Whether you’re a forest rally regular or a virgin to the woods, the PlasticBags.ie 2013 Willie Loughman Forest Rally is the one event you need to enter next year! The Carrick Motor Club are giving 'Willie' a total revamp and are giving YOU  the competitor an opportunity not to be missed.

As new Clerk of the Course, Andrew Purcell states, "This is a rally organised by competitors for competitors and it doesn't take a scientist to work out; this is the Rally for you in 2013."

That's a bold statement from a person who takes charge of one of Carrick on Suir Motor Club's biggest and oldest events for the first time, "It definitely is", says Andrew, "This is my first event as COC but I'm hungry, I have a host of new ideas and I have a great team around me!"

“We are giving the rally a totally new facelift, including;”

•        New Calendar Date - Sunday April 14

•        New Event Sponsor - IPS Ltd - plasticBags.ie

•        Associate Sponsors – Shay Power Ltd, Eddie Power Plant Hire, The Rhu Glenn Hotel

•        New Headquarters - The Rhu Glenn Country Club Hotel

•        100 Km's of Stage Action – The longest ONE-DAY Forest Rally in

the British Isles in 2013

•        New Rally Layout: Nine stages, including six stage locations.

•        Entry Fee: €495 and Online Entry

•        Incentive for first time Forest Competitors – Three for the price of Two

•        Counting Rounds of:

          (A) Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship

          (B) TRITON Showers, South East Stages Rally Championship

          (C) Carrick on Suir Motor Club - Club Members Championship

•        Event Location: 40 minutes from Rosslare Harbour - Ferry Deals for Competitors

          from the UK and Europe

•        Accommodation: Large Selection of Hotels and B+B's with Rally Weekend Rates

That looks like an exciting event Andrew. "Yes, I've been eager to run my own rally for some time and after getting the approval, I set to work straight away and my first priority was a main sponsor. My principal selling point being; we’re offering a major advertising campaign prior, during and post the event. The event will be unique within the forest series next year, coupled to being the longest one-day forest rally in the British Isles in 2013.The rally is in an ideal location to attract the seasoned forest campaigners, new competitors to a forest event with our incentive package, overseas competitors as a result of being close to the ferry crossing in Rosslare and the rally base being located just outside Waterford City. It was with this concept that I contacted Sean O' Carroll of Industrial Polythene Solutions Ltd and after detailing the rally layout, Sean was immediately interested."

Sean O’Corroll, IPS Ltd, plasticbags.ie

“IPS Ltd is based in Limerick but I'm a Tipperary man, the new partnership with Andrew and the Carrick Motor Club is a perfect fit in regards to advertising our company. We have recently launched our new website (plasticbags.ie), this is the new face of our company and becoming involved with the Willie Loughman Forest Rally is the ideal way to promote IPS and our new site.”

Sean, who also has the rallying bug went on to say,

“I've always had a passion for rallying but it’s only with the last two years that I've been able to indulge myself and become a competitor. This is our first venture into event sponsorship and I think it will be hugely beneficial to IPS and the Carrick on Suir Motor Club. Through rallying I've made some great friends and from being involved in the sport we have added to our client base. Over the last number of years we have supplied some of our products to motor clubs. Our customer base covers the thirty two counties and this event is the perfect vehicle (no pun intended) for us to promote and advertise our new website (plasticbags.ie) in the southeast area. Andrew has a very interesting event planned for next April. The rally layout including 100 km's of competitive action makes it very appealing and there's the added incentive for first time forestry competitors to enter at a reduced entry fee.”

John Mooney, Manager, Rhu Glenn, Country Club Hotel.

“We are really excited by the prospect of hosting the rally. It’s a new opportunity for us at the Rhu Glenn Hotel and one that we are eagerly looking forward to. Andrew Purcell is a local guy and after our initial meeting where he outlined the details of the event and the part we (Rhu Glenn Hotel) would play it quickly became obvious that hosting this prestigious rally would also be of greatly beneficial to ourselves. We are now looking forward to the April and welcoming Andrew, the Carrick on Suir Motor Club and the Willie Loughman Forest Rally.”  

Rally Guide Launch - CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE RALLY GUIDE

In conjunction with the publication of the initial press release, the Carrick on Suir Motor Club are delight to also announce the simultaneous publication of the Willie Loughman Forest, 'Rally Guide'. The rally guide is available to download in pdf format Here

Willie Loughman Forest Rally, Press Officer, Trevor McGrath said, "The publication of a downloadable guide like this has become the norm for events throughout the world in recent years and I'm pleased that the Carrick MC is following this trend. It will prove a valuable source of information for perspective competitors, officials and fans intending to attend to the event."

Clerk of the Course Andrew Purcell said, "The Rally Guide is another important milestone in the development of the 2013 Willie Loughman Forest Rally. We have expanded the usual format of the guide to also include details of our event sponsors, it would be impossible to organise the rally without their assistance so it's only fair they have the opportunity to promote their respective companies. In addition to the information provided directly for the competitors, important local contact information for business providers in Waterford City is also available in the guide and we hope that it will provide an important economic stimulus for the local economy, during the event weekend."

Trevor also highlighted, "The Rally Guide is available as an introduction to the event. To keep up to date with current information please logon to the Willie Loughman Rally section of the club site.”  And Trevor concluded by stating, “We have also setup a Facebook page, which is very active as you can interact with posts about the event and you can follow the rally on twitter by searching for @carrickforestry."

Associate Sponsors

Round two of the Valvoline Forest Championship witnessed a professional and dominant drive by Craig Breen on the Wm Loughman rally, hosted by the Carrick-on-Suir MC. on Saturday March 3rd

Based in Carrick-on-Suir, the Loughman rally consisted of two loops of three stages, the first loop on the afternoon with the repeat visits under the cover of darkness in the evening. Stage one (and four) was a mammoth 25 km test in Gurteen near Kilsheelan.

Breen the current WRC Academy winner and leader of this year’s WRC S2000 Championship took time out of his international commitments to compete on his home rally. The Waterford man was at the wheel of his Fiesta S2000 and was partnered as usual by Gareth Roberts. The crew led from start to finish and they recorded fastest time on every stage.

Garry Jennings was runner up in his GpA Impreza which was no match for the latest technology of Breen’s Fiesta, but the Fermanagh driver takes consolation by claiming maximum Valvoline Championship points and extending his series lead. Jennings was second fastest on four stages and fifth on two, definitely best of the rest.

Third overall was claimed by Vincent McAree who was fortunate to survive a spin on the first stage and oil pressure issues on the fourth, and the  Monaghan driver was once again very quick in the dark. 

Colin Britton was very competitive on round one in Donegal and he continued in that vein of form last weekend. The Strabane driver would have finished third in Carrick but for incurring a 2 minute penalty whilst servicing a stricken clutch. Britton is now second in the Valvoline series.

Fifth overall and best 2WD was claimed by Kilkenny man Shay Power. The winner of the last years South East Stages Championship, he started off 2012 in great style with some very competitive stage times. Power had a trouble free event in his Escort Mk2.

Niall Henry was next up, just ahead of Stephen Wright who lost over 4 minutes on stage one but did recover to record some respectable stage times. The Newbliss driver slips to third in the Valvoline, albeit two points behind Britton.

Eighth was claimed by Ian Chadwick, and he was followed by Adrian Mc Elhinney who also won class three in the 206. The Donegal driver now leads the 2WD and class three section of the Valvoline.

Ian Downey had a great run in the Corsa to win class nine, the junior section. The Dubliner had an intense scrap with the Civic of Dean Raftery (for three stages) and he went on to finish tenth overall and now he leads class 9 in the championship and second in the 2WD section.

With 54 starters and 26 finishers Carrick was an attritional event. Early casualties included Ian Cochrane Enda McNulty and Ger Lucey Shane McGirr and Mark Murphy. The current Valvoline champion Owen Murphy suffered a puncture on stage 1 (losing a minute to Jennings) and the Corkman rallied back to fifth place only for the wheel nuts on his Evo9 to sheer on the last stage. The 2010 champ was no luckier, Pat O Connell was third on Stages one and two and a drive shaft issue delayed him on three. However on stage 4 the Tipp man lost his sump guard on his Evo9 which forced him onto the retirement list as well. Other drivers to succumb on stage 4 included the Escorts of  Adrian Hethrington, Seamus O’ Connell, Paul Fitzgerald and Mick Nevin.

Desi Henry finished the rally despite losing a mammoth 15 minutes in the Citroen DS3 due to spark plug problems. The Portglenone man was giving Citroen’s rally car its inaugural race in Irish forestry and if the Co.Antrim driver was  not been delayed on stage one he could have finished as high as fourth and first 2WD.Henry is in second place in the BRC as a result of his excellent second overall in the recent Sunseeker rally.

Top 15 positions of Carrick-on-Suir Rally Round 2 Valvoline Forest Championship

1 Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000

2 Garry Jennings/Dave Moynihan Subaru Impreza

3 Vincent McAree/JP McAree Mitsubishi EVO9

4 Colin Britton Arthur/Kierans Mitsubishi Evo9

5 Shay Power/Johnny Rafter Ford Escort Mk11

6 Niall Henry/John Rowan Subaru Impreza

7 Stephen Wright/Susanne Wright Mitsubishi Evo 6

8 Ian Chadwick/Stephen Quinn Subaru Impreza 

9 Adrian McElhinney/Shane Buckley Peugeot 206

10 Ian Downey/Sean Brunton Opel Corsa 

11 Mickey McGillin/Aaron Johnston Ford Escort Mk11

12 Jer Connors/Owen O'Neill Subaru Impreza 

13 Matt Shinnors/ Catherine Levis Ford Escort 

14 Ray Benskin Jnr/Nicky Hegarty Ford Escort Mk11

15 Paschal O Shea/Robbie Hennessy Ford Escort

Valvoline Championship positions after round 2:

·         G.Jennings 42, C.Britton 36, S.Wright 34, N.Henry 27, A.Mc Elhinney 22.

·         2WD A.McElhinney 36, I.Downey 33, A.Fanning 23, F.Kelly21, S.Power 21.

Next round of the Valvoline Forest Rally Championship will be the Moonraker Forest Rally: Sunday April 15th.

Next Monday morning the 5th of March the Wm. Loughman Forest Rally will be featured on RTÉ Radio One's Pat Kenny Show, as intrepid reporter, Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell reports first hand on her experience at this weekend’s Wm. Loughman Forest Rally.

Senator O'Donnell enjoys a weekly slot on the Pat Kenny Show and this weekend Marie-Louise will get her first taste of Motorsport has she joins rally driver James Coleman as his navigator for the Carrick on Suir based Wm. Loughman Forest Rally. Marie-Louise will then report on her experience of the event with Pat Kenny on Monday mornings show.

Ian Chadwick/Stephen Quinn Subaru Impreza Class TBA

Adrian Malanathy/France Fee Mitsubishi EVO IX Class 8

David Candell/Ken Blanche Ford Escort MK11 Class 5

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2012 Wm. Loughman Forestry Rally Final Instruction 1 (28-2-2011)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FILE

1. Scrutiny

          The club will not be using slot times this year for this event. Scrutiny will start at 0900 hrs to 1200 hrs. All late cars to be in position by 1100 hrs so the club can finish at 1200 hrs. Numbers must be collected before scrutiny in the scrutiny area. This will take place in Mill River Business Park. The Rally office will close at 12.30 hrs for licences and collection of documentation. Please come as early. This will take place in the Carraig Hotel, Rally HQ

2. One service vehicle per rally car. Spaces limited, first come first served.

3. Overnight Parking can be arranged For Friday and Saturday night.

4. Trailer park will be in the mart from 8.00 hrs and gates will be locked at 23.00 hrs, Trailers parked at owner risk.

5. All cars to go to Park Ferme directly after scrutiny.

6. Service area is operating as one way systems Left Hand Entry please obey Marshals.

7. Start, Flying Finish and Stop Car will all be illuminated.

8. All Competitors Must be ready To Start once they leave the S.A.C Delays will not be accepted (if not ready when instructed to start the stage the time it takes to get ready will be your penalty) SELF INFLICTED your corporation would be appreciated.

