O’Brien looking forward to full season as championships get underway

PATRICK O’Brien may only be 24 years old but it’s been six years since he has had a full rally calendar to look forward to.

The Mountfield man won the Junior Irish Forestry Championship behind the wheel of a Citroen C2 at the age of 18 but his career never really took off after that.

However, following a stunning victory at last year’s Bushwhacker Rally it appears things have turned a corner and he now has the backing to allow him to compete in the full Irish Forestry Championship and selected rounds of the British Rally Championship in 2022.

“It’s mad that it’s been that long since I’ve had a full calendar to look forward to, so I can’t wait,” he beamed.

“It’s nice to have a bit of structure, something you can plan around.”

Structure is something O’Brien will have plenty of this year. Alongside his commitments behind the wheel he is also a member of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, which he feels will help his performances and results on the stages.

“[The Academy] has been good, it’s been very interesting,” he acknowledged. “There’s things they look into that you would never even think of so it’s been very, very good.

“It can only be beneficial for me and especially from the psychology side of things and I definitely think it’s going to help.”

And O’Brien is looking forward to taking what he has learned out of the classroom and onto the stages this weekend when the Irish Forestry Championship gets underway in Killarney.

He knows it’s not going to be easy to achieve success with the likes of Jordan Hone, Dromore’s Cathan McCourt and Desi Henry all entered alongside the other Tyrone combatants, including Conor McCrossan, Adrian Hetherington, Shane McGirr, Gareth Mimnagh, Joe Hegarty, Conor McCourt, Shane McCanney, Shane McGirr, Paul Britton, Hugh and Liam McQuaid, Martin Cairns, Gareth Sayers, Ryan Caldwell, Frank Kelly and Marty McKenna.

However, on the back of his last gravel outing, that stunning win at Omagh Motor Club’s Bushwhacker, confidence is high, especially with a good team behind him which includes former M-Sport crew member, Adam Platt and his brother Stephen on the notes.

“It’s never easy, especially with the two Forestry champions in front of you in Cathan [McCourt] and Desi [Henry] but we’re there to do a job and we’ll try our best,” Patrick added.

“I don’t feel like I’m going to go and get beat.

“I feel happy enough and we have Adam [Platt of AP/Art Rally Team] working with us again, so the confidence is high.

“And Stephen is back with me again.

“He’s very easy to trust and in fairness he does a serious job and puts a lot of effort into it. He does a good job.”

Also getting underway this coming weekend is the McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Rally Championship which will see a host of Tyrone crews venturing to Kirkistown Race Circuit this Saturday.

The opening round of action, the Orchard Motorsport Kirkistown Stages Rally, is organised by North Armagh Motor Club Ltd, has attracted an eye-catching entry list, with Cookstown’s Philip Allen the top seeded Tyrone driver in seventh.

Drumquin’s Ian Dickson is also seeded inside the top 20 in his R5 Ford Fiesta, while Omagh’s Shane O’Hagan is ranked 22nd in his Mitsubishi Evo IX.

Dungannon duo, Terry and Gareth Donnelly are the next Red Hand county crew in a Skoda S2000, followed by Omagh’s Alan Smyth who will be aiming to make his mark in the two-wheel-drive section in his MkII Ford Escort.

Castlederg’s Andrew Bustard, a class winner last year, will be hoping to make it a double in 2022 in his Mk II also, as will Trillick’s Joe Kelly in similar machinery.

Tempo’s Ruairi McGarrity will compete in a Citroen DS3 RT3 and Omagh’s Dara Leonard will be onboard a Ford Fiesta R2 in which he will be going head-to-head in class four with Dromore’s Gareth Deazley, who will again have Ashley Boulton on the notes.

Irvinestown’s Derek Robinson will drive a Talbot Sunbeam in class six and he will be up against drifting star, Ardboe’s Kevin Quinn in a Ford Escort, while Trillick’s Declan Campbell will compete in a Mk II Escort in class five.

Bready’s Derek Gurney will be another to keep an eye on in his stunning Ford Sierra Cosworth, while Strabane’s Jack Cairns, Donemana’s Mark Moore, Clogher’s Neil Somerville and Donaghmore’s Seamus Goodfellow will also be in action.

Meanwhile, Omagh Motor Club members officially launched the 2022 Samsonas Fivemiletown Rally at the local dealership of the headline sponsor at Euro M-Sport, Greencastle.

Latvian firm, Samsonas, the owner of which, Martynas Samsonas will again compete in the event on Saturday, February 26th, have again come on board as the main sponsor for what promises to be another thrilling day’s action.

Entries have flooded in since they opened and there is already a who’s who of local rallying talent confirmed to take part.

“The superb entry that we have received makes all the hard work and effort worthwhile,” beamed event organiser, Niall McGonigle.

“We may not be a part of the southern forestry championship unfortunately but we are the first round of the Anicc NI Gravel Rally Challenge and with the field of cars we have this is where the real race will be.

“Our entry list should be available closer to the end of next week.”

The launch doubled up as an opportunity for the organisers to hand over the money raised for The Air Ambulance during the 2020 event.

“We couldn’t do this until now due to covid restrictions. We raised £2000 for this very very worthy cause,” McGonigle added.
Omagh Motor Club wish to thank their event sponsors: Samsonas Motorsport, Euro M-Sport, Cooper Tire, KG Motorsport, RLA Autosport, Shane McGirr Fuels for their support of the Fivemiletown Rally.