RtG The Daily Dispatch - Shamrock - Complete - web - Flipbook - Page 9
8 to 11 May 2023
Day 4
Castlemartyr - Dromana - Castlemartyr (117.8 miles) 11 May 2023
The final day of the Vintage Shamrock was a slightly shorter one but, as you’d expect, it was jampacked. There were three Regularities and four Tests before the crews could book into the final Time
Control, enjoy the prize-giving dinner,and the fruits of their labours.
The first Regularity around Ring swung the rally through
the Drum Hills and past Mine Head. We ducked in and out
of some heavy rain showers which gave some tantalising
views of the Muir Cheilteach before the route led through
Dungarvan and into a pair of short Tests at the Waterford
Raceway and adjacent Pike Pits. A Time Control here
offered a chance for the cars to cool down and crews to
reset tripmeters.
These two tests could not have been more different though,
the first was a civilised all tarmac affair with a chicane and
a few cones. The second a savage slalom, run over the
loosest of shale. Thanks to varying degrees of ability, the
cars pirouetted their way through the many deliberately
off camber turns, some of the bigger cars struggled - whilst
some of the smaller ones didn’t. Enough said.
Knockaderry was the setting for the second Regularity
which ran through the foothills of the Monavullagh
Mountains and on towards the Third Test, the so called
Rally Connection held over two frantic laps of a motorsport
proving ground just outside of Millstreet. It had been a high
octane, high pressure morning so far but, as lunchtime
approached, the Dromore Viewpoint Passage Control
- high above the River Blackwater - restored some calm.
From here the cars made their way to the Time Control at
Dromana House, an impressive property overlooking the
same river.
Once again the catering department had made a superb
effort for us. For this, our last Rally lunch, the crews sat
down to a terrine which cleverly incorporated the colours
of the Irish flag and a fresh garden salad. A marquee
offered some protection from the fickle weather, but
nothing could dampen the spirit of the rally.
Fully sated and eager to get back on the road, the cars
left the Dromana estate via the impressive, 19th century
Hindu Gothic bridge on the way to Ballynatray which gave
us today’s third and, the Vintage Shamrock 2023’s final,
Regularity. This superb section ran downstream, firstly
on tarmac along the opposite bank of the Blackwater to
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Kenneth MacEwan and Susan Godfrey, 1936 Riley Kestrel 4
www.rallytheglobe.com
