The rally began on Friday evening with a ceremonial start on Poole Quay in front of 1000s of spectators. Thankfully, the rain held off as the rally cars were paraded alongside the Sunseeker Powerboats moored in the harbour, but the conditions changed overnight, resulting in areas of standing water on the first of Saturday’s 11 stages in the Ringwood and Wareham forests.

After a good result on the Wyedean Rally two weeks beforehand, Cave – together with co-driver Craig Parry – was on the pace from the word go, setting the second fastest time on SS1, just 2.3 seconds behind Scottish Rally Champion David Bogie. Barry and his co-driver Rory Kennedy also started well, a further three seconds down and in seventh place. But, with this being Barry’s first ever event in the JRM car, he admitted that he was still getting used to its handling characteristics.

A storming run by both JRM crews through SS2 saw Cave take the lead of the rally by 2.6 seconds, with Barry moving up to fourth. However, Bogie fought back during stages three and four and reclaimed the top-spot from Cave – albeit by just 2.9 seconds – before crews stopped for the first service halt.

The next loop of stages took competitors west and into the Wareham Forest complex, where the nature of the roads changed again, competitors commenting that the ruts and puddles were making it hard to find a rhythm.

Barry found the slippery conditions even less to his liking, as he was still trying to get used to his new Evo X and was pleased to get through the Wareham stages unscathed. Therefore, when cars arrived for the second service halt after SS7, Cave was 12.2 seconds behind Bogie, with Barry fifth, a further 36 seconds adrift.

Cave embarked on the event’s remaining four stages with the aim of putting pressure on Bogie and, although taking the fastest time on SS8, the Scot ahead of him remained un-phased. Therefore, the leading positions were maintained to the finish, with Bogie first, Cave second and Elfyn Evans, in a Subaru, third.

Still not completely comfortable in the car, Barry opted for a measured approach to the final loop of stages and, in doing so, consolidated his fifth place. The JRM team was delighted that its cars ran perfectly throughout the event, with both finishing in the top five.

Quotes

Daniel Barry

“As this was my very first event in the JRM car I’m pleased with fifth place, but I know there is great potential for an even better result. The Evo X has loads of power and the braking is fantastic, so I’m sure that once I get more used to it and I can get the set-up right for me, I will be on the pace of the front runners. I’ve really enjoyed this event. The team have been great and done as much as they can to make me feel at home, so I’m hoping that I can continue with them for the rest of the season.”

John Barnes (Team Manager)

“I’m very happy with the way things went this weekend. To have two cars in the top five and get through the whole event with no problems is an excellent start to the season. I’m pleased with the way the team worked together and I must congratulate both drivers for doing such a good job for us. I therefore hope we can achieve an even better result in the next round of the British Championship.”

For Cave, this will be his second outing in a JRM Mitsubishi, his first being on the Wyedean Rally earlier this month when, although suffering from a stomach upset, finished second in Group N and seventh overall. Together with his co-driver Craig Parry, this impressive drive provided him with invaluable experience in the car and therefore Cave aims to hit the ground running for the BRC season-opener.

However, for Barry, this will be his first event in the JRM Evo, although he has vast experience of driving Mitsubishis, having won the Evolution Challenge in 2009 and campaigned his Evo IX on five IRC events in the past year. Added to this, the rapid Irishman has a record of good performances on the Dorset event and hopes that his knowledge of the stages, coupled with his Mitsubishi pedigree, will stand him in good stead this weekend. He will be co-driven on this occasion by highly-experienced fellow Irishman Rory Kennedy .

Both drivers will test their JRM cars on Thursday, when they take part in the pre-event shake-down. However, with the event a round of the UK’s premier rally championship and with a strong R4 (production 4WD class) entry, both drivers know that to achieve a good result will not be an easy task, even though – if past performances are anything to go by – the JRM Mitsubishis are likely to feature at the head of the field.

Having secured the British Teams’ Championship in 2010, JRM is delighted to be retuning to the BRC this year. However, because of changes in the regulations, the company is unable to defend its title, as only competitors with two-wheel-drive cars will now be eligible to score points towards the Teams’ title.

The Rallye Sunseeker kicks off on Friday evening, when crews line-up for a high-profile ceremonial start on Poole Quay. The competition gets underway on Saturday morning, with the route of 60 competitive miles split into 11 timed special stages in Ringwood and Wareham forests.

Quotes

Tom Cave “I’m raring to go. It’s a bit of a trip into the unknown again, like the Wyedean Rally, but this time I have one event in the JRM car under my belt. The plan for the weekend has to be the same as before: flat out from the word go. The stages are relatively short – the longest only 10 miles – so if you have a spin or a puncture it would be very difficult to pull any time back. It will be a pretty frantic day – short stages and short service halts – but I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Daniel Barry “Although I will be competing in a JRM Evolution X for the first time, I’ve had some good runs on the Rallye Sunseeker in the past, so I hope that my knowledge of the stages will more than compensate as I get used to the car. I really hope that we can pull off a good result this weekend, as it would set us up nicely for the start of the season and this could then lead into a full British Rally Championship campaign with JRM.”

John Barnes (Team Manager) “Although we can’t battle for Teams’ points this year, I think that last year we more than proved what our cars can do. Therefore, if we can provide the opportunity for Tom ad Daniel to battle for Drivers’ Championship points, then that’s exactly what we aim to do. I’m delighted that we are starting the British Rally Championship again and hope that if both our drivers achieve good results, that they go on to contest the whole season as a two-car team.”

Barry has competed on 5 IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge) events in the last year, and has been considering a BRC assault over the recent weeks.  “I was looking at various options for the BRC and other championships in Europe” explains the 26 year old “when the option of driving the EvoX for JRM came up.  Rallye Sunseeker is a new event to the BRC and one I know well from my Evo Challenge days, so I am confident that I can get a good result for the team with a view to future BRC events”.

Barry will only have time for a limited test session with the car prior to the southern event, although he is confident he is ‘rally fit’ after recently contesting the Centenary Rallye Monte Carlo.

JR Motorsports, owned by English entrepreneur James Rumsey, has been at the forefront of British Motorsport for the past decade.  Contracted by Mitsubishi Motors UK to run their rally team in the British Rally Championship they have won the Driver and Teams titles on numerous occasions with drivers such as Gwyndaf Evans and Guy Wilks. 

“JRM have had some top class drivers through their doors in the past” states Daniel, “I am looking forward to working with them and hopefully learning from their expertise and experience.  As a driver I have learnt a lot in the last year while driving on the IRC, but you can always learn more”.

Danny Barry Snr states “We have a long history with JRM, and expect to work well with them.  I am really looking forward to attending the event as a father and not a Team Manager as well, it will be good to get out onto the stages and watch my son drive”.

The Rallye Sunseeker will be held in Bournemouth on the 26^th February.

The young Irishman was on a come-back, after loosing time on the second test with a power-steering pump failure.

Based on information from the ice crew and engineers, Barry left service on Intermediate tyres with a pair of Winter tyres as spares, to do a loop of two stages close to Valence.  However in a very short time the snow came down and the stages became treacherous.  Barry and co-driver Adrian Deasy changed to the Winter tyres on the front, leaving the Intermediate tyres on the back, and set off into stage 7 of the arduous event. 

During this stage alone the talented Co. Wicklow driver managed to claw back 4 places overall, 10 places in total that day, by setting the 3^rd fastest group N stage time.

However on the even snowier stage 8, Col de Gaudissart, the back end of the car broke away from Barry and hit a banking, before sliding down the steep banking on the opposite side of the road.

On his return to service Daniel said “I did all I could to keep the car on the road when the back end broke away, but it was not enough.  I’m devastated, but you have to make decisions based on the information you have at the time, and I agreed that Intermediate tyres were the right choice when we left service”.  He continued, “We had made up some time on the previous stage, so I was thinking that if I could just keep up that pace and do the same again it would put us in a strong position for the final day”.

Barry is currently uncertain as to which direction to take in the sport for 2011, “We are looking at lots of options for the forthcoming season, and realise we have to do it quick, but there are a few options to look at as there are so many big changes going on in the sport at the moment”.

Bryan Bouffier won the event for Peugeot France, with Belgian Freddy Loix second and Briton Guy Wilks in third.  The event was the 79^th Rallye to have run between 1911 and 2011.

However the new pairing was slowed on the second stage, when a hose came off the power steering pump, dropping them 6 and a half minutes to the competitors around them.  Daniel said “It was heartbreaking as it was quite near to the start of the stage, so we had a long way to go with out any power assistance.  I gave myself a headache trying to hold on to the car on the tight and twisty roads”.  He continued, “I am happy with the times we have set today, Adrian and I have been getting used to each other, yet we are still competitive in group N”.

Daniel reported hat the stages were dry and very fast, yet the Irishman is still hoping for snow to give him a better chance at regaining the lost time from today.

