The Connaught Competition Engines Launch took place on Sunday 7th March at the Midway Maldron Hotel in Portlaoise. Attending the launch were members of the motorsport press.
The Launch organised by the 2010 Hillclimb and Sprint Committee went off successfully and on time, and some competitors cars were on display. Our thanks to those competitors who brought their cars for display and also to all who attended the launch. Photos available on www.irishhillclimb.com

Competitors forum

The competitors forum took place slightly early at 2.45 (Hopefully an omen for things to come this year!) At the forum a range of topics were discussed and the committee would like to thank all who attended for their straightforward views and their willingness to try some new things for the year.

The committee chaired by Eugene French outlined some of the work that has been going on since January. The safety and marshalling procedure changes were met with broad approval.

Class changes with the introduction of 2 new rallycar classes and the introduction of 4 wheel drive rallycars into class 3b was also welcomed with the provision that the success of those classes are monitored during the year. All credit to 3b competitors for welcoming this new challenge!

The revised allocation of numbers system prompted some discussion and many avenues were explored with competitors about the correct course of action. The Number allocation was proposed to recognise a competitor’s success in their class. The point was made that the class winners deserve to be recognised for their achievement. A class champion will run the number 01, 2nd in class 02, 3rd 03 and so on. For example Class 1 champions number is now 101, 2nd in class 1 is 102 and so on. Similarly class 2 is 201, class 4 champion is 401 all the way to class 7. Class 3a and 3b prompted a slight change. Class 3a champion will be 301, class 3b champion will run 351. The overall winners from last year will have to run Irl1, Irl2 and Irl3 on their cars. New competitors to a class numbers’ will start from 10 up on a first come first serve basis.

This idea has several advantages for competitors and clubs alike. The clubs can now identify competitor’s cars very easily ensuring that the starters job is easier. The secretary no longer has to worry about allocating numbers to competitors in between registered competitor numbers. If class 1-4 are on the first half of the run it is easy to see for the clubs that all those cars go on the first run and drive under the same conditions.
For competitors it means the prestige of displaying your success from last year on your car. It will make your car easier to identify for spectators, they will know if you have a 01 on your car that you are the champion form last year. Drivers arriving on the day will be allocated numbers from 15 to 99 by the clubs. The number 14 will not be used. The committee would like to thank the competitors for their understanding and willingness to try this new numbering system, and the success of which will be decided by the competitors at the end of year forum. All existing cherished numbers will be kept for 2011 season in the event of this system being scrapped.

All in all the forum was successful in getting the competitors and committee’s views and ideas across and thanks again to all those that attended.

Photo Credits:
1. CaoraDubha.com
2. onsite-eventphotography.com
3. Denis Hogan