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April 2008
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Pre - Rally of the Lakes
Another Irish summer is nearly upon us meaning that the annual May bank holiday
weekend trip to Killarney is here. The good weather and heat is yet to arrive
but the temperature will definitely rise a degree or two in the Kingdom this
weekend with the Global Group Irish Tarmac Championship and Irish Evo Challenge
rolling into town.
Top Irish Production runners and 2007 Rally of the Lakes Production winners, Colm Murphy
and Ger Loughery will be back behind the wheel of their James Foley prepared Evo9 for the
third time to try to get their Evo Challenge attack under way – a campaign dogged by
miserable luck so far, overshadowing two remarkable performances.
Despite holding 2nd over all for a time on the Galway International and also starting the
second day of the West Cork rally 2nd overall and having led the event for a number of
stages on a wet Saturday, the pair has yet to put a score on the Evo Challenge board.
A mechanical failure robbing them on the second day in Galway and an instance of too
much speed carried through a chicane in Ring costing the Limerick pairing an all time
best result on the West Cork event.
Third time will hopefully be the charm for the Energy Superstore team – the speed, setup
and quality of the car has never been in question; Foley and his team giving Colm a car
he was instantly at home in – to the point of being able to swap times with WRC machinery
in Galway. Having spent 4 years driving his Impreza on the door handles to keep up with
various Evo’s, it’s been a revelation for the Trackcare Engineering crew to get into the
JFR machine – an appreciable difference in all round speed and handling meaning a less
frantic driving style is required – easier on car and driver – the only thing currently
missing from the formula – a bit of luck.
The Rally of the Lakes returns to its roots this year, Saturday will see classic stages
like Ardgroom, Cods Head and the Healy Pass making it into the line-up for the first time
in a number of years - Sunday classics such as Carragh Lake and Beallaghbeama continuing
on the schedule.
Colm and Ger would like to thank all their sponsors and supporters, without whose help
none of this would be possible – JFR Rally Sport, Energy Superstore, Trackcare Engineering,
The Connemara Gateway Hotel, Advanced Surveys, Woodtown Plant Hire, The Gables Bar,
Murray Motorsport for Lico, Bywell Plant Hire, Hella Ireland, CBM Construction,
Pat Stack Block Layers, Ger McCarthy Property Rentals, BearingPoint Management Consultants,
ATM Construction.
PR - Joe Triggs
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April 2008
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West Cork Rally
Ireland’s most successful GroupN team of recent years have stepped up to a new
challenge this year – joining the newest and most exciting championship – the
Evo Challenge Ireland. The best one make series in the country for drivers
wishing to race using the same fuel, on the same tyres and in the same cars.
For Colm Murphy’s MRallying team, it was a decision that would mean slipping out
of their trusty Impreza and into a James Foley prepared Lancer Evo 9. It wouldn’t
be a choice to regret however as the difference in power and handling, according
to Colm, was marked.
The quality of the car and JFR’s preparation spoke for itself when, without having
turned a wheel in anger before , Colm and Ger sat in second place overall after the
first stage on the Galway international rally. As the weather cleared and conditions
eased during the day the superior power of the WRC machinery told but sixth place
overall and first in GroupN overnight was a good days work.
Sunday was to start full of promise following the previous day’s performance but a
clutch failure at the start of the tenth stage meant an early retirement from their
forty second GpN lead.
Disappointed with the retirement but upbeat following their first blast in the Evo,
West Cork a month later was to give the Trackcare Engineering backed pairing a second
chance to open their Evo Challenge account.
A great performance saw the Energy Superstore sponsored Mitsubishi in second place overall
and swapping times with the leading Impreza WRC of previous winner Donie O’Sullivan – the
car’s superb speed and handling allowing the Limerick crew extract every last horse power
in the changeable conditions.
Sunday was again to prove the sting in tail however with an opened chicane allowed too much
speed be carried into a bend just before Ring village. A broken brake disc and wishbone
putting paid to a great weekend’s work inclucing a fastest overall stage time – a first
for Colm and a rare commodity for a driver in a GroupN car!
With two rounds gone, the series is still wide open and next up is the legendary Killarney
Rally of the Lakes. Colm and his MRallying team will be taking the Kingdom challenge with
the intention of repeating their result from last year – a Group N victory.
Colm and Ger would like to thank all their sponsors and supporters, without whose help none
of this would be possible - Energy Superstore,
Trackcare Engineering, The Connemara Gateway Hotel, Advanced Surveys,
WoodTown Plant Hire, The Gables Bar, Murray Motorsport for Lico,
Mann Construction, Bywell Plant Hire, Remax Kenmare and Killarney,
Griffin Bros Contractors Ltd, ATM Consturction, James Foley Rally Sport and Hella Ireland.
PR - Joe Triggs
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February 2008
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Galway International Rally Round 1(EVO Challenge and ITC).
Last weekend witnessed Colm Murphy and Ger Loughery teaming with James Foley Rally
Sport team to tackle the first ever Irish Mitsubishi Challenge and the first round
of the Irish Tarmac Championship (ITC). The Trackcare Engineering Mitsubishi EVO 9
was new to Colm and having never driven the car before was a little bit nervous of
what lay ahead of him.
Saturday Stage 1 – Ballybuck, Colm and Ger set a blistering pace to put them 2nd
over all, Colm said “I must have caught everybody napping, but I had very good ice
notes from my ice notes crew and that made a big difference. The car is absolutely
fantastic. I am amazed that it is so easy to drive, it is a testament to James Foley
and his team”. With such stages as Black Road and Francis Gap on the schedule for
day 1 Colm and Ger continued to put in a consistent drive. Working with Joe Murray
(Proflex) they were making suttle changes to the setup of the Mitsubishi to try and
prefect the cars handling, having never driven the car before Colm was try to be
cautious and was mindful of having had no previous experience in the car.
Colm and Ger continued to set the pace on Saturday stages and managed to end the
day in 6th place overall and a comfortable 39 seconds of a lead on nearest rival Kevin Kelleher.
Sunday Stage 9 – Colm and Ger tackled the stages in monsoon conditions and the
Mitsubishi was proving very difficult to control over the opening stage. Having
only had time to half cut out the tyres the care was aquaplaning on the water
logged stages. Colm decided to ease off on Stage 9 so as to prevent going off the
road. But in rallying the sport can be very cruel as well as being very fulfilling.
Stage 10 would see the demise of the MRallying team and their exit from the 2008
Galway rally, the Trackcare Engineering / Energy Superstore car refused to pull
off of the start line. The car experience transmission failure, this quiet possibly
as a result of just bad luck. So a disappointed Colm and Ger had no option but to
bow out of the event and hand victory to Kevin Kelleher who put in a great performance.
Colm said “ I am very disappointing for all the team, James Foley Rally Sport team
did a fantastic job on preparing the car, the car ran faultlessly up to now, I guess
I am not sure if I was just pushing the car too hard, at the end of the day these are
only Group N cars and pushing them to the limits can sometime cause them to break.
But credit to James for such a good car, being 2nd overall after the first stage was
fantastic, but its no surprise to me as the car is so good it exceeded all my expectations.
Roll on the next event which is West Cork.”
Colm and Ger would like to thank all their sponsors and supporters,
without whose help none of this would be possible - Energy Superstore,
Trackcare Engineering, The Connemara Gateway Hotel, Advanced Surveys,
WoodTown Plant Hire, The Gables Bar, Murray Motorsport for Lico,
Mann Construction, Bywell Plant Hire, Remax Kenmare and Killarney,
Griffin Bros Contractors Ltd, ATM Consturction, James Foley Rally Sport and Hella Ireland.
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January 2008
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Auto Sport Motor Show NEC Birmingham
“Happy New Year to all the MRallying Team supporters and fans.”
2008, a new year begins for the MRallying Team. An annual trip Birmingham is the tradition. The purpose of the trip is to meet with potential sponsors and discuss what they can do in terms of helping out the team.
It is also a good time to meet with other teams and car manufactures to see what they have on offer. The show is an ideal platform to view new technology and see if it can be of any benefit to the MRallying team for the year ahead.
Ger Loughery will partner Colm again
for 2008. Ger has been a vital part of the team and has demonstrated
with out doubt his ability in helping Colm navigate his way thought
the demanding rounds of the Irish Tarmac Championship.
If you are a company/organisation out there and would like to join with Colm Murphy and his team please do not hesitate to contact Colm or any other member of the team. Packages for all sizes of organisation can be arranged.
So stay tuned to www.mrallying.com for news……
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