This week’s RIAC-Motorsport Ireland classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is action from the 2000 Donegal International Rally with commentary from Gary Gillespie and Alan Tyndall.
Having suffered a non-finish on the opening round in Killarney, and inheriting a win following Derek McGarrity’s exclusion on the second round, Andrew Nesbitt was out to prove a point on the third round of the 2000 Irish Tarmac Championship, the Donegal International Rally. In perfect conditions, Nesbitt and co-driver James O’Brien blew the opposition away in their Subaru Impreza WRC on the three day event in the north west, taking fastest time on all twenty two stages and ending up with a winning margin of over three and a half minutes!
This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, October 29th.

Next week’s upload will once again feature action from the year 2000 but this time in the form of Rallycross action from Nutts Corner.
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This week’s RIAC-Motorsport Ireland classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is action from the 1990 Lurgan Park Rally with commentary from Gary Gillespie and Alan Tyndall.
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1990 saw the 11th running of the Lurgan Park Rally but for the first time in its history, conditions were wet. Four-time Lurgan Park winner Kenny McKinstry set off as the favourite in his new all wheel drive Ford Sierra Cosworth with Jimmy McRae and James Cullen set to challenge him in their turbocharged Fords. However, it was Eamonn McAleenan in his home-built Toyota Starlet who took the lead early on until differential failure. First overall then became a fight between Derek McGarrity and Davy Greer but it was a hard charging Ken Colbert (who was 12th after the opening stage) who came through the pack to take victory. 

This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, October 22nd:

Next week’s upload will feature the 2000 Donegal International Rally where Andrew Nesbitt and James O’Brien destroyed the opposition by taking fastest time on every stage of the event.

Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads. ​

This week's RIAC-Motorsport Ireland classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is action from the Summit 2000 Rally with commentary from Gary Gillespie and Alan Tyndall.

With the Galway International, Circuit of Ireland and Ulster rallies not running in the year 2000, the Irish Tarmac Championship was looking a little sparse. To fill the void, the Summit 2000 Rally was created as a one off addition to the calendar. Utilising private roads over Slieve Rusheen on the Cavan/Fermanagh border, the event attracted a star studded entry, including former World Rally Champions Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist. But it was local heroes who were to lead the way with Andrew Nesbitt, Derek McGarrity and Daniel Doherty all leading throughout the course of the day amid constantly changing conditions. In a final stage charge, Nesbitt overhauled Doherty to win, aided by the exclusion of McGarrity. It was the start of an incredible run for Nesbitt, which would see him go unbeaten in a 10 rally streak, which finally ended in July 2002.

This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, October 15th.

Next week’s upload will feature the 1990 Lurgan Park Rally. Always a popular single venue event, 1990 brought heavy rainfall and a surprise winner in the form of Ken Colbert.

Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads. 

The RIAC Newsletter for October 2020 is now available online. 

Click on the button below to read all the latest RIAC Club news, developments and updates.

​Arthur Collier, Chairman of the RIAC: “John was instrumental to the success of Team Ireland, bringing a wealth of business and entrepreneurial skill to the foundation. His support for Irish motorsport and passion for cars made him an extremely popular figure throughout the motoring community. Having accomplished so much during his lifetime, John will always be remembered and admired.”

John Naylor, President of Motorsport Ireland: “John Campion led an extraordinary life marked with achievement and was a true champion of Irish Motorsport. It is hard to sum up the enormity of John’s contribution to our sport. He was incredibly well liked, respected by everyone, and will be sorely missed by all of us in the Motorsport Ireland community.”

Leo Hassett, CEO of Motorsport Ireland: “John Campion was an incredible person whose generosity and commitment to the development of young Irish racing and rally drivers was immense. John brightened up every room he entered.”

John Joseph Campion was born on January 17th, 1963 in County Cork. At the age of 21, John emigrated to the United States with less than $30 to his name, where he worked as a roadie for travelling rock bands. 

John developed ways to provide power for these concerts, a skill that ultimately led to his highly successful business career. In 1987, John founded Sharepower Inc., a California-based company that provided portable generators, before going on to establish APR Energy, which in 2014 was valued at $1.2 billion dollars. 

