Morris remains in title contention ahead of final round

BARRY Morris thought his hopes of regaining the MSN Rally Championship title had gone after a disappointing run at Snetterton in February, but after a change in fortune at Donington Park he is right back in the mix going into this weekend’s final round at Cadwell Park.

At Snetterton, the Galbally man and co-driver Tom Hutchings had to be content with a top 10 finish after he was held up by another driver and a stray stone flicked the kill switch on his engine.

That, he thought, put paid to his chances of the overall title he won in 2020, but when current series leader, Neil Roskell was forced into a premature retirement at Donington where Morris finished second overall, the pendulum of fortune swung back in his favour.

Now, it’s not as straight forward as Morris and Hutchings needing just an overall victory to regain their title, they also need Roskell to finish around the bottom end of the top five for them to achieve the unlikely feat.

Regardless of how slim the chance is, a chance remains and that’s enough for Morris to be raring to go this coming weekend.

“I was happy with how Donington was – it was dry which gives us a fighting chance in the two-wheel-drive car – and it gives us a fighting chance,” he beamed.

“With the dropped scores we’d need to win it and he’d need to be fourth or fifth, which is a tough ask but we’ll try to put enough pressure on him that he makes a mistake or something!

“I’m going with the attitude of going for it, but it’s been a good year and I’m happy to have got as high as we are considering and I’ve won the class and two-wheel-drive title, but it’s nice to shake it up with those four-wheel-drive men.”

In between competing at Donington and Cadwell Park, Morris competed in the second round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in his Darrian at West Cork.

The event proved a bit of a disaster, but it could also prove to being a blessing in disguise as his car developed a few issues that he can now solve before this weekend’s title decider.

“I got to the finish, but just about!,” he joked. “We had a bit of bother on Saturday and Sunday. It was stuck in gear on the Saturday and on the Sunday, she wouldn’t start on one of the stages, so it put us way down the field.

“We were happy with the pace and looking at the times, we’d probably have been top 10 without the issues.”

Barry’s Dad, Seamus and his co-driver, Jarlath Kelly, were also in action at Donington where they achieved a season’s best 11th placed finish overall and they will be hoping for more of the same this coming weekend too.