 with the latest yoga mats and blocks in store and online at michaelmerfysports.ie and you're welcome back to the score program 20 minutes past seven o'clock we're turning our attention to motorsport and joining me in studios the man that won the two-wheel drive modified section of the Galway International Rally last weekend that's Mark Alcornmark you're welcome to the studios of Highland Radio thanks Aushen we have to mention John as well he was sitting on board with you he's more important things he's meeting to attend to tonight's week he couldn't join us but he was doing a great experience in the car at the weekend yeah it was a great experience I it was a nice one to one and we were with none at a long time so it was we were talking there the Corolla I thought it was black but you told me it was red 2005 so it's been a wild mark that's been a long time since we started on the red one I myself and Kevin but yeah then the black one come and the bigger engine and now the the new red one the new red one and the red one performed very well for you over the weekend Mark you were telling me there was only one wee mark on her yeah small mark on the wing yeah so another wee bit of fixing but none serious no no major damage I think you laid down a marker did you on the Saturday which was stage two when you took seven seconds out of Kevin Eves well everybody within Rally knows that Mark Alcorn's quick but you blew Kevin away by seven which was a bit of a statement a lot of the guys perked up so they did but it didn't take a fuzzle out of you no I didn't I wasn't when he said seven or eight seconds I wasn't really panicking about it like we had that kind of pace and done it all against Kevin so it's always nice when you take seven seconds off Kevin because Kevin is outstanding like on the stages and he's never far away like he never drops a stage unless something happens him so I was I was happy inside myself but I wasn't going to let it get to me and I was just there to do a job and thankfully thankfully everything went a wee bit smoother this weekend than any other weekend and in saying that is it difficult to keep just to what you're doing yourself within the car and try and blank out what everybody else is doing Mark yeah because you're not racing at the end of the day it's all about times now oh it's all about times but when you're in the car there I don't really think about any other times like I wouldn't I'd be worried more about my side of the car and worried not to have put in a bad time or something like that there so no I do my own thing and I don't worry really what's happening outside the car I kind of figured that out along a couple of years ago like you can't do nothing about anybody else you just have to worry about yourselves you're a very relaxed partnership you enjoy and that was that was evident with the videos and the films and the social media stuff we were seeing at the end of the stages yeah we were very calm we only fell out once on the whole weekend when we were starting to warm up tyres but now we're calm on the car everybody thinks we're two nutters but when it comes to that kind of sport like you have to have a very serious side to it like you know and take it very you know have a great approach to it and don't approach it in the wrong way it's not a funny sport it's very dangerous times so everything has to click on the car like with you so what was clicking with you in the car in John when you were able to pull the legs of seven and then against other competitors maybe 10, 12, 14 seconds out of some guys because that car was really on its limits so it was our recce was very important like we if you've seen our notes like we pulled out all our notes and redone them we used all the distances and all your markers but we really redone the notes and speeded it up just the way we wanted it and that's normally what the two of us do normally like we kind of we put it down to what we like on the stages and that we had a really good set of notes for that rally what was it like on the Sunday trying to get the car home just be sure that you get it as far as the finish line because you had a healthy enough advantage getting into the day and listen Galway's a really, really tricky rally because conditions at times are horrendous we've seen that on Saturday and on Sunday and when the heavens opened they come down really, really heavy so it's a difficult one to navigate so it is listen Sunday was a very, very tricky day listen we had much of a lead in Sunday morning we had a slip up on Saturday evening which dropped us back into the claws of them like we were running about 31 or 32 seconds in the lead which is not a lot when you're on the slippy stages and maybe a spin Sunday that was our plan and I had actually planned earlier in the morning I said we'll push a little bit and try and see where the rest of the markers when you Kevin was out and we might have been able to drag a couple of seconds here and there off them even though they knew the stage is a lot better on Sunday we didn't know them at all so that worked then and we stretched out a real good lead then up to around 50 or a minute before the last loop and you get into the last loop and you go through it safely what was it like at the end of the stage and that sort of roads the road miles in between coming off the stage and heading back to the Connacht Hotel because all of a sudden having tried for so long you've got it now Mark you've won an international event and modified and an escort yeah listen when I crossed the finish line and John says yeah we've done it I was a wee bit emotional but just for about three seconds and then it was like back to normal when I met everybody and Brian McDade was there then to take a few videos and a few pictures and we had a good gang there at the end so no it was a wee bit emotional but at the same time when that passed it was like yeah we've been here before we didn't get it but we knew it had to come sometime so it was brilliant time super stuff but the what comes now off the back of this Mark so it is that people are going right Mark all the coins now in the man debate in 2023 yeah well that's what I'm hoping like I want to put a bit of pressure on myself and I want to be able to go out in the midlands now and I know there's people texting me already from up the country saying we want to see more faster times from you and that's what I want to do I want to try and set down a marker now when the thing is hot so there's more in the tank then? I hope so definitely I know there's more inside me I know I was quicker when a few years ago and on the scroller so I don't know why I can't take it all out of me and to the escort now well listen you're doing the national championship from here on and is that correct? John's going to call the notes John's focusing elsewhere is it? John's on the tarmac championship so he's going to West Cork and that's a few weeks after two weeks after midlands so he's going to have a wee bit hectic there but we're going to thread now into the midlands myself and John now and we're going to sit down tomorrow and he was just ringing me before now or before we landed on here just to say we're going to sort stuff out now for that what happens come done it all I'm sure if I was to say to you now Mark you would love to be national champion would you take being a national champion or would you take one in the national rally the modified section in Donegal I'm sure you'd be going towards the Donegal one I'm definitely I'm not saying nothing about the national championship but now I would give the eight rounds I would give the eight rounds to to cleanse the Donegal national so that's going to be the big target for the year definitely we did take it we had a plan in place at the start of the year it didn't just happen overnight it was a six month period and that was my plan get seven or eight rounds into me and focus then on Donegal come on really hot and try and put it up to the rest of them but John's going to do Donegal as well and the R5 so where does that leave you who's going to call the nuts I don't know maybe John can do both because he's pretty good but no James McNulty's going to come on me and they ask her again and he done a great job and we set some great times last year and Donegal and we were only getting heated up so I think there's more James is well capable of reading the notes when John's away having fun as R5 when you were a young cub Mark when you were a bit younger and you started under Allian who was the guys that you used to watch who did you look up to who did you want to aspire to be I don't know why there was a lot of guys like there was a lot of guys about my house like Paul Geller himself there and I really did look up to Paul and Robbie Peoples the two guys I was very very impressed with them guys there was also Damien Geller there was a great great winner and a great champion too they won the national but it's just like ourselves like God rest man it's like the two of us come up at the same time through the sport so we all had them guys on our radars and we were like whenever we get into cars that's who we want to be beaten there you know so you better mention the rest of the team there at the weekend for the finisher well big big big thanks to Jared, Jared McGrinner and Sean O'Donnell and Ryan Gormley and JP JP Boyd and we had Enda McCormick and we had Liam Doherty down just giving us a hand out to making tea and stuff so they were helpful and the two girders, Michaela and the whale they were brilliant but big shout out to Ronan that's why we're kind of on here this evening nothing would have happened here only Ronan coming board with Ron Hill and Ron Hill is one of the biggest distributors biggest bakery distributors and Donegal with over 25 local and national bakeries so with him being on board he brought it all kind of to life now and there's a real good buzz about it. Exciting year ahead Mark it's going to be a real good year good stuff I wish you all the best for 2023 you and Jon on the rest of the team thanks there you go that's Mark Alcorman thanks for coming in Mark and best wishes for the rest of the year okay we're going to go for another quick break when we come back we will be hearing from Niall O'Regan who is the head of coach education with the FAI this weekend the FAI's women's football conference comes to letter Kenny the sport on Highland is brought to you by Michael Murphy sports and leisure you'll find everything you need to stay motivated