Less than a year to go until the Summer Lanes Rally 2010

Apologies for the lack of posts since the 2009 Summer Lanes Rally. I hope everyone had an enjoyable day, whether competing or marshalling. I have been out assessing the damage and am glad to report that all the lane owners are happy with how it all went, and all have said they would be willing to have their lane included in the rally again.

A few thanks:
Just like the tyre eligibility list, this is far from definitive, but there are a few specific thank-yous that i would like to make, on behalf of myself, Richard Hyland, and QUBMC.

• Cookstown Motor Club (John Nicholl), Newry and District Motor Club (David McElroy), Rathfriland Motor Club (Tom Brown), and Paddy McCollum, for their help in recruiting marshalls for the event. Also to the motley crew of QUBMC regulars, 'Old Boys', and friends and family who turned out on the day. Their assistance was invaluable in getting the rally to run.
• TDC (Trials Drivers Club) who really boosted the entries, with many members going out of their way to encourage people to come and take part. Your enthusiasm was very much appreciated.
• Our furthest travelled marshalls, Frank and Audrey O'Donoghue, who came up from Dublin and as well as supporting son Karl, helped us out by manning a Test Finish Control.
• Chris Ragg, who thought he was going to get a handy job, only to be informed that he was navigating me for the day in the opening car! I should probably apologise for my efforts to prove that a diesel Focus is capable of a Scandinavian Flick. Sorry Chris...
• The lane-owners who continue to allow us to use their property for this rally. I continue to be amazed by their generosity!

Apologies to anyone i've left out, rest assured that your help was very much appreciated!

I'll not go into too much detail on results, as full results are available elsewhere, but i did just want to mention the top three crews. All put in a very impressive performance, and kept the marshalls entertained!

1st overall: Ronnie Griffin/Patricia Denning/MGB GT

2nd overall: Robert Woodside Jr/Victoria Woodside/Austin Healey Sprite

3rd overall: Karl O'Donoghue/Ciara Wong/Rover 200

I think its worth mentioning that for all the navigators in the top three, this was their first rally in the job, so very well done to them. On the down side, this may mean that Ronnie and Karl won't want me sitting with them again... although Karl did do the rally with my name on the car as the navigator so thats a positive sign! Maybe he was just trying to get me into trouble...

In the very near future, all competitors should receive a questionnaire covering various aspects of the 2009 event. We're keen to get everyones thoughts on what they did or didn't like about the rally, as we want things to keep improving.

Right, thats all for now. Obviously posts will be a bit more sparse now, but any new developments through the year will be announced here, so keep in touch.

Thanks again to all involved for making the 2009 Summer Lanes Rally a success. Hope to see you all next year, if not sooner.

Alan Dorman.