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RALLY NEWS
NO.4
Service/Saturday 2pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Clogagh
1ST (2) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 25.47.4
2ND (7) Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman (Focus WRC) 26.14.0
3rd (5) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Impreza WRC) 26.57.5
4th (16) Tony Davies/Brian Hardie (Impreza WRC) 27.03.4
5th (6) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 27.13.2
6th (10) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 27.54.5
7th (12) Kevin & Martin Kelleher (Lancer N) 28.05.0
8th (48) John Foley/Jonathan Waterman (Impreza N) 28.11.9
9th (8) Jon Ingram/Ian Allsop (Impreza WRC) 28.19.6
10th (25) Kevin O’Donoghue/Joe O’Leary (Escort) 28.18.9
Tim McNulty is extending his lead on every stage in his Pierse backed
Subaru, while last year’s winner Melvyn Evans has been knocked
out of the top 10 when his Subaru stopped for 8 minutes at a junction
in stage 3. Michael Barrable is in scintillating form to hold
2nd in his Focus WRC while Liam McCarthy is coming to grips with
the new Impreza WRC S12 and has forged up from 7th after stage 2
to 3rd after stage 4.
McNulty commented when he reached service. “We’re getting
the push in now, everything’s OK.” Michael Barrable
said. “Its going well, we’re very happy”.
Liam McCarthy remarked. “We’re getting into the groove.”
Liam didn’t switch on the computer properly in stage 2 and
the car was running in road mode and he dropped time there, then
went well in stages 3 and 4. Denis Cronin commented. “I
scared the life out of myself last year with this car. It is beautiful
now and I am building up my confidence”. Melvyn Evans
reported that his problem was down to a turbo pipe coming adrift,
the Welshman reckons that it possibly got knocked off following
a very heavy landing on a big jump. Jon Ingram had a real
struggle through stages 3 and 4, his Subaru suffering power steering
failure. John Dalton managed to hold on to a top 10 place despite
his Darrian going off a cylinder in stage 3. Bob Fowden’s
group A Impreza lost a lot of time through stages 3 and 4 when the
car overheated, Bob reporting no water left in the radiator.
In Group N John Foley, driving an ex Willie Fannin Impreza, led
after 2 stages by just 0.6 of a second from Kevin Kelleher in “The
Big Fella” Lancer. The Kelleher brothers softened the
rear suspension of their Mitsubishi at service after 2 and set fastest
group N times through stages 3 and 4 to lead 27 year old Foley by
6s. James O’Sullivan is posing no threat to the gpN leaders
at the moment in his 023 Tiles Lancer, James feeling very rusty
indeed and suffering from flu. Mark Nangle is out for the
first time in another ex Fannin GpN Impreza, but he made a slow
start when he forgot to switch on the differentials in the car.
In the Modified section of the rally John Dalton leads overall while
Kevin O’Donoghue is the best of the Mk2 Escorts. Other
drivers going well include Willie Power in his Darrian. He is on
a total of 28.32.0, and that is despite a low flying bird crashing
through the rear wing and smashing it in two. Gwyndaf
Evans is still having some intercom problems in his Escort but is
still well on the pace with 28.53.9. Wesley Patterson has
switched to harder tyres on his Escort and it has made a difference,
his times improving and his total now 29.07.2. Wayne Evans
was leading cl.13 in his Mk2 Escort but the gearbox has broken in
stage 4 and he has stopped. Neil Williams in his Mk2 is on
28.44.0 despite an overshoot in stage 3.
Rodney White in the Sunbeam has slipped back slightly, his flu getting
no better. The Crumlin man’s total is 29.47. Conor
Curley is on 29.16.6 and running out of top speed in his Escort.
Washington James in the Darrian is on 28.37.0. Adrian Heatherington,
still trying to recover from his stage 2 spin and a poor tyre choice,
is on 29.19.5. Martin McGee is battling back from his earlier
delay when he caught another car, his total now 29.09. John
Hickey in the “Fubaru” is on 29.57.6 and suffering from
a lack of top speed, reckons his car is much more suitable to the
guttery lanes than these fast West Cork stages.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net |
