McHale heads for Donegal

18 June 2002: Austin McHale (Rathcoole) is looking forward to returning to the tarmac in Ireland for next weekend's Shell Donegal International Rally following the two gravel events in the UK in which his Toyota Ireland Corolla WRC was dogged with punctures.

Despite the flat tyres caused by roadside rocks on both the Welsh and Scottish Rallies, the five times Irish Tarmac Champion was pleased with the performance of the left-hand drive Corolla in the British Rally Championship. However, four punctures alone in Scotland dropped him from fourth place going into the last stage to eighth at the finish, having lost over four minutes.

McHale finished the third stage on a front puncture, which happened on the start line and then collected a rear flat on the next stage. At the end, a final demoralising puncture on the last stage dropped him off the leaderboard.

In Wales at the end of May, rocks again caused mayhem and despite lying fifth for the early part of the event, suspension damage and punctures dropped him down the order in the Toyota Finance-supported Corolla.

Donegal - the third round of the Toshiba Computers International Tarmac Championship – is one of his favourite rallies, and he hopes that punctures on the tarmac event will be a problem he won't have to consider. With Brian Murphy (Newbridge) in the co-driver's seat as usual, McHale is hopeful of a top three finish.

June 2002