RALLY NEWS NO.2              Near Timoleague End SS1/Sat/Noon

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1 RING

1^st (3) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Impreza WRC) 7.21.3

2^nd (4) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 7.31.2

3^rd (5) Donal O'Donovan/John O'Rahilly (Celica) 7.32.1

4^th (6) JJ Fleming/Robbie Ward (Focus WRC) 7.32.9

5^th (8) Steve Fleck/Mark Aspinall (Impreza WRC) 7.33.1

6^th (24) Ashley Field/Janice Holley (Darrian) 7.36.0

7^th (7) Bob Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Impreza WRC) 7.40.0

8^th (10) Phil Collins/Derek Brannigan (Escort) 7.43.4

9^th (11) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 7.44.4

10^th (12) Tony Davies/Jakes Kelly (Impreza WRC) 7.46.2

11^th (9) Nigel Hicklin/Sam McMullan (Octavia WRC) 7.46.4

     (22) Gwyndaf Evans/Alan Davies (Escort) 7.46.4

St. Patrick certainly turned up the sunny side of the stone here in West Cork this morning.  Conditions on the Ring stage were just about perfect, and the world rally cars made a spectacular show as they hurtled down the side of the estuary.  Liam McCarthy turned on all the style to set fastest time by a long way, Liam saying at stage finish. “We concentrated on keeping it very smooth and tidy”.  Denis Cronin admitted to making his usual slow start, but said his Subaru felt good.  Donal O’Donovan felt that his Celica brakes were not just right and the pedal seemed a little spongy.  JJ Fleming had a good run, while Bob Fowden looked a bit miserable at stage finish, the Welshman suffering from a large dose of flu. 

In Group N Mark Morgan turned in a fastest time of 7.49.9. James O’Sullivan recorded 7.54.3 and said that the back end of his lancer felt a little loose. Further Group N times included Gabriel Martin on 8.01.1, and he reckoned his GpN Impreza was a bit bouncy in the suspension department.  That wasn’t as bad as John Hickey’s example though, which is on forest suspension, John setting a time of 8.15.  Besides the forest suspension John’s mind is also on his baby daughter Michele who is in hospital in Tralee with severe tonsillitis.  John leaving the hospital in the small hours of this morning to take part in the rally.  Kevin O’Donoghue set a nice time of 8.04.9. Wexford man PJ McGrath was 8.03.6. 

In the battle of the 2 wheel drive machinery Ashley Field turned in a screamer of 7.36 in his Darrian.  Phil Collins reported his Escort to be a bit lively. Gwyndaf Evans was sweating hard at stage finish, his Escort now fitted with power steering to try and take the pressure off Gwyndaf’s hand, injured in a rally accident last year. 

Further stories include – Tony Davies losing his intercom halfway through the stage and also the Impreza jammed in 6^th gear for a while. Tom Randles was 8.21.4 as he gets used to the bright orange Celica.  Peter Lloyd 8.10.0.  Willie Power had a good run on 8.00.  Willie McCarthy was also well on the pace in  his Mk2 Escort with a time of 7.49.9.  Dave Slattery on 8.14.8. No time for Tim Ball as yet….