With an extra long break due to the unfortunate passing of PJ Vaughan the circus that is the Hillclimb Championship descended on the picturesque Ballyvaughan Co Clare last weekend. This time it was only going to be a one day event with the drivers taking on the infamous Cork Screw Hill. After a new surface laid on the hill while dry there was numerous amounts of grip but once the dark clouds descended it was proving difficult for all drivers as a few of them experiencing spins and over shoots.

Class 1

Back on the scene since last year the ever popular Nigel Bryson took Class honours in the Uno followed closely by the youthful Trish Daly who unfortunately was only able for 1 run due to engine problems but still managed 2^nd in Class. Castletownbere native Senan O’Connor took 3^rd in Class 1 in the Cinquecento which is starting to prove very popular in the Class. 4^th to 10^th places were taken up by Ray O’Neill (Uno), Aidan Courtney (Cinq), Damien Walsh (Cinq), Gary Egan (Cinq), William Whyte (Cinq), Brian McMahon (Cinq) and Alan Tully (Cinq) respectively.

Class 2

Jim Doherty took 1^st place in Class with a time of 58.95 nearly a whole 5 seconds ahead of nearest rival Kieran Curran in his Corsa. Taking 3^rd was Mark O’Looney in the Corolla with a time of 72.41 and taking up the rear was Tom Keneally in the Fiat Punto

Class 3A

Peter Bogan took the valuable 10 championship points in Class with a time of 59.29. 2^nd in Class was Ian Quinn who eventually figured out how to get the car around the first hairpin without spinning it. And 3^rd in class with a respectable time of 64.82 was John Laffey in the Chevette.

Class 3B

Coming in 7^th Over All and 1^st in Class was the ever aging Rory Stephens in the Radical SR8 taking top spot away from Simon McKinley in his sideways MK II Escort who could only manage 2^nd in Class, very close behind Simon was Eanna Carroll who is planning to become more than just a blue spot in the escorts wing mirror in the near future. 4^th to 7^th was taken up by Alex Wilsdon (Indy), Eddie Lyons (Cosworth), Christy Carey (Evo) & Pat Barry (Sierra)

Class 4

Mick O’Shea again took Class honours in Clare in the MGB GT just ahead of John Farrell’s MK1.

Class 5

A poor showing from the Formula Vee’s in Clare gave maximum Champion points and a Class win to Gerard O’Connor with a time of 65.34

Class 6

Joe Courtney took the Hornet by the horns and powered his way to 2^nd over all and 1^st in Class with a fantastic time of 50.60, Adrian McCallion was only able to manage a 53.11 but this was enough to guarantee 2^nd place in Class. 3^rd was Robert Bell in his Crossle followed by Emmett Dunne (Vandiemen), Thomas Corey (Vandiemen), John Donnelly (Reynard) & Catherine Donnelly (Delta T4)

Class 7

Top of the time sheet and taking the Class win away from the back garden of Sylvie Mullins was Simon McKinley in his 2^nd car of the weekend with an amazing time of 49.09. BallyVaughan native and last year’s Championship winner was Sylvie Mullins 2.73 seconds behind in 2^nd place. Bringing up 3^rd place was Galway’s finest Frank Byrnes who made a rare appearance and showed he still hasn’t lost it. Donal Griffin brought the Delta T74 home in 4^th just ahead of Deirdre McKinley in the Reynard who is getting quicker at each event. Dermot Nolan came in 6^th in Class and 10^th over all even after gearbox trouble and 7^th in Class was Padraig Forde Jnr in the Scottclimber with a time of 58.41.

Class 8

Francis Kelly took the bragging rights in this Class by taking 1^st place in his Civic but Brian Liddy and his Escort were knocking on his door all day but could only manage 2^nd. Taking 3^rd place in Class was John Kennedy in his Peugeot 106 followed by Ashling Power who has made the move from Class 1 to Class 8.

 

Next up for the Championship is the Carlow round on June 1^st and June 2^nd. Unfortunately a few of the regulars are crossing the water to compete in France in the famous Saint Goueno Hillclimb on the same weekend. Safe trip and best of luck to all entering and we’ll see you all in Carrick on Suir.

 

Article by: Paul Doyle, Championship PRO.

 

 

Regs and entry form for the 2013 Carlow Sprint Weekend are now available for download!

