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Round 6 2008 Wexford Rally
MCGOWANS MAGIC, MAHONS MISFORTUNE, BROWNES BEWILDERMENT.
The final round of the Irish 205 challenge took place on the Dick Bailey/ Riverbank hotel stages rally based in Wexford town. This two day event would decide the outcome of the closest challenge in its five year history with three drivers in with a chance of lifting the title of Ireland’s biggest one make championship.
After five tightly fought rallies Ultan McGowan, Barry Mahon and DJ Browne started the first stage of this one hundred and sixty kilometer event with just one objective, to beat each of the others, as nothing but a win would be good enough. A dry morning greeted the eight crews that made the start but damp patches with mud lay around many of the corners on the first two stages. The pressure mounted as the drivers set off into the first stage, the top six drivers running one behind the other so no chance of taking it gently to settle in. McGowan co driven by Niall Burn was first through setting second fastest time. Mahon with Mark Feeley alongside arrived next just one second down on his main rival. DJ Browne however would not make it out of the stage, sliding into a ditch and bursting the radiator. A hugely disappointing end to his year after recording back to back wins on the last two rallies. Kenny and David English went fastest to lead by 5 seconds, their first fastest stage time in the challenge on this their first year competing. Also at the sharp end early on were Sean Sharkey/ Donal Lynch and Aidan Cooney/ Paddy McDonagh. Sharkey stormed through stage two setting a cracking pace to move into a 13 second lead over Mahon who was 7 seconds ahead of McGowan with Cooney right on his tail. Sharkey continued to extend his lead over the next two stages arriving at second service with 28 seconds in hand over McGowan who was having a mighty tussle with Cooney and Mahon until the latter spun due to a damaged axle. After service the repeated stages caused Sharkey problems as he lost the lead and dropped to fourth place. McGowan now took to the front with Cooney posting some great times to keep Mahon in third. Over the next three stages these three set a blistering pace only matched by a recovering Sharkey. Norman Dunne/ Bernard mc Sweeney were back in action after their huge accident on round two and settled in quickly but retired with an oil leak midway through the day. Also retiring was Kenny English with brake problems. The final stage of the day saw Cooney drop out of second place after sliding off the road and into a ditch. McGowan ended the day with a 29 second advantage over his main rival Mahon with Sharkey just half a minute behind and well capable of retaking second place making life very uncomfortable for the leaders on day two.
Another sunny day and eight more fast stages lay ahead of the remaining drivers in the main field. English and Dunne would restart but would not be eligible to score points. The first stage saw McGowan fastest but all the times would not count due to timing difficulties for the organizers. The following stage would see disaster strike McGowan when a burst brake pipe caused him to lose 34 seconds. Mahon now led for the first time by 5 seconds with Sharkey again setting the best times and moving closer to the front. Service allowed McGowan to sort his problems but whether he was rattled by his troubles or not he had no answer to Mahon on the next three stages who opened up a 21 second lead by stage thirteen. Sharkey was still setting quicker times to close to within 20 seconds of second place, but braking hard for a tight junction something let go in the transmission and his rally was over. If that wasn’t enough drama so close to the finish then stage fourteen will be etched in the memories of many for a long time. With only thirty kilometers of stage miles in total left and a comfortable lead Mahon just needed to stay out of trouble but a short distance into the stage he slid into a ditch losing two and a half minutes waiting to be extracted. McGowan was ahead on the road and unaware of the events unfolding behind so continued to push. Mahon arrived at service devastated by what had happened. Repairs were carried out and all he could hope for now was bad luck to befall McGowan if he was to clinch the title he so longed for. Cooney set some impressive times during the day but would blot his copybook with a roll on the very last stage. Somehow he recovered to net third place just 1 second ahead of Joe Ward and Paul Guerin. McGowan sailed through the last two stages without mishap and arrived back at the Riverbank hotel to be crowned champion of 2008 in exactly the same place where twelve months earlier he had been crowned champion co driver in the same car that carried him to victory this season. First to congratulate him was Barry Mahon who must be very disappointed but should take great heart in that he thrilled Irish rally followers with the closest rallying of any class in any championship this year.
Ultan McGowan has made a little piece of history and will once again carry the title of Irish 205 Challenge champion back to Sligo for another year. Niall Burn also clinched the co drivers title so a clean sweep all round. They take away almost two thousand euros worth of prizes thanks to EARS Motorsport, Kumho Tyres, RGR, Martisport and ABR Signs. Mahon for his part wins the award for setting the most fastest times during the year and a cheque for 300 euro.
Ultan McGowan 2.13.04
Barry Mahon 2.16.28
Aidan Cooney 2.24.15
Joe Ward 2.24.16
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