Other rally
Irish 205 Challenge inaugural event summary
Golden Graeme Takes Irish 205 Challenge The first ever Irish 205 Challenge came to an exciting climax at the final round, the Tipperary Forestry Rally this weekend. Battles loomed in all categories of the championship with the overall title ...
Edited: Mar 30, 2005, 10:02 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Golden Graeme Takes Irish 205 Challenge
The first ever Irish 205 Challenge came to an exciting climax at the final round, the Tipperary Forestry Rally this weekend. Battles loomed in all categories of the championship with the overall title being fought out between Graeme Colfer and Seamus O'Grady.
On the dry gravel stages it was young Adrian McBride/Brian Smullen who set the early pace, as both championship hopefuls hit mechanical trouble and after three stages it was McBride who led the field with Adrian McElhinney/Martin McMenamin just 11 seconds behind and the all lady crew of Emma Britton/Paula Nooney in 3rd.
Graeme Colfer/Jack Newman retired on the next stage and they were left waiting to see where Seamus O'Grady/Oonagh Roche would finish the event. At the front of the field McElhinney took the lead on SS4 and extended this lead ever McBride on the next two stages to take victory by over two minutes. This win always saw McElhinney take the Senior Championship in the Irish 205 Challenge.
In the championship fight, O'Grady battled through his mechanical difficulties and finished the event 3rd following the retirement of Emma Britton. However 3rd place was not enough for crowning glory and Graeme Colfer became the first ever Irish 205 Challenge champion. His consistency and speed throughout the year also saw him take the Junior Championship.
The co-drivers title went to Oonagh Roche, co-driver to championship runner up Seamus O'Grady.
However it was Colfer's day, a day that made him double champion, the first every Irish 205 Challenge title holder and saw him take away a cheque for 2000 (pounds) from championship sponsor Rory Galligan Rally.
The 2005 Irish 205 Challenge is now in its final stages of preparation and will begin on 10th April with the Midland Multi Stage Rally.
<pre> Irish 205 Challenge Top 10: 1. Graeme Colfer 83 2. Seamus O'Grady 76 3. Adrian McBride 67 4. Adrian McElhinney 55 5. Emma Britton 53 6. Tommie Rafferty 49 7. Niall O'Connell 34 8. Martin Ewing 28 9. William Mavitty 25 10. Stephen McGee 20
-i205c-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article UK: Kevin Davies North Humberside preview
Next article TARMAC: Targa Tasmania, Porsche news 2005-03-29
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 48 min
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe