RALLY NEWS NO.5      Mitchelstown/Finish/Sunday 5.30

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6 - LAST STAGE
1st (3) Dominic McNeill/Francis Regan (Esc WRC) 58.09
2nd (8) Ollie O'Donovan/David Moynihan (Legacy) 1.00.27
3rd (7) Niall Driver/Francis Corrigan (Lancer) 1.00.41
4th (2) Kevin O'Kane/Stephen Griffiths (Impreza) 1.00.58
5th (16) Eddie & Tom Kinirons (Celica) 1.01.39
6th (19) James Murphy/Con Mulcahy (Esc Cos) 1.02.20

Dominic McNeill put on a dominant display today to lead the rally from start to finish.  Behind Dominic there was lots of confusion, many accidents and blocked stages, but happily no reports of any serious injuries.  When Dominic and co driver Francis Regan brought their beautiful black Escort World Rally Car into the finish here at Mitchelstown, Dominic commented "I've never driven a more slippy event, it was rough, wet and tough.  I'm really happy to be here and of course it gives me the top position after this opening round of the KBB Doors Championship".  Second placed Ollie O'Donovan was in the wars right to the end, finishing the final stage with his Legacy rear wheel punctured. Still, it was a good result for the London based Limerick man. Niall Driver in 3rd reckoned he had a bit of a disastrous time through stage 5, commenting "There were a lot of spectators and the car was sliding about
so I was a bit careful. Still, glad to finish so well up". Fourth placed Kevin O'Kane said at the finish "The rally was real hard work, a lot of driving, very slippy roads, I'm tired out!"

Just outside the leaderboard some totals of interest include...James Murphy in his new Escort Cosworth on 1.02.20, James telling us that he slid wide on a couple of junctions and lost some time. Pete Willoughby was on a total of 1.02.27 after a terrific performance in the hired Pitlane Lancer.  Paul Staunton was on 1.02.24 after spinning on the last stage. Patrick Elliott on his first run in the forests in his Lancer was 1.04.14 and Kieran Moloy 1.05.05. New York based John Drislane lost several minutes with an off road excursion on stage 5, otherwise would have been fairly close to Elliott's times.  Tom Sheehan/Willie Walsh made it to the finish despite rolling their
Astra. KBB Doors Brian McCloskey eventually got his Escort Cosworth to the finish despite bent suspension and an off song engine, drowned out in the ford.  We are still waiting for Garry Jennings to arrive - the young Fermanagh man was knocking on the top 10, although we do hear that he had some damage to the rear of his Peugeot. Trevor Harding crashed on stage 5 and has hurt his neck but hopefully will make a quick recovery. Paul Manton receives many thanks from the rally organisers, having withdrawn from competing to perform OO duties after a OO car was damaged earlier. Still no news of Eugene Donnelly and Eamonn Boland who were going very quickly through the later stages, but of course had lost time in stage 2. Finally for now - many thanks to Jim O'Brien & all at the Tipperary MC for all their hard work in putting on the rally. Many thanks also to the RallyNews sponsors. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON

 

ã 2002 www.rallynews.net (Patterson Agencies). All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Last update27/01/02 18:17:43

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