Larne Motor Club host successful Rally Time Trial.

A foggy Ballyboley forest welcomed Larne Motor Club for their annual Rally Time Trial.  The morning, although cold was met with excitement from all involved in running the event and their hard work and organisation was there to be seen.  The entrants for the day were down from the previous year but provided a vast range of rally cars from Nissan Micras to World Rally Cars. 

Larne man Steven Whitford brought his self built Mitsubishi Lancer to compete with friend and ex British Rally Championship regular Phillip Morrow.  The pair provided entertainment to the marshals and spectators in the practice runs before a broken driveshaft ending their day.  Red bay rally men William Carey and Declan McNaughton also brought their friendly rivalry to the forest in William’s Mark 2 Ford Escort, as part of the deal Declan agreed to get the tyres for the event but unbeknown to William, Declan put them on his account.  With only a few seconds separating the pair all day, Declan beat William by 4 seconds to take third place in class 6.

Stephen Dickson produced a fantastic display in his Vauxhall Corsa to take top front wheel drive honours; fastest rear wheel drive was Mark Barnett in his Mark 2 Escort with a time of 4:04.5.  Glenn Campbell from Ballyclare had problems getting his car ready for the event but managed to persuade his friend Michael O’Hara to do a dual entry in his Micra.  Michael put his Micra into a ditch on the third timed run but had set a quick enough time to beat Glenn and take third place in class 2.  Overall winner was Glengormley man Derek McGaritty in an ex Colin McRae Ford Focus WRC beating class 8 winner Enda McNulty by just under 8 seconds.

Citroen Racing Trophy UK Champion Marty McCormack provided great entertainment throughout the day in his roll as course car.  Marty was taking the sponsors of Larne Motor Club’s events in a high speed ride through the stage in a Mark 2 Escort.  Everyone who experienced Marty’s skills and commitment thoroughly enjoyed their run including Larne Motor Club member Mal Haveron’s son Ross.