Sting in the tail for Good Samaritan Garry

Nigel Frazer • Published 15 Oct 2009 09:00 0 Comments

Share this

Rallying

It was a disappointing weekend for two local drivers, with Garry Jennings dropping crucial points in his bid for the Group N Irish National Rally Championship and Alastair Fisher failing to win the Pirelli Shoot out, which would have earned him a fully supported season in the 2010 British Rally Championship.

Garry Jennings has been a front runner in the Irish National Championship all season, but a succession of small problems have prevented him pulling away from rival Kevin Kelleher in the points table, and the Ballinamallard driver slipped further behind following a fraught Donegal Harvest Rally on Saturday, leaving him relying on the results of others if he is to win the title at the last round in two weeks time.

The Harvest Rally started in promising fashion with Garry posting the second fastest overall time on the first stage, but on stage two his hopes of a good finished were dashed in controversial circumstances.

Every rally drivers knows when they arrive on the scene of a stopped car they must look to for an OK board to prove the crew is safe, and if there is no such sign visible the incident must be reported to the nearest radio point. When Garry came on the stranded Subaru of Kevin Barrett on the second stage he felt obliged to stop and inform the authorities in the knowledge organisers would adjust his stage time to allow for the delay.

"I pulled in to tell a marshall about the car being stopped, but as soon as I pulled in my car wouldn't start again," explained Garry. "I jump started the car down a hill but then it stuck in gear. We came to the next radio control point and I stopped again and told the official the same story about Barrett, and I fixed the gear linkage. She radioed through and then told me to drive on through the stage, but I was the only one of the delayed cars who didn't get an adjusted time."

Given that Garry had been forced to stop for longer than anyone else as a result of the problems induced by stopping to report the incident, organisers may have felt that he was trying to gain an advantage by claiming an amended time as a result of his car hitting trouble, but Garry is adamant he was only following the rules. "If there is no OK board up then you have to stop, and it doesn't matter how long you stop for," he said. "I did pull in for five minutes, but I waited until the radio woman told me to drive on. The motor club still haven't told me why they wouldn't give me a time. If they had said to me that it was because I lost too much time on the stage then that would be fair enough, but I never got a reason."

Having lost seven minutes in the incident Garry pushed hard for the remainder of the event, surging through the field with a string of impressive stage times including two fastest overall times. From a lowly 105th position Garry had made his way up to 19th by the end of the rally, despite a puncture that cost him another 20 seconds on stage six. Although finishing fourth in Group N, with the drivers in second and third not registered for the series he claimed second placed points behind Kevin Kelleher. Garry now needs things to go his way on the final round in Skibereen, but if Kelleher has a trouble free event the title is unlikely to come to Fermanagh.

Alastair misses out

Alastair Fisher also had a frustrating end to his season. Following his unfortunate failure to clinch the Group N Irish Tarmac title in Cork, the Trillick driver was attempting to secure victory on the Pirelli Shoot Out. After each round of the British Rally Championship a star driver is nominated for participation in the end of season event, and Alastair lined up against the top British drivers in a bid to win a fully supported drive in next year's BRC. Drivers were tested on their knowledge of the rules and their ability to make accurate and consistent pace notes, before completing two timed runs in a Suzuki Swift and a Group N Subaru. A panel of experts decided Keith Cronin, the winner of this season's BRC, was worthy of the top prize, leaving Alastair still undecided about his competition plans for the 2010 season.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 15 Oct 09

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.