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Triumph in
Ireland for Liverpool Born Jardine
THE Sky Sports News F1
analyst Tony Jardine and BBC Radio 5 Live's Mau rice Hamilton
succeeded in finishing the 2012 Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland
Rally held over 6 April to 7 April 2012, a prestigious road rally
based in and around Armagh in Northern Ireland. Competing against
world-class rally stars in the third round of the Intercontinental
Rally Challenge (IRC), Jardine and Hamilton finished 23rd overall
with support from ProSpeed; an impressive result for the media duo
among a field of elite rally drivers. The IRC is a fiercely fought
series and the Irish tarmac stages are renowned for being narrow,
fast and slippery. Despite a couple of minor incidents along the
rally route, the MIS Motorsport backed and Kumho-shod Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo IX; owned by Northern Ireland 's Raymond Mason, remained
eliable and trustworthy in the hands of driver Jardine.
There are very few sports where amateurs are able to mix it with the
best in the world, thus making the media duo 's placing in the
Circui t of Ireland Rally no easy feat. For Hamilton, this was also
his second successful rallying endeavour on home soil co-driving for
Jardine, the voice of Radio 5 Live being originally from Bangor.
With a total of 15 stages, the rally actually started in Belfast
City Centre and featured a celebratory Super Special Stage at the
Titanic Quarter on Friday afternoon (SS1) which pulled in the crowds
by the Belfast docks. It has been over 100 years since the Titanic
left Belfast for its maiden and only voyage, this heritage being
commemorated by one of the oldest rallies in the world, a century
on. Jardine and Hamilton have previously claimed numerous class wins
and podium places together on national rallies, along with other
notable finishes including 28th overall on the2008 Topaz Donegal
Rally in a Skoda WRC car, and 35th overall and first in class on the
2002 Network Q Rally of Great Britain in an MG ZR.
Jardine was delighted with their
result, and said:- "I was really wired before the rally and
raring to go, so to have now finished 23rd overall is a great
feeling. Unfortunately I made a few small mistakes along the way;
like sliding into a bank at a hairpin and going off through a farm
gate, all on the sixth stage! We were definitely at our best on
stage eight [Hollow 1], and I think Maurice would agree with me, as
we were just going so well through there. Thanks to Maurice for his
commitment as always, and to our ProSpeed team for getting me across
the finish line and keeping me in the rally even when I break the
intercooler pipes!"
Hamilton said:- "Not having competed for 18 months, it took me
until Saturday to really get my head back into gear in the car. We
were lucky with the weather, we had some great stages to contend
with, and all the hard work we did with the pacenotes really paid
off. This rally mainly consists of stages held on closed public
roads, which throws up totally different challenges to sweeping
forest stages... obstacles such as telegraph poles, gate posts,
grassy banks and narrow bridges. It is more stop go than when
competing on a forest stage, and is physically very tough."
Skoda dominated in Armagh with Juho Hänninen winning the rally 44.2
seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen, as Jan Kopecký took 3rd.
Mikkelsen continues to lead the championship with 61 points, ahead
of Hänninen on 43 and Kopecký on 40.
Andy McNab will
be back!
TAKE note, Andy McNab is
back in Sefton on Tuesday, 16 June 2012, at the Formby Legion in aid
of a selection of armed forces charities. Also singing is Formby
singer Vicki, as well as a adult magic show by John Magic, all to
warm you up before Andy takes to the floor to deliver a talk with
Q&A! Tickets are £10 a head or £20 inc a book, available from Formby
Book and from our Mersey Reporter Online Shop very soon!
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GT and F3 Season
Started At Oulton Park
Leanne Wilson - Octane
Photographic Ltd.
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THE new GT and F3 seasons
commenced at Oulton Park over Friday, 6 April to Monday, 9 April
2012, with the British GT and F3. Both the Formula 3 series and GT
Championship are where F1 stars of the future and powerful supercars
fight it out, so this first race was key to getting their year off
to the best possible start! For some this weekend could not have had
a better weekend! Petrol heads who took to the circuit to watch the
action over Easter would not have been disappointed. One of the
highlights was the surprise win of Jon Minshaw. Many know him more
for being an experienced and very seasoned driver of historic races,
but this year he was on the track again, but in a "modern"
car for the first time! Yet this change of surroundings did
not put the skilled driver of and not even a wet track could slow
him down as he powered past his rivals in his Porsche 997 GT3R.
He is pictured here for us by our Motorsport Correspondent, Leanne
Wilson, from Octane Photographic Ltd.
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MPs/MEPs must
publish tax returns says MEP Davies!
A call has been made for
all Members of Parliament to publish their tax returns to strengthen
public support for the democratic process. Liberal Democrat
MEP Chris Davies says that holders of public office, and candidates
seeking election, should accept that complete transparency regarding
their financial affairs will soon become an absolute requirement. He
said:- "We all know that many people on the doorstep claim
that politicians are only out for themselves. It is an utterly false
claim, and is generally made from a position of complete ignorance.
But only by publishing the details of our income can truth will
out." He wants parliamentarians to embrace the idea
rather than be forced "kicking and screaming" to
accept that such disclosures will soon become inevitable.
Davies, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 1999,
was commenting after the issue took centre stage in the contest for
the London mayoralty. He already publishes his tax returns on his
personal website. Davies commented:- "There should
be nothing to hide. Everyone in receipt of public money should be
required to make their tax returns publicly available. This should
include all politicians and candidates for public office. But the
demand for transparency will not stop there. Doctors, nurses,
teachers, civil servants and local government employees will
eventually be in the same position. It will foster more informed
debate about the values we attach to the different roles people
perform. I have published my tax returns for the past two years and
frankly no one has given a damn. Secrecy and concealment create
problems, but openness and transparency quickly becomes routine and
dull." |
