F&M Contracts Down Rally 2008 Entry: Sean Devine at number 1 in his Subaru S11 WRC

Posted by RallyScott 13 October, 2008

sponsorlogo F&M Contracts Down Rally 2008 Entry: Sean Devine at number 1 in his Subaru S11 WRC

PRE EVENT RELEASE – F&M CONTRACTS DOWN RALLY 2008.
Round 9 of the MSA Pacenotes NI Rally Championship

CHAMPIONSHIP TUSSLE DECENDS ON DOWN RALLY.

The fight to claim the Northern Ireland Rally Championship crown moves to the Forests of South Down for the Rathfriland Motor Club’s F&M Contracts Down Rally on Saturday 18th October.

Sean Devine and Damien Duffin, who are chasing a first NI crown in their Subaru Impreza WRC, head the entry list, and the NI Championship when the crews arrive in Castlewellan on Friday evening.
It was Devine who won the inaugural Down Rally in 2005, finished 2nd to Kevin Lynch in 2006 and retired with suspension failure in 2007 while chasing eventual winner Richard Cathcart in 2007.

Behind him at number 2 is the tried and tested Toyota Corolla WRC of Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly. The 2007 Champion will be hoping for better luck this year after the ‘off’in Rostrevor Forest that put him out of the event in ‘07.

Devine and Allen will both be looking in their mirror for 22-year-old Conor McCloskey. The number 3 seed is fresh from his maiden win on the Bushwhacker Rally on September 27th and will be hoping that he can continue his pace on an event that he has never competed on.

With the Championship class 2 leader Neil McCance competing on the clashing Evo Challenge round in England, the top production spot goes to Down Rally regular Donagh Kelly at number 4 with Cathal Rogers and Banbridge’s Emma McKinstry rounding off the top 6.

Running ahead of the main field this year will be the smaller capacity cars, and all eyes will be on Oran Donnelly’s unique rear wheel drive Fiesta and the Vauxhall Corsa of Dermot O’Hagan.
Donnelly heads O‘Hagan by a scant 1 point in the championship standings and both will enjoy the best of the road conditions out front and could well embarrass some of the competitors in the higher classes.

This year’s local interest includes Banbridge’s John and Gavin Devlin, Christian Cochrane, David Hynds and David Walsh from Downpatrick, Ballykinlar’s Sean Warnock and Castlewellan’s Micheal McMullan.

So it will be Oran Donnelly and Paul Hughes who will lead the field the short distance from the start in Castlewellan to the first of the tests in the Tollymore Forest Complex at 8.30 on Saturday morning

The event will comprise of seven challenging stages throughout the day with centralised service in Castlewellan Forest Park. The finish is planned for around 4pm in the Lower Square, Castlewellan.

An Event Spectator Guide can be downloaded from downrally.com in the run up to the event and free Stage Maps will be available from the Rally HQ (Kings Inn), Eurospar and Lennon’s JET Filling Station in Castlewellan.

Top Ten Entries: