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RALLY NEWS NO.3 Service/Saturday 1pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2
1st (6) Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 14.29
2nd (5) Paul Harris/John McCafferty (Impreza) 15.04
3rd (2) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza WRC) 15.13
(15) Ivan Stewart/Joe Friel (Esc.Cos) 15.13
5th (16) Sean Devine/John McElhinney (Impreza WRC) 15.15
(7) Cahal Arthurs/Jakes Kelly (Accent WRC) 15.15
7th (20) Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Impreza N) 15.27
8th (8) Hugh M Doherty/Michael McBride (Impreza WRC) 15.29
9th (25) Brendan Kelly/Derek Brannigan (Lancer N) 15.31
(18) Andrew Stewart/Fabian McShane (Lancer N) 15.31
Early leader Jim Harrison put his Subaru off the road for 10 minutes in stage
2 to leave Tim McNulty in a similar Impreza WRC way out on his own with a
vast lead over Paul Harris, with Niall Maguire and Ivan Stewart joint 3rd.
Harrison commented when he reached service. "It was so frustrating, looked
like a very simple place, but the car slid wide on gravel, a square right, and
ended up perched on a small concrete wall, couldn't get gears, and anyway the
wheels were not really touching the ground. Several cars ran into us, it wasn't
good." We said on the last RallyNews that Tim McNulty's Impreza engine
seemed to go off a cylinder towards the end of stage 1. Tim told us here after
stage 2. "It turned out to be a broken wire, we got that sorted, we're going hard
but not crazy. We had one big moment but at this stage it wasn't enough to
frighten us!" Patrick Elliott is now 2nd on the road, but shown well down the
order following his stage 1 puncture. However Patrick had 2nd fastest time in
stage 2, just 3s down on McNulty, and said. "Happy enough with my pace in stage
2, now I'll just try as hard as I can for the rest of the day". Second
placed Paul Harris said. "I feel we're a bit slow, but I really want to finish, the
car's not going too bad. I feel a bit rusty".
Dunlop Championship leader Niall Maguire said. "I'm going hard but safe, the
stages are bumpy and tough". Ivan Stewart dropped one place in stage 2, from
3rd to 4th, Ivan reckoning that his Escort Cosworth anti lag problem started
to return, it wasn't so bad on the first stage, but was much more evident on
the 2nd where there are more tight junctions. Sean Devine had some gear linkage
troubles but got on the pace well on stage 2 to hold 5th. Cahal Arthurs in 6th
spun his Accent on the 2nd stage, lost between 12 and 15s.
Willie Fannin put on a good charge on the 2nd stage to move his Impreza into
the gpN lead and 7th overall. Hugh Martin Doherty reckons his Impreza WRC
suspension is set a little too hard, Hugh happy enough to feel his way today, and
get back into the swing of things after a long lay off. Brendan Kelly and
Andrew Stewart in 9th and 10th are 2nd and 3rd in group N, neither reporting any
major problems. James Gillen dropped to 11th after colliding with Harrison's
car in stage 2. Joe McHugh is in 12th, Joe got off to a difficult start, his
Escort Cosworth suspension on wet weather settings and too soft for the
conditions.
Damian Gallagher is 14th and leading the 2 wheel drive category, 6s ahead of
Camillus Bradley in a similar Class 13 Escort. James O'Sullivan is down in
18th place after a small problem in the 2nd stage, 6th in Group N behind John
Cairns. Adrian Quinn went well on stage 2 to hold 15th overall and 4th gpN.
Darragh Raftery in the Impreza WRC, 9th on the first stage, had engine problems
in 2 an overshoot also slowing him. Martin Doherty's Lancer is on the wrong
springs, Martin struggling to cope with the car over the bumps. Robbie Peoples
in the Escort reckons his rear suspension is too soft, also had no intercom in
stage 2, hit a straw bale as well, so reckons his Donegal Harvest luck is
unchanged! At least he is better off than Danny McBride who rolled his Subaru and
partially blocked the 2nd stage.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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