9. Please can we have a telephone number from either driver or navigator this will be asked for at documentation. This is to help with the safe -running of the night stages for the clubs accountability. Should you retire from Please contact control on 087/087-2670445 this is also printed on your time card.

10. Accountability for the night stages. The club will issue an accountability number these will be in numerical sequence. These will be handed out at  each stage start and collected at the stop car of each stage these accountability numbers are to keep track of each car on the night section but will be run in the day time stage to acustomize yourself to the procedure. Should the car in front of you in counter difficulty but do not need assistance please tell the stop marshal that their OK.

1. All Cars must Carry 2 reflective jackets and a Torch for signalling purposes if in difficulty. These will be checked for in scrutiny.

2. Mandatory red triangles and OK Board to be erected in the event of a car breaking down or for any other reason.

3. All signage will be reflective for the night section.

11. Any additional lights fitted to a competing car must be presented during scrutiny (Fitted and Working).

12. Stage Commander Stage 2 has changed from Matt Crehan to Seamus Anderson

Please all Competitors keep an eye out for each other for a Safe running of the event. I would like to wish you all a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Signed,

Barry Duggan,

Clerk of the Course.

2012 Wm. Loughman Official Entry List 

Craig Breen headlines Class Field on Carrick Forest Rally

Reigning National Forestry Rally Champion Owen Murphy, 2nd Overall in 2011 Vincent McAree and winner of the opening round of the 2012 series Garry Jennings will be among the main attractions for next Saturday’s Carrick on Suir, Wm. Loughman Memorial Forest Rally but all eyes will be on recently announced ‘Waterford Person of the Year 2011’ Craig Breen as the Carrick on Suir Motor Club welcomes round two of the 2012 Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship.  

Innovation was the outstanding feature of last year’s Willie Loughman Memorial Forest Rally as the Carrick on Suir Motor Club introduced an all-inclusive one day event which included both scrutiny for the competing cars and was followed by afternoon and night stages. The club continues this successful format for 2012 which takes place next Saturday the 3rd of March. The highlight for both competitors and spectators comes by way of a mouth-watering 25 Km stage, the longest in the forest championship this season in the Gurteen Forest Complex near Kilsheelan and for the passionate rallyfans in the South East the event moves to pastures new as the rally revisits the Village of Portlaw as the famous stages of Towerhill and Bealough make a welcome return after a long absence.

The rally is again centralised in Carrick on Suir as the Carrick Motor Club continues its successful partnership with co-sponsors the Carraig Hotel and Suirway Forklifts/Farm Machinery. Rally HQ is based in the Carraig Hotel but the main hub of the event will be in the Mill River Business Park which contains mechanical scrutiny and the service area.

The one day event format will see competitors arrive in the morning to get their respective rallycars scrutinised, then the main event is set to begin with the first stage scheduled for 15.21 hrs in Gurteen.

Forming an integral part of the Valvoline National Forestry Championship, the Carrick based event fits in this year as the second round. The opening round was held on January 28^th in Donegal was dominated by Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings driving a Gp A Subaru Impreza. Jennings, the current Group N Irish Tarmac champion romped to victory, leading the rally from start to finish. Second place on the day was Monaghan’s Stephen Wright in a Mitsubishi EVO VI and the top three overall was completed by Colin Britton in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX Gp N.

The excitement was no less intense in the 2WD class, where Frank Kelly (Ford Escort Mk II) was on the top rung finishing 6th O/A with a margin of eighteen seconds over Adrian Hetherington (8th O/A) in the V6 Rover powered Mk II. Third in the class was claimed by Shane McGirr (9th O/A) in the Toyota Starlet RWD.

As we head to round two of the series next Saturday all of the above are making the trip to Carrick and the big names are not curtailed to the pace setters in Donegal. Reigning National Forestry Rally Champion Owen Murphy missed round one when he hurt his back prior to the event but now after some recuperation the Co. Corkman is itching to get back on the stages and after winning last year’s Carrick event and the subsequent championship I’m sure Owen will be eager to get his 2012 season back on track. After taking a year out Pat O’Connell, the National Champion in 2010 is back again in Carrick next weekend and with Mark Wiley calling the pacenotes the Cashel duo in their EVO IX will be fighting for top honours. The Lucey Brother in their EVO VIII Lancer, are another Cork crew who’ll be ones to watch and after finishing 7th in Donegal, I’m sure they’ll be looking for a higher finish as the championship moves down south.

The rally also signifies the opening of the TRITON SHOWERS South East Stages Rally Championship. This regional rally championship organised and promoted by THE CARLOW; CARRICK-ON-SUIR; MUNSTER; TIPPERARY AND WEXFORD MOTOR CLUBS is a clubman affair and in 2011 all top three overall honours went to Carrick Club member.  Shay Power/John Rafter, Ford Escort MKII took the title in Wexford on the final round, narrowly pepping follow club mates, Father and Son team of Alan and James Commins. The top three in the series was rounded off by James Coleman and Michael Haley also Carrick Club members. All three crews are back again this year and will make the Two Wheel drive section of the rally very interesting.The rally has attracted a host of other club members including Pierce Doheny who’s back to his Opel Corsa this year, Gemma Kerley will be partnered by Lynn Martin as the all lady crew will be out in their Subaru Impreza. This is Gemma’s first rally in a 4WD car but she will be hoping for a good result after building up experience over the last few years at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla. John Murphy (Boo) with co-driver Niall Fitzgerald are out in their trusty MKII and are followed by Paschal O’Shea and Robbie Hennessy in yet another Mk II Escort with both crews forming part of the Buckstown Motorsport dynasty, the king of the Buckstown stable Seamus Anderson is however not taking part as on this occasion he is working on the event and is the stage commander for the Towerhill test.

Looking through the field the scene is set for an excellent day of forestry entertainment but icing on the cake comes in the form of FIA WRC Academy World Rally Champion Craig Breen, who’s also taking on his local event as he builds towards round three in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) in Portugal at the end of March.   

On entering the rally the Waterford driver said, “I’ve had a few weeks off since SWRC Sweden, we have had a hectic beginning to the year but it’s all been good. Winning in Monte Carlo was a perfect start and backing up that result with second in Sweden was great. I’ll be looking to continue that form in Portugal and taking part in next weekend’s Willie Loughman will be the ideal test session for me. It will be my first gravel rally of the year and I’ll be perfecting my car setup for our trip to Portugal.” Breen who is also a member of the Carrick Motor Club also went on to say, “Entering my local event is always an honour, I get a huge amount of support from the club and I delighted that the rally fits into my schedule.”

The  Forest Rally Committee has announced a TV package for the 2012 series. Valvoline, the series sponsor for 2011 and 2012 has increased their support of this exciting championship with extra funding towards TV coverage for the six round series.

 Chairman John Quill is delighted  with the development. He commented “the further commitment from the Valvoline company  is a huge boost for the championship and it will add to the profile of the rallies and the crews taking part. On behalf of the committee I would like to thank Qualvecom and Valvoline. In addition we are very mindful and appreciative of the help from Motorsport Ireland and the support of our associate sponsors, Hankook Tyres, Suirway Farm Machinery and Forklifts, R&R Tyres Ballincollig, CCS for HANS Hire and Exact Signs. The competitors who have registered for the series have also helped as the registration fee is going directly to help fund the TV package”.