OMAGH’S Patrick O’Brien insists he will not need many miles to shake off the rust and find his stride as he aims to successfully defend his Trailer Parts and Spares Lakeland Stages Rally crown on Saturday.
O’Brien triumphed on the loose surface meeting last year with brother Stephen on the notes, recording fastest times on five of the six stages to finish with a 21-second advantage over Cathan McCourt and Liam Moynihan.
Two weeks later, the siblings were at it again, this time at Omagh Motor Club’s Bushwhacker Rally, with their third consecutive success at the event coming 30 years after their father Kevin visited the top step of the podium with Robbie McGurk after leading the field home in a rear-wheel-drive Opel Ascona 400.
Since then Patrick has relocated to Perth in western Australia to live and his Skoda Fabia R5 – which is prepped by the family-owned R317 Motorsport Team – has been in storage. Earlier this week, however, man and machine were reunited at a test to blow the cobwebs off and get up to speed for the Lakeland Stages Rally.
“I haven’t done any rallying this year after my move, and although I might be a bit rusty to begin with, I am sure I can be on the pace after a stage or two,” said the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver.
“The test was really good – it was really beneficial. Knowing the Fabia, it was easy to get a nice feeling with it again – it just fits like a glove. After the short test, it really felt like I hadn’t been out of it at all.”
He added: “It is great to be back out in the rally car after such a long time away – there is no other feeling like it in the world. This weekend we are going to enjoy ourselves and have as much fun as possible.”
A round of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship and McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Forest Gravel Rally Challenge, O’Brien heads up a strong Rally2 field that includes Niall McGonigle (Ford Fiesta Rally2), Vivian Hamill (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5), Cathan McCourt (Ford Fiesta Rally2), reigning Irish Forest Rally champion Ryan Caldwell (Skoda Fabia R5), and Jason Mitchell (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5).
Consisting of six speed tests totalling 41 competitive miles, Saturday’s opening stage – ‘Conagher’ – is scheduled to get underway at 11.12am and will be followed by runs over ‘Big Dog’ and ‘Carrigan-Ballintempo’. All three are repeated after lunch, with the overall winners being crowned at 4pm.
Top 10 seeds: Trailer Parts and Spares Lakeland Stages Rally
1. Patrick O’Brien/Stephen O’Brien (Skoda Fabia R5)
2. Ryan Caldwell / Shaun Ferris (Skoda Fabia R5)
3. Jason Mitchell / Paddy McCrudden (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)
4. Niall McGonigle / Caolan McKenna (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
5. Cathan McCourt / Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
6. Vivian Hamill / Andrew Greenan (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)
7. Derek Mackarel / Eamonn Creedon (Ford Fiesta R5)
8. Darragh Cairns / Mark Preston (Skoda Fabia R5)
9. Gareth Mimnagh / J Barry McCarney (Ford Fiesta R5)
10. Stephen McCann / John McCabe (Ford Fiesta R5)