Saturday night, 1st December 2012 will see Monaghan Motor Club host their annual awards ceremony and ladies night. Following on from last years success this is sure to be a night not to missed as we honour all of our award winners throughout our eight events during 2012 as well as Gary Nesbitt navigation championship winners and our 2012 traders club champion, Andy Mackarel. Once again there will be a special emphasis on the ladies, all of whom are the unsung heroes of our sport. MC for the night is our very own club member and mister Northern Sound himself, Sean McCaffery. Dinner will be served at 8pm sharp with awards ceremony and disco following afterwards. Club navigation points will be available on website shortly at http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net There will be spot prizes galore and all members are asked to support with tickets readily available from all committee members. Hope to see you there!
Dunlop National Rally Championship Awards Night
Hudson Bay Hotel, Athlone was the venue for the 2012 Dunlop National Rally Championship Awards Night on Saturday night last. Following a fantastic dinner the awards ceremony was held with numerous locals up to collect their awards. This years championship was a close fought battle and ended with the Cork pairing of Brian O’Mahoney and John Higgins lifting the Dunlop title for 2012. 2nd overall went to Kerry men Thomas Fitzmaurice and Fionn Foley. Monaghan’s Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry finished the series in 3rd overall after a very consistent year for the Ballinode men. Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan won the two-wheel-drive category in their now infamous baby blue Mark II escort. The limerick/Cork pairing of Colm Murphy and Don Mongomery lifted the group N national title for 2012.
In the class awards Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity ended a fine year with 2nd in group N. 2012 also saw Shane take an overall win on the Sligo Stages Rally. Josh Moffatt and Domhall Lennon’s troubled year ended on a high as they claimed 3rd in group N on the National Championship. Michael Carbin had a memorable year also, taking the trusty Peugeot 205 to a class 10 win in this years Dunlop National Championship. This coupled with a class win in the top part championship and 3rd in the border championship is a great reflection of Michael’s year. Cavan’s Patrick Kiernan and Darren O’Brien were 3rd in class 10. Class 11 was also well represented with locals as James McCarville took an outright class win in the navigators section, whilst is driver Ryan Loughran was 2nd. Seamus Connolly and Gary McCrudden ended their year on a high taking 3rd in class 11 in the twin cam. This crew surely seemed to enjoy their season, taking every opportunity to entertain the spectators along the way! Baileboro’s Jonathan Pringle and Martin Byrne lifted the class 13 title after a string of good results in this years championship. Jim McKenna and Thomas Treanor finished 2012 on a high also, finishing 2nd in class 14 in the Dunlop Championship.
Upcoming Events
Best of luck to all local crews heading for Drumlish, Co. Longford this Saturday night to contest the fourth round of the National Night Navigation Championship. This is also the second counting round of the Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship. Donegal Closed Mini Stages Rally is also on this weekend with a number of locals on the entry list. Full reports next week. Don’t forget Monaghan Motor Club annual awards ceremony and ladies night on Saturday week, 1st December in Hillgrove Hotel at 8pm sharp. Book your tickets early!
County Monaghan Motor Club 