Tony Jardine and his experienced co-driver Gordon Noble overcome mechanical damage and tricky conditions to secure a solid result in prestigious Joule Donegal International Rally
Jardine, Noble and team full of praise for 'special' Donegal.
Sky Sports News analyst Tony Jardine and international co-driver Gordon Noble today enjoyed a successful end to their campaign on the 2015 Joule Donegal International Rally.
The opening six stages of the event on Friday saw the adventurous pair immersed in a competitive battle from the start. Growing in confidence through the afternoon the duo in the Castle Murray Hotel backed Mitsubishi Evo IX made the end of the day in Letterkenny seventh in class, a start that pleased car owner and rally supporter Martin Howley.
Saturday saw the duo tackle famous and classic rally stages such as Garrygort, Carnhill and the Castle Murray House hotel sponsored Knockalla stage, one of the all time Irish classics in the KG Motorsport prepared car.
Day two did not get of to a good start for Tony and Gordon, when the opening stage of the day was cancelled but they headed to Knockalla where Tony described his effort as “ragged and quite tentative” but on the repeat of those stages later in the day he described his attempts as “we were really tuned in this time, and Gordon and I were very pleased with our performance, despite a puncture towards the end of Knockalla.”
The day was rounded out with two runs over the Gartan and Carnhill tests and despite a major push in what were very mixed conditions with intermittent showers, making the stages very slippy and treacherous they continued to hold sixth in class despite the car feeling “loose” as Tony described it.
That feeling was to be quote prophetic, as in service the KG Motorsport team discovered that the car had a cracked front subframe that accounted for the erratic handling that Tony was experiencing at high speed. At service Tony explained “The car had felt odd on the last few stages, but the KG Motorsport guys discovered that the front subframe was cracked causing the suspension to move.”
By Sunday and the final day of the event, both Tony and Gordon were full of praise for the team with Tony saying “I must admit that on Saturday I was not really sure we were going any further at all, but the guys have done a superb job to keep us in the event and get it changed.”
Sunday saw the pair tackle the likes of High Glen, Atlantic Drive and Fanand and after the first loop over the stages they held sixth in class with Tony adding at the end of Fanad to live radio “I had a Jardine moment in there at a hairpin and lost some time, which is not great but we are still here with this afternoon to come.”
With a quick service back in Milford the pair headed out for the final loop of three stages, where the pairing put in a near faultless performance as they set out to enjoy the finale of the rally.
Tony Jardine was in no doubt that the Joule Donegal International Rally is one of his very favourites, and commented upon crossing the finish:
"It really is a fantastic event, fantastic stages wonderfully organised once again. I have to start by thanking Gordon. He's a top-class co-driver and it's always a pleasure to work with him. I also need to thank the KG Motorsport boys. Kieran and Ryan from the team worked half the night to rebuild the car, and credit to them because they did a fantastic job."
"Without the penalty we'd have finished much higher up, but it doesn't really matter because it's such a cracking event. It was tricky today with the rain but we made the right choice, cutting narrow grooves into the edges of our Kumho soft slicks. So I'm just absolutely delighted with everything."
Gordon Noble was very happy with his and Tony's result, despite the difficulties of the weekend, and commented:
"It's a fantastic event, very well run and with a great atmosphere and buzz for the whole weekend. It was great to do the event with a driver like Tony, who often doesn't realise how good he is because he really is a top natural driver. I could feel his confidence growing today and we improved a lot by the end of the rally."
"I'm very thankful for the support we have received this weekend. Out on the stages the support was outstanding in a way only Donegal can deliver. I'd also like to thank KG Motorsport and the Castle Murray House Hotel for their amazing support."
