Donegal man Donagh Kelly switched from his Focus WRC to a Derek McGeehan Mini WRC for the Lakeland Stages and, with London domiciled Fermanagh man Mark Cassidy co-driving on this 50th anniversary of the event, Donagh and Mark took an impressive win. Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Lancer) were 2nd and Martin Cairns/Kevin Flanagan were 3rd despite some late dramas.

The rally consisted of three relatively short stages to be done twice each, as well as two long versions of the Ballintempo forest. Weather conditions were sunny and dry, showing the Fermanagh Lakelands at their sparkling best. Josh Moffett was fastest through the first and second stages, to lead by 2s from Donagh Kelly going into the long 3rd stage, Ballintempo. Josh reckoned he took the long way around a Ballintempo chicane, which cost a few seconds, and when the cars arrived into Enniskillen’s Grosvenor Barracks service area, Donagh Kelly had a 1s lead over Josh.

In 3rd place at the midday service was Desi Henry, his Lancer emitting the occasional wisp of blue smoke. Martin Cairns was 4th in his Impreza S14, having been 6th. Pat O’Connell had made the trip up from Tipperary and was a sound 5th. Sam Moffett was re-adjusting to GpN and was 6th o/a. Some of the top drivers who didn’t make it to service included Frank Kelly, his Escort sunk into the inside of a boggy corner. Vivian Hamill had put his Escort off the road, which left Adrian Hetherington 8th in his Escort and missing the lack of opposition. Johnny Leonard had worked all week before the rally to get his Lancer engine ready, and with the help of Robbie McGurk got it finished at 04.00 on the morning of the rally – only to crash the car into a river gully after the flying finish of the first stage. Gareth Sayers was another to hit misfortune early on – his Lancer suffering a broken water pipe. Darren McKelvey put his Evo into a stage 2 ditch. Paul McShea’s Orion made it to service but the differential was knackered. Euel Crawford lost 7/8mins when his Corsa sustained a puncture. Neil Harron lost 2m in a stage 2 ditch that put a few dents in the side of his Swift. Raymond Mason pulled out at the half way halt because his co-driver Peter Martin was not feeling well. Raymond tackled the Trophy Rally in the afternoon, with Benny Grainger ‘sitting in’ and finished 2nd on that to Frank Kelly.

Through stages 5 & 6 the pace intensified at the front, but Josh Moffett managed to get ahead of Donagh Kelly. On stage 7 however, the long Ballintempo, Donagh really settled into the Mini WRC and set a superb time, 11s up on the now 2nd placed Desi Henry. Josh Moffett’s Lancer, a car built out of various bits and pieces specially for the forests by engineer Gerry McGarrity, cried enough.

Donagh Kelly wasn’t quite sure if Josh had retired and set fastest time through the final stage, Belmore. Martin Cairns was 2nd fastest, his late charge taking him past Pat O’Connell for 3rd. Desi Henry did enough to take 2nd. Kenny McKinstry came into 5th, having driven conservatively over the myriad crests and jumps in Ballintempo. Sam Moffett rounded off the top six and won GpN. Adrian Hetherington was 7th, having survived a stage 5 puncture on his Escort. James Gillen was 8th, slowed through the day by the handbrake cut out switch malfunctioning and causing his Subaru to stall at chicanes. Marty McKenna became more accustomed to his Impreza WRC on the later stages and despite losing a bit of time when he thought the car had sustained a puncture, which it hadn’t, finished 9th. Niall Henry had a decent run to 10th and 2nd GpN.

The class 3 & 4 up to 1650cc cars were running first on the road. Conor Kelly/David Vance in their Sunny eventually won, from Dominic Leonard/Martin Baxter (Civic). Ryan Bradley/Gerard Mullan (Escort) were 3rd, just pipping Jordan Hone (Micra). Jordan was co-driven by his father Paul and they had led after 2 stages but their Micra was outgunned on the faster stages. Jordan did have the consolation of winning his class as well as the new Gerry McGarrity ‘mentoring’ award. Alan Smyth was fastest of the 1650’s initially but was ‘too eager’ into a loose stage 2 SqL and his Citroen C2 got stuck for 5m. Adam Bustard was another expected front runner and he lost time on the first stage when his Corsa suffered a puncture.

At the end of the day, the thrills and spills were all part of a great day’s rallying in the Fermanagh Lakelands and the competitors were full of praise for Gerry Cavanagh, Drew Wilson and all the Enniskillen team for putting on such an enjoyable event.

