Maxol E85 Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland ready to hit the road
The first round of the 2008 Maxol / Ford Ireland supported Maxol E85 Fiesta SportingTrophy Ireland is preparing to kick off with the Safety Direct Galway International Rally on Sunday 3 February 2008.
Based in the bustling city of Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, the Galway Rally has always been a hard fought and competitive series opener for the Irish Tarmac season, as changeable weather conditions mean it is impossible to predict what the road conditions will be like.
In 2007 the event was won by BP-Ford World Rally Team driver Marcus Grönholm, taking time out from his hectic WRC programme to learn more about the unique driving conditions in Ireland. In 2008, with no Irish WRC rally in the calendar, there are no manufacturer entries, but the competition will be just as tough.
For the FST teams the rally will be equally hard fought with ten crews lining up for Sunday morning’s start.
Leading the field away will be 2007 FST Ireland champions, Alastair Fisher (19) from Enniskillen and his co-driver Barry McNulty. Fisher finished third on the 2007 Galway event, but the four second margin that he had over Jonathan Greer (19), from Carryduff, was enough to give him the FST title at the end of the season. Both drivers finished equal on points but the four second margin was the winning factor under the tie-break rules.
Also back for the 2008 season is winner of the 2007 event, Tadgh Buckley (26) from Ballyhaunis, with brother Shane co-driving. Buckley won a thrilling battle with Letterkenny driver Conor Harvey in 2007 and will be back in 2008 to look to repeat the win on stages he knows well.
Other notable competitors on the event are the GEM Sport team of Meilyr Evans (18) with co-driver Andrew Edwards and his team-mate Elfyn Evans (18) and co-driver Gareth Roberts. The GEM Sport team will be run by Elfyn’s father and former Ford factory team driver, Gwyndaf Evans, from their base in Mid-Wales. Elfyn finished third in the FST UK series in 2007 and is doing both the UK and Irish series in 2008 to build his experience of pacenotes on the classic Irish stages. Meilyr is a former Supermoto rider and is in his second year of rallying, having won the Formula 1000 rally series in 2007.
Returning to the FST Ireland series in 2008 is Barry Greer (20) from Carryduff, Northern Ireland and co-driver John Lemon. Greer is the older brother of 2007 FST UK champion, Jonathan and is looking to build on the experience gained in 2007 to push for championship success in 2008.
Also returning to the series for a second year is former Junior Rallycross Champion Kyle Orr (18) from Dromore who, with his new co-driver Colin Fitzgerald, will be looking for success on the event where in 2007 they had an accident and had to retire.
Returning to the series in 2008 will be Paul Quinn (20) from Dungannon in Northern Ireland. Quinn competed on a selected series of FST rounds in 2007 in a Chieftain Trailers supported Ford Fiesta ST and will be looking to build on his experience this year.
New to the series are Stephen Wright (18) from Monaghan, with his co-driver Ashley McAdoo, and Adrian McBride, former Irish 205 Challenge competitor who has experience of the Irish Tarmac series from competing in Class A6 in 2007 - both drivers will be looking to learn about their new cars and get a good indication of the pace the series has to offer.
Galway will be the first rally that Bio-Ethanol fuel, Maxol E85, has been used in competition. The fuel which is made from 85% renewable material, in the case of the Maxol fuel, is made by using whey - a waste product from the cheese making industry reducing the CO2 output in the ‘well to wheel’ manufacturing / consumption cycle as well as giving a useful performance increase to FST competitors.
This weekend will also be the first time Pirelli tyres are used as a control tyre in the FST series. Pirelli will be supplying competitors with both a dry tarmac and a mixed surface tyre with the RS and RE derivatives. Irish distributor Pitlane Motorsport will be on hand to offer expert advice and tyre fitting services to competitors as part of Pirelli’s commitment to motorsport in Ireland.
Alastair Fisher, (18) from Enniskillen, 2007 FST Ireland Champion said:
“I am looking forward to the beginning of the new season and what should be an exciting year ahead. We are pleased to see some old faces returning, along with some new crews, as well as the addition of some English crews crossing the water for a new challenge. We are impressed with the new Pirelli tyres and look forward to testing their performance in Galway.”