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13 April, 2009

 

 

 

Getting a top ten finish in any rally will always be memorable but to finish in eighth on the Circuit of Ireland rally is a fantastic achievement. Rory Byrne has been knocking on the door for a top result like on his last couple of rallies and his delight was clear to see as he pulled into the final service at his Modern Tyre Service premises in Carnbane on Easter Sunday afternoon. It was so close to being a victory for Rory in the Group N category just beaten by eleven seconds by Alan Carmichael from Ballymena. Rory and his co-driver Jeremy Patterson showed enormous talent on the stages and of course his Group N specification Mitsibishi Evo 9, behaved impeccably over the jumps and bumps of this very tough rally.

 

Rory made a cautious start to the rally but soon settled in and started to set some very impressive stage times to end the first days test in eleventh place and second in his Group N class. 

 

Day two was to see the pace heat up as Alan Carmichael also driving a Mitsubishi Evo 9 was leading the Group N category by fourty seconds as the competitors arrived to tackle the Slieve Gullion stages outside Newry on Sunday morning. These stages were also sponsored by Rory’s Modern Tyre Service business. Rory managed to get the upper hand on these two stages taking twelve seconds on the first run through and four seconds on the second run through cutting Carmichaels lead to just twenty four seconds as the cars went to Carnbane for their first service of the day.

 

Rory continued his dominance over the next two stages taking a further fifteen seconds off Carmichael leaving the gap nine seconds with two stages left in the rally. As the cars arrived in Carnbane for the second service of the day the tension was clear to see as Carmichael’s car had encountered a suspension problem on the previous stage, his mechanics were working frantically to get the car fixed and back out for the final two stages. It was a close run thing but with Carmichael’s car fixed the two front runners set out to do battle on the final two tests. Rory definitely had the bit between his teeth as he took another three seconds off on the penultimate stage leaving a gap of six seconds to take victory on the final stage. The Modern Tyre Service Team could almost smell victory, however it was not to be as Carmichael turned in a faster time by five seconds to take the Group N victory by eleven seconds.

 

Commenting on his result at the final service, Rory said. “The rally was a big challenge, with a lot of tough but enjoyable stages. I’mabsolutely delighted to finish in the top 10 of such a prestigious event.”