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The Carlow Car Club annual Hillclimb/Sprint proved as successful as ever at the weekend with an abundance of motorsport action in counties Carlow and Kildare. Sunday’s sprint took place in Bagenalstown alongside the scenic river barrow, a total of 56 competitors took part in the event, weather conditions were considerable wet early that morning but the sun soon made its appearance resulting in very dry conditions and some scorching times being achieved throughout the day. Carnew man John Byrne came out on top on Sunday as he returned to his trusted Jedi for the event, having stepped up in power from a previous 600cc engine to 1100cc John used the extra power to his advantage putting in some superb times. John by no means had an easy win as local man Sam Smyth in his MkII Escort set the fastest time on run 1, while Martin Treacy was quickest on run 2 John put in a time of 48.48s on run 1 while Sam was just under 3 seconds faster with a time of 45. 97s, Martin put in a time of 45.64s on run 2 putting him in the lead but not for long as John pulled out all the stops on run 3 and had a time of 44.50s which secured him the overall win with Martin Treacy (Evo) 2nd 45.65s and Sam Smyth (Escort) 45.64s. John Hade snatched 4th overall despite his earlier antics with the wall, Diarmuid O’Toole in his self built Locost just pipped regular hill climber Brendan Harpur for 5th with Brendan having to settle for 6th. Next up was Patrick Keogh with a time of 49.12s followed closely by Mark Cullen (Darrian T90) 49.38s,while Leo Doyle (MkI) and Des Ryan (Corsa) rounded of the top ten.
Class Winners
Class 1 Nicky Carroll (Rover Mini)
Class 2 James Bradley (Vauxhall Nova)
Class 3a Cyril McCabe (Alfa Romeo)
Class 3b Diarmuid O’Toole (Locost)
Class 5 Laura Eustace (Formula Vee)
Class 8a Ken Treacy (Peugeot 205)
Class 8b Kenneth Corrigan (Ford Escort Mk2)
Class 9a John Hade (Ford Escort Mk2)
Class 9b Leo Doyle (Ford Escort Mk1)
Monday’s Hill was in Ardshull the Moate Co. Kildare always a very fast and technical hill it has caught out many competitors in the past. There was a significant drop in the number of entries for Monday’s event; although only 26 competitors started the event ran very well with a total of 5 timed runs achieved. Local resident Neil Perry was the overall winner on the day in his Cosworth beating Mark Cullen in the Darrian T90 by a mere second. Mark was fastest over run 1 but this soon changed on run 2 with Neil moving ahead by 1 second as the rain came down mark opted out after 2 runs as he was struggling for grip in the wet and slippery conditions leaving the way ahead for Perry. Colum Coughlan 45.44s was 3rd overall making up for his unlucky non start on Sunday’s event due to clutch problems. Following closely in 4th was Pat Murphy with a time of 45.88s, next up was Kildare man Des Ryan in his Opel Corsa with Ken Treacy in 6th. Jack Deegan was back to his winning ways in his new Peugeot. Jack had an unfortunate off in his local rally 3 weeks previous to this event, but worked night and day in a bid to be ready for the sprints and came home 7th overall for his efforts. Noel O’Brien debuted his newly acquired Peugeot and finished 8th, 9th was Patrick Keogh Opel Tigra with Brendan Harpur finishing 10th. John Byrne scooped the overall fastest time for the two days. Well done to COC Seamus Hobbs and his team on a very successful and well run event. A big thanks also to all who marshalled on the events.
Class Winners
Class 2 Noel O’Brien (Peugeot 205 GTi)
Class 3a Denise Ryan (Fiat Abarth)
Class 3b Neil Perry (Ford Cosworth 4×4)
Class 5 Eugene French (Formula Vee)
Class 6 John Byrne (Jedi)
Class 8a Ken Treacy (Peugeot 205)
Class 8b Jimmy Doyle (Toyota Starlet)
Class 9 Pat Murphy (Peugeot 205 GTi)
The Carlow Car Club annual Hillclimb/Sprint proved as successful as ever at the weekend with an abundance of motorsport action in counties Carlow and Kildare. Sunday’s sprint took place in Bagenalstown alongside the scenic river barrow, a total of 56 competitors took part in the event, weather conditions were considerable wet early that morning but the sun soon made its appearance resulting in very dry conditions and some scorching times being achieved throughout the day. Carnew man John Byrne came out on top on Sunday as he returned to his trusted Jedi for the event, having stepped up in power from a previous 600cc engine to 1100cc John used the extra power to his advantage putting in some superb times. John by no means had an easy win as local man Sam Smyth in his MkII Escort set the fastest time on run 1, while Martin Treacy was quickest on run 2 John put in a time of 48.48s on run 1 while Sam was just under 3 seconds faster with a time of 45. 97s, Martin put in a time of 45.64s on run 2 putting him in the lead but not for long as John pulled out all the stops on run 3 and had a time of 44.50s which secured him the overall win with Martin Treacy (Evo) 2nd 45.65s and Sam Smyth (Escort) 45.64s. John Hade snatched 4th overall despite his earlier antics with the wall, Diarmuid O’Toole in his self built Locost just pipped regular hill climber Brendan Harpur for 5th with Brendan having to settle for 6th. Next up was Patrick Keogh with a time of 49.12s followed closely by Mark Cullen (Darrian T90) 49.38s,while Leo Doyle (MkI) and Des Ryan (Corsa) rounded of the top ten.
Class Winners
Class 1 Nicky Carroll (Rover Mini)
Class 2 James Bradley (Vauxhall Nova)
Class 3a Cyril McCabe (Alfa Romeo)
Class 3b Diarmuid O’Toole (Locost)
Class 5 Laura Eustace (Formula Vee)
Class 8a Ken Treacy (Peugeot 205)
Class 8b Kenneth Corrigan (Ford Escort Mk2)
Class 9a John Hade (Ford Escort Mk2)
Class 9b Leo Doyle (Ford Escort Mk1)
Monday’s Hill was in Ardshull the Moate Co. Kildare always a very fast and technical hill it has caught out many competitors in the past. There was a significant drop in the number of entries for Monday’s event; although only 26 competitors started the event ran very well with a total of 5 timed runs achieved. Local resident Neil Perry was the overall winner on the day in his Cosworth beating Mark Cullen in the Darrian T90 by a mere second. Mark was fastest over run 1 but this soon changed on run 2 with Neil moving ahead by 1 second as the rain came down mark opted out after 2 runs as he was struggling for grip in the wet and slippery conditions leaving the way ahead for Perry. Colum Coughlan 45.44s was 3rd overall making up for his unlucky non start on Sunday’s event due to clutch problems. Following closely in 4th was Pat Murphy with a time of 45.88s, next up was Kildare man Des Ryan in his Opel Corsa with Ken Treacy in 6th. Jack Deegan was back to his winning ways in his new Peugeot. Jack had an unfortunate off in his local rally 3 weeks previous to this event, but worked night and day in a bid to be ready for the sprints and came home 7th overall for his efforts. Noel O’Brien debuted his newly acquired Peugeot and finished 8th, 9th was Patrick Keogh Opel Tigra with Brendan Harpur finishing 10th. John Byrne scooped the overall fastest time for the two days. Well done to COC Seamus Hobbs and his team on a very successful and well run event. A big thanks also to all who marshalled on the events.
Class Winners
Class 2 Noel O’Brien (Peugeot 205 GTi)
Class 3a Denise Ryan (Fiat Abarth)
Class 3b Neil Perry (Ford Cosworth 4×4)
Class 5 Eugene French (Formula Vee)
Class 6 John Byrne (Jedi)
Class 8a Ken Treacy (Peugeot 205)
Class 8b Jimmy Doyle (Toyota Starlet)
Class 9 Pat Murphy (Peugeot 205 GTi)