Drake to tackle Irish Forestry Championship

Celtic Motorsport driver Charlie Drake will compete in the next round of the hotly contested Irish Forestry Rally Championship early next month. Drake has completed a deal to run a Derek Jobbs-EVO 9 in the Sean Conlon Memorial Rally on July 8. It will be Drake's first time rallying back in his native land and he will have his brother, Christy, calling the notes.
 
"I'm really looking forward to this rally. I don't really know what to expect from the roads but we are only there for fun so times or results won't matter too much.

"My brother has never sat in a rally car so it will be a steep learning curve for him too - we both will have to learn as we go."
 
The strong competition in Irish rallying is known the world over. It is expected a few full blown WRCars will enter and also a large number of the famous MK2 Escorts along with very fast EVO's and STI's. Drake will complete a test a few days before the event to get a feel for the roads and also give Christy some time in the car.

Celtic Motorsport has had a frustrating start to the Australian Rally Championship this year. At the opening round at Rally Calder, the team had a comfortable rally lead on day 2 only for a transfer failure to put the team out of round 1. The Quit Forest Rally in Western Australia was again disappointing - the team narrowily missed out on a podium after a puncture on day 2 lost them nearly six minutes.

The International Rally Queensland was short lived after the car slid off the road on stage 3. The Celtic Motorsport Team will not contest Scouts rally South Australia due to Drake not returning to Australia until the Tuesday before the rally.
 
"It's a bit disappointing not to be able to make SA, but I'll get some skids in in Ireland so that's ok. The schedule of the rally just made it not practical to get off a plane on Tuesday night and head to SA for recce and testing. My wife and kids have supported me for the last few years in rallying so it was an easy decision to spend some more time with them back home and come back and try get a good result at Rally Coffs."
 
The team would like to thank everyone for their help and advice back in Ireland and also Scania Trucks Australia who have helped make this rally possible.
 
 

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