Noel O’Sullivan and his driver Callum Devine face an unusual dilemma on this weekend’s Ulster International Rally.
The Volkswagen Polo RC2 crew arrive at the rally’s base, Newry, with one thing in mind.
The winners of the Cork ‘20’ can secure their first Irish Tarmac Rally Championship title on the two-day event depending on how they fare against their chief title rivals Josh Moffett and Meirion Evans.
The Kerry/Derry pairing has won the last four Irish international rallies but a fourth-place finish on this weekend’s rally could be enough to secure the title
However, the two-day event is also a round of the British Rally Championship.
That series is currently being led by French man Adrian Fourmaux. As well as his British Championship commitments Fourmaux is also a Ford M-Sport driver in the World Rally Championship Rally 2 category.
O’Sullivan and Devine would love the opportunity to get into a race with the World Rally Championship star and define if Irish rallying is on the same level as the sport’s top tier.
But conscious that any mistake could end their rally and their Irish title aspirations, they are left with difficult decisions ahead of Friday evening’s official start. The championship, it seems, will take priority.
“It is a shame we can’t go toe-to-toe with him, we will know after the first few stages,” said O’Sullivan.
The event also spells the end of Keith Cronin and Mikie Glavin’s aspirations to win a fifth British title. They sat out the previous round in Belgium and with Fourmaux taking maximum points their title bid was as good as over. They have elected to skip Ulster too so the title race, from the local crew’s point of view is the championship is over.
Other Kerry interest in Ulster includes London-based Shane Buckley who is on pacenote duty for Andrew Purcell.
They will take delivery of a new Volkswagen Polo R5 this week ahead of their trip to Newry.
Elaine Ni She returns to international rallying for the first time since the Donegal International Rally. The West Kerry woman is co-driving for Sean Devine in a Ford Fiesta R5.
Dublin-based Currow man John McCarthy returns to pacenote duty alongside his regular Northern Ireland driver John Devlin in their Ford Escort MK2.
Duagh-based Cork woman Ciara Griffin continues her maiden season as a co-driver. She is co-driving for Letesha Conn – the only all-female crew in the event – in a Ford Fiesta R2T.
After the Newry start, the action gets underway on Friday afternoon with a repeat loop of two stages before an overnight halt. Saturday provides the bulk of the mileage, with three stages repeated, before the ceremonial finish back in Newry in the late afternoon.
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