Bertie Fisher, from Ballinamallard, in Co. Fermanagh, is at the moment Ireland's most successful rally driver of all time, with 19 wins to his credit.

Bertie's first real connection with rallying was in 1968 when he was navigating but he  moved to driving in 1971.  He won a few Group 1 awards in a Mini and a MK 1 Escort too (BIL 5800 ??).

Picture directory of Bertie Fisher

1975-80, the first Meeke years  

Bertie started a long-time partnership with Sydney Meeke, a rally engineer and preparation specialist from Bush near Dungannon, in 1975 on the Circuit of Ireland when Fisher's car was giving trouble and Sydney, who was spectating I believe, offered assistance to the ailing Fisher. Since then, Sydney and the SMM boys have prepared and serviced all of Bertie Rally cars. Throughout the late 70's, Bertie competed on many home national and internationals in various Escort Mk2's, including KIA 2220, BIL 5700, and the ex-Brookes Mk2 Escort, GVX 489T,  a sister car of the Mk2 (488T) Hannu Mikkola  was competing the World championship in.  This was probably Fisher's best up-to-date rally car at this point and indeed brought him a well-deserved third place on the 1979 Circuit of Ireland.  In these early years Fisher had a number of co-drivers including Dr. Frank O'Donoghue

1980-83, the BDA years

Early 80's dawned and Fisher was getting rather competitive, with very up-to-date machinery wherever he went. His co-driver changed too, to the fellow Fermanagh man, Austin Frazer, who was to stick with for the next 7 years. He bought yet another MK2, this time a BDA engined, 2-litre model, CIL 999, of which he won at least 4 events, including the 1982 Ulster Rally, Fisher's first International rally win, and finished in the top three on many other internationals, including the 1981 Circuit of Ireland and Manx Rally 1982. 

1983-88, the Opel years

After 1982, Bertie then signed a deal with GM Dealer Sport and drove an Opel Ascona 400, DIL 999, for the first half of the 1983 Tarmac Championship.  This car, for all the time he had it, brought him some success including second place on the Circuit of Ireland and a top-ten finish on the Mintex I think. He switching to an Opel Manta 400 (DIL 2307) before the Donegal Rally in 1983, again under GMDS management, yet serviced by SMM. Indeed this car brought him much more success too including second on the Ulster in 83, second on the Manx Rally in 84, third on the Scottish in 84 (?) and a ninth place finish on the RAC in 84 also.  He had also led the Circuit of Ireland of 84 for a while before his axle gave way. But indeed with all this commitment and success, something often has to give at some stage.

'Big-Mac' and the Alumac sponsorship

Kieran McAnallen, MD of the KMAC Group (formerly Alumac), and fellow rally-driver in his own right, started a long-term sponsoring relationship (which indeed still hold strong today) around this time. Although he started sponsoring Fisher here in a minor way, Alumac only became Fisher's main sponsor in 1987 / 88 and then ran under the Toughmac logo from 1990 on.

THAT 'THIRD-PLACE' FEELING FOR FISHER IN 85

For the 1985 season things would stay relatively the same, same car, co-driver, preparation and GMDS management but he would strike a long-term major sponsorship deal with Shell Oils. On the Circuit of 85 he finished third to make it an Opel 1-2-3 behind the similar Manta's of McRae and Brookes who had an extremely closely fought battle until GM orders gave way to McRae.  This decision was controversial and cruel but someone had to win and of course GM wanted to preserve the cars, not destroy them in a mad brawl for 1st place.

Mid way through 1985, he changed to a similar yet more up-to-date Manta 400, DIL 9482, of which he was to keep for the next two and a half years. 

As well as doing some of the Irish Tarmac Championship in 85, Bertie also contested selected rounds of the  British Rally championship.  Bertie's first outing in the new Manta was the Manx Rally where once again he would finish third to make it an Opel 1-2-3 behind McRae and Brookes, but it was Brookes who was given way this time after another titanic struggle and I suppose you could say, payback for McRae's Circuit snatch victory. He finished fourth overall on the Scottish in 85, fifth on the National Breakdown rally and the Ulster, well, it wasn't as good luck but he still finished sixth, after dogged axle problems throughout the second half of the rally.

THE DARK DAYS-

RETIREMENT OF 86/87

Of course, as rally cars progressed through the years, they got faster and indeed much more dangerous. It was inevitable therefore that accidents could and would happen.  Fisher had a couple of near misses and fatal accidents over his time in the drivers seat, but none as eye-opening or lethally-potential as that of the dreaded Galway '86 incident, where his brakes failed at a 90' right junction on the second day, and he barely missed spectators who, by standing behind tape set up by marshalls, naively thought they were safe. This led to not only Fisher's retirement for about 15 months but also totally changed the concept of Rally spectating in Ireland. This incident, coupled with the fatal '86 COI accident where Ford's Kelli Grundel knocked a boy flying 20 ft into the air, when he was standing in the middle of a stage, created a two-month ban on rallying in Ireland, a thought which could hardly be thought of now.

Donegal International Clerk of Course at that time, Matt Doherty, lured Fisher and Frazer to drive as Chief Safety control car along with the famous Marshalls flying squad for the Donegal International in 86, in an attempt to not only bring home the message of rally spectator safety home to the general public more publically but also to try and persuade Bertie to get back into the drivers seat, after seeing what is and can be done to prevent fatal accidents like that of Galway previously in 86.

87, Bertie's comeback (one of many !)

Bertie was back in action and the winning style in a big way in May 1987, Fisher of course using the car he had used before his retirement, the Opel Manta DIL 9482 . However he had done two events in between times to build his confidence again-  Bertie's home event, the Lakeland stages forestry rally, which he won, and the Burmah (Lurgan Park) Rally in a Meeke RWD Ford Orion. After his official comeback, he won the Manx National rally, and then a couple of weeks later, the Donegal International Rally. Things were looking good.  The year however ended on a low note on the Cork 20, when Bertie ended off  stuck in a ditch along with one of his main rivals, Billy Coleman, who had just previously crashed his BMW M3 at the same slippy 90 left.

88, the return to Ford

The Opel Manta's competitive days' were over by 1988, and therefore Fisher looked for something more newer. He bought a Ford Sierra Cosworth, D773 SVW for which he held on to for one and a half years. This was a sister car of the similar works-Sierra (D774) that Brookes would use for some of the 88 and 89 British Championship. Of the results which he got this car, his best I can think of was third in Donegal.

89, new car, new co-driver

1989, and Fisher got a new car, BMW M3, GXI 9427. 

Bertie did not compete on the opening round of the 89 Championship in Galway but he had his new Prodrive BMW by Circuit-time and finished sixthFisher's  success this year was not too hot, mind you, he did win the Manx National in convincing style before going to Donegal to finish second behind the Welshman David Llewellin.  Maybe 1990 was to be his year in the BMW.

Half way through the 89 season, Bertie had a new co-driver as Austin Frazer, who had been with him since 1978, decided to hang up the stopwatch and helmet.  The new co-driver was the very experienced Letterkenny man Rory Kennedy.

90, first Tarmac championship for Fisher

And so it was Fisher's year indeed, but that wasn't without many problems along the way,   The ex-Prodrive, Duez, Beguin, and Coleman car was actually three years old, and although having done a lot up to then,  it produced some very good results and throughout the next two years he earned a lot of credit. He won the 1990 Tarmac Championship, by mere seconds literally as he had been chasing McHale who was always ahead of him throughout the year, up until the Rally of the Lakes where McHale retired on the last few stages.

91, BMW? SIERRA ? LEGACY?

In 1991, Fisher sold the BMW to Billy Connolly, (incidentally the BMW is still running on Irish stages today, by its present owner Denis Cronin) and so Bertie went back again to Ford, this time to a more updated , 4WD version (ex-Brookes) Sierra Sapphaire (E28 JWK).He won a few events in this car, and kept it up until mid way through the '92 season. He sold this to Stephen Finlay, (I THINK!!) and then changed his plot totally. Fisher, after a lot of decision and thought, bought a Subaru Legacy through Prodrive, H187 GUD, (who incidentally had also supplied the BMW), which was similar to the already used McKinstry Subaru (Niall Maguire then bought this car, Kenny keeping the plate KAL and Maguire changed it to TBZ 5907, but this was the original Kaliber Subaru).

92-95, the Legacy years

He won the 1992 & 93 Tarmac Championships in this car, H187 GUD, as well as a few other national events. After the Legacy had ended its 'LEGACY' (PARDON THE PUN), he continued to deal with Subaru, this time, an Impreza, L444 MCA. He bought the Impreza in 1994, and also won one or two events with that car. He did not keep that car for long however, as he then bought another similar one, L555 FEL (IE FISHER ENGINEERING LIMITED), half way through the 1995 season. Incidentally, in between times, he had a reg. L408 FUD, WHICH CAR, THE 1^ST OR 2^ND? With the L408 FUD car, he won the 1995 Circuit of Ireland, his first taste of champagne on the famous Easter event.

96, the year Fisher beat all the records

After this, he kept the car L555 FEL throughout 1996, and won his record breaking fourth (at that time) Tarmac Championship. He also won his record breaking sixth Rally of the lakes victory, 4^th Ulster rally win and the only driver to win all four of the Irish events of the Tarmac Championship. He kept this car to do one event in '97, the Circuit of Ireland, which he swept clean. He then shortly later sold this car to Tom Spence, who then passed it on to Frank O'Mahony. Temporarily, this was the end of Fisher's career, before Kieran McAnallen, once again said 'YOU’VE GOT ONE MORE SEASON IN YOU !!' so Fisher couldn’t resist the temptation.

