RTG1 - Flipbook - Page 1
Day 1 Johnstown - Swainstown - Johnstown
Monday 6th May 2024
For the second time in as many years, Rally the Globe is on the Emerald Isle for another collaboration with
Irish Racing Green’s Vintage Shamrock.
This is the 5th running of the event and this year, thanks to the good offices of Anthony Preston and Mark
Appleton it features a push to the west towards the Atlantic.
The journey begins however just outside of Dublin. And, in the grounds of the Johnstown Estate, 60 pre-war
cars and their crews assembled for scrutineering and signing on.
In the carpark, Andy Inskip, Russ Smith and Jack Amies checked the vehicles for safety and compliance,
lending the expertise needed to remedy those annoying last-minute problems. They were pleased to be joined
by Nicky Bailey, a local lad and something of a vintage car/endurance rally specialist with several long-distance events under his belt aboard various cars at the more unlikely end of the spectrum. And, Nicky’s contacts and know-how proved invaluable even before the event began when Chris & Ingrid Woodhouse’s MG
L1 Special threw a nut into its magneto requiring a trip to a machine shop and a bit of skilful fettling minutes
before the flag was dropped.
For the second time in as many years, Rally the Globe is on the Emerald Isle for another collaboration with
Irish Racing Green’s Vintage Shamrock.
This is the 5th running of the event and this year, thanks to the good offices of Anthony Preston and Mark
Appleton it features a push to the west towards the Atlantic.
The journey begins however just outside of Dublin. And, in the grounds of the Johnstown Estate, 60 pre-war
cars and their crews assembled for scrutineering and signing on.
In the carpark, Andy Inskip, Russ Smith and Jack Amies checked the vehicles for safety and compliance,
lending the expertise needed to remedy those annoying last-minute problems. They were pleased to be joined
by Nicky Bailey, a local lad and something of a vintage car/endurance rally specialist with several long-distance events under his belt aboard various cars at the more unlikely end of the spectrum. And, Nicky’s contacts and know-how proved invaluable even before the event began when Chris & Ingrid Woodhouse’s MG
L1 Special threw a nut into its magneto requiring a trip to a machine shop and a bit of skilful fettling minutes
before the flag was dropped.
Delicious coffee and cake was served in the Piggery Cafe at the Time Control in Swainstown Farm after
which the Swainstown Test shot the rally out of their pastoral idyll via a series of gravel roads with some
square turns thrown in for good measure. The loose surface, tight corners and a pirouette through the trees
were savoured as much as the refreshments had been and set the crews up for the Second Regularity from
Skreen and then towards the final Test within the grounds of Johnstown Estate itself.
From the final timing point, it was then just a matter of metres to the carpark and the night halt where the
crews sat down to a dinner and a well-stocked bar where the crews could compare notes and reflect on an
excellent half day of motoring against the clock.