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RALLY NEWS NO.6 Sligo Park Hotel Finish/Sunday 6.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 – FINAL STAGE
1st (1) Aaron MacHale/Killian Duffy (Focus WRC) 1.01.13
2nd (5) Charlie Donnelly/Herbie Blackburn (Corolla WRC) 1.01.17
3rd (8) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza WRC) 1.01.45
4th (6) Sean Devine/Damien Connolly (Impreza WRC) 1.02.05
5th (172) PJ McDermott/Sean Harris (Impreza WRC) 1.04.25
(20) Ian Barrett/Eoin O'Flaherty (Impreza N) 1.04.25
7th (165) Owen Murphy/Liam Brennan (Lancer N) 1.04.45
8th (41) Shane Feely/Jim McGrath (Lancer N0 1.06.12
9th (24) Gary McPhillips/Mark Tierney (Escort) 1.06.13
10th (38) Paul Kiely/Pat McSharry (Lancer N) 1.06.32
There was certainly a terrific battle at the end of this Sligo Stages
Rally with Aaron MacHale going into the final test, Achonery, 2s up on
Charlie Donnelly. Aaron pulled out all the stops and was 2s faster over
the 11.29km stage to win by 4s. When Aaron and his co driver Killian Duffy
brought their Focus WRC to a halt here at the Sligo Park Hotel, Aaron
commented. “We were watching our lead in the Dunlop Championship
all day and then thought we may as well give it a lash over the last 2
stages and it worked out. It was a tough rally, but really well run and
no delays. When we hit the bales earlier on it knocked me off a bit but
then we had a great run”. Charlie Donnelly said. “It was good
to see Aaron winning he has come on well, we enjoyed our day but we were
slow to get going. Should have been more cautious with the tyre choice
early on, but I really wanted to try these new hard tyres. On the last
stage my back tyres were done, couldn’t really match aaron”.
Niall Maguire in 3rd place today and 2nd in the Dunlop series said. “It
was a tough rally, we did 3 stages on slick tyres in the wet and we lost
too much to the boys in front. Then we got on to a softer tyre and it
stabled the car up again. We had a bit of trouble with the wipers and
when they jammed I hit the gear change by mistake and had a bit of a moment
coming into a junction but otherwise OK”. Sean Devine in 4th eased
back very slightly towards the end when he realised he couldn’t
catch Maguire in front. PJ McDermott in 5th lost time early on with wrong
tyre choices and spins and was just glad to get the car to the finish.
There was a major upset in the group N category on the last stage when
Michael Curran’s lancer stopped on the first square left. Reason
as yet unknown. This meant Ian Barrett and his co driver Eoin O’Flaherty
took their first group N win. Ian said “It was hard work but I enjoyed
the day, We weren’t overly crazy, kept it controlled. My downfall
in the past has been pushing too hard. Today we read the conditions and
kept it all together”. Owen Murphy did well to come into 2nd in
GpN, a great comeback after his Jim Clark Rally accident and local man
Paul Kiely was delighted to get into the top 10 and get 4tg GpN. Shane
Feely came into 3rd GpN having progressed up the order all day.
Gary McPhillips had a brilliant run to finish best 2 wheel drive while
John Price scored top points in the MSA Asphalt Championship part of the
rally. Joe McHugh was 11th o/a despite a last stage spin and won class
15 ahead of John Price. Stephen Simpson finished just inside the top 30
in his Hyundai and will score enough points in the MSA Asphalt to maintain
his championship lead. Brian O’Mahony had another great run to win
his class and finish 12th o/a despite a broken rear damper on his Clio.
Finally for now very well done to Clerk of the Course Kieran Henry as
well as Joe & Chris Corcoran and all the hard working Connacht MC
team. There were also marshals and officials from many other clubs. Well
done to all for a great day’s Motorsport, a fitting 25th Sligo Stages
Rally. Our thanks to all who supported the Rally News service.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net |