John was incredibly passionate about motorsport from a young age, and one of his childhood heroes was fellow Corkman and rally driver, Billy Coleman. 

Motorsport Ireland approached John Campion in 2015 with a proposal to become ambassador for the Team Ireland Foundation. John thankfully accepted this invitation and remained the programme ambassador up until the time of his passing. 

John’s involvement in the Team Ireland Foundation was a tremendous success. John helped the programme return the first ever FIA title won by an Irish racing driver, a US F3 series race win, two FIA European Rally Championship podiums, two Irish International Driver of the Year Awards, two Junior British Rally Championship titles, two Motorsport Ireland Young Race Drivers of the Year and three Billy Coleman Award Winners.

In recent years, the Team Ireland network expanded to include the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, while John also founded CJJ Motorsports to further support Irish drivers and sporting initiatives outside the Team Ireland framework.

John had built a sizeable motorsport collection over the last decade, including the famous Lancia Martini cars. In recent years, his collection had started to take on a more Irish twist as his involvement in Irish Motorsport grew with the addition of Billy Coleman’s 1980 Mark 2 Ford Escort, Derek Daly’s March 811 Formula 1 car from 1981 as well as a pair of Jordan Grand Prix cars.

John is survived by his wife Suzanne and stepdaughters, Lilah, Cate, and Emma Celentano. 

Below you can watch a video of John Campion doing what he loved, as he presents the history of his unique Martini-striped 1982 Lancia LC1 and takes it for a drive at Palm Beach International Raceway.

This week’s Motorsport Ireland – RIAC classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is action from the 2000 Rally of the Lakes with commentary from Gary Gillespie and Alan Tyndall.

The year 2000 heralded the start of the World Rally Car era in Irish rallying with a large number of the all singing, all dancing machines taking the start of the Rally of the Lakes that year. Andrew Nesbitt proved to be the class of the field in his Subaru, but a refuelling malfunction saw him retire while in the lead, allowing Stephen Finlay in his Ford Focus to swoop to victory on his first competitive outing in four years. 2000 also saw the segregation of the international and national runners for the first time and the national battle is also included in this coverage, where Eugene Donnelly (who would go on to win multiple Irish Tarmac Championships later in the decade) and local co-driver Paul Nagle won the event, despite a dramatic visit into a field at high speed!

This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, October 8th.

​Next week’s upload will feature the second round of the 2000 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the Summit Rally. A one off inclusion to the calendar due to a number of regular events not running that year, the Summit Rally attracted an incredible entry, including former World Rally Champions Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist, as the crews battled it out on private roads over Slieve Rusheen on the Cavan/Fermanagh border.

Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads. 

This week’s RIAC-Motorsport Ireland classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is three races, including the title decider, from the 2000 Formula Europa Cup with commentary from Brian Tuite, Declan Quigley and Alan Tyndall.

The final iteration of the Formula Opel/Lotus series adopted the Formula Europa title for the new millennium but it still produced the action we had come to expect over the previous decade. With experienced campaigners like Vivion Daly and Noel Roddy mixing it with young stars like Morgan Dempsey Jnr, Paul Dagg and the 17 year old Keith Dempsey, the series produced fantastic racing. This week’s upload contains three races from that season, including the title decider from the Leinster Trophy meeting where Dagg and the teenage Dempsey fought it out for the title, with the youngster clinching the championship by a single point.

This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, October 1st.

Next week’s upload will once again feature action from the year 2000 with action from the Killarney Rally of the Lakes that year. The new millennium brought plenty new machinery and after a few years away from the sport, Stephen Finlay was making a comeback….

Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads. ​

​This week’s RIAC - Motorsport Ireland classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is coverage of the 1985 Cork 20 International Rally with commentary from Michael Lyster.

