EXCLUSIVE: John Coyne’s West Cork Rally memories in his own words

EXCLUSIVE: John Coyne’s West Cork Rally memories in his own words

Photos by Rally Retro and John Coyne’s personal archive

Having stepped away from rallying after his 1982 Tarmac Championship win in the RIDGID/Talbot Sunbeam Lotus in order to focus on a new job developing Western Digital’s factory operations in Cork in early ’83, John returned to do the West Cork Rally in 1985, in the Autotune Nissan 240RS, with Robbie Philpott in the codriver’s seat.

This was his third outing in the Nissan, a car of contradictions – a fabulous torquey engine that loved to go, a long wheelbase and good suspension travel which gave stability at speed, but the car was really let down by a steering box that seriously lacked precision, which made the car a real handful under braking on typical bumpy Irish roads!

“We had a relatively slow start to Saturday morning running in the bottom half of the top ten in conditions that started out dry and then turned damp before midday service. We made some progress in the afternoon in mixed conditions, working our way up to 6th by the end of the day, despite being hampered by a problem with the differential. Sunday began with a wet Ring and with a new axle installed we were on a bit of a push,” recalls John.

 We completed the next stage, the 10.1 mile of Ballinadee, one of my all-time favourite stages, in 6 minutes and 6 seconds for the stage win at an average speed of 100 miles per hour – yes that miles per hour not kilometers!

“Throughout the rest of the day on greasy, tight and technical stages we had a great battle with Bob Fowden ahead of us in the Rover ad Frank O’Mahony behind in the Chevette, eventually finishing thrd overall behind Frank, after a couple of minor brushes with the scenery while struggling with a gearbox missing some ratios.

“All in all a thoroughly enjoyable event showcasing Cork Motor Club’s organisational prowess, running  some of the best stages in the country, the enthusiasm of the fans and locals alike and the tremendous welcome that always awaits on St. Patrick’s weekend in Clonakilty.”

This year John, who now lives in California, will miss West Cork as he is competing in the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Missouri, a round of the American Rally Association national Championship in a PCRS run Hyundai i20N Rally2 – a much more sophisticated and manageable car than the brutal Nissan.

However, as founder and patron of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, John will be keeping a close eye on West Cork stage times to monitor the progress of the many Academy athletes taking part in the 2024 event.

Here’s a link to a video report of the 1985

Coyne returned to West Cork in 1986  when he finished fourth in an Opel Manta 400, again with Robbie Philpott

In 2017 he ran a Citroen DS3 with Christy Farrell back in the codriver seat, his first ever run in an R5 car.

“All told I’ve done at least 10 West Cork Rallies,” recalls John

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