Class wins for local drivers

Editorial Department • Published 22 Jul 2010 16:00 0 Comments

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Mervyn Johnston in action in Tempo on Saturday in his trusty Mini.

RALLYING

Over 70 starters contested the Campbell Contracts Brougher Mountain Time Trial last weekend, with Omagh's Eamon Mimnagh topping the leader board in his Mitsubishi. In a closely contested event three local drivers claimed class awards, with Fivemiletown's Shane McGirr, Tempo's Stephen Baxter and Florencecourt's Darrell Harron winning their respective classes.

The Enniskillen Motor Club organised event was held over a 2.4 mile stage, with drivers facing a mixture of tarmac, concrete and loose surfaces. Each driver tackled the route five times, counting their best three times. With navigators not permitted on a time trial the times got progressively quicker throughout the day as the drivers became more familiar with the terrain, and Eamon Mimnagh produced his fastest time of the day on his final run to secure victory, five seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, Limavady's Gareth Neely.

In recent years the event has also make huge efforts to raise money for charity, and this year over £11,000 was raised for Marie Curie Cancer Care and Cancer Connect.

On the stages Shane McGirr started class three as the favourite for victory, and everything went according to the form books for the Starlet driver, recording fastest times on all five stages to ease home with almost 20 seconds to spare. His efforts were also rewarded with eighth place overall.

In class five there was a much tighter contest, with two Tempo drivers battling for honours. Stephen Baxter went into the final stage holding a slender two second advantage, and he pulled away from the competition in the final few miles to win the class by ten seconds. His fellow Tempo resident Ruari McGarrity posted his fastest time of the day on the last stage, but it was not enough to overhaul second placed Nigel Simpson, and he had to be content with third in class.

In class six Neill Harron posted the fastest time in four of the five runs, but as the times improved throughout the day his failure to record a time on the third test proved decisive. His misfortune handed the class win to Darrell Harron, with Neil forced to settle for third.

In class one Declan Campbell was locked in a battle for the top spot with Martin Collins, but the Trillick driver failed to haul back the four seconds he needed on the last stage and was relegated to second spot. Both Brendan and Ronan Campbell were also battling for podium positions, but fell just short in the class seven standings claiming fourth and fifth respectively.

There was a lot of competition for the honour of fastest Ford Escort over the stage, and Mervyn Wedlock claimed the 'King of the Hill' award sponsored by Clarkes of Enniskillen for his time on the final stage, a mere one tenth of a second faster than his nearest rival.

Event Clerk of the Course Cyril Hughes was congratulated by drivers and spectators alike after a very successful event which not only yielded a successful day's rallying but also raised money for two worthwhile causes. Cyril was delighted with the response he received.

"In the three years this event has been running we have raised over £30,000 for charity, which isn't bad for a small event like this," he said. "I want to thank our sponsors Campbell Contracts for all their support, as well as the residents on the route who really went out of their way to help. I have to say a big thanks to everyone involved in making the day such a success."

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 22 Jul 10

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