Reid & McCann King & Queen of the Carrick on Suir Hillclimb Weekend
Fresh from his Round 2 win in Limerick 2 weeks ago, former Irish Tarmac Modified Rally Champion Simon Reid used local knowledge to his advantage to take the overall win on Round 3 of the Alekto Irish Hillclimb & Sprint Championship on Saturday last in Carrick on Suir.
Reverting to his Mk 2 Escort for his home event, Reid took advantage of a dry start in Run 1 to top the time sheets ahead of Clive Bradshaw in 2nd and Shane Bell in 3rd.
The arrival of rain for Run 2 saw the 4-wheel drive Subaru of Shane Bell come into its own with Shane setting a time just 7 tenths slower than Simons Run 1 Time with the Honda Civic of Willie Barrett going 2nd fastest and Declan Gannon in his Rally 2 Fiesta taking 3rd Fastest.
Current Saloon Champion Brian Kirwan had been struggling with the Virtual Chicane in his RWD Peugeot 205 and had failed to post a time for the first 2 runs but that changed on Run 3 where he came within a tenth of a second of Reid’s Run 1 time. and with Shane Bell also improving the stage was set for a thrilling finale on Run 4 as less than 3 tenths separated the Top 3 going into the final Run of the day.
There was huge excitement around the Start Line for the Final Run with phones at the ready to get the timing updates as the cars crossed the finish line. Simon Reid was the first to go and laid down a marker for the following pack when he stopped the clock at 1:01.909. Shane Bell was next up and although he went quicker with a 1:02.380 he couldn’t match the time of Reid and had to settle for 2nd on the day. All eyes were on Brian Kirwan to see if he could spoil the party for the Carrick on Suir faithful, but the Wexford man came up just short with a time of 1:02.587 to take 3rd place. Clive Bradshaw will be ruing a breaking a driveshaft in his Evo 6 off the Start line on Run 4 as he most certainly had the pace to challenge the Top 3 but ended up having to settle for 4th with a time of 1:03.223 Limerick man Willie Barrett had an excellent day in his Super Charged Honda Civic improving times on each Run ending with a 1:03. 636 to round out the top 5.
Saturday Class Winners:
Class 1J – Keenan Murphy
Class 1A – Ray Cunningham,
Class 1B – Robert Cummins,
Class 2 – Graham Bradley,
Class 3A – Peter Boggan,
Class 3B – Shane Bell,
Class 4 – John Hackett,
Class 5 – Enda Byrne,
Class 6 – Siobhan McCann,
Class 7 – Russell Stanworth,
Class 8A – Paddy Mylett,
Class 8B – Eamonn McCarthy,
Class 9B – Stephen Mackey,
Class 10 – Declan Gannon.
The Sun decided to make a welcome appearance on Sunday Morning, and it was a determined Brian Kirwan in the rapid Peugeot who was the first to make the best of the dry roads when he set the Hill alight with a blistering time of 58.577 on Run 1. Shane Bell was also on the attack early but his time of 59.522 was almost a second off that of Kirwans. Siobhan McCann in her Ray 86F of had struggled in the wet on Saturday but was far more comfortable on Sunday in the dry and had slotted into 3rd after Run 1. Willie Barrett was charging hard again in 4th and Saturdays winner Simon Reid was surprised to find himself almost 2.5 seconds off the pace in 5th.
Shane Bell powered his Subaru to the top of the timesheets on Run 2 with a time almost 2 seconds quicker than hi previous Run. Brian Kirwan improved slightly on Run 2 but dropped to 2nd overall almost a second off Bell. Siobhan McCann was still in 3rd, but her times were also improving in the right direction.
It was as you were for Run 3 as none of the Top 3 could improve on their previous times but just behind them Willie Barrett was joining the party in 4th as he had just broken the 59 second barrier and was within .8 of a second of the fastest time and was now showing that the Civic was more than capable of challenging for top honours. Simon Reid was hanging in there in 5th but was hampered by the fact that the full racing slicks of Hillclimb cars were now working better than the tyres on his “Rally ready” Mk2 Escort.
Run 4 saw a change at the top as Siobhan McCann made her move and slotted the Ray into top spot by a mere four tenths of a second from the Subaru of Shane Bell. Brian Kirwan had also improved on his Run 3 time and was now only a tenth of a second off Bell and four tenths off McCann. Christopher Houston had now jumped from 8th to 4th as he found some pace in the OMS to post a 58.217 which put him just eight tenths off the lead. Again, we were in for an exciting finish such were the fine margins between the top 4.
The top 2 decided to sit out Run 5 obviously feeling that they had taken their cars to the limit on the day and it was up to the chasing pack to see if anyone could challenge Siobhan McCann for the win. Simon Reid came to the line for the last run in 6th place but somehow managed to find almost 2 seconds with a blistering time of 57.917 moving him up to 3rd overall. Brian Kirwan pushed the Peugeot to the limit and posted a time of 57.990 dropping him to 4th by the slimmest of margins, just seven hundreds of a second! Christopher Houston also sat out Run 5 but his Run 4 time was enough for 5th overall.
Ultimately it was Siobhan McCann that took a well-deserved win while also setting the fastest time of the weekend albeit by less than five hundreds of a second from Shane Bell with Simon Reid taking an excellent 3rd place to go with his overall win from Saturday.
Both Siobhan & Simon now have 2 wins each from the first 4 Rounds and with the Wexford Hillclimb Weekend next up in 2 weeks’ time we won’t have long to wait and see if either can add to that or will we see a new name at the top of the timesheets!!
Sunday Class Winners:
Class 1J – Logan Hoey
Class 1A – Ray Cunningham
Class 1B – Robert Cummins
Class 2 – Pierce Handrick
Class 3A – Peter Boggan
Class 3B – Shane Bell
Class 4 – Rory Howley
Class 5 – Sean McNamara
Class 6 – John Mahon
Class 7 – Christopher Houston
Class 8A – Paddy Mylett
Class 8B – Eamonn McCarthy
Class 9A - John Butler
Class 9B – Stephen Mackey
Class 10 – Simon Reid