Who will bring the Bekan home?

A group of rally drivers that will take part in the 2010 McWilliam Park Hotel Mayo Stages Rally next weekend are pictured at the launch recently.

Who will bring the Bekan home?


Cathal Doyle looks at some of the local rally drivers hoping to win ‘The Battle of Bekan’ at next weekend’s Mayo Stages Rally

Cathal Doyle

IT’S been dubbed ‘The Battle of Bekan’. And as with all good confrontations, the question is who will be left standing at the end to claim the honour of ‘Best In Bekan 2010’.
The farming hamlet in East Mayo is a peaceful place, normally subject to nothing more raucous than the occasional Massey Ferguson tractor of a local farmer going about his business. Next Sunday, however, the hills will be alive, not with the sound of music, but to the sonorous roars of highly-tuned rally cars as the Mayo Stages Rally comes to town. With one stage finishing just south of the village and another a few kilometres to the north, Bekan will be the hub of much activity this weekend.
Appropriate then that beneath the sleepy exterior, Bekan has a little secret not known outside of a select few… this corner of Mayo is a rallying hotspot.
Indeed there are no fewer than five drivers and two co-drivers from the immediate vicinity taking part in the Mayo Stages Rally – and each of them has serious aspirations not just to beat their fellow Bekan rally-men, but to finish the event as top Mayo competitors. All living within a couple of kilometres of the second stage of the rally, it’s little surprise that competition– and banter – between them is rife.
Three of them not only compete in the same class, but also use similar cars – the ubiquitous Ford Escort Mark 2. Another has a four wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 at his disposal, the fifth a fantastic-sounding 6-cylinder BMW M3 Compact.
All are more than capable on the day of setting stunning stage times. Equally at least, some of them are adept at going into places rally cars shouldn’t go – that is if you are to believe what the others tell you.
“James Culliney is a very quick driver,” says SeΡn McHugh. “He’s more than capable of setting top stage times. Mind you, he does have a bit of a track record of not always getting to the finish. Thankfully, he has Eddie McLoughlin alongside him to keep him on the straight and narrow in Mayo.”
Needless to say James is quick to retort: “At least when I get to the finish I get a good result. There are some here whose only ambition is to get back to rally headquarters before the officials have packed up and gone home”.
Ouch! Colin Loughney is quick to join the fray. “I see James and Eddie are seeded only four cars in front of me. Start looking in your mirrors boys from about two miles into the first stage – I’ll be coming through”.
And so it goes on. Beneath the good-humoured abuse though, these boys are very serious about their rallying. Each of these rally cars is a labour of love, involving endless hours of painstaking preparation. Their workshops may be farm outhouses and sheds, but a glance inside the immaculate Escorts of Colin and James reveals a level of detail and finish that a professional preparation company would struggle to match.
“We do most of the preparation of the rally cars ourselves,” says Eddie McLoughlin, who on this occasion is co-driving James Culliney but is himself a driver of no mean repute. “It means a lot of long hours and hard work, but we all help each other out where we can.”
“There are months of work spent getting the car ready for the Mayo Stages,” says Niall Morley, the third of the Bekan Escort drivers. “No detail is overlooked to help us gain every vital split-second.”
Competing on their home event is an undoubted highlight of their rallying year. “Of course we all want to get a good result on the Mayo Stages.” says Niall. “This is the big one for us. There’ll be loads of people out cheering us on, and the chance to get to compete on home territory is fantastic. We can’t wait for Sunday”.
The group has agreed that the prestigious if unofficial title of ‘Best in Bekan’ will be bestowed to the highest placed finisher on the Mayo Stages Rally. It seems though there will also be a second challenge for local honour – who can set the fastest time on their local stage, Logboy, which runs as tests two, five and eight on this year’s rally. “Regardless of the overall results, the quickest man over Logboy will have bragging rights for the rest of the year,” agrees Mitsubishi driver Gerry Ronan.
It promises to be a battle royale. Gentlemen (and lady), start your engines!

Battle of Bekan 2010 – The Contenders
Tipped by many as favourites to win class 12, James Culliney and Eddie McLoughlin are seeded at number 41. After the disappointment of early retirement on the Galway International Rally last month, the blue Ford Escort has been fully re-fettled for the Mayo Stages Rally.
At number 45 Colin Loughney has his brother Micheal co-driving in a red Escort Mark 2, also in class 12. An experienced rally pairing, they will be hoping to have the reliability to go with the undoubted speed to get a top result in Mayo.
Haulage operator Gerry Ronan will be introducing fellow Bekan native and rally rookie Connie Kirrane to a high-speed trip through home territory. Seeded at number 58 in a strikingly liveried white and green Mitsubishi Evo 6 in class 8, this will be a fresh challenge for Gerry, who is more familiar with forestry and loose surface rallying than the tarmac of the Mayo Stages Rally. His company, Gerry Ronan Transport, is also the sponsor of the unique Group A Challenge on this week-end’s rally,
SeΡn McHugh starts at number 61 in his class 14 green and white BMW M3 Compact. Having spent a number of years rallying four wheel drive Subarus, Sean last year built this unique car, which, with its six cylinder engine is one of the best sounding machines to be found on rally stages anywhere. Now fully au fait with the vagaries of rear wheel drive, supporters will be hoping for lots of tail-out action on Sean’s home event.
Seeded at number 111, Niall Morley is the relative beginner of the group, having only started four events previously. Having graduated from competing in a Peugeot 205, Niall is another man to go the class 12 rear wheel drive route in his white Ford Escort. Although he’ll be happy to just gain experience and bring the car home safely this weekend, the others certainly won’t be discounting him and will be keeping a close eye on his times throughout the day.