Birr & District Motor Club
Celebrating 50+ Years

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News Update - 2 December 2024

Aidan Bourke / Pierce JNR Doheny Eoin Longworth collecting the COC award Mark Kirwin overall winner Mondello park on Sunday

The motorsport season is drawing to a close but it has been a busy few weeks for some of our members. Recently in Mondello park the Irish Rallycross Championship kicked off their season

For our autocross competitors this was the last last round of the championship with a double header on Saturday and Sunday. Some of our junior members were only starting their season with the first two rounds in the mini championship the same weekend.

Results for the Saturday,

In the Juniors, A Final:

In the Autocross section:

Sundays results

In the juniors

In the Autocross section

A massive congratulations to Mark Kirwin on his win,this was Marks third win out of the six rounds this year.

The National Rally Championship prize giving took place recently in the Sheraton hotel in Athlone.

Eoin Longworth collected the Clerk of the course award for our Tarmac Stages rally which was based out of Garahys Garage Birr back in April.

Aidan Bourke scooped second place in class 13. Aidan also managed to clinch first place in class 13 in the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship,and also second in class in the Sligo Pallets Border rally championship.This is a highly competitive class so a big well done to Aidan after a steady drive all year in all the Championships.

Owain Drought claimed 2nd place in the super touring section at the 2024 Irish Touring Car Championship awards night held at the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan last weekend a big well done to Owain on this great achievement.

The Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship awards took place last Saturday night week and we had more great results from club members.

Last weekend some of our club members headed to Kilarney to help out and compete at the last rally of the year the Kilarney Historic rally.

Aidan Bourke and co driver Pierce Jnr Doheny finished off their season in style with a hard earned class win. Club chairwoman Susan Smyth was navigating for Pat Mc Donagh in a M2 escort and they finished fifth in class.

The Roscrea Crew of Eoghan and Cian Fogary were leading there class and were up to 28th overall in their Toyota Corolla Twin cam until mechanical issues forced them to retired on stage six.

The last Club event of the year takes place on Saturday 28th of December, it's the Turkey Chaser Autotest which takes place at Garahys Garage Birr so make sure and come along for a look

Finally our agm took place on Thursday 16th November and history was made when our first ever female chair person was elected.We would like to welcome Susan Smyth into her new role and we wish her the best of luck. Also to our out going Chair man David Forde we would like to thank him for all his hard work and dedication to the club for the last few years. Davey is taking a step back and is now the vice chairman for the coming year.

You can keep up to date with club members events and fixtures by following us on Facebook or log onto www.birrmotorclub.com.

2023-2024 AGM Year in Review - 14 November 2024

Since our last AGM, we have had another action packed year. Our members have been marshalling, officiating, timekeeping and competing throughout the country and abroad to great success.

Shortly after our last AGM, our Loose Surface Autocross took place, where Clerk of the Course Pat Gubbins and his team had a large entry of 32 Drivers. Despite the very short notice, there was trojan work done sourcing and preparing a new venue and we are very grateful to Paddy Kelly for his kind permission to host us at such short notice. The Overall 2WD was won by Cathal Mulcaire, Overall 4WD was Mike O'Connor Snr. and Overall Buggy/Special was Dean Murphy.
Highest placed Club members were John Cavanagh in the Buggy/Specials, Robin Donovan in the 2WD and Pat Horan in the 4WD.

In November, we gathered at Ballyhourigan Woods to commemorate the late John Finnegan who at the age of 25 tragically lost his life competing at our round of the Irish National Forestry Rally Championship in 1993. Family and friends of John gathered at the memorial plaque his family had erected all those years ago to commemorate John. At the commemoration, John's Family and on behalf of the Club, James Lowry laid wreaths at the plaque.

In December, The Motorsport Ireland Champions of Irish Motorsport had competitors presented their awards and others recognised for their achievements. Mark Keegan was the inaugural National Grass Autocross Junior Champion, and at the awards he was presented the Whitby Moynan Perpetual Trophy. Whitby was a Club member and a regular at Autocross both Grass and Loose. Whitby's memory will live on inspiring more Junior Drivers.

