Motorsport: Rally faces uphill battle
THE first stage rally of 2003, the 500 Club's New Year Stages, scheduled to
take place at Kirkistown next Saturday, is under threat - due to a shortage
of entries.
"This is not the sort of problem we were expecting," said a 500 Club
official. "In recent years stage rallying has proved immensely popular, to
the extent that most events have been over-subscribed, but it seems that a
whole batch of regulations, sent out to regular competitors in late
November, have failed to reach their destinations, and a lot of competitors
simply didn't realise the event was on.
"This only became apparent within the past few days when the expected 'last
minute rush' for places didn't materialise, and a few phone calls yielded
the information that people we know we sent regs to, simply never received
them.
"At the moment, with a week to go, the numbers have not yet reached the
minimum required to run the event.
"We will have to make a final decision on Monday, so if there's anybody out
there who wants to go rallying next weekend, we'd love to hear from them
before then."
The event, run by the 500 Club with a lot of help from the UAC and in
particular Circuit of Ireland clerk of the course Neil Malcolm, has proved
popular in the past with six special stages laid out within the boundaries
of Kirkistown circuit providing 23 non-damaging miles of competition
LATEST UPDATE 14/01
THE NEW YEAR STAGES is set to take place on Saturday 18 January
despite earlier concerns that not enough entries had been received for the
event. The problem arose when it became apparent that regulations which were
posted to competitors in late November didn't arrive at their intended
destinations and many competitors didn't know the event was due to take
place. This resulted in a severe lack of entries received by the 500 Club in
the lead up to the event but Club Chairman, Donal O'Neill, has just
confirmed with Ral.ly Portal that the 2003 New Year Stages will definitely
take place. The New Year Stages is the first stage rally of the year and is
an event which usually proves to be very popular amongst competitors. With
six special stages and 23 miles of competition within the confines of
Kirkistown Race Circuit, it provides an excellent way of shaking off the
winter cobwebs. The event also provides an excellent opportunity for
Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship competitors to familiarise
themselves with the circuit as the first round of the N.I. Championship, the
Eurocables Stages, is based at Kirkistown. The 500 Club are continuing to
accept entries and competitors who are interested in taking part should
contact the club on 028 4277 1325.
Gareth Mc Kay