2013 Carlow Sprint Weekend Regs (58) 2013 Carlow Sprint Weekend Entry Form (39)

Article by: Billy Mac Con Iomaire – Caoradubha.com

Twenty one Irish drivers have now entered the Saint-Gouéno Hillclimb masters event held in Côtes-d’Armor in Brittany France. This 3.2Km (about 2 miles) ribbon of Tarmac is considered by many to be one of the most prestigious motorsport events in the French Hillclimb calendar.

The event runs from May 31^st to June the 2^nd and attracts thousands of spectators who flank the entire hill all the way up to the infamous Fer à Cheval hairpin bend, where the faster cars approach this bend at well over 240Km/h, and where the metal of both driver, and car are tested to their limits.

Heading up Team Ireland is current Hillclimb champion Sylvie Mullins in his Gould GR37 from Clare, triple Irish Hillclimb champion Paul O’Connell from Limerick driving a Pilbeam MP58H and double Hillclimb champion Simon McKinley of Dublin, Simon is best known for his exploits in his white MKii Escort. McKinley has an almost fanatical following of French fans that go wild at the sight of his Escort drifting around the Fer à Cheval hairpin bend. At well over 160Km/h he effortlessly drifts the car to within centimetres of the Armco barrier much to the delight of the French fans.

Indeed one of the most popular pit areas in the paddock is the Irish camp; festooned with Irish flags, banners etc. The fans adore the party spirit of the Irish competitors, and a real party atmosphere runs all weekend practically 24hrs a day.

Other Irish Drivers include father & Son Denis Hogan Snr & Denis Hogan Jnr from Limerick; Denis Snr will be driving his immaculate Hillman Avenger BRM, while Denis jnr will drive his BMW M3.

Irish drivers confirmed are:

 

1.		Sylvie Mullins		Gould GR37
2.		Paul O’Connell		Pilbeam
3.		Simon McKinley		Lant RT2
4.		Deirdre McKinley		Opel Lotus
5.		Joe Connolly		Ford Escort
6.		Alex Wilsdon		MK Indy
7.		Tom Connolly		Westfeild Megabusa
8.		Denis Hogan		BMW M3
9.		Denis Hogan Snr.		Hillman Avenger BRM
10.		Eanna Carroll		Honda Civic
11.		Michael Feeney		MG ZR
12.		Sennan O’Connor		Fiat Cinquecento
13.		Rory Stephens		Radical SR8
14.		Ben O’Brien		BMW E30
15.		Robert Swaine		Fiat Punto
16.		Michael Melia		Ford Sierra Cosworth
17.		Joe Courtney		Fiat Cinquecento
18.		Mick O’Shea		MGB GT
19.		Russell Stanworth		Reynard Formula Vauxhall Lotus
20.		Barry Smith		Ford Escort Mexico
21.		Trish Daly		Mini

Most of the crews will be leaving via Ferry on the Tuesday before the event, and we wish them a safe journey and best of luck at the event.

For more Information on the event visit:

http://www.hillclimbfrance.co.uk/ information for English entries.

www.coursedecote-saintgoueno.fr/ official event webpage.

Round 3 of Naylor Engineering Hillclimb & Sprint Championship – A single day hillclimb will be run by Clare Motorclub on May 18th on the Corkscrew outside Ballyvaughan – entry fee €120. We need to get as many entries as possible to support this event. Full details to follow shortly.

Aisling Grimes is the Event Secretary – 087 6102860

PLEASE PHONE BETWEEN 6PM AND 9 PM ONLY

2013 Clare/Galway Hillclimb Entry Form (179) 2013 Clare/Galway Hillclimb Regs (212)

The death has occurred of PJ Vaughan, husband of Joan secretary of the hillclimb and sprint committee. The funeral arrangements are as follows; reposing at Nagles funeral home Ennistymon on Saturday from 4pm removal at 7pm to Ballvaughan. Funeral mass on Sunday at 11am.

The Clare and Galway Hillclimb weekend has been postponed as a mark of respect after the passing of PJ Vaughan, husband of Galway Motorclub Secretary Joan.

Our thoughts and the thoughts of the hillclimbing community are with Joan and her family at this time.

Regs and Entry forms are now available for download.

