Billy Coleman is an Irish

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

driver. Nicknamed ''Millstreet Maestro'', Billy Coleman is Ireland's most successful motorsport rally driver and in twenty years of racing has claimed 29 victories, including a number of

British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in 2015, in ...

and

Irish Tarmac Rally Championship The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (ITRC) is the premier rallying series in Ireland. It is held annually and is promoted by the Tarmac Rally Organisers’ Association (TROA). The Championship takes place over seven events, based in the Republic o ...

titles. He is the older brother of John Coleman who was a Gaelic footballer.

Life and career

Billy Coleman is a farmer native to

Millstreet Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland, with a population of 1,555 (as of 2016). Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasses the civil ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, where he still resides. He developed an interest in cars from an early age, reminiscing how his father let him steer the car sitting on his knee at the age of five. His father Paddy Coleman was the local Ford main dealer and owned a motor garage in Millstreet. Spending time at his father's garage further nurtured Coleman's early interest in cars. Coleman studied commerce in

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, but preferred farming as his occupation, and undertook it full time after finishing up his racing career. His first racing car was

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

which Coleman drove in 1967. In 1969 a crashed Ford Escort was acquired, repaired and converted into a rally car. It was in this car (a self-prepared green Ford Escort Mark I; TIU 250) in 1969, that Coleman won the special stage ahead of the works Ford Escort of Roger Clark. Coleman dominated the rallies in Ireland and Britain the 1970s and 1980s. He has also been seen in international arena, including in Corsica and Monte Carlo. In his racing career, Coleman drove

, Ford Escort,

Alpine-Renault The Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS, commonly known as Alpine (), is a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars established in 1955. The Alpine car marque was created in 1954. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally ...

Lancia Stratos The Lancia Stratos HF (''Tipo 829''), widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is a rear mid-engined sports car designed for rally racing, made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for ''High Fidelity''. It was a very successf ...

, Fiat-Abarth 131,

Opel Manta 400 The Opel Manta is a rear-wheel-drive sports coupé built by German manufacturer Opel in two generations from 1970 to 1988. The Manta was a mildly sporting coupé based on the Ascona family car, akin to the Ford Falcon-based Mustang and its vario ...

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and origin ...

Porsche 959 The Porsche 959 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche from 1986 to 1993, first as a Group B rally car and later as a road legal production car designed to satisfy FIA homologation regulations requiring at least 2 ...

MG Metro 6R4 The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced by British Leyland (BL) and, later, the Rover Group from 1980 to 1998. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin mini Metro. It was intended to complement and eventually replace the M ...

and

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial model ...

. Coleman's two sons, Robby Coleman and Gordon Coleman, also take part in Irish and British racing events.

Legacy

RTÉ Sports Hall of Fame Award

In 2006, Coleman was awarded RTÉ Sports Hall of Fame Award for his achievements in rallying.

DVD

Coleman features in the ''Tarmac Titans'' DVD series on rally legends.

Young driver of the year award

The Billy Coleman Young Driver of the Year Award was conceived in 2000 in a partnership between

Motorsport Ireland Motorsport Ireland is the National Governing Body for four-wheeled motorsports in the Republic of Ireland. ''Motorsport Ireland'' is affiliated to the supreme authority for world motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA ...

Sport Ireland Sport Ireland ( ga, Spórt Éireann), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill ...

and

Team Ireland Team Ireland was a stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1991 and 1992. Owned by Irishman Martin Birrane, the team posted a best finish of thirteenth with driver Bobby Hillin Jr. Winston Cup Series Car No. ...

. The aim of the award is to "motivate young Irish rally drivers to step up into the international arena and rival the achievements of the young Billy Coleman".

Influence

Irish-American billionaire, philanthropist, life-long motorsports supporter John Campion attributed much of his motivation to succeed to Billy Coleman's achievements as a rally driver. Campion supported the launch of the

Team Ireland Foundation John Joseph Campion (January 17, 1963 – October 2, 2020) was an Irish Americans, Irish-American entrepreneur. In 1987, he founded Showpower, Inc., a California company that provided portable generators for the Rolling Stones, U2, Kiss (band), ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in 2016, where in his speech he said:

As a young boy in Cork I found myself struggling with school and at a loss as to what I would do with my life. But I always felt a bond with motorsport after witnessing Billy Coleman, a farmer who became a world rallying icon, competing near my home in Cork. After seeing Billy rallying I realised then that if you put your mind to it, you could achieve anything.

John Campion emigrated to United States where he become the chairman and CEO of an international energy corporation, and a philanthropist focusing on health, education and nutrition as well as sponsor of racing drivers through the his motorsports organization CJJ Motorsports. In his possession Campion had a collection of Lancia rally cars, inspired by

Lancia Stratos HF The Lancia Stratos HF (''Tipo 829''), widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is a rear mid-engined sports car designed for rally racing, made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for ''High Fidelity''. It was a very successf ...

driven by Billy Coleman in 1978.

Racing record

Between his active racing years 1968 to 1987, Billy Coleman started in 128 national and international rally events and claimed 29 victories.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Billie Living people 1948 births Irish rally drivers European Rally Championship drivers World Rally Championship drivers People from Millstreet Motorsport people from County Cork