to be extra special for me, I can’t wait.”

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Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery Mk11 Escort Tarmac Test/Rally of the Lakes Event Preview

Reigning Ginetta Junior Team Champions Douglas Motorsport will be aiming to retain their title in 2013 having signed Irish star Keith Donegan just weeks ahead of the season opener at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. The Navan native had a mixed rookie season in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2012 having graduated from a number of successful seasons Karting across Europe. Keith’s highlight of the season came in race one at Rockingham where he made his debut visit to the Ginetta Junior podium achieving a season best result of 3rd. Throughout the season Keith showed several flashes of good pace and is confident that he can now put this speed and previous years experience together with the help of Douglas Motorsport to mount a strong title challenge for 2013. Speaking about the announcement, Keith commented, “I’m delighted to be given the chance to run with Douglas Motorsport this year. I think it will give us a good shot at the championship and going on our recent pace and how well we worked together in some pre-season testing, theres no reason why we shouldn’t be running at the front right from the off.” “Keith was unlucky on a number of occasions last year not to get the results he deserved, but always showed that he had the speed required to run at the front”, said Wayne Douglas, Douglas Motorsport Team Principal. Wayne went on to say, “We’ve tested with Keith already this year and I’m in no doubt that he can be a title contender and we’re certainly hoping that we can keep our Team Champions title for another season”. If you are looking to join a proven championship winning team for 2013 please get in touch with Wayne Douglas by logging onto: www.douglasmotorsport.com or emailing wayne@douglasmotorsport.com.

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Donegan joins Douglas Motorsport for Ginetta Junior