2013 Clare/Galway Hillclimb Entry Form (179) 2013 Clare/Galway Hillclimb Regs (212)

 

Clare & Galway Hillclimb Weekend 2013 Rounds 3 & 4 of the Naylor Engineering Irish
Hillclimb & Sprint Championship 2013 will take place on 20th & 21st April.
Day one the Clare Club will run the famous Corkscrew Hill in Ballyvaughan while Galway Motor Club
will run a Sprint at Tynagh, Co. Galway on day two.
Entry fee is 125 euro for one day or 230 euro for both days

For further info please ring Dermot on 086-6028367 or Joan on 086-8902057

Rain couldn’t put a damper on the Naylor Engineering sponsored Wexford Hillclimb last weekend in Castledockrell, Co Wexford. Under the shadows of Castledockrells Wind Turbines, COC for the Weekend Brendan Harpur picked a fantastic hill which had sweeping bends and sharp bends to test every driver.  It was great to see a lot of the usual suspects and some of them with new cars and fantastic to see a lot of new faces also
Practice run started dead on 11am and all drivers found the hill extremely slippy and struggled from the start to the finish. As the day progressed the hill got a little better and times improved with every run.

Class 1 on Saturday
Alan Watkins took the win in his mini followed closely by Hillclimb regular and class sponsor Trish Daly in 2nd. Seamus Hobbs took 3rd in his Nova and just .05 of a second behind him was last year’s Class 1 winner Elaine O’Reilly who was on a charge in her last run of the day but unfortunately got acquainted with a ditch just before the finish. Tonya Fortune and Aidan Courtney took the last 2 remaining spaces.

Class 2 on Saturday
With nobody to challenge him for the class win Hillclimb regular James Doherty with his impeccably turned out Toyota Starlet took the top spot in this class with a time of 40.87 and also took 7th overall.

Class 3A on Saturday
Top 3 places were separated by just 0.39 of a second. 1st in Class was Thomas Connelly in his Westfield, 2nd was Peter Boggan in his Escort who had a few problems during the practice run but clearly got to the bottom of them, 3rd was Michael Connelly who was double driving the Westfield. Finding the terrain very slippery on the day was Ian Quinn in his Minibusa who could only manage 4th in class and picking up the 5th spot was regular John Whitley, followed by Cyril McCabe and Brendan O’Mahoney

Class 3B on Saturday
1st in Class and 2nd Over all was youtube favourite Simon McKinley in his famous Connaught Powered White Escort and just under 3 seconds behind was Rory Stephens in his new SR8 carbon fibre Radical who was also finding the hill very slippery to get the rear tyres to stick. Just 0.4 seconds behind 2nd was Andrew Purcell in 3rd with his Mitsubishi Evo. Eddie Lyons was next followed by Jim Butler, Martin Flanagan, and Alex Wilsdon respectively.

Class 4 on Saturday
Mick O’Shea took class honours in his MGB GT followed by Detlef Heyer in his BMW and in 3rd was Sean Murray and the Lotus Coupe and just behind him was Edmund Cassidy and his Iona Special.

Class 5 on Saturday
With just 2 class 5 cars on the Hill Saturday it was Local Eugene French in his Formula Vee who’s first timed run was enough to take the class win and keep Gerard O’Connor in his Formula Shane in 2nd place who also couldn’t improve on his first timed run.

Class 6 on Saturday
Joe Courtney in his OMS blitzed the field in his class on Saturday and grabbed 1st place by over 5 seconds from his nearest rival and last year’s class winner John Byrne. A further second back and coming home 3rd in class was Robert Bell and his Crossle R1. In 4th place was another man who failed to get the power to the road was John Mahon who was closely followed by Emmet Dunne.

Class 7 on Saturday
Class 7 was won by Simon McKinley in his 2nd car of the weekend the extremely quick Lant. Simon brought 2 cars this weekend and took 2 class wins and 1st and 2nd overall on the day. Second in Class 7 was Paul O’Connell who made his return to hill climbing after taking a break for fatherhood last year. 3rd in Class and fastest lady on the Saturday was Deirdre McKinley in her purple Reynard with a time of 41.09. Taking up the remaining spots in the class was Thomas Rafferty, Shane Bell and Dermot Nolan.

Class 8 on Saturday
Back in action after a couple of years away and grabbing a class win was Tommy Murphy in his Honda Civic with a time of 43.64. Tommy’s time got him inside the top 20 over all times on the day but once the weather dries up and Tommy looses a few more cobwebs his times should improve. 2nd in Class 8 was David Roche in another Civic followed by John Purcell, Peter O’Brien and Alan Maloney with his Nova.

Sunday Day 2 Wexford Hillclimb 2013

Day 2 in Wexford took more casualties that a season of Eastenders. Last year’s Class 1 champion Elaine O’Reilly was unable to get the car fixed after an off on her last run on Saturday and retired for Sunday. Paul O’Connell’s clutch gave way in practice on Sunday so he had to retire and make the long journey back to Limerick. Michael Connolly in the Westfield crashed out and which left him and double driver Thomas as spectators. Simon McKinley got 1 timed run in the Lant until a release bearing went and left that car sidelined. Deirdre McKinley’s Reynard was left with just 1st and 4th gear after her runs but still managed 2nd in class and 6th overall on the day.

Class 1 on Sunday
Trish Daly’s Mini loved the dry weather Sunday had to offer and took back first place in Class 1 with a fantastic battle but had to wait till run 5 to put in her best performance of the day and pushed Seamus Hobbs in 2nd by 0.27 of a second. Alan Watkins only managed the 1 timed run and ended up in 3rd. Pj Doyle, Tonya Fortune, Aidan Courtney and Billy Power took the remaining place respectively

Class 2 on Sunday
James Doherty took Class honours again with a fantastic time of 38.97 and this also gave him 10th Overall.  2nd in Class 2 was Peter O’Brien in his Peugeot 205.

Class 3A on Sunday
With the Connolly Westfield out of action it left the Class open for Peter Boggan to grab the top spot. Just 0.28 of a second behind Boggans Escort was David James also in his Escort but behind him by a mere 3 hundreds of a second was Ian Quinn’s Minibusa. All top 3 drivers put in their best runs of the day in Run 5.  4th Place went to Ciaran Cloke, 5th was Cyril McCabe. John Whitley and Brendan O’Mahoney finished off the places.

Class 3B on Sunday
Spectators favourite Simon McKinley’s Escort took Class honours yet again on Sunday but this time he was only 0.26 of a second ahead of Rory Stephens Radical SR8 who failed to get a good start off the line in 4 of the 5 runs by stalling. (Maybe his old age is getting to him). 3rd in Class was Eddie Lyons  in his Escort Cosworth followed very closely by Martin Flanagan’s BMW who were separated by 0.08 of a second. Extremely close racing in this class also. Jim Butler in his newly acquired Clio V6 took 5th and Paddy Murphy in the Impreza took 7th in Class.

Class 4 on Sunday
Class 4 was won on time by Colin Grant in a Ginetta G15, followed in 2nd by Saturday’s winner Mick O’Shea, then Detlef Heyer, Sean Murray and Edmund Cassidy.

Class 5 on Sunday
Wexford native Eugene French took class honours again on Sunday followed by Limerick man Gerard O’Connor in second in a repeat of Saturday’s results.

Class 6 on Sunday
Joe Courtney in his OMS took top spot in Class again on Sunday and this time also took 2nd overall on the day. John Byrne and his Jedi was back in 2nd and Robert Bell’s Crossle R1 back in 3rd. 4th place was the big man himself John Mahon followed by Emmet Dunne in 5th.

Class 7 on Sunday
Even though the release bearing went after his first run Simon McKinley in the Lant took first place with just 1 timed run under his belt and 1st overall for the second day running. Second in Class 7 went to Simons wife Deirdre who even after losing gears and ending up with just 1st and 4th gear in the car. 3rd in Class went to Dermot Nolan and his Reynard 913 and 4th was Thomas Rafferty in his beautifully prepared Fiesta 4×4.

Class 8 on Sunday
Tommy Murphy shook off more cobwebs on Sunday and grabbed his 2nd class win in as many days. His nearest rival was Liam O’Neill who was just over 5 seconds behind. Taking 3rd place was Alan Maloney in his Nova and William Cecil’s 205 took up 4th.

I think special thanks must go to Brendan Harpur and his team after finding a fantastic hill this year in Castledockrell and making the 2 days very enjoyable for all and surely putting themselves back into contention for the Dick Bailey Award for the best run Hillclimb event.

Next up is the Galway / Clare Hill climbs on 20th & 21st April and by this weekend’s retiree’s the 3 weeks is needed to get the cars back ready. Will Simon McKinley be able to take 2 overall wins in Sylvie Mullins back garden? Will Paul O’Connell be able to find his winning ways again? Only time will tell!!

Article by: Paul Doyle, Championship PRO

Update: 22/03/2013 11 a.m.

We just received a call from Brendan Harpur, CoC for the event tomorrow. He tells me the event IS going ahead despite the rain over the past few days. However they will not be using the field as a paddock, competitors are to park on the road by the field.
Final instructions for the opening two rounds of the 2013 Naylor Engineering Irish Hillclimb and Sprint Championship are available for download.

Best of luck to all competing this weekend!

2013 Wexford Motorclub Hillclimb Final Instructions (147)
2013 Wexford Hillclimb Map (163)