This article is from page 61 of the 2011-04-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 61 JPG
ROUNDS three and four of the Connacht Competition Engines National Hillclimb and Sprint Championship took place in Ballyvaughan at the weekend. The co-promoted event by Clare and Galway motor clubs proved an outstanding success.
Fantastic sunny weather on both days and a large entry of 55 competitors for Saturday and 71 for Sunday made for a smooth running of the event.
Local man Sylvie Mullins stormed to victory in his Judd V8 powered Gould on the one-mile Corkscrew Hill with a time of 48.39 seconds which he achieved on his third run. Mullins smashing Simon McKinley’s hill record of 56.00 seconds which he set in 2010. Defending Champion Simon McKinley finished in second place while former Champion Frank Byrnes finished third.
The action moved to Ballyalban Hill on Sunday, where Simon McKinley put in a spectacular drive to finish the 2.2-mile course in only 93.56 seconds. again smashing his own hill record of 95.02 seconds, which he set in 2010. Frank Byrnes finished second with a time of 101.28 while Brendan Keane finished in third on 109.71 seconds.
Local ace Sylvie Mullins failed to make the start on Sunday as he sheared two gears on his Judd V8 powered Gould. Clare Motor Club were well represented in the results with John O’Sullivan finishing second in Class 8 in his Citroen C2 and Tony Tuttle finishing third in Class 9 in his Ford Escort on Saturday.
On Sunday’s Ballyallaban Hill, John O’Sullivan was the winner in Class 8 in his Citroen C2. Tom Ryan finished third in Class 8 in his Opel Corsa while Al Meaney finished second in Class 2 in his Suzuki Swift.