Podium finish bolsters Mark Donnelly's Hankook NI Championship hopes
17-08-2010
07:41
For 18 year old Mark Donnelly, Saturday’s Dogleap Rally in the Limavady forests, round six of the Hankook Northern Ireland Rally Championship, proved to be an excellent event for the young Omagh driver. With co-driver Stephen O’Hanlon and using their newly acquired Group N Mitsubishi Evo 9, they clocked up an impressive third place overall finish, which moves them into an excellent second position in the Hankook Northern Ireland Rally Championship. Mark is now just 11 points adrift of leader Stuart Biggerstaff, Stephen leads the co-driver’s championship, Mark has retained his lead in the Sunoco Fuels Group N category, and jointly leads the Hankook Junior Championship with Stuart Biggerstaff.
The Dogleap Rally, organised by the Maiden City Motor Club was Mark’s first proper outing in the ex Cahal Rogers Mitsubishi Evo 9 and despite still learning the car, he was on an impressive pace. “We were quite surprised to be not too far away from Donagh Kelly and Jonny McKenna on the opening two tests, but we did lose some time to them on stage 3- Cam. We had a wee moment in Cam landing after a jump the first run over, and at that stage it was a sign for us to try and maintain the position we were in rather than race the leaders and risk loosing the Hankook points. I am still learning the car, but I’m very impressed with it and thanks to Kevin it didn’t miss a beat all day.” After teething problems on an event in Scotland, and a test session the R317 Motorsport prepared Evo was in fine fettle for the Dogleap. “On the test before hand I really changed the damper clicks and it made a big difference to the car. The tyres too are working well and now we have learnt more about the car on the Dogleap I am looking forward to the next round of the Hankook series, the Lakeland Stages.”
However before the Lakeland the Evo is being transferred into tarmac trim as Mark and Stephen are contesting the Todds Leap Ulster International Rally on 20th and 21st August. “It’s thanks to the backing of Todds Leap that we are contesting the event. I really can’t wait for that. It will be a chance to learn more about the car, gain valuable experience and compare times against the best Group N drivers in the UK and Ireland. Our aim is to finish, but as well as we can.”
For now the Stoneyford Concrete Evo is being re-prepared and the main focus for the rest of the season will be on the Hankook Northern Ireland Championship. There is no doubt that outright victory in this series isn’t out of the question, and for the 18 year old in a Group N car, this would be an epic achievement. However for now Mark has proven he is one to watch, the former Quad Racing Champion adapting his skills to rallying very quickly. Next week you can watch Mark in action on the Dogleap Rally, on RPM, on UTV next Thursday 19th August where the A Donnelly Flooring Evo was carrying an In Car camera to capture the action over the fast Limavady forests.
Redacteur: PB Mark Donnelly | Foto's Roydempster.com
