UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6 - FINAL STAGE

1st (3) Dominic McNeill/Francis Regan (Ford) 32.11

2nd (6) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Nagle (Celica) 32.59

3rd (1) Dermot Kelly/John Brennan (Ford) 33.08

4th (5) Peter McCullagh/Vincent Fergus (Ford) 33.41

5th (7) Ollie O'Donovan/David Moynihan (Subaru) 33.43

6th (4) John McKeown/Martin Carey (Ford) 33.56

7th (8) John Donnelly/Joe McAleese (Ford) 34.16

8th 12) Cathal Rogers/Paul McLoughlin (Lancer) 34.22

9th (15) Brian McCloskey/Shane O'Neill (Ford) 34.47

10th (11) Noel Driver/Joe Shinnors (Ford) 34.52

Dominic McNeill/Francis Regan crossed the finish ramp here at the Lismore Hotel well pleased with their day's work on winning this Hornibrooks for Toyota backed Lismore Forest Rally. Dominic's last win was Wexford Forestry at the end of last year, but he was in a new car today and said "More than pleased with the car, really enjoyed the day, a good rally". Second placed Eugene Donnelly was lucky to make the finish at all, tackling the penultimate stage of the rally just too quick, and wiping out a series of fence posts with his new Celica.."It was a close call, but I'm pleased to be on the pace with the new car. It misfired for the first couple of miles of that stage 6 and I was trying to make up time". Third placed Dermot Kelly was ever so slightly down in the dumps at the finish - the Charleville man won here last year, and said "There was a big difference for me on the 2nd loop of stages, running on the cleaner roads. The engine overheated just a bit on the last stage, and I backed off, but the damage was done this morning".Incidentally, we got Dermot's car sales business telephone number wrong on the side of the RallyNews sheets - it should read 063 - 81742!

Late dramas on the rally included - Kevin O'Kane's Subaru going on fire when the power steering pump burst and sprayed hot fluid on to the turbo. Francis Regan, co driving for Dominic McNeil, was the man mainly responsible for putting the fire out. Francis is a part time fireman. John McKeown also played his part - John carries one of the old Halon BCF fire extinguishers in the car - once again the new breed of AFFF extinguishers were not up to scratch. There was further drama for Francis when he discovered that he had left his helmet behind at the fire scene, and could not start SS6 without a helmet. Tom Nolan ran down to the road, saw Dominic's van and managed to get a spare helmet, and saved the day. Returning to news of the leaderboard - Peter McCullagh had a big moment on the last stage and was lucky to get away with just a scrape on his Escort Cosworth.

Ollie O'Donovan was slowed throughout the day with that wonky rear suspension, otherwise Ollie reckons he could be on the forestry pace, even though he is a newcomer to the woods. John McKeown was cautious enough to start with, but settled down, and enjoyed the day. John Donnelly did well to recover from his early time loss when a driveshaft broke. Cathal Rogers commented at the end "I was glad to come on to the car towards the finish. It was a good day out". KBB Doors man Brian McCloskey felt he was driving all over the place on the last stage and was lucky to make the leaderboard. Many thanks to all who helped with the RallyNews service and well done to all the organisers of the rally..BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON