'Mighty Men' take bangers across Europe
Wednesday July 28 2010
IT was quite the daunting task - crossing Europe in two cars which had been officially dubbed bangers! But four Meath men successfully completed the Sucata Split Banger rally recently, covering 2,786Km over five days and raising € 6,500, of which €4,765 was donated to the Drogheda Cancer Research and Education Trust.
' We had our doubts whether the 1980 Renault 4, driven by Bernard Hoey and Vincent Lynch would make it,' says Tony Summersby, who tested the course with David Halpenny in a 1998 Ford Escort.
'After the first day, they had to set off earlier than us to get a head start, as their top speed was 50 kph, and it was still painful to wait for them to catch up!'
The trip took them from their Lobinstown home to Bruges on Thursday May 27th, with stops in Strasbourg, Munich and Ljubijana, before finishing in style in Split in Croatia five days later.
'About 24 cars set off on the first day, and I have to say we passed through some stunning scenery, with breathtaking lakes and coastal scenes,' the leader of the 'Mighty Men of Meath' team said.
'We all stayed in the same hostels at night, and we had a few drinks, with the craic mighty, and it was a really great feeling to cross the winning line and make so much money.'
The fellas would like to thank everyone who supported their rally and the cheque for € 4,765 was recently presented to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital for cancer research and the balance was donated to Gemini.org.
'There's talk of another one next year, but we'll just have to wait and see if we're allowed go again,' says Tony with a laugh!
- Alison COMYN
