Modern Tyres Ulster Rally - 18/08/23
Words and Images by Mitcham Media
Irish tarmac rallying has to be unique to say the least, complete with some motorsport teams having specific Irish Tar setups which are a blend of gravel and tarmac.
The Modern Tyres Ulster Rally is pretty much an annual pilgrimage now, we make the trip across the water to see the best service park in the British Rally Championship (BRC) and the (always wet) action on the hedge lined, narrow stages which span across two days.
2023 started slightly different to normal as we arrived to blazing sunshine and scorching heat although as we soon found out this was lulling us into a false sense of security…
Friday morning was consumed by scrutineering, taking place in the Modern Tyres warehouse in Newry. The teams were taking the cars through as the driver and co-driver were out on recce.
For the BRC cars, Rally2, Rally3, and Rally4, scrutineering was an indepth weigh and inspection to ensure they all complied with the relevant homolgation documents.
For the national entrants the routine run through looked at the safety equipment in both the car and for the drivers covering cages, extinguishers, helmets, harnesses, overalls etc.
The sprawling concrete pad service park, spanning around Modern Tyres filled up through out the morning as teams came in with vans, trucks and trailers throwing up tents and awnings. Tool boxes, sill stands and various spare parts were scattered about the place in preparation.
The service park was the first opportunity to see most of the entrants in the same place, and with around 30% of the field being MK2 Escorts it was no surprise for pretty much every other bay featuring one. Some gems dotted round included Toyota Starlets, a Corolla KE25 and a BMW 2002Tii amongst a handful of miscellaneous BMW coupes.
Friday late afternoon noted the start of the first loop of stages with Slieve Row up first followed by Banbridge to round out the first loop.
Ulster is a notoriously difficult rally to spectate, with the narrow twisty lanes lined with high verges and hedges with very few ingress and vantage points. Junctions are the most simple but for safety reasons its very difficult to get close enough to the action.
Fortunately we found a high verge at a junction which gave a view down onto a tight right hand corner, while there wasn’t a long distance to see, there was a lot of action as the gravel had been scrubbed off the line making it slippery.
After the first loop of stages it was time to head in for the first service of the event, an hour and a half long to give enough time for the light to fade ready for loop two being night stages complete with lamp pods…
Having well over an hour to service gave teams enough time to deal with any big jobs which cropped up from the first loop, but had the potential to give a false sense of security.
The service park was rammed with spectators who’d made the journey in to see the bigger teams like MSport and Malvyn Evans spanner on cars getting them prepped for the evenings mileage.
The second loop was a repeat of the first, but this time in torrential rain and wind hammering the roads giving every crew constant near misses. The night ended with a 45 minute service before the cars went to Parc Ferme for over night.
With the weather progressing further the howling winds started to try and pick up the service tents making service even more difficult as crews were having to stop halfway through jobs to grab on to the tent.
The weather also added to the jobs list with water making its way into cars through every nook and cranny possible, even round bolts and seals.
After service the cars were tucked away in Parc Ferme for the night.
Saturday morning kicked off with a quick 15 minute service for tyre changes and a final clean before heading out for loop one featuring three stages.
We headed to stage 6, Tyrones Ditches, and similarly to SS1 from the day before we were dug in on a right hand corner, this time a faster corner with cars dragging mud onto the road as they were cutting deeper and deeper.
Even with the weather now clearing the roads were still sodden with lots of standing water making for some hazardous conditions.
The Rally was won by Adrien Fourmaux in the MSport Rally2 car with a 47 second lead over Callum Devine coming in second.
Thank you to everyone involved with the organisation and running of this years Ulster Rally, to Modern Tyres for hosting the service park, and all the entrants. The biggest thank you goes to the marshals, medical teams and recovery crews, without them we wouldn’t have the events we all love watching.
Check out more photos from the weekend below.
