Garry Jennings dominated the ten stage event, leading from start to finish and claiming nine fastest times. Jennings, who hails from nearby Kesh was at the wheel of a Group A Impreza. He is current Group N Tarmac champion and he won the Peugeot U.K. 206 cup in 2002.
Second place was a fine result for young Stephen Wright in the Evo6. While the Monaghan driver finished 53 seconds behind the rally winner, Wright held second place all day, and he equalled Jennings time on stage2. On the final round of last year’s Valvoline championship, Wright was first of the Valvoline Championship crews over the line.
Colin Britton was third, the Strabane driver a mere thirteen seconds behind Wright. Britton was the first of three Group N cars, and he finished a mere second ahead of Donegal’s Conor Harvey who had just 22 seconds to spare over Beragh’s Ian Cochrane.
The excitement was no less intense in the 2WD class, where Tyrone drivers ruled the roost. As expected Frank Kelly was on top rung, and the Moy man finished in sixth place in the rally, with a margin of eighteen seconds over Adrian Hetherington (8th O/A) in the V6 Rover powered Mk2. Third in the class was claimed by Shane Mc Girr (9th O/A) in the Starlet RWD, just 9 seconds behind Hetherington. Other finishers in the top ten included Corkman Ger Lucey who was 7th despite an electric niggle all day in the Evo 8, and local driver Paul Reid who was tenth in a Mk2.
A new class in the 2012 Valvoline Forest Rally Championship is the Class 11 which caters for the Historic class, and Tommy O’ Connell created history when he was the first starter (and finisher) of this class in his lovely LHD Escort Mk2. His father Seamus created another bit of history, when he was the first retiree on Saturday. A drive shaft failed in the Derryman’s Mk2 en route to the first stage. Other retirements included 2010 forest champion Pat O’ Connell (engine overheating), Vincent McAree (anti-lag), Mark Murphy (transmission) and Mick Nevin (spark plug). In total eighteen crews retired from a starting list of forty five. As anticipated most of the crews had Ulster addresses, but there was a significant turnout of championship regulars from the South.
While the Donegal M.C. is more famous for its International tarmac rally, the 2012 Forest rally was the second occasion the club hosted a round of the Forest rally Championship. Clerk of the Course Michael Kelly and his team worked assiduously during the winter and they pulled out all the stops to produce a very successful event. It had a total stage distance of 65km, with four stages in the morning near Lough Derg and six in the afternoon in the Barnesmore Gap area.
Donegal Forest Rally Top Ten
1. Garry Jennings / Barry McNulty 38:56
2. Stephen Wright / Susanne Wright 39:49
3. Colin Britton / Arthur Kearns 40:02
4. Conor Harvey / Paddy Mc Daid 40:03
5. Ian Cochrane / Ray Fitzpatrick 40:25
6. Frank Kelly / Liam Brennan 41:14
7. Gerard Lucey / James Lucey 41:14
8. Adrian Hetherington / Gary Nolan 41.32
9. Shane Mc Girr / Niall Connelly 41.41
10. Paul Reid / Karl Reid 43.43
Class winners
Andrew Fanning/Derek Bibbs (Valvoline Ka)
Dermot Mc Roarty/Eamon Doherty (Sunbeam)
Adrian Mc Elhinney/Shane Buckley (206)
Garry McElhinney/Paddy Mc Crudden (Escort Mk2)
Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort Mk2)
Garry Jennings/Barry Mc Nulty (Impreza)
N/A
Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Evo9)
Ian Downey/Sean Bruton (Corsa)
N/A
Tommy O’Connell/Stephen Hunter (Escort Mk2).
· Rally Leader: Jennings SS1 to SS10.
· Fastest Stage Times: Jennings 9, Cochrane 1, Wright 1 (equal fastest).
· Round 2 of the 2012 Valvoline is the Carrick-on Suir Forest rally March 3rd.
