Wastewater Solutions Circuit of Ireland International Rally goes to the wire. The final four stages of the ‘Circuit’ produced superb performances by winners Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble in their VW Polo R5 to claim the coveted UAC Circuit of Ireland Trophy. 11.6 seconds separated them from Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes, (winners of the UAC Easter Stages Rally in 2018), in their Hyundai i20 R5 who had set the fastest times on stages 4 and 7 over the two days and were leading the event going into the final stage.
Callum Devine and Shane Byrne had set 3 of the fastest times on stages 2,3 and 6 on day one but were not able to repeat their performance given the blistering pace on day 2, finishing a further 30.3 seconds behind to claim third place. Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson pushing their Ford Fiesta Rally 2 to set fastest times on stages 1 and 5 led the rally at the end of day 1, however their rally ended with engine failure after stage 9 on day 2.
Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan took the honours in the Modified section driving their 2.5 litre MkII Ford Escort to 5th place overall, an absolutely fantastic result. James Ford and Neil Shanks in their 2l Ford Escort MkII finished at the top of the Historic section of the rally and completed the top 20 overall another superb finish.
52 out of the 75 starters made it home in ‘one piece’ having covered 11 stages and 120 miles of some of the fastest and scenically magnificent roads in the North East corner of Ireland.
Unfortunately some people are believing and sharing posts on social media, about ‘bogey’ times and their application to the final stage. To clarify the position, ‘bogey’ times are used by organisers to assist with the calculation of the rally time schedule which in turn is used to determine road open and road closed times. To beat the ‘bogey’ on a Motorsport UK permitted event means you have gone faster than the time calculated by the organisers for that stage and as such you are ‘awarded’ the ‘bogey’ time.
International events including the ‘Circuit’ are run under an FIA Visa (permit) issued by the World Governing body of Motorsport, as such ‘bogey’ times do not apply, so your time on the stage is the time you are awarded, a subtle but important difference.
The Wastewater Solutions Circuit of Ireland International Rally has been a World Class event which was safe and successful success thanks to a considerable number of volunteers, who deserve immense gratitude for their continue support of this iconic event. Spectators flocked to hills and glens to watch the cars take to the air and battle for victory over fast flowing stages with some tricky twists and turns to test the full range of the divers ability.
Bogey Times
‘Bogey’ times are used by organisers to assist with the calculation of the rally time schedule which in turn is used to determine road open and road closed times. To beat the ‘bogey’ on a Motorsport UK permitted event means you have gone faster than the time calculated by the organisers for that stage and as such you are ‘awarded’ the ‘bogey’ time.
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