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'Quandary' could fairly describe Paul Harris' frame of mind starting
this Fastnet Rally with the news that Niall Maguire is non starting.
These two were expected to be head to head for the Dunlop National
Rally title. Niall's uncle sadly died on Thursday morning and
rightly the current champion is missing the rally. Paul needs
a couple of points from the rally to take the title. That's where
the quandary comes in. Does Paul drive easy, risk losing his
concentration, and maybe make a mistake? His normal style is
flat out and devil take the hindmost! He will start first on
the road, original No.1 seed Donal O'Donovan is,like Maguire,
absent. Last uear's winner Donal tells us that his Celica engine
isn't yet rebuilt - the new pistons arrived on time, but not
the rings!
Tim McNulty in his Toyota will be be behind Harris, Tim with
Helen O'Sullivan on the pace notes. This should provide the Meath
man with some local knowlege on the notes. Michael Barrable is
next up, the Dubliner telling us that he has changed the set
up of his Celica, raising it a bit to try and increase the suspension
travel. He had a short test session and feels it is better. Car
6 is Pete Doughty, former multiple MN Champion. Pete has made
the trip from Nottingham to see if he can get back in the winning
groove after a few misfortunes over the last couple of seasons,
and indeed a lengthy lay-off since the Lakes. He had a bit of
a scare yesterday when the rally car fell off the trailer following
a test session! Pete is just one of a group of cross channel
visitors which include Jon Tainton, John Hand and Steve Fleck.
The latter is driving his Subaru, not Escort as listed in the
programme, and will almost certainly be given a higher start
time than his No.32.
Liam McCarthy will start 5th on the road behind Pete Doughty,
keeping 8 on the Celica (No7 Melvyn Evans is absent). Former
winner and top seeded local driver Liam is hoping for a good
run and tells us his Celica seems about right. Killarney's Donie
O'Sullivan is next up, Donie a very quick man and could be right
in the hunt. Frank O'Mahony at 10 has his daughter Emily vo-driving,
then its Ray Breen having his first outing since his Limerick
accident, the Waterford man sure to be taking it a bit handy
to start off. Tommy Graham at 12 has his Escort Cosworth transmission
all re-vamped since its Clare graunching session. Next up is
Wesley Patterson. He's another making his first outing after
a lay-off, his rapid Sierra Cosworth just rebuilt after its Lurgan
Park mishap.
Patrick Elliott and Roy White,are at 14 & 15 respectively
in their Mitsubishi Lancers. They are the first of the
GpN contenders. Patrick has already tied up the GpN category
on the Dunlop series, but this should be a big race between the
two for personal honours. There are a few other GpN men who could
surprise them of course, Liam Davis and Jon Tainton being just
two of them.New cars on the rally include Kevin Barret's Subaru,
this being Triton Showers man Kevin's first outing in this active
differential machine. 151 cars will start the rally, many of
the reserves will get a run. Further non-starters include Micky
McArdle, Rory Galligan, Sean Keenan and Bernard O'Brien. More
news from service. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON |
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