Andrew Nesbitt (born 2 September 1960) is a

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver and businessman from

Newtownhamilton Newtownhamilton is a small village and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies predominantly within Tullyvallan townland. The civil parish is within the historic barony of Fews Upper. In the 2011 Census it had 2,836 inhabit ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He is currently co-driven by James O'Brien from Co. Cork. He is best known for driving the

Subaru Impreza The is a compact car that has been manufactured by the Japanese automaker Subaru since 1992. It was introduced as a replacement for the Leone, with the predecessor's EA series engines replaced by the new EJ series. It is now in its sixth g ...

but first made his name driving a

Toyota Celica The is an automobile produced by Toyota from 1970 until 2006. The Celica name derives from the Latin word ''wikt:coelicus, coelica'' meaning ''heavenly'' or ''celestial''. In Japan, the Celica was exclusive to ''Toyota Corolla Store'' Car deale ...

on the 1996

Donegal International Rally The Donegal International Rally is an annual car race in County Donegal, Ireland. It is one of the most important events in the Irish rallying calendar since 1972, and is one of the country's most challenging rallies. Organized by the Donegal ...

. He defied the odds to beat top drivers such as Bertie Fisher and Austin MacHale. Since then he has had a host of rally wins. In 2000 he broke all records by winning the Donegal International and winning all 22 stages. He went on to become Tarmac Champion in 2000 and 2002. Andrew has taken a number of wins since 2002, but has failed to reclaim the tarmac title. He was often leading rallies or was in a strong position, until mechanical failures let him down. More recently he has performed very well, but has been unable to compete in a full season. Andrew's car is currently sponsored by Rutledge Joblink and Cross-Refrigeration. His car is prepared by McKinstry Motorsport. In 2004 Andrew realised his dream by entering the WRC (

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

) for the first time. He entered the snow event in Sweden and finished a very respectable 28th, in what is a very specialist event. He was 5th amongst the privateer crews. One of the most remarkable achievements of Andrew's career was winning the Jim Clark Memorial Rally for three consecutive years, breaking the record in the process. On 11 and 12 August 2007 at

Maasmechelen Maasmechelen (; ) is a municipality located on the Meuse in the Belgian province of Limburg. It comprises the former municipalities of Mechelen-aan-de-Maas, Vucht, Leut, Meeswijk, Uikhoven, Eisden, Opgrimbie, Boorsem, and Kotem. As a result ...

in Belgium Nesbitt contested his first ever round of the

FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers The European Rallycross Championship (former abbreviation ERC, now Euro RX or ERX) is a rallycross competition held in Europe, organised under the auspices of the FIA. History The predecessor championship began in 1973 as the Embassy/ERA Europ ...

with a 550+bhp strong spare Saab 9-3 T16 4x4 of Swede

Per Eklund Per Torsten Eklund (born 21 June 1946) is a Swedish Rally and Rallycross driver. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career. Biography Saab works dr ...

. Nesbitt recently acquired a Solar energy company, Cool Power, which he later incorporated into Cross Energy, under the Cross-Group, along with its fruit ripening, hire and refrigeration departments. With Cross Energy, Nesbitt introduced Northern Ireland's first solar powered car charger.

References

"Supreme Nesbitt dominates Clark Rally"
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

''. 4 July 2004.
"Nesbitt leads the Irish jig"
''The Scotsman''. 6 July 2003.
"Nesbitt takes Killarney title as O Sullivan clinches 8th"
''The Kingdom''. 10 May 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesbitt, Andrew 1960 births Living people Businesspeople from County Armagh Irish rally drivers Motorsport people from County Armagh People from Newtownhamilton