The last nuts and bolts are being tightened on rally cars, race suits and helmets are being dusted down, and navigators are logging on to Google Maps to find directions to Ballina. The final countdown to the Hotel Ballina & Kennedy Motors Mayo Stages Rally 2013 is underway before the high-octane action takes place this week-end. Rally Countdown … all go from Friday evening With competitors arriving from Friday afternoon on, the first task for the drivers and co-drivers after signing-on to the event is on Saturday morning March 9th, when they drive the rally stages in their road cars making pacenotes to use the following day. Later in the day, the rally cars will be presented for scrutineering where they have to pass stringent road and rally safety requirements before being allowed to take part in the rally. After that the cars are locked away securely in Parc Ferme ahead of the start of the rally. Ceremonial Start For the public, the rally gets underway in earnest on Saturday when the leading competitors as well as all the local drivers gather on Pearse Street, in Ballina town centre for the Ceremonial Start. Now in its fourth year, this is a great opportunity to see the rally cars and stars up close, and is especially suitable for families with small children. Pearse Street will be closed to traffic from 6pm with diversions in place. The rally cars will start arriving from 7pm with the cars passing over the starting ramp where the drivers will be interviewed at 9pm. Open air music and entertainment will take place during the evening. When the flag drops…. The serious competition starts on Sunday morning, with the leading cars leaving Parc Ferme in Hotel Ballina at 10 am to tackle the nine challenging special stages. The first stage Cloonta runs for the first time at 10.45 am. Stage two, Lough Brohly, gets underway at 11.05 am, and stage three, Ballymore Lough, which is near Attymass runs at 11.35 am. The cars then return to service in Ballina Mart on the Crossmolina Road, before tacking the loop of three stages two more times. The leading cars are due back at the rally finish at Hotel Ballina at 5 pm. Full details of maps and times will be available in the rally programmes which will be on sale in shops and garages around the area from Friday evening. Online users can follow Mayo & District Motorsport Club’s Twitter (@mayomotorclub) and Facebook ( www.facebook.com/mayomotorsportclub ) updated during the week-end with all the latest news, times and competitor quotes, or can check into the club website ( www.mayomotorsportclub.com ). Rally updates will also be available during the day on local radio, as Midwest Radio will carry live coverage of the event on the Sunday Sports Show from their Roadcaster, which will be based in the Service Park. High Quality Entry Field Perhaps inevitably the current difficult economic environment has meant fewer WRC cars taking part on this year’s Mayo Stages Rally, compared to recent years, butnonetheless a quality field is all set for the challenge of tackling the Hotel Ballina Kennedy Motors backed event. Seeded at No 1 are cousins Declan and Brian Boyle from Donegal in their Subaru WRC, fresh from their victory on the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel Rally in Birr two weeks ago. Best known for his exploits in his 2.5 Mark 2 Escort, Declan is now competing at the top end of rallying in Ireland, having acquired the ex-Tim McNulty Subaru S12 in the second half of last year. Any doubts as to whether he could compete at the highest level were quickly silenced with a string of fine results including an overall win on his debut with the car on the Galway Summer Rally which was followed by 2nd place finishes on the Cork 20 and Donegal Harvest, 3rd in the Galway International Rally and the recent win in Birr. Declan and Brian are getting quicker in the car with each event and promise to be spectacular to watch in Mayo. At 2 are Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan in their Airtricity backed S11 Subaru Impreza. After a somewhat frustrating 2012 the boys are now finding their feet in the WRC car after a 5th place finish in Galway and it would be no surprise if the Donegal pair led the rally at the finish at 5pm on Sunday evening. The first Group N car is No 3 seed Pat Kirk from Strabane in an Evo 9. He will have Paddy McVeigh chasing him in his new Subaru Impreza S10 in car number 4. Paddy’s regular co-driver Stephen O’Hanlon will be marking his 100th rally on this year’s Mayo Stages. Top Modified competitor is Declan Gallagher in his Toyota Starlet at number 5, Declan likely to be mixing it with the 4wd boys. Camillus Bradley, Jonathan Pringle, Rodney Wilton and Russell Woods fill the next four places in the top 10, in similar looking but different spec Ford Escorts Mark 2’s. All are capable of top results, particularly if weather conditions are dry. Mayo & District Motorsport Club Members & Border Rally Championships sponsors Andrew Mullen and Elaine Doherty round off the top 10 in their Group N Evo 9 while another note-worthy entry is the reigning Border Rally Champions Arthur and Mac Kierans who are seeded just outside the top 10 in their MK2 Escort. Locals All Set For Mayo Stages Rally Needless to say many local competitors will be hoping to get good results on their local event. Behind the tenth seeds Andrew Mullen and Elaine Doherty from Ballisodare, the next highest local competitor is Mervyn Deane. The rapid Williamstown driver faces a tough challenge against the top competitors in class 13 in his Escort. At 24 are Ballinrobe based Sligo man John Warren and Ruthann O Connor from Kilmaine, in their McHales Farm Machinery sponsored Toyota Corolla, the pair having set some impressive times on this event last year before an off road excursion on the penultimate stage ended their rally. Ballinrobe father and son team Adrian and Aidan Fahy are at 41 in their class 13 Escort, they would like to thank We Fix Chimneys & Proactive Security both from Ballinrobe for their sponsorship. Shane Buckley is in a class 11 Honda Civic running number 44. Joint main sponsor Ciaran Kennedy from Kennedy Motors, Ballina & Belmullet is at number 46 and has Paddy O’Hora alongside him on the notes. Kenneth McHale and Derek McCarthy are seeded at 49, in a rather different car to that in which they achieved much success in the past. The Knockmore / Ballina pairing, who previously won class 1 on the 2007 Rally Ireland WRC event in a Toyota Yaris, are competing on this year’s Mayo Stages in a class 15 Subaru Impreza. Former Mayo Motorsport Club chairman Sean McHugh from Bekan has Niall Morley from Knock alongside him this year in his fabulous sounding BMW at number 51. Barry Cuffe starts at 60 in his class 13 Escort, just one place ahead of current Mayo & District Motorsport Club Chairman Matthew Murphy from Shrule, in his Westtyre Ballinrobe and M&R Motors Shrule backed class 11 Toyota Corolla, Matthew has his brother Ronan, on the notes for him. Keith McFadden from Turlough makes his return to rallying at 67 in a class 7 Clio. Headford and Ballinrobe parthership of Justin Ryan and Andy Walsh are at 68 in their Honda Civic and hope to improve on last year where they narrowly failed to claim an award for third in the very competitive class 2. Another class 2 Honda Civic pairing of Tony Langdon and Eddie Quinn are 71. At 74, Mayo Young Driver Autocross Champion Alan Moran from Foxford makes the jump to class 10 in his recently beefed up Opel Kadett. Alan has Jared Gill from Bofeenaun, sitting with him for this event. Killala pairing of Gavin and Raymond Carroll are 78 in a Nova, while Ballina man Darragh Devine hopes to enjoy his first day out rallying in a Civic at 86. He has experienced navigator Paul McGee to help keep him between the ditches. Shrule man and former National Junior Autocross champion Noel Murphy is another one to make his debut in tarmac rallying at Mayo this year. Seeded 87 in another car from the WestTyre and M&R Motors stable, he hopes to bring his Honda Civic home to a good result in the Junior section of the rally. At 89 Aubrey Carson has Mary McAndrew to help guide him home in his class 10 Nova.

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Mayo Stages Rally Preview

Airwaves Racing today (Wednesday) announced its new title sponsorship of the Motorbase Performance Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) squad for the 2013 season. David Bartrum’s Kent-based squad confirmed it will compete under the ‘Airwaves Racing’ banner in the forthcoming season after securing an amplified title sponsorship deal with leading chewing gum brand Wrigley’s Airwaves. The fresh new livery was unveiled to the public for the first time on Monday (4th March) at the start of a week-long launch road-show. Two internal staff launches at Wrigley’s Reading and Plymouth sites saw hundreds of staff turn out to greet the team on Monday and Tuesday this week; with the Airwaves Racing NGTC machines taking to the track for the first time tomorrow (Thursday) before Friday’s (8th March) team press launch at Ford Dagenham Edgware brings the week’s activities to a close. Team Mates Mat Jackson & Aron Smith Following the recent announcement that both Mat Jackson and Aron Smith will be returning to the Motorbase fold competing in the new in-house built Mountune-powered NGTC Ford Focus ST’s; 2013 is set to be the team’s most ambitious assault on the BTCC and Airwaves Racing are expected to be serious title contenders this coming season. In addition to its new title sponsorship, Airwaves Racing has also retained its major sponsor partners for the 2013 season with the return of leading information technology supplier Redstone, mobile technology company Truphone and London’s largest minicab operator Addison Lee. Airwaves Racing and its associate sponsors are set to roll-out a number of initiatives during the 2013 season to enable fans to get even closer to what is already one of the most popular teams of the grid including a new range of team merchandise which will be available through motorsport clothing retailer Dread. Round 1 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship takes place on 30/31 March 2013, with the official media day taking place at Donington Park on 21st March. Airwaves Racing Team Principal David Bartrum said: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Airwaves back on board as title sponsor for this season. This year marks the brand’s fourth year with the team and once again shows the strength and appeal of the championship to attract leading brands such as Wrigley. This week’s internal launches at Wrigley’s have been a great testament to how far the partnership has come in the past four years. We literally had hundreds of staff come along to see the unveiling of the new Focus livery and it was great to be able to give them a chance to get involved and meet the team for themselves. “We’re also very happy to have Redstone, Truphone and Addison Lee back with us as major sponsors. With the new NGTC cars and increased backing from our sponsors, 2013 is gearing up to be our strongest ever challenge on the title, hopefully we can repay them with a BTCC title.” Wrigley’s Airwaves Brand Manager Tia Shortall said: “Airwaves is proud to be title sponsors of the Motorbase team this year. Airwaves is a great fit with Motorsport because it’s more than just gum – its unique flavour kick allows you to take a deep breath and really go for it! We’ve been involved in Motorsport for many years, but felt that the title sponsorship gave us a brilliant opportunity to make it bigger & bolder than we ever have before.” Redstone Managing Director Fraser Fisher said: “We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with the Motorbase team over the last two years and are delighted to be able to partner them once again in 2013. Redstone are very proud of our partnership with Airwaves Racing in the BTCC and this year’s major backing is key to our on-going marketing strategy. We look forward to sharing another winning season with the team and offering a uniquely exhilarating experience to our customers, staff and suppliers alike.” Truphone Managing Director Robert Jones said: “Motorbase is an extraordinary team, their ‘can do’ attitude and technical know-how helps them win races against much larger players. We have that spirit here at Truphone, and we look forward to another exciting season as we support Motorbase in the 2013 British Touring Car Championship.”

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BREAKING NEWS: Airwaves Racing unwrap new title sponsorship of Motorbase BTCC squad