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TV Schedule
Due to circumstances outside RPM's and UTV's control the two programmes covering the Cartel.ie Rally of the Lakes have had to be re-scheduled again.
Tyndall Productions regret to announce that their programmes on the recent Cartel.ie Rally of the Lakes have had to be re-scheduled again due to a changes imposed by ITV which are beyond our control.
The RPM programmes on UTV will now be broadcast as follows:-
RPM 8 - Killarney Rally of the Lakes I - the WRC & Group N action - Saturday 22nd. May @ 10.25 am.
RPM 8 - Killarney Rally of the Lakes I - the WRC & Group N action - Tuesday 25th. May @ 11.30 pm.
RPM 9 - Killarney Rally of the Lakes II - the Modified & 2WD action - Thursday 27th. May @ 11.35 pm.
RPM 9 - Killarney Rally of the Lakes II - the Modified & 2WD action - Saturday 29th. May @ 10.25 am
Sunday May 1st
At the finish of the Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally of the Lakes a jubilant Denis Cronin and Helen O' Sullivan celebrated this famous win "It was a great rally and we are delighted to win the Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally of the Lakes, tyre choice was very difficult all weekend due to the weather changing sometimes when we were at the start of a stage, but the stages were fabulous". "I am gutted for Tim who led the rally and we had a great battle all weekend but to win this rally with all the great names who have won it before me such as Bertie fisher, Frank Meagher and Billy Coleman to name but a few it is a privilege to get my name on the trophy'.
Aaron Machale/Eugene O' Donnell who finished in 2nd position were also over the moon with his weekends rallying "Fabulous absolutely fabulous, great stages it was a great weekend, I grew up around these stages as my dad won this event three times the "Killarney International Rally" has a special place in the Machale's hearts".
Young Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts finished in 3rd place after overhauling Alastair Fisher on the final stage." After the Circuit of Ireland crash I came to Killarney with the strict instructions to take it nice and easy and bring the car home and get some points and mileage under our belts. Saturday was tough with all the rain and mixed conditions but we got through the stages. Today was a lot better and we are so happy to finish 3rd in this great event"
In 4th place with mixed emotions, not finishing in the top three but leaving Killarney as the leader of the Citroen Irish Tarmac Championship Alastair Fisher said "Job done came here to get as many points for the championship as possible and we did just that, the car never missed a beat and apart from the one or two incorrect tyre choices it was a great weekend for myself and Rory Kennedy".
Cork's Barry Meade won the National section of the Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally of the Lakes from Edward O'Callaghan and Damien McCarthy in the wee Honda Civic who had a joint killing event by finishing 3rd. Barry said at the finish ramp "Swapping stage times with a rally legend such as Phil Collins was awesome and we were looking forward to a ding dong battle over the final two stages, I never thought I would win this rally just brilliant".
In the Dash for the cash Dubliner Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly came out winners of this heavy weight dual with Marty McCormack/Dai Roberts. Robert and Marty were trading times all weekend like two prize boxers trading punches at a world title fight but it was Robert who came out as winner by 11 seconds and takes home the lions share of the €20,000 prize fund on offer from Citroen.
The drivers were greeted by heavy rain and damp conditions going out onto the Cartell.ie Killarney stages of Banard and Shamrock Bridge. Leading the rally after stage one is Tim McNulty who was 3 seconds faster than Gareth Machale with Denis Cronin a further 27 seconds behind. Alastair Fisher the first of the Group N drivers is in 4th place and rounding off the top 5 is Craig Breen who is just 40 seconds off the leaders.
1st May 2010
The Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally roared into life at 9 am this Saturday morning with a ceremoninal start at market cross in the centre of Killarney. Some two thousand spectators turned out to watch their favourite rally drivers compete in the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes. First over the ramp was last years ‘Lakes’ winner Tim McNulty followed by Gareth Machale who is leading this year’s Citroen backed Tarmac Championship. Third over the start ramp was Craig Breen in the Fiesta S2000, followed by Fermanagh’s Alastair Fisher. Alastair is in second place in the Citroen Tarmac Championship. Ger O Donavan the Group N Champion will have to battle hard this weekend with local man Alan Ring and former Group N champion Colm Murphy. The spectator’s favourite the modified section of the The Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally will be the battle between all the various Mark 2 Escorts. Welsh driver Phil Collins a winner here on numerous occasions should be the benchmark for the chasing pack of Barry Meade, Fergus O’Meara, Ed O’Callaghan and Kevin O’Donoghue. In the Citroen Racing Trophy 2009 champion Marty McCormack is the first of over twelve C2R2 Max’s entered for this weekends event. Adrian McElhinney, Robert Barrable, Mark Donnelly and Mark Sheahan in his brand new C2R2 just delivered from France all vying to knock Marty of the top spot and claim the €20,000 prize fund on offer this weekend, this will be the one to watch as it unfolds over the next two days of Rallying.
