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Exclusive Interview with
Irish International Co-driver
Rory Kennedy
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| Personal | |
| Name: | Rory Kennedy |
| Age: | 40 |
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | Nigel – 9 yrs. And Karen – 7 yrs. |
| Occupation: | Heating Consultant |
| Place of birth: | Letterkenny, Co. Donegal |
| Country or county where you live: | Co. Donegal, Ireland |
| Does your spouse / partner like rallying? | Yes |
| Any other hobbies? | Football, Running and Watersports |
| Your opinions | |
| Favourite food: | Steak |
| Favourite drink: | Water or Diet Coke |
| Favourite motorsport paper / magazine: | Motoring News or Autosport |
| Favourite sports person (other than rallying): | Roy Keane |
| Favourite film star: | Cameron Diaz |
| Favourite holiday destination: | America |
| Which TV sports programmes do you watch? | Any sports programmes except Horse Racing, Snooker and Darts |
| Starting out | |
| How did you start out? | Competing on local road rallies, which I still do to this very day – also living in Donegal, with four or five stage rallies annually it was inevitable to start rallying. |
| First driver you sat with: | My father – Jim Kennedy |
| First event: | Donegal Harvest Stages Rally – Hillman Imp – 3rd in the class |
| Rallying background | |
| Type of licence held: | International |
| Which motor club do you belong to? | Donegal |
| Do you contribute towards your rallying? | Not financially |
| Have you ever driven on a rally? | Yes, many times. Best result was finishing fourth overall on a National Rally - surprising everyone, and most of all – myself! |
| Did you ever marshal on events? When and where? | Yes, on local rallies |
| How many events do you get to watch? (eg. per year) | 4 / 5 |
| How many rallies do you take part in? (eg. per year) | 7 / 8 |
| Have you competed abroad? Where and when? | Yes – Acropolis Rally in Greece. All BRC events and Irish Tarmac Championship, Belgium and USA |
| Your opinions (rallying) | |
| Favourite rally car: | BMW M3 |
| Favourite rally driver: | Colin McRae |
| Favourite rally co-driver: | Gordon Noble |
| Favourite bit of road or forest: | Molls Gap – Killarney |
| Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events? | Pace Notes |
| Things you dislike about rallying? | Cost |
| Who do you think will win the World Rally Championship in 2001? | Tommi Makinen |
| Rallying history | |
| Drivers you have sat with: | James Cullen; James McDaid; Jackie Harris; Vincent Bonner; Robbie McGurk; Ian Holt; Richard Hall; Richard Smyth; Davy Greer; Paul Harris; Brendan Kelly; Frank Meagher; Andrew Nesbitt; Bertie Fisher; Mark Fisher; Robin Lyons; Hugh O’Brien; Stephen Finlay; David Higgins; Charlie McGeady; Brian Wiggins; John Connors; Eamonn Harvey; Kevin Harley; Pat White; Seamus Gallagher; John Boyle; Sammy Fisher; Robert Woodside; Pat Kirk; Jimmy Mills; Bruno Thiry (test only), Seamus Burke, Alistair Ginley, Simon Jean-Joseph (test only) and Mark Lovell (test only) |
| Best driver you have ever sat with? | Bertie Fisher and Stephen Finlay |
| Best result: | Winning Killarney International Rally of the Lakes 7 times – 5 times in a row 1990-1995, plus 1997 and 2000 |
| Worst result: | Losing the Circuit of Ireland Rally, three days after winning it!! – due to a separate protest which did not involve us. |
| Championships contested: | BRC and Irish Tarmac Championships |
| Best Championship result: | Four times Irish Tarmac Champions – 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1996 |
| Best rally memory: | Competing with the late Bertie Fisher from 1989 – 2000, winning 17 International Rallies and four Tarmac Championship titles along the way – need I say anymore…. |
| Strangest incident on a rally: | Having to push Mark Fisher up a snowy hill in Hamsterley during the RAC Rally 1996. We got stuck initially, very close to the top, so I got out to push and Mark tried to reverse further up – eventually he got some grip and somehow made it to the top, but couldn’t stop for me in case he couldn’t get going again, so here I had to run after him in atrocious conditions and in total darkness over a distance that seemed miles – we were the last car to get up the hill before the stage eventually became totally impassable. |
| Biggest accident: | Donegal 1985 – Destroyed
an Opel Ascona 400, over the famous Kindrum jump - while flat-out! (James
McDaid)
West Cork 1991 – Destroyed a red Ford Sierra Sapphire 4x4 over a flat-out jump (Bertie Fisher) Manx 1999 – Formula 1 accident with Robert Woodside in a Barretts Group N Subaru – destruction derby!!! |
| Achievements gained from rallying: | Travelled to many parts of the UK, Ireland and other countries. Met some interesting people and made many helpful contacts – business growth within the rally fraternity enormous. |
| Your current performance | |
| Your current driver(s) and championships contested in 2002? | Alistair Ginley, BRC 2002, Mitsubishi Evo |
| .... and in 2003? | ** Alistair Ginley, eight rounds of the WRC in a Ford Focus WRC |
| How could you improve your ‘own’ current performance? | Compete more often on WRC events. Competing against better opposition on varied events, invariably raises your own game |
| How could you improve your current driver’s performance? | Fitness, Fitness, Fitness and competing more often on WRC events |
| If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do? | Contribute toward young up-and-coming drivers |
| Your future in rallying | |
| Where would you most like to compete (in the world): | USA |
| Which rally would you most like to compete in? | Australia |
| Which driver(s) would you most like to co-drive for? | Colin McRae |
| Ambition in rallying for the future: | Do more WRC events!! |
| What would you like to put back into rallying? | Benefits of experience on competing on a wide range of events |
| The future of rallying | |
| Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend? | Niall McShea |
| Which up-and-coming rally co-driver can you recommend? | Michael Orr |
| What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers? | Mentally sharp and physically fit – be well switched on! and an ability to adapt and cope with difficult situations. |
| Any other comments | Great website – keep up the good work! |
| Posted 24/3/01 updated 22/2/02 |
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| Return to Top Co-drivers for even more exclusive interviews |
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