It was then on to our Christmas Turkey Chaser Autotest. Clerk of the Course Kevin Maher organised this hugely popular event at Garahy's Garage. A huge thanks to the Garahy Family for their hospitality both in the use of their facilities and the feast Ethna had laid on for the competitors, marshals, officials and timekeepers. We had a bumper entry of 37 competitors including an International entry who was convinced the night before to not only compete but to drive a right-hand drive car for the first time! The Overall awards were presented to John McAssey from the Saloons and Liam Croston in the Specials.
Highest placed Club members were Patrick O'Leary - Saloons and Susan Smyth - Specials.

In March, the Motorsport Ireland Women in Motorsport Commission organised their inaugural Networking and Speaker event to coincide with Women in Sport Week. Our Club Secretary Noelle Horan is also the Secretary for this Commission which put a fantastic day together of women competitors and officials speaking of their experiences. These inspirational women gave words of inspiration to those who would like to follow in their footsteps.

For months, there was trojan work undertaken to prepare for our Garahy Family sponsored Birr Stages Rally in April. Clerk of the Course was Eoin Longworth. The Rally was a counting round of the National and 3 Regional Championships. The amount of work to PR the stages, source sponsors, liaise with programme advertisers, the paperwork, the planning, working with local businesses and everything in between cannot be understated. Everyone put a huge effort in and it showed. Such was the interest, we had 165 crews to start the Rally and reserve crews hoping to benefit from others misfortune! This was the first time a National Rally started the new maximum number of starters and we had a historic full starter list. The weather for the weekend was great and the feedback from the crews and spectators was fantastic. We also hosted Youth Training at Dooly's Hotel and it's been brilliant to see these Youth Marshals gaining experience helping at events throughout the year. We are hugely grateful to the Garahy Family for their generosity, no job was too big and all the facilities provided were second-to none. A huge thanks to our members who set-up the stages from the small hours, those who marshalled, officiated and the clean-up teams. All help big and small from our members, friends and their family members is greatly appreciated.
Highest placed Club member was Tom Holton Jnr driving in Class 5. Highest placed Navigator and winner of the John Finnegan Memorial Trophy was Barry McGleenon. Best placed Club crew were Eoghan Fogarty with James Lowry.

In May, Club action moved to Autotesting, where Clerk of the Course Ger Conroy held two rounds of the Regional Championship at Roadmaster. We are grateful to the McCabe Family for their permission to host our weekend of Autotesting. 18 competitors took on the tests on Saturday and Sunday had 25 competitors with a mix of seasoned, beginner and junior drivers. The weather wasn't very pleasant, but competitors enjoyed the tests and enjoyed the meal organised by the Club at the Castle Arms Hotel. Double winner at the weekend was Cork's Liam Cashman.
Highest placed Club member on Saturday was Patrick O'Leary, and Sunday's best placed member was David Forde.

In July, the Club hosted for the first time a round of the National Autotest Championship & Challenge. Clerk of the Course Stephen Carway and his team kept the fun to the forefront as two sets of tests were completed by the 28 entrants at Garahy's Garage. Well done to the Marshals and Observers for ensuring the smooth running of the parallel competitions. Thanks to the Garahy Family for again hosting us with their fantastic facilities and hospitality. For several competitors, this was their first time to experience our event and they hugely enjoyed the day, the hospitality and the social side. There were 3 Overall Awards presented; Peter Grimes claimed the Championship, Brian Kingston claimed the Challenge and fastest Special was Rob Fenlon.
Highest placed Club member from the Challenge was David Forde and from the Specials was Susan Smyth.