29th April 2010 Just days to go to the start of the Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally all the drivers will have their recce done but what is going to make Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally very interesting will be the weather. The forecast for Saturday is rain from 10 o’clock in the morning to 5 o’clock Saturday evening, with 8mm of rain forecasted and 22km/h NNW winds, this will make tyre choice very difficult for the drivers as they will find some stages around Millstreet wet and slippy and others dry. When the drivers move to the Milltown stages on Sunday the forecast is for a dry cloudy day with a north wind at 24km/h and no rain. This will keep the mechanics and technicans busy as they will have to keep changing the rally car set up to suit the conditions.Some late entries to the Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally are in Group N Eamon Daly/Brian Doherty who are front runners in the National Championship, Martin & Kenneth Quirke, Eamonn Hanley/PJ O'Dowd in the Peugeot 106. In the Historic section Stephen Coffey/Micheal O'Mahony and Owen Crowley/John Caverly both in historic escorts will make the long trip to Killarney, and the very quick young Kevin O'Connor/Donal Balfe in their Citroen C2 R2 will be the man to beat in the junior section of the Rally. Gareth Machale/Brian Murphy will have a big battle to stay on top of the Citroen Irish Tarmac Championship as they are going to be pushed hard by Alistair Fisher, Craig Breen and Aaron Machale and last years winners Tim McNulty will be hoping to win his third Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally.
Press Release - Sunday April 18th Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes announces Entry List
Last years winner Tim McNulty will lead the 130 strong field away from the town centre start for the 2010 Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes on Saturday May 1st.
The Meath man, with Paul Kiely on the notes, will be seeking his third Killarney win to add to his victories in 2006 & 2009.
Behind him at No.2 is Citroen Tarmac Championship leader Gareth McHale in his Ford Focus WRC with Craig Breen at number 3 in the Ford Fiesta S2000.
Both Craig and Alistair Fisher, who starts at number 4 have already shaken up the Irish rallying world this year with spectacular performances on the Galway International and the Circuit of Ireland.
Craig Breen took a very impressive 2nd overall in Galway and Fisher led the Circuit of Ireland for several stages before he had to give way to the great power of the WRC’s of Derek McGarrity and McHale.
Fisher comes to Killarney just a few points behind McHale in the Citroen Tarmac Championship and with bonus points for the top non WRC finishers, a good result here could put him right on the pace with McHale in the Championship points.
Denis Cronin has probably done this event more times than any of the top ten but he will be under pressure from Paul Bird who starts behind him in the Ford Focus WRC. Though not well know in Ireland, Brid is spectacularly quick and with a state-of -the -art car from the Dom Buckley stable he could well be the dark horse in the race.
While it is difficult for any newcomer to master the Killarney stages at his first visit it has been done in the past by drivers such as Russel Brookes, Mark Lovell, and James Leckey, who all won the event on their first trip to Killarney.
The remainder of the top ten is made up of Aaron McHale, Darragh O’Diordan, Alan Ring and Colm Murphy, who is making his return to rallying not having been out since the 2009 Lakes.
Current Tarmac Group N Champion Jer O’Donovan starts at No.12 followed by five other very competitive class 5 crews.
Phil Collins at number 19 heads the modified cars with Barry Meade from Mallow at number 20 in his 2.4 litre Escort.
Barry should benefit from having local co driver Johnny Hickey on the notes and another local crew who are expected to do well is Fergus O’Meara and Liam Brennan who finished runners up in last years National Section, just a few seconds behind the eventual winner Wesley Patterson.
The first of 13 Citroen C2R2’s is seeded at number 34, driven by Martin McCormick followed by Adrian McElhinney. Andrew Bushe, Robert Barrable and Mark Donnelly.
Harry Hunt at number 39 is the highest seeded Ford Fiesta ST
The Historic cars will join the rally at the start of stage 4 on Saturday while the 25 strong Junior field will start on Stage 8 on Sunday morning and will compete on all stages of the Sunday Run.
New Clerk of the Course Liam Cronin has laid out an event which keeps in mind the expressed wishes of competitors to reduce stage mileage and make the route as compact as possible in light of the present economic climate.
Service on both days will be centralized, in the Green Glins Arena Millstreet on Saturday and in the Mid Kerry Mart Miltown on Sunday.
One of the novel attractions of this year’s event will be the running of Molls Gap as the last stage on Saturday evening, where the organizers expect a huge crowd, as this will be the only chance drivers will have this year to take the Bertie Fisher Cup for the fastest time on the Gap!
The road at Molls Gap will close at 5pm but spectators are advised to be in place as early as possible so that the stage can be ready to run as planned at 6.30pm.
Speaking at the Rally Launch in the Brehon Hotel Killarney on Sunday evening, Liam welcomed new Title Sponsors Cartell.ie and also thanked the long term sponsors Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Gleneagle Hotel who continue to support the event as Associate Sponsors.
It was encouraging he said to find that, in these difficult times, there are still companies who realize the spectator appeal and advertising value of rallying.
He announced that Tourism Ireland had provided substantial funding to ensure that footage from all rounds of the Citroen Tarmac Championship is available to Tv Networks throughout the world.
Tourism Ireland have in fact specified that coverage of the events should concentrate on the scenic beauty and tourist attractions of the areas in which the rallies take place and in this regard Killarney is very well placed to benefit from the world wide exposure.
He also thanked Citroen, who not only organize and sponsor the Citroen Racing Trophy but who come in as Title Sponsors of the Tarmac Rally Championship, at a time when it appeared that the series might have to run without a sponsor for at least 2010.
Hopefully both new sponsors, Cartell.ie and Citroen, will benefit from their involvement and we look forward to having them on board for many years to come.
ENDS
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