No strawberries and dreams in Wexford for Mayo man Warren

John Warren and Ruthann O’Connor loaded up the McHale Fusion 4 Plus Ford Fiesta Rally2 and headed for the sunny south-east last weekend to compete in the two-day, 18-stage Wexford Stages Rally.

It was a return to rallying for the south Mayo husband and wife team after a sabbatical of almost four months due to work commitments and a busy grass season for the McHale Engineering design engineers.

As the crowds gathered for the ceremonial start in the centre of Wexford town in weather more akin to a summer's evening, there was much talk among the drivers of the changeable conditions that lay ahead over the weekend.

For driver Warren, the plan for this weekend was simple – get back behind the wheel and rekindle the relationship with the M-Sport built factory car.

“It actually does take time to get back familiar with the car,” explained co-driver Ruthann. “The simple things ... the steering wheel on the left-hand side being the most obvious, but engaging things like launch control takes a little getting use to.”

Sporadic rain showers on the opening-day made tyre choice a lottery as Warren steered his way through the polished Wexford lanes, but drama struck when word filtered through the stage end rally reports that turbo issues had brought the Fiesta to a premature halt.

Reflecting on the issue afterwards, John said: “We noticed a lack of power and we could actually see smoke entering the car towards the final section of the stage. Upon closer inspection, I could see a clamp on the turbo had broken.

“It’s actually really only a small part but if we were to continue at maximum attack, we risked damaging the engine, so we unfortunately had to make the decision to return to service and avail of Super Rally rules.” (Super Rally means the crew can continue but will carry time penalties for the duration of the event.)

While not the result the pair had intended from the weekend, they were still happy to maximize seat time in the car. They now look forward to the next competitive outing – following on from another outing during the past week, this time at the National Ploughing Championships in Tullamore with McHale Engineering.