UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6 (end of Leg 1)

1^st (2) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 40.19

2^nd (4) Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 40.47

3^rd (3) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 40.48

4^th (6) Maurice Gass/Ger McMonagle (Impreza WRC) 41.13

5^th (9) Paul Harris/John McCafferty (Impreza) 41.17

6^th (8) Daniel & Michael Doherty (Impreza WRC) 42.00

7^th (24) Gareth Jones/Ryland James (Impreza) 42.02

8^th (7) Peadar Hurson/Ian Porter (Impreza WRC) 42.20

9^th (11) Seamus Leonard/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza N) 42.34

10^th (14) Roy White/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 42.41

Andