MEC Sprint Press Release 6th June 2005

The Dublin and Wicklow based Motor Enthusiasts Club (MEC) ran the fourth round of the Dunlop Hillclimb Championship in an event co-hosted by the Carlow Car Club at Athy in Co. Kildare on the June Bank Holiday Monday. The event based just outside the town of Athy in beautiful rolling countryside was blessed by Golden Sunshine. 2003 Dunlop Hillclimb Champion Michael Roche continued his domination of this years championship with his fourth win out of as many events. The Wexford driver has been setting quite a pace in his now Turbo-Charged Delta T81. Young Gun Paul O’Connell, Delta T79, was his nearest challenger second by just .68 of a second after struggling with a misfire in the morning. John McNamara in the powerful Coogar-engined Ralt Rt1 had been second after Run 2 of 4 but was demoted to third by the young Limerick man.

Dubliner Simon McKinley set a blistering pace in his Mk2 Escort mixing it with some of the fastest single seaters in the country. Third placed after the first run he dropped back to fourth overall by the end of the day but was fastest saloon car by over two and a half seconds from Andrew Morris’ Subaru Impreza Turbo. MEC Club member Andrew Hermann who also has a seat on the Hillclimb and Sprint Committee made a welcome return to competitive Motorsport in his diminutive bike engined Van Diemen RF84. He was 7th overall and second in his class.

It’s a busy time of year for the Dunlop Hillclimb Championship after rounds in Wexford, Galway, Wales and Kildare it now heads back to the West for a further two rounds hosted by the Clare Motor Club amidst the spectacular Karst landscape of the Burren. There were a few two many thrills and spills last year so the top section of the route has been shortened. The action will be all the more intense on the now 1.7 mile route as the drivers run the gauntlet between the Rock and the Hard Place. Another exciting weekend is expected and drivers will enjoy the hospitality of the Carin G.A.A., whose grounds will be used as a paddock keeping the narrow country lanes free from congestion.