The weekend in Ballyvaughan got off to a fiery start on Friday night when smoke was seen billowing out from under the bonnet of the Courtney Fiat, the wiring loom had caught light, and only prompt action from the lads saved the car.
The lads were up at the crack of dawn Saturday rebuilding the loom, and even the Champ Simon McKinley gave a hand to get it running. Apart from scorch marks to the bonnet, the car ran well for the weekend, it was another fine example of the camaraderie of the Hillclimb family; and bush mechanics at its best.
Saturday was cold and dry as the event got under way on The Corkscrew, all eyes were on Sylvie Mullins and Simon McKinley.
The Judd could be heard howling at the line as Sylvie waited to unleash the wild horses, but by the time he arrived at the hairpin below the old picnic table area, it was obvious something was wrong. The car gave a very unsettling clunk as Sylvie tried to change gears, and he lost valuable seconds, recording a time of 49:92sec.
Hillclimb Champion Simon McKinley gave a dazzling display in his Lant, and equalled the hill record of 48:39sec to take his first win of 2012.
Drive of the day had to be Joe Courtney in his OMS Hornet, Joe put in a blistering time of 49:60sec to take second place, just ahead of third placed Paul O’Connell, who also was suffering from mechanical problems.
Sylvie Mullins was 4th, John Byrne 5th in his Jedi, Rory Stephens was 6th in his Radical with Dermot Nolan 7th and Phil Price 9th in their Reynard, which also suffered from a miss-fire. And it cannibalised its gearbox as well for good measure.
John Mahon was 8th and Derek Daly 10th in his Tatuus F Renault.
So a very edgy start to the weekend for day one, and yet Ballyallaban awaited the crews…
1 Simon McKinley (Lant RT2 Warrior) 48.39s, (Equals existing record),
2 Joe Courtney (OMS-Suzuki) 49.60s,
3 Paul O’Connell (Pilbeam MP58 Hart) 49.67s,
4 Sylvie Mullins (Gould GR37-Judd) 49.92s,
5 John Byrne (Jedi-Honda) 51.10s,
6 Rory Stephens (Radical SR3 Hayabusa Turbo) 52.37s,
7 Dermot Nolan (Reynard 873-Connaught) 53.47s,
8 John Mahon (DJ-ADS1 Hayabusa) 53.48s,
9 Phil Price (Reynard 873-Connaught) 54.48s
10 Derek Daly (Tatuus F Renault) 56.53s
Sunday morning was bright and sunny, and it was ideal conditions for the cars.
Sylvie Mullins worked overnight to get the Judd back in action, that glorious sound of the Judd could be heard all along the hill, and after his first timed run was ahead by 0.08sec from Simon McKinley.
Simon’s next run was deceptively neat, his speed and car control incredible to watch; for this he was rewarded with a time of 93:69sec and finished the day in 1st, Sylvie Mullins had to settle for second. Simon now leads the championship after Galway.
Paul O’Connell put in a good run in his Pilbeam despite continued problems; that saw him coast into the carpark on one of his timed runs. Paul finished in third spot.
The Nolan car continued to have problems early on Sunday morning and it retired early on in the day. Dermot double drove the remainder of the day in Deirdre Delaney’s car to earn valuable championship points.
Eanna Carroll was another of the fast drivers to suffer mechanical failure, his Turbo Civic broke a drive shaft, but he too opted to double drive in the Hogan M3, and he finished tenth over all.
Sunday’s drive of the day has to go to Adrian McCallion, he got as close to the edge of the carpark as you can go without falling into the Burren, finishing in fourth place.
In fifth place was Rory Stephens in his Radical, sixth went to John Byrne in his Jedi, and 7th place was Dennis Hogan in his pristine white M3.
Another epic Ballyvaughan weekend, no records smashed, but a fine display of driving skills, and bravery by all.
1 Simon McKinley (Lant RT2 Warrior) 93.69s,
2 Sylvie Mullins (Gould GR37-Judd) 95.28s,
3 Paul O’Connell (Pilbeam MP58 Hart) 104.23s,
4 Adrian McCallion (Normandale-Suzuki) 110.90s,
5 Rory Stephens (Radical SR3 Hayabusa Turbo) 112.17s,
6 John Byrne (Jedi-Honda) 113.40s,
7 Denis Hogan (BMW M3) 116.49s,
8 Ray Cunningham (Mini) 117.27s,
9 Dean Laffey (Reynard RF81 Opel) 117.54s,
10 Eanna Carroll (BMW M3) 118.57s.
Thanks to Motorsport ireland for the results