97, Bertie & Rory's  second Circuit win

During 1997, Fisher didn't really compete much, only contending one round of the tarmac championship, the Circuit of Ireland, which he won, and apart from this he did look out for a possible car to challenge the '98 Tarmac Championship.  He tested an LHD SUBARU IMPREZA 555, supplied by the ALLSTARS PRODRIVE TEAM, (P161 EUD) to see how he would do in the left side of steering, on the 1997 ALMC Rally, but his testing did not do well, he was so used to being in RHD Car that he felt so much strain on his arm, and he found gear changes a big hassle. Austin McHale won that event, with Fisher a creditable but very sore 2^nd.

98, the new Silver Subaru

- Then early in 1998, a testing (and press!) session on Muckish mountain in Donegal with a new, almost WRC spec Subaru Impreza 555, R 555 FEL, seemed to be a good testing session. Fisher was now in good form and ready to contend another full Tarmac championship.

However Bertie was maybe a little too ready, as 98 turned out to be a bad year for the Toughmac team. He was in a comfortable lead in Galway before he hit the back of the car severely damaging the suspension and back end of the car. It was patched up but McHale took the seconds back and won the rally, about 30 seconds ahead of Fisher. 

Altogether, Bertie finished three rounds in 2nd place, but add this with two retirements all in the one year, and not a great year on a whole.  For more information on the particular rounds, read the rally reviews for more details of this years tarmac championship., 1998 Tarmac Championship Away from Ireland and the tarmac championship to Scotland and the Galloway Forest Hills Rally.   Bertie competed in this rally probably as a shake down and mental booster for the 99 tarmac championship.  He won this event, in good form from a similar Impreza 555.

99, Bertie's third Circuit and

final tarmac championship assault

1999 started off pretty good considering he has won the first 2 round of the Tarmac Championship, Galway and the Circuit of Ireland.  Galway, incidentally was Bertie's first Tarmac win in 22 months.  As for Killarney however, luck was not to continue for the TOUGHMAC team, on the first stage he got a puncture dropping him to 6th then a power steering pipe failure on the last stage on Saturday, dropping him further.  He regained a few seconds back on Sunday, to eventually finish 4th overall.

In Donegal  he did finish at all but he was back for the finale of the championship and the chance to walk away with the tarmac championship, if he had finished anywhere in the top 3. Yes that was a big IF. He was in a comfortable second place up until the last loop of stages when he went too fast into a fast sweeping corner.  He got out of that but had to turn the car in the middle of the stage.  In a panic he tried to turn it in a ditch by the side of the road and  got stuck.  

Footage on the RPM graphically illustrated how angry Fisher was about this form his in-car camera, he even got out, jumped all over the bonnet  and smashed in the windscreen- wouldn't you if you were two stages away from a fifth tarmac championship? 

Bertie however ended the year on a high note when he went to the Rally of Great Britain in a Prodrive-prepared Subaru Impreza WRC.  Although having many problems along the way he finished 21st overall and won the top privateer award.

Fisher did not compete in one rally in 2000 apart from the Millennium Motorsport Festival at Stormont in Belfast where he drove the Peugeot Group B 205 T16 in a demonstration run.

Indeed the Rally of GB of 99 would be the last time Bertie would ever drive competitively, as he died early in 2001 as result of injuries received after crashing his helicopter with his family all in it.  The family were coming from birthday celebrations of his wife Gladys in Ashford Castle County Mayo, when they crashed just a few miles from home. Bertie's son Mark, the undoubtedly WRC-to-be challenger, and his sister Emma died on the scene but Bertie dies late the next night, 32 hours later, after his life support machine was turned off.

Picture directory of Bertie Fisher

About the photos, i cannot trace the source of some of these photos and therefore may i just ask that no-one comes back to me saying and arguing that i havent asked permission or credit, as im sure you all understand im doing this in memory of bertie, not for money.

Here are his 20 Tarmac championship wins  so far

Other rallies that Bertie has won include the following:

1980 Lurgan park Rally, Ford Escort Mk2, CIL 999

1981 Lurgan Park Rally, Ford Escort Mk2, CIL 999

1984 Davagh Stages Rally, Opel Manta 400, DIL 2307

1984 Sligo MC Rally, Opel Manta 400, DIL 2307

1985 Davagh Stages Rally, Opel Manta 400, DIL 2307

1985 Cavan MC Rally, Opel Manta 400, DIL 2307

1987 Lakeland Stages Rally, Opel Manta 400, DIL 9482

1987 Manx National Rally, Opel Manta 400, DIL 9482

1989 Manx National Rally, BMW M3, GXI 9427

1992 Monaghan Rally ???, Subaru Legacy, H187 GUD

1992 ?? Rally, Subaru Legacy, H187 GUD

1992 ?? Rally, Subaru Legacy, H187 GUD

1992 Manx National Rally, Subaru Legacy, H187 GUD

1998 Galloway Hills Rally, Subaru Impreza 555, R555 FEL

For further information or queires please contact Fergus McAnallen on fmca123@aol.com or rallyretro@aol.com