After fixing the pump, the pair went on to set 27^th and 25^th fastest times on the Saint Bonnet stage before heading back to Valence for the final service of the day and the required repairs by the service team.

The 2^nd leg of the event is based out to the East of Valence, around the ski resorts of Lente and Vassieux, where they compete over two stages run twice.  “There was still snow on the ground around the resorts, but the road was bone dry on the reconnaissance” commented Adrian, “so who knows what it will be like on the day!”

Current IRC Champion, Juho Hanninen leads the event from Belgian Freddy Loix with ex World Champion Petter Solberg holding 3^rd place at the end of leg 1.

The new pairing will see a big difference in the classic Monte stages from the 2010 event as it is completely dry and snow free.  “Last year was just great with all the snow and ice” commented Daniel at the official photo shoot to commemorate the event, “it was Icy and snowy, but there was consistency in the levels of grip”.

New co-driver to the Barry Motorsport Team, Adrian Deasy commented “The pace-notes we have written are for bone dry tarmac so if it snows now, or becomes icy, it will become very difficult for us.  We are going to have to take the rally just one day at a time”.

The event starts on Wednesday morning at 9am from Valence, with the first stage a gruelling 36km test of lock-to-lock driving, followed by a 41km stage of exactly the same.  While on the reconnaissance of these stages earlier in the week, the crew noticed the ambient temperature varying from +10°c to -4°c within 30km.  “Tyre choice will win or loose this event” says Daniel, “the tyres will have to be soft enough to cope with the low temperatures, but hard enough to last the length of the stages and hairpin after hairpin after hairpin!  It could be a real gamble at times”.

This gruelling event finishes in the Principality of Monaco during the early hours of Saturday after 13 stages, the shortest of which is 18km long.  In total the crew will cover 337 stage kilometres and 1004 road kilometres over the next 3 days.

“The reconnaissance was an arduous task in itself, but it was also an amazing and enjoyable experience – I am very much looking forward to the event, and will be happy to finish day one and take it from there” said Adrian.

Team Manager, Danny Barry Snr. added “as a team we are delighted to have been invited back to this event and are very honoured to be part of the history of the 100^th year of the Rallye Monte Carlo”.  Danny continued “We are a small family team, and we rally with a passion in our heart, and whatever happens here this week, I know we will all go home with memories and fond memories of this amazing event”.

Barry was the International 4WD debut for the revolutionary DMACK Grippa tyre.  It was a tough event for the new tyre, with notoriously rocky stages. “The tyre is great” says Daniel, “it’s a strong tyre, which gives great confidence under breaking, yes we suffered a puncture, but so did almost every other competitor in the event, so I don’t think its anything we need to worry about; I’m very happy with the tyre and look forward to continuing using them”.

Daniel Barry & Martin Brady

Barry & Brady had a fraught weekend in Scotland, with a split in the turbo hose causing a lack of power over the first 5 stages, and some ECU problem which caused the throttle to stick open.  Co-driver Martin Brady said “it was a bit difficult with the throttle stuck open, the car was pushing us into corners harder than we wanted to go, but we managed to keep it together and stay on the road.  All we wanted to do was come here and have a good clean run, but its not turned out that way, its been another hard slog, but we are not for giving up, and will always do as we can to get to the end of each event we start”.

The Irish duo finished the second running of the event in 10^th position, after spending Saturday in the forests of the Tay National Park, and Sunday in the Trossachs. 

Team Manager, Danny Barry Snr said “We have had a tough year, but we have loved the experience – we need to look forward now, and concentrate on getting a budget together for next year as well as putting our other plans in place”.  The team plans to return to Monte Carlo in January, but further than that are still planning the rest of the 2011 season.

The Finish Ramp!

Furthermore, sponsor Dance To Tipperary has launched a new single this week from their ‘Return to me’ album, called ‘I’m Sorry’.  A video can be seen on the groups website www.dancetotipperary.com

Further updates and photos will be available on the team website www.barrymotorsport.com and Facebook users can keep up-to-date with the teams plans on the “Barry Motorsport” page.  You can also follow us on Twitter under BarryMotorsport.

For further information on the IRC – www.ircseries.com

For Further information on the Rally of Scotland – www.rallyofscotland.co.uk

See in-car video clips here: http://www.youtube.com/user/redmistproductions

For further information please contact Donna Harper on

+44 7711 094 309 or donna@teamcoordin8.com