Samdec Security Lakeland Stages Top 10
1st (1) Donagh Kelly/Mark Cassidy (Mini WRC) 43.36
2nd (2) Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Lancer) 44.09
3rd (4) Martin Cairns/Kevin Flanagan (Impreza WRC) 44.19
4th (3) Pat O`Connell/Derek Gibbs (Lancer) 44.29
5th (58) Kenny McKinstry/Kenny Hull (Impreza WRC) 44.37
6th (6) Sam Moffett/James O`Reilly (Lancer N) 44.53
7th (9) Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 45.55
8th (64) James Gillen/Pierce Doheny (Impreza WRC) 46.04
9th (12) Marty McKenna/Martin McGarrity (Impreza WRC) 46.08
10th (14) Niall Henry/John Rowan (Lancer N) 46.22

Class Winners:- CL1 Neil Monaghan/Jamie Monaghan (Fiesta): CL2 Sam Moffett/James O`Reilly (Lancer N): CL3 Jordan & Paul Hone (Micra): CL4 Conor Kelly/David Vance (Sunny): CL5 Declan Campbell/Carolan McKenna (Escort): CL6 Alistair Cochrane/Paddy McCrudden (Escort): CL7 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort): CL8 Donagh Kelly/Mark Cassidy (Mini WRC): CL9 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Lancer): CL12 Raymond Johnston/David Johnston (Escort).

Further to the McGarrity Motorsport Award, Gerry McGarrity has helped, guided, given tuition to, set up their cars and at times grounded many young drivers over the years. Just some of those have included Mark Fisher, Gareth MacHale, Sam & Josh Moffett, and Alastair Fisher. For his efforts on the Lakeland in his Micra, 18 year old Jordan Hone, who has recently started an engineering course at Queens University, will hopefully benefit from being taken under Gerry’s wing.

On the Belgian Championship Flanders Rally last weekend Stephen Wright had a good run to 2nd class in the popular Peugeot 208 Trophy category, just 13secs behind class winner Guillaune Dilley. Stephen found the rally similar to Ypres, same type of surface, cuts on corners and so on. Stephen now lies 2nd in the Championship, with just the Condroz Rally remaining. Stephen had Karl Atkinson co-driving this time as his sister Susanne was sitting accountancy exams.

This weekend coming, there are two major events on the home front, the Microgaming backed Manx Rally as well as the Wexford Rally. On the Manx it is an absolutely critical time for Daniel McKenna/Arthur Kierans as regards the British Rally Championship title. Driving the Pirelli backed Citroen DS3R3T Daniel has won three of the events so far as against his closest rival Osian Pryce having taken one victory. Those three Daniel victories will however count for very little this weekend as the Manx is a double points header with 50% bonus points for the second leg – so the weekend is equivalent to two and a half rallies. Also in line for Championship glory is Dean Raftery from Galway with his West Cork co-driver Aileen Kelly in their Fiesta R2, while Calvin Beattie/Emmet Sherry are also in line for success if all goes well. It is 4 years since the Manx, with all its classic stages and massive rally heritage was last included in the front line British Rally Championship. It is totally ironic that now when it is again included, the British Rally Championship is being abandoned.

The Historic side of the Manx Rally does seem to be going from strength to strength, and just some of the crews from here who will be in action include Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride in Dessie’s Porsche 911. Stanley Orr will be driving his Mk1 Escort, and although Stanley has no Manx experience, there is still every chance that he could take British Historic Rally Championship honours. Brian Orr will co-drive for Stanley. Also in the list is former Tarmac Historic Champion and fastest pensioner in the West Mervyn Johnston, with Wendy Blackledge co-driving in his Mini Cooper, Andy Johnston is making the trip in his Chevette HSR, and of course Jimmy McRae is competing in his special Chevette.

On the Wexford Rally the competition should be fierce over the fast sweeping roads around the Enniscorthy area. The rally is still based in Wexford town of course. The top drivers from the REIS MSA Tarmac Championship – Steve Simpson, Damian Cole and John Stone in their WRC machinery will battle it out over two days for points, while there will be huge competition amongst the home drivers as well. James Stafford in his Darrian is the No.1 seed on his home rally, while drivers such as Kevin Barrett in his Subaru, Frank Kelly, Brian Brogan and Wesley Patterson in their Escorts, plus Daniel Barry in his Lancer, should provide the visitors with something to think about!

We were fortunate enough to be out making the notes for both the Cork ‘20’ Rally as well as Clare earlier this week. Both rallies have laid on brilliant series of stages. The Cork ‘20’ is of course again based in Millstreet and so has classic stages right on the doorstep. CoC Kevin O’Riordan has taken full advantage of the plethora of riches on his doorstep by planning a route packed with every conceivable type of road, from the classic to the tough. The challenge should provide a very fitting climax to the Clonakilty Blackpudding Tarmac Championship. Similarly, over in Ennis Dermot Kelleher has worked hard to improve on some brilliant stage roads out towards Connolly and his three stages repeated three times consist of some tight twisty and narrow tough roads, then some beautifully sweeping stuff towards the end. A bit like the Cork ‘20’, whatever drivers earn the plaudits on this penultimate round of the Dunlop National series will certainly have earned them.