The new 2010 Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland kicked off in style on the Citroen Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, with round one the Galway International Rally. A record fifteen of Citroen's 1600cc C2 rally cars, including R2 Max's, R2's and one Super 1600 crossed the ceremonial start ramp in Oranmore on Friday evening.

But the action kicked off early on Saturday morning, with 9 special stages for the crews to tackle, three stages repeated three times, and weather conditions were tricky, a cold foggy day, and plenty of mud and slippery tarmac for the Citroen drivers to contend with. Nevertheless the Citroen C2 R2 Max's were very impressive in the slippery conditions with Andrew Hockridge the fastest Citroen driver on stage one, 14th fastest overall and just half a second ahead of Marty McCormack. Andrew's rally however was soon over with an unfortunate throttle pot failure on stage 2, causing retirement, but Draperstown driver Marty McCormack soon took over the mantle, a stunning time on stage two taking him into tenth place overall in the event and leading the Citroen challenge. Another good time on stage three put McCormack over a minute ahead into first service.

Perhaps a surprise second was C2 R2 Max newcomer Robert Barrable. The Dublin former Formula Ford racer was loving his new Citroen, with the experienced Damien Connolly on the pace-notes. At this stage defending Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland champion Adrian McElhinney was third just 11 seconds behind Barrable, with another C2 newcomer Cork's Shane Buckley setting some impressive times in the C2 R2 he acquired from Barry Evans. The former Irish Fiesta ST front runner was really enjoying his C2 and changed little on the cars set up, and it would be very interesting to see how he would go with a Max upgrade fitted to his C2 R2.

Early dramas in Galway included the retirement of young Omagh charger Mark Donnelly. Tipped to be a star of the future, he was learning his newly acquired ex Jason Pritchard machine, but a gearbox problem forced his retirement on stage one. With a replacement fitted Mark rejoined on the Sunday, but an off on the second test curtailed the young drivers learning process. Another young Omagh driver, Declan Leonard was also making his first foray with C2 R2 Max hired from DJ Motorsport but a stage one excursion in the fog dented his hopes, and he too rejoined on the Sunday for valuable mileage in the car, and set some good stage times, after changing his pace-notes back to supplied notes.
Graham Colfer had hired a Citroen C2 R2 from Sean Agnew and had driver turned navigator Seamus O'Grady in the co-driver's seat. The Dublin driver and former 205 Challenge front runner was setting some very impressive stage times in his R2 machine before engine mounting failure caused retirement on day one. However with that repaired he also rejoined on day two to set more promising times, and Graham may be a future contender if he acquires a Max specification machine.

Donegal driver Joe McGonigle is another new to the Citroen C2's in 2010, having contested the British Championship in his Honda last year. With Niall Burns in the co-driver's seat, Joe was having a decent run in the ex Shaun Gallagher R2, now upgraded to Max specification. A front wheel puncture on leg two cost valuable time, but he ended the event 24th overall and 5th C2 home, ahead of Co. Tipperary's Mark Kane who had a topsy-turvy event! With his car just completed after an upgrade to Max specification before the event, Mark was adapting to the new mount, but a simple roll on stage 4, when he clipped the inside of a tight corner was the start of a weekend of niggles which included brake troubles. Amazingly despite rolling the car into a field on stage 4 he lost just 25 seconds on the stage, and he finished 25th overall proving his C2 was tough enough to take him to the finish. Limerick's Keith Lyons had hired a R2 Max from Mark Gamble of JAM Motorsport in England, and after a long lay-off Keith really enjoyed his return to rallying, with Trevor Payne reading the all important pace-notes. A trouble free run ensured he finished 42 seconds ahead of Mayo's David Carney in his immaculate new C2 R2 Max. David with co-driver Ray Fitzpatrick bedded himself in with his new car, and picked up the pace stage by stage, on what was very much a learning event. Andrew Bushe was contesting the event in his C2 S1600, and eventually finished 20th overall after dropping almost two minutes with power steering failure, but he had a difficult run as he tried to set up and adapt to his car in the slippery conditions.

Back to battle out front and at the end of the first leg Marty McCormack and his Welsh co-driver Dai Roberts were placed 11th overall and leading all the more powerful 2 litre class R3 machines, with Conor Harvey in his R3 Civic just two seconds behind. "The car was performing really well and I was happy with our times which were the main thing. We lost a little time on the second loop with a cut slick when a lot of our rivals went on a wet tyre, but we took the wet's for the evening runs and things went well for us, so it was generally a very good day." Robert Barrable ended the day almost two minutes back, but still an impressive 16th overall. "On the first day I had a lot to learn with the new car, and at times I was over driving the car and suffered a few overshoots, but I was really enjoying the car." Adrian McElhinney over a minute behind him in 20th overall. Day two brought six special stages, two repeated three times including the famous Black Road mountain stage near Loughrea. The fog had lifted for the second day and generally the conditions had improved for the faster second days stages, but the dramas started early. On the first Black Road stage, leader Marty McCormack crippled to the end with two front wheel punctures, dropping over two and half minutes and out of the Citroen Racing Trophy lead. "I think I know where I got the first puncture when we caught the side of a stone, but I don't understand the second one" quipped Marty. "We got a small road penalty as we changed the wheels for the next stage, and then we got back into the lead of the Citroen's, but collected another puncture on the penultimate stage. Again I don't know where I picked this one up but it cost another 30 seconds and that was it. Fair play to Robert though he was driving well and his pace had really picked up all event."

At the finish it was a delighted Robert Barrable who on his maiden Citroen Racing Trophy event took the honors. "Maybe it was beginners luck!"Joked Robert "The car ran perfectly, and a big thanks must go to Gary and Geoff and the team. We went for a conservative tyre choice for day one, but took a few more risks with slicks on day two, and it started to pay off. On the last loop we had a real good attack and we took a second off Marty on the last stage, and I have to admit I didn't expect to be anywhere near the front positions. To collect 4000€ for second in class R is also a fantastic bonus and a credit to Citroen Racing for their efforts in organizing this new trophy." Round two is on the Circuit of Ireland Rally at Easter.

For more information on the Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland contact:
Raymond Moore on 00 44 (0) 28 90 384981 or e-mail raymondmoore@charleshurstgroup.co.uk

Issued on behalf of Charles Hurst by Andrew Bushe Promotions www.andrewbushe.com
For more information www.c2r2.ie
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