Many Manx Miles Means Metal Mayhem

24 July 2005

With 176 miles of timed-to-the-second tarmac and more twists and turns than a nest full of vipers, and just about as scary, the Isle of Man roads offer a quite different challenge to the recent Jim Clark Rally.
 
Competitors in this year’s Kwik-Fit Pirelli British Rally Championship have reached a crucial stage in the competition. With four rounds gone and four to come, the points tables reflect the half way point in the series.
 
And with three maximum scores from four starts, Mark Higgins looks as though he’s in the driving seat, but the fight is far from over. Leading the series until the last round, Austin MacHale failed to score when his Ford Focus expired on the Jim Clark, so his total too is from three events out of four. Drivers are allowed to score only their best six scores from the eight round series so both drivers know what they have to do this weekend – win!
 
And if Higgins thinks he’s on home territory this weekend, it will be MacHale’s turn in five weeks time when the Kwik-Fit Pirelli entourage heads across the water to Northern Ireland for the Philip White Tyres Ulster Rally.
 
The competition is much closer in the Production Class where Lorna Smith leads by one point from Rory Galligan, but here again, competitors count only their best six scores from the eight event series. Galligan took top points from three of this year’s four events with one non finish so he is the pace setter, although team mate David Higgins has had a torrid start to his season so far and is lying in 8th place at the moment with only two scores to his credit, so he can’t afford any more non-finishes.
 
Four points behind Galligan is youngster Barry Clark with a one point advantage over 4th placed Robert Swann while another of the front running ‘Juniors’ Steve Petch has hauled himself up to 5th place after a truly gritty performance on the Jim Clark and like Galligan, Petch’s score comes from three finishes out of four so far. Smith failed to finish last year’s Manx when her gearbox broke, but like Stobart team mate Clark has again suffered a number of problems so far this season. However with half the series behind them, they will be looking for a better half to come – it can’t really get much worse!
 
Once again, this event counts towards both the Kwik-Fit Pirelli British and Pirelli Irish Tarmac championships with the entry bolstered by a fast and furious paced influx from further across the water.
 
Higgins is top seed, but ‘King’ Kenny McKinstry heads the emerald invasion backed up by a whole queue of fast flyers including Derek McGarrity, Eugene Donnelly, Tim McNulty and Eamon Boland with of course, Austin MacHale eager to beat them all.
 
Adding a little extra spice to proceedings are a few drivers from even further afield with Belgian drivers Phil Nijs and C Guichot De Fortis plus Dutch driver Rob Heldoorn coming over to take on the best of the Brits and the Irish.
 
This event also counts towards the Armajaro British Historic Rally Championship and as such the Conister Trust Manx Historic Rally has attracted over 50 entries with Porsches and Escorts likely to fuel nostalgia, while the Star Services Manx Trophy Rally is designed to appeal to the clubman with over 50 cars and crews making the trip to the motor sports capital of the UK.
 
And let’s not forget the Land Rover Challenge. This lot of hooligans is worth the visit on their own. Land Rovers were never designed for rallying on tarmac roads but that doesn’t stop them trying!
 
The Isle of Man means many things to many people, but with its unequalled motor sporting heritage on two, three and four wheels, there is only one place for a motor sports enthusiast to be this weekend!
 

BRC

See 2005 series calendar for British Rally Championship

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