PERFECT RESULT FOR MITSUBISHI WRC TEAM IN DONEGAL
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Within a fortnight of the event, Nesbitt and Higgins secured deals with MMSP to provide a pair of Lancer WRCs to contest the Donegal Rally. After testing on Monday and Tuesday of last week both drivers were pleased to have quickly established a competitive set-up for the cars to suit the unique characteristics of Irish roads.
Looking to achieve success in Ireland, the Mitsubishi team was keen to provide Nesbitt and Higgins its full support and consequently sent its top WRC technicians and full resources to Donegal.
Starting and finishing in Letterkenny, the event featured 22 special stages over three days - 16/17/18th June and, with Donegal Rally accepted as being the most prestigious in the International Tarmac Championship calendar, the entry list read like a who’s who of rallying in Ireland.
Even after a successful test earlier in the week, Fridays six stages did not go as well as the Mitsubishi team had anticipated, with both Nesbitt and Higgins commenting that the selection of tyres did not suit the wet Irish asphalt. Subsequently, at the end of the first day, Nesbitt held 7th place overall and Higgins 10th - the 2005 British Rally Champion experiencing a frustrating start, admitting he had not settled into a rhythm.
But what a difference a day makes! Armed with a new set of Pirelli tyres, Saturday saw Nesbitt and Higgins set first and second fastest times on all but one of the day’s 10 stages. Such was the pace of the Mitsubishi pair, Nesbitt muscled his way into first place on SS9, with Higgins hot on his heals and claiming second place on SS13.
At the end of the second leg Nesbitt held a 22.0 second advantage ahead of Higgins who was in turn 35.3 seconds ahead of 3rd placed Gareth MacHale in a Ford Focus. With both Mitsubishis and the Pirelli tyres working perfectly, Nesbitt and Higgins looked unstoppable, the drivers opting to consolidate their positions at the head of the field for Sunday’s remaining six stages.
However, a few nervous moments were encountered in the final two stages, when Higgins slid wide on SS21 and clipped a tree. But fortunately, although the car was damaged, only 20 seconds were lost.
Nesbitt also had a moment – his being on the final stage when he overshot a junction and lost 15 seconds. Thankfully both Mitsubishi drivers were comfortably ahead of the rest of the field and, when cars returned to Letterkenny for the finish, Nesbitt claimed his fifth Donegal Rally victory. Higgins ended the event 26.6 seconds behind his Mitsubishi team-mate and 28.8 seconds ahead of MacHale.
Nesbitt, from Armagh, was co-driven by James O’Brien from Mallow, Co. Cork. Higgins, from Carno, North Wales, was co-driven by Rory Kennedy who hails from the rally’s host town of Letterkenny. Each crew recorded seven fastest stage times.
The Mitsubishi team hopes that its impressive performance in Donegal will herald the start of a series of outings for its Lancer WRCs in Ireland, UK and Europe during the remainder of this year. It is also in the process of securing a deal which will see Mitsubishi competing as a Manufacturer 2 team in the 2007 World Rally Championship.
Quotations
Andrew Nesbitt - Driver
“What an amazing rally – and an amazing car! Considering this is my first event for five months and having had just a few hours testing in the Lancer before this event, to win is just fantastic. I cannot praise the car, the team and the Pirelli tyres enough.”
“The Lancer handled superbly – especially over the jumps – it’s on a different level to anything else I’ve driven before. Also, to have the professionalism of Mitsubishi’s WRC resources and the experience of the engineers behind me was a tremendous asset. I look forward to working with the team again.”
Mark Higgins - Driver
“Other than driving just a couple of stages a few years ago this is my first real experience in Donegal, so I’m pleased with second. If I had got off to a better start and hadn’t had the off on the second-to-last stage, things would have been very close with Andrew - although he really was on form this weekend. First and second is a great result for the team and I really enjoyed driving the Lancer, it worked so well on these roads and never missed a beat.”
John Easton – MMSP Ltd Operations Director
“Our pre-rally test was in the dry, so we had to tweak the suspension settings on Friday. Once we had done this and sorted out our choice of tyres on Friday, Andrew and Mark went onto set 14 fastest stage times.”
“You can’t ask for more than for first and second overall. It's the perfect result. But it wasn't easy, as we were competing against a top class Irish entry. I am also delighted that all of our service halts were just routine affairs, the cars proving to be 100% reliable throughout the event.”
Donegal International Rally – Final Results
1st Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Lancer WRC) 2.32.11.6
2nd Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy (Lancer WRC) 2.32.38.2
3rd Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 2.33.07.0
4th Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 2.33.27.5
5th Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 2.35.28.3
6th Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC) 2.36.29.3
7th Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 2.36.31.9
8th (Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 2.39.17.5
9th Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 2.39.19.0
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