| RALLY
NEWS NO.5
Ennis - Sunday 6.45
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 (LAST STAGE)
1st (4) Jim Harrison/Harvey Bell (Impreza WRC) 1.01.21
2nd (2) Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Impreza WRC) 1.01.51
3rd (3) Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 1.02.56
4th (5) Adrian McElvaney/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 1.03.22
5th (6) Patrick Elliott/Martin Cahill (Impreza WRC) 1.03.34
6th (14) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (BMW M3) 1.05.24
7th (16) Mac McKenna/John Loughran (Peugeot rwd) 1.06.31
8th (23) Sean Lyons/John Devine (Escort) 1.06.45
9th (10) Ollie O'Donovan/David Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 1.06.47
10th (156) Adrian Quinn/Lisa Roe (Lancer N) 1.07.45
There were hectic scenes of celebration here at the Ennis finish of this
Clare Stages Rally as Jim Harrison crossed the finish line for his first
ever victory, and 2nd place for Eugene Donnelly was enough to clinch the
Dunlop National Championship crown. Donnelly led the rally
initially but Jim Harrison, driving a McKinstry Subaru Impreza S8, got
his nose in front on stage 3 and kept it there to the finish. 38 year
old Jim from Macclesfield, co driven as ever by Harvey Bell, said as he
steered his Subaru towards the finish ramp - "It has been a long
time coming, enjoyed the day although not to start with, but it got a
lot better on every stage. I seemed to fit in to the new car right
away". His co driver Harvey Bell joked "It has only
taken 10 years to get this win!" Eugene
Donnelly and Paddy Toner were next over the finish ramp, Eugene saying
"I really enjoyed the battle with Jim and I'm delighted he has won.
He promised us 2 days of celebration! It is brilliant to have won the
championship, we had a good go all day, although I backed off for the
last few stages, and had a spin on the last junction of the last
stage!" Michael Barrable in 3rd has seen yet another national
championship title slip through his fingers, Michael saying "I'm
disappointed, but it was a lovely day, I got my confidence back,
although I was surprised that as the roads dried out my pace didn't
increase".
Adrian McElvaney and Patrick Elliott had a massive dice all day, the 2
neck and neck. Then Adrian pulled out all the stops to beat Patrick by
16s in stage 9. Adrian said "I had so many near misses in
there". Elliott commented "It was a nightmare last stage
for me, no grip at all, I had at least 3 trips into ditches, a possible
crash every time, the car just didn't want to go round corners".
Denis Cronin won the battle for 2 wheel drive, Denis saying he got the
tyre choice just right towards the end and went really well. Mac
McKenna is 2nd best 2 wheel drive. Mac was having a massive battle with
Paddy Boyle, but Paddy crashed out on stage 9. Early sensation of the 2
wheel drive was Mike Moloney but his engine blew at the end of a long
straight near the end of stage 7, just going up to the hairpin. Mike
reckoning he over revved it.
In Group N Derrick Jobb piled the pressure on towards the end but was
held up slightly behind Paddy Boyle's accident and lost a few seconds.
Adrian Quinn takes the category. Unofficially we have Willie Fannin 3rd
in gpN as he bedded in his new series 9 Impreza.
In the Ford Ireland Focus championship part of the rally, David Delaney
won from Colm Murphy with Oliver Stanley 3rd. Murphy had lost a lot of
time with a down on power engine, and dropped to 5th, but flew through
the last few stages. Oliver Stanley leads the points. Finally for
now many thanks and extremely well done to Dermot Kelleher and all in
the Clare Motor Club fof putting on a great rally and helping us with
the RallyNews. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
|
|
