1974 Burmah Orchard Rally

This report by Peter Scott was first published in Motoring News on 15th August 1974.

UNDISPUTED winners of the Burmah Orchard Rally were top seeds David Agnew and Robert Harkness who finished the 200 mile event in their Alpina BMW 2002Ti nearly ten minutes in front of the Escort TC of Leslie White and Drew Todd. After two excursions, Dessie McCartney and Peter Scott in a Escort RS1800 just managed to take third.

For the first time this Northern Ireland Championship event was co-promoted by North Armagh and Mid Antrim Motor Clubs, and it set a standard which other clubs will find hard to keep to. The 120 mile Navigation section was followed by five forestry stages totalling 28 miles.

Top seeds were David Agnew and Robert Harkness, Northern Ireland Rally Champions for the previous two years, and they were followed off the line by the only southern entry, Gerry Forde and Paul Phelan in a Porsche Carrera. Ronnie White non-started at three, his well known Mini (8100IB) not being ready in time. At four was Sean Campbell, with Gordon Taggart making his annual return home to take the hot seat in the Northern Excavators/Lindsay Cars Escort RS18OO.

Road rally experts Leslie White and Drew Todd were at five in their usual Escort TC ahead of ex-racing driver Brian Nelson, competing on his first navigation-type rally with Fred Gallagher on the maps.

The first two competitive sections, one at 10 minutes and the other 17 minutes, were cleaned by the majority of crews but surprisingly White/Todd dropped a minute on each. The next section was in the Donaghmore area and brought the first major time losses, with McCartney/Scott down two, and six other crews on three. Already out were Digman Whitley/Lenny Weir (Cooper S) who had clobbered a post, and last year’s winners Philip Lynn/Terry Harryman (Fiat 128) with a broken throttle linkage.

Twenty four minutes were allowed for the run to a time control near Cappagh, but the last two miles of this saw most crews having navigation problems, notably Paul Martin/Derek Smyth in Paul’s trusty Escort Twin Cam. Once again Sean Campbell had retired, this time with a broken crankshaft!

The final section before the first petrol halt, at Drum Manor near Cookstown, was comfortably on, but Trevor Fleming/Brian Dorman (Cooper S) dropped six minutes looking for petrol. At the halt Agnew and Harkness were in the lead with nine marks lost, followed by McCartney/Scott on ten, Forde/Phelan were on 11, and Nelson/Gallagher, Robin Allingham/Brian Russell (Clubman GT), and White/Todd all on 12 marks.

Tommy Speers/Joe Law (Escort TC) were in 9th place and had a clear lead in the semi experts class.

The McCartney Escort was in trouble as the back brake linings were completely worn, but a swop with the ones off Campbell’s retired car cured the problem at the expense of two minutes penalty, and a drop to third place.

Shortly after the restart the tricky quarry at 5/7378O7 was the next problem for navigators, but luckily for many the section was
cleanable, though both Fred Crawford/Bryce Sands (Escort RS) and Mike Ford-Hutchinson/Norman Smith (Cooper S) both missed route checks.

Only two competitive sections remained before an hour-long service halt prior to the stages, the first of these starting with the regularly used loop in Tullykeeran mountain where the Escorts of both McCartney and Crawford were blocked by a convoy of spectators’ cars. Nelson/Gallagher dropped seven and McCartney/Scott dropped four after a wrong slot in a “no goer” which entailed much reversing!

At the petrol halt, Forde and Phelan were forced to retire the second-placed Porsche after running over a stone and jamming the gear linkage, leaving the overall top positions as:

1. Agnew/ Harkness 14,
2. McCartney/Scott 22,
3. Speers/Law 22,
4. White/Todd 24,

The forest at Cam was the first special stage, but it was also the last for two of the top crews: First to go was Brian Nelson, whose sole reason far entering was to get experience in forests, when the previously reliable BMW stuck in fifth gear.

Cam (7.8 miles)

1. McCartney 10m 48
2. McAlorum 10m 55
3. Kennedy 11m 10
4. Agnew 11m 18
5. Kenmore 11m 37

Gortnamoyagh, famous as the spot where Adrian Boyd demolished LVX 942J earlier in the year, was next on the list, and sure enough another leading driver had a moment. McCartney crossed the finish line at high speed and, while very sideways, nudged a bank with the tail of the car, tossing the tail high into the air, luckily getting a soft landing OFF the road with little damage. A large crowd soon had the car back onto the read and no time was lost.

Gortnamoyagh (1.4 miles)

1. Kennedy 2m 00
2. McCartney 2m 01
3. McAlorum 2m 02
4. Martin, Coates, Kennedy, Forsythe 2m 03

Banagher at ten minutes was the longest stage, about one third tarmac, and here Trevor Fleming/Brian Dorman (Cooper S) retired when a steering arm broke, and Tommy Speers lost 1.5 minutes when the engine cut out. McCartney and Martin were fastest, but going very well was the Group1 BMW of John McAlorum, who was to set total fastest time on the stages

Banagher (10 miles)

1. McCartney, Martin 14m 43
2. Agnew 14m 44
3. White 14m 47
4. McAlorum 14m 48

McCartney lost second place on Moydamlaght when he dropped off the road on a sharp left hander and the ensuing maximum time, waiting for a crowd to gather and lift the car out, cost five minutes.

Moydamlaght (3.75 miles)

1. Martin 6m 56
2. White 6m 57
3. Agnew 7m 00
4. Coates 7m 01
5. Kerr 7m 03

All that remained was Glenshane forest, the finish of which was also the finish of the event, and at was perhaps appropriate that Agnew was easily fastest on this one.

Glenshane (4.5 miles)

1. Agnew 6m 24
2. McAlorum 6m 34
3. Martin 6M 38
4. White 6m 42
5. McBride 6m 43

Report by Peter Scott

RESULTS

1. D.Agnew/R.Harkness (BMW 2002 Ti), 55m 31,
2. L.White/D.Todd (Escort TC), 65m 11,
3. D.McCartney/P.Scott (Escort RS), 68m 21,
4. P.Martin/D.Smyth (Escort TC), 69m 08,
5. T.Speers/J.Law (Escort TC), 69m 57,
6. R.Burrows/B.Quinn (Escort TC), 72m 21,
7. D.Boyd/R.McCutcheon (Mexico), 74m 00,
8. R.Kennedy/J.Allen (Escort TC), 81m 17,
9. M.Ford-Hutchinson/N.Smith (Cooper S), 83m 45,
10. J.P.O’Kane/J.Beatty (Porsche Carrera), 85m 31.