Rally New No.2 End Of Stage 2 Cam Forest Sat 11.20am

Unofficial Leaderboard After Stage 2

1^st (10) Kevin Lynch/Martin McNicholl (Impreza WRC) 11.11

2^nd (4) Glenn Allen/John Gallagher (Escort WRC) 11.17

3^rd (2) Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Celica) 11.25

4^th (17) Sean Devine/Damien Duffin (Impreza N) 11.34

5^th (11) Kieran Shaw/Crawford Henderson (Escort WRC) 11.35

6^th (18) Raymond Johnson/Richard Bell (Lancer N) 11.36

7^th (5) Richard Hogg/Mark Hanna (Lancer N) 11.38

= (6) Kevin O’Kane/Francis Regan (Impreza) 11.38

= (12) Brian McCloskey/Fergal Shaw (Escort WRC) 11.38

10^th (14) James Murphy/Con Mulcahy (Escort) 11.41

11^th (7) Dermott Kelly/John Brennan (Escort WRC) 11.43

12^th (1) Denis Biggerstaff/Derek Brannigan (Metro 6R4) 11.51

= (24) Keith White/David Lynas (Escort ) 11.51

Local businessman and relative newcomer to rallying Kevin Lynch, has made a sensational start to this year’s Dogleap Rally. He and co driver Martin McNicholl were fastest over the first stage by one second from Eugene Donnelly, and then four seconds quicker than Glenn Allen over the second stage in Cam Forest. With Glenn Allen running higher up the field it was initially thought that he had set a stunning time, nine seconds faster than Eugene Donnelly, only for Lynch to move the goalposts. Kevin Lynch reporting no problems with his KPL Impreza, the Dungiven man laughing "it is a long way to go, don’t show me any times".

Glenn Allen is flying despite once again having anti-lag problems with his Escort WRC. Eugene Donnelly is very unhappy with the handling of his Celica, the car washing out on the high speed sections "we changed the setup to get better turn in – but it has made it worse" Eugene commented at the end of the second stage. Denis Biggerstaff is already languishing at the bottom end of the leaderboard, the N.I Championship leader reporting his 6R4 down on power, Denis having to dip the clutch just to get out of the slower corners, and suspects it may very well be a fuel pressure problem.

Richard Hogg surprisingly does not lead GpN, the local driver loosing a few seconds on stage one when he went a bit deep at a SqR, and then admitted to being cautious on the second stage, Richard saying "I kept looking for that corner (last year’s accident), but once I got through it, it was okay". Sean Devine leads GpN by 2 seconds from Raymond Johnston, both drivers flying. Johnston lost a few seconds in stage two when he "took the scenic route" after going up an escape road. Brian McCloskey had a couple of overshoots on stage two, while Kieran Shaw felt his Escort COS was "all over the place". More News Later ….. Michael Patterson & Zoe Todd