Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings has continued his amazing run of good results to score an emphatic Group N victory on the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Championship in Galway on Sunday. Garry, co-driven by Donegal’s Rory Kennedy set a scorching pace that saw them not only dominate the Group N (production Car) category but they also consistently outpace some of the regular top line Irish WRC driver’s through the Galway stages.
The action began with the return of the classic ‘Dyke Road’ spectator stage that was reinstated for the 2012 event after a long sabbatical. It was an outstanding success with the crowd lined stage setting the scene for the nine closed road stages to follow. Garry unlike his opponents who mostly opted for wet weather tyres, made an attacking tyre choice for the opening 4 stages, choosing to run with the Kumho soft compound slick with some slight cuts to help cope with the wet conditions. “I have used the Kumho range for a number of years now and I know the ability the tyre has on the slippy conditions, it simply cannot be matched by any other brand so I was ready to exploit this advantage from the outset” said Garry. 4th fastest time through the opening stage was true testament to Garry’s approach beating 5 time tarmac champion Eugene Donnelly in his new WRC Mini through the test.
The action then moved to the Headford area and the first proper closed road test. For the Donegal Bay Fuel’s Mitsubishi it was only getting better, 3rd fastest time through the stage saw Garry move into 3rd overall and a commanding 15 second lead over their closest Group N challenger. Stage 3 was going really well until Garry clipped a rock thrown out by a previous car, this forced him to run wide clipping a wall, little time was lost but Garry finished the stage carefully in order to access any possible damage. Stage four was cancelled so as the cars made their way back into the Headford Service the team in 5th position overall and 17seconds clear of Monaghan’s Sam Moffett who was the closest GpN challenger.
With the reassurance of the Keith Rainey preparation team that everything was in order, Garry & Rory set about the re-run of the 3 stages and once again surpassed everyone’s expectations to arrive back into service in an astonishing 4th overall, sandwiched between the latest WRC Mini and a pair of Subaru WRC S14’s. The Evo 9 was certainly punching well above it’s weight!
The final three stages and there could be no let up. Not only did Garry and Rory want to secure the Group N victory but they wanted to hold onto their hard fought 4th place overall. A fantastic 3rd fastest time through stage 8 and the hard work was done, a conservative approach through the final two was enough for the team to record a fantastic result of 4th Overall and 1st Group N. The 12 points for his 4th Overall along with the 3 bonus points for overall position in a production class car resulted Garry leaving Galway tied for 3rd overall with 2011 Overall Champion Tim McNulty.
Garry commented at the finish in Eyre Square “This event has gone like clockwork, We hit the ground running this morning and maintained that level of pace all day. Keith Rainey and Colm Grant both did an excellent job over the winter, not only to rebuild the car but also adapt the engine mapping and handling characteristics more to suit my driving style, these changes along with the continued reliability have been key to our success. I have to mention the Kumho Tyres, , they have played an influential part, the product has gotten better and better every season and it is now at a level where I think established brands like Michelin and Pirelli are struggling to keep up. With regard to the event, this one-day format which the Galway Motor Club have adopted has been a huge success in my eyes, I don’t know when I last saw crowds like it. The organization, PR and branding in the local towns, throughout the press and through the social networks has raised the level of awareness and that’s exactly what the team’s need in order to attract sponsors. I’m really looking forward to the next round of the championship, The Circuit of Ireland, with the event being a counting round toward the IRC series this year, I’m sure Bobby Willis, Gordon Noble and the organising team will put on yet another exceptional event. At the moment that is my next planned outing but I don’t know if I will be able to resist the temptation of taking the 555 Subaru to the gravel between now and then!!”.
Garry would like to thank his 2012 sponsors & partners:
Jennings Fuels & Lubricants Donegal Bay Fuels
Kumho Tyres Shell Racing Fuels
Stockhouse Furniture Sligo Pallets
Millers Oils OMP
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