‘Special’ win in Belgium for Kelly family trio

THE Kelly family’s victory at Escort Rally Special in Belgium last week was just that, special.

The three-strong crew of Frank, Rosemarie and Lauren took on and defeated some professional teams at the increasingly popular event that is run exclusively for Ford Escorts.

Known for his flamboyant driving style behind the wheel of ‘Baby Blue’, Frank had daughter Lauren on the notes, while wife Rosemarie ran things in the service park to ensure a smooth event for the Moy family that resulted in a first placed finish ahead of 59 other entrants.

And it was the fact that their team was comprised of just the three Kellys, and his somewhat advancing years, that made the achievement of a 35 seconds triumph over Jack Newman and Andrew Browne after Chris O’Callaghan had held an early lead.

“At this stage of my rallying I’m thinking that these things won’t happen any more because I’m getting too old. But it’s nice to get one again and it feels even more sweet than ever because it could be the last one,” Frank explained.

“But we knew it was going to be tough to get through it because we have no service crew, it’s just me Rosemarie and Lauren.

“Service was only 20 minutes long so we had to get our plans together so that we weren’t dithering. We had our tyre choices made before we got there, knew our fuel calculations – Lauren was on the fuel, I changed the wheels and Rosemarie cleaned the glass and then it was time to get out again. It was tight going and when the rally ended I wasn’t even fit to celebrate!

“But things like that make it all the sweeter. When you;re a wee small three-man team essentially against some serious professional teams – Irish, Dutch, Belgian, French, from all over – there were some serious teams and some real nice cars, it was good to do it.”

Escort Rally Special is always an event the Kellys family look forward to due to it being exclusively for their favourite Ford and because it is so well run.

And this year was no different, although after their result they will look back on the 2022 event with a little extra fondness.

“We had a great weekend when we could seem to do no wrong. You sometimes get weekends when you can do no right but for some reason we have been hitting a good vein of speed and results this last while,” Frank added.

“It was nice to get to do well in Belgium, it meant a lot because it’s a great rally. It’s nice to do well there because there is always good competition, so it’s a good marker.

“There’s a great atmosphere about that rally and the guy who runs it, Christophe Jacob, is a real petrol head and a real Escort aficionado too. It was all his brain child and it was to be a one-off in 2018 but apart from the year of Covid it has run every year and it’s getting bigger every year.

“And this year it was a bigger tougher rally than ever, there was a lot of mileage and a lot of work but really good stages that you could get your teeth into.

“It suited a 2.5 Escort with big, fast, ballsy stages that you could let her at it. It was enjoyable.”