The mid 80s saw a number of classic battles between Billy Coleman and Austin McHale and the 1985 Cork 20 was no exception. Coleman, who had pipped McHale by a single second to win in Donegal earlier in the year, powered into an early lead on the Cork 20 in the famous Rothmans Porsche 911. McHale decided to employ some gamesmanship on day 2 and on the Lough Allua stage, instead of starting 30 seconds behind Coleman, McHale waited for a minute and proceeded to take 29 seconds off the rally leader. Coleman, not realising McHale had waited at the start of the stage for an extra 30 seconds assumed he had been one second faster and throttled back to maintain the comfortable lead he thought he had. By the time he realised what had happened it was too late, and McHale emerged as the winner of the rally by 22 seconds as he secured his second Irish Tarmac Championship title of the decade. Future tarmac champions Kenny McKinstry and Frank Meagher also played a starring role in their then ageing, Ford Escort RS1800s.

This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, September 24th.
 
Next week’s upload is coverage from the year 2000 of the Formula Europa series at Mondello Park.
Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads. 

You can also follow the Motorsport Ireland Facebook & Instagram pages where the videos will be uploaded simultaneously. 

Next week’s upload is coverage from the year 2000 of the Formula Europa series at Mondello Park.

Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads. 

Following the 18th September government announcement regarding the temporary closure of indoor restaurants in Dublin, we regret to advise that the RIAC restaurant will be suspending its dine-in service for the next three weeks. 

However, thankfully we will continue to offer a daily breakfast and lunch menu for you to take-away from the restaurant. Salads, Smoked Salmon, Soup and Sandwiches will also be available for lunchtime take-away. 

Our restaurant menu will be updated, as usual, each morning and can be viewed here.  
 
RIAC Gourmet Ready Meals
In addition, we are pleased to let you know that we are introducing a new gourmet ready meal option for you to take home for dinner. The following delicious new meals will be cooked to-order in the RIAC restaurant kitchen and are available from Monday to Friday, before 3pm.

Beef Bourguignon, Red wine, Carrot & Mushroom Sauce €7.95
Mash potato & Vegetables 

Chicken Gordon Bleu, Mash potato & Vegetables €7.30

Baked Salmon, Dill & Sundried Tomato Sauce €7.50
Mash potato & Vegetables

To order, simply call Christophe on 087 671 43 68 or email christophe@riac.ie

Your dish will be carefully prepared to order and packed in take away containers marked with a ‘used by’ date. Your meal can then be collected from the refrigerated cold counter on the first floor.

Although, we are disappointed to temporarily cease our dine-in service, we are glad we can offer an excellent take-away food service for breakfast, lunch and dinner, five days a week.

We look forward to seeing you in the Club and would like to wish you and your loved ones all the best during this difficult and uncertain period. 

Regards, 
The RIAC

This week’s Motorsport Ireland – RIAC classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is feature length coverage of the 1988 Circuit of Ireland Rally which originally aired on RTÉ.

Following the demise of Group B, Group A brought new machinery and a new format for the Circuit of Ireland, as it adopted a more compact three-day route, which started in Belfast and saw the event finish on St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin to coincide with the city’s millennium year celebrations. 

Jimmy McRae was the hot favourite as he set off in search of a record breaking sixth win on the event, but it was McRae’s fellow Ford Sierra Cosworth drivers, Mark Lovell, and Phil Collins, who made the early running. By the end of the opening day however, McRae and co-driver Rob Arthur had taken the lead, a lead they were never to lose. As the event continued down to Waterford and back up to Dublin, local heroes Austin McHale and Bertie Fisher retired while early pacesetter Collins decided to settle for second. 

Malcolm Wilson rounded out the top 3 after a great performance in his naturally aspirated Astra GTE but the event will live long in the memory of rally fans for the spectacular antics of the Finn Pentti Airikkala, who hustled the unwieldy Mitsubishi Starion home in 5th place with an in-car camera in tow.
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This programme will be available to stream below from 7pm on Thursday, September 17th.

Next week’s upload is coverage from the 1985 Cork 20 Rally where Austin McHale was out for revenge following his one-second loss to Billy Coleman earlier in the year in Donegal.
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Remember to subscribe to the Motorsport Ireland–RIAC YouTube Channel to be notified of our latest video uploads.