GALWAY INTERNATIONAL RALLY 2007

MacHale’s new Focus on Galway

PREVIEW

The advertisement might have read: “2006 Ford Focus, one careful owner, full service history.” Enough enticement for Gareth MacHale and Paul Nagle to seize the opportunity to compete in the M-Sport prepared 2006 Ford Focus WRC that gave former World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm four winning Championship rounds last year.

“We’re delighted to be the first private team to receive one of these cars from Ford M-Sport,” said Gareth. “We know what it’s capable of and what we have the potential to achieve with it, and are thrilled to be having our first competitive drive with the new car here at The Galway International Rally.”

The team see the event as an opportunity to come to grips with the left-hand drive car in which they will contest eleven rounds of the World Rally Championships, the next event being Mexico on 9th March. It was here in 2006 that MacHale scored his first ever WRC points, the first Irish competitor in over twenty years to do so.

Despite being seeded second behind hot favourite Gronholm, expectations of a podium finish this weekend are a minor consideration. “We only plan on doing two round of the Irish tarmac championships this year, so we’ll be putting our energies into getting the feel right, testing the car’s responses, and having the crew get to grips with the step up from the previous vehicle, “ said Paul Nagle.

MacHale has also scored a coup in sponsorship for Irish rallying, securing a deal with American outfit White Oak Premier Resort in North Carolina. An indication, he says, of growing international interest in Ireland’s entry into the WRC which will see the world’s top rally drivers compete in Rally Ireland in November this year.

REPORT

“We kept the Focus” – MacHale

Gareth MacHale and Paul Nagle have taken second place today in the Galway International Rally behind former World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm of Finland.

Going into the second leg Sunday morning, the pair had been sitting on a comfortable third place as a dogfight for first ensued between Irish tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly and the Finnish driver, who is competing in the Galway International in advance of Ireland’s entry into the World Rally Championships in November this year.

MacHale had his first outing this weekend in the 2006 Ford Focus WRC, which fittingly enough had seen Gronholm take four wins in the 2006 Championship. It was their first competitive event in the left-hand drive car, which will see the pair contest 12 rounds of the Championships this year.

Speaking after the event, Gareth MacHale said: “ We’re very pleased with the outcome this weekend, with how the car handled and how we adapted to it and, of course, with finishing second behind a WRC legend like Marcus Gronholm.

“ It also goes to reinforce the fact that sometimes, rallying is as much about luck as skill. Eugene Donnelly showed Gronholm for the two days of the event that Irish drivers cannot be taken for granted come Rally Ireland in November, and it was unfortunate that he went off the road on the 12th stage. We hope that we can sustain that level of professionalism in WRC this season, and let the world know that Irish rallying really is on top of its’ form,” he concluded.

Next up for MacHale and Nagle is Rally Mexico in March. Last Year’s event in Mexico was where they became the first Irish competitors in over 20 years to score WRC points.