The August Bank Holiday Monday saw 99 cars take part in the Tom O'Reilly Memorial Car Treasure Hunt. Eoin Longworth set a questionnaire to twist the brain and test observation skills as competitors set out from Dooly's Hotel, Birr. It was a testament to the popularity of the event that our President, Pat Horan noted at the prizegiving the large number who had waited for the results. After the results team had collated their sums, it was found that there were Joint Winners - DJ Wilson and Fionn O'Carroll. Club action now shifted to Autocross, and in August our Grass Surface event ran by Clerk of the Course David Percy was hosted by the kind permission of Kenneth Grant at Oxpark, Cloughjordan. 44 entrants were to take to the track, the biggest entry for a Grass Autocross this year! Although there was a large entry, the Starters, Timekeepers and Marshals kept the day running smoothly with little to no delays. The Overalls had Pat Horan clinch the 2WD, Mike O'Connor Snr win the Super Saloons and Nathan Moloney take the Overall Buggy/Special.
Best Club Members were Pat Horan in the 2WD who in doing so claimed the Billy Cavanagh Memorial Trophy, Mike O'Connor Snr who won the Super Saloons and Barry Whyte who was the fastest Buggy/Special.

Clerk of the Course Tristan Horan and his team were planning for our Endurance Trial for months. This September event was highly anticipated and with 44 entrants, had the largest entry of the Championship. It was a hugely enjoyable event for competitors, marshals and timekeepers. Nuala Horan and her team provided plenty of food at the Headquarters based at Ballingarry/Knockshegowna GAA which was widely praised by all. Overall winners of the event were Shane Maguire and Ciaran Maguire.
Best placed Club members were the crew of David Forde and Patrick O'Leary who finished 3rd Overall.

Our most recent Club event, was our Loose Surface Autocross. Clerk of the Course Stephen Carway and Deputy Clerk of the Course Noelle Horan laid on an event befitting the finale of the Autocross Championship season. 49 entrants, the largest entry of the Loose Surface events gathered at Dereen Sand & Gravel by the kind permission of Paddy Kelly. Teamwork was the order of the day as Starters and Marshals worked closely together to ensure the 3 runs would be completed by the competitors. A large number of spectators were entertained by the wide variety of buggys/specials and saloons. History was also made at our Autocross, as Cathal Mulcaire is the first competitor to compete in two classes and in doing so, he clinched the Overall Awards for Buggy/Special and the 2WD. The Overall 4WD was won by Michael Fitzgibbon.
Highest placed Club member in the Buggy/Special was Mike O'Connor Jnr, the 2WD was Tristan Horan and fresh from beating a World Rally Champion, James Lowry was best 4WD.

It's been a very busy and varied year for the Club. Our members have had fantastic results across the disciplines. This year, our Members have had numerous Class Championship placings and Overall Championship wins both at home and abroad. Our members are very active across the disciplines; Tarmac Rallying, Forestry Rallying, Autotests, MVATs, Grass Autocross, Loose Autocross, Endurance Trials, Rallycross, Night Navigation Trials, Rallysprints, Hillclimbs, Go-Karting, Production Car Trials and Circuit Racing!

We should all be very proud of our results and achievements. It is fantastic to see our Junior Drivers and Youth Marshals develop their experience and take on new challenges as the year progressed. We eagerly await following their progress through the ranks in the years to come.

Feedback at our events, in the days that followed and online have all been positive, which again speaks to the hard work that our members are putting in to ensure these events are successful. The last Club event for 2024 is our Turkey Chaser Autotest, all are welcome for a great days competition and a social day out.

Thanks to all who have supported our events; Residents, Landowners, Farmers, other Club Members, Family, Friends and Sponsors. None of these events could be successful without your time and dedication.

Finally, thank you to Club members who represent our Club to the highest standard, be it Marshalling, MI Steward, MI Safety Delegate, Clerk of the Course, Assistant Clerk of the Course, Scrutineer, Safety Scrutineer, Stage Commander, Deputy Stage Commander, Timekeepers, 00 Safety Car Driver/Navigator, Sweeper, Chief Marshal, Car Accountability, Event Secretary, Youth Officer, Competitor Relations Officer, Emergency Services Liaison Officer, Equipment Officer and so many more. Events cannot run without your time and commitment before during and after events and we are grateful for undertaking the training to fulfil these roles.

We are indebted to our Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Board of Directors for all their hard work. Most of their work goes unseen, but their professionalism and passion have placed us as a Club in a strong position and in good stead with our peers.

As another year comes to a close, alongside great success we keep in our thoughts family and friends that we have lost this past year.
May They Rest in Peace.

Best of luck everyone and well done to all of us in Birr & District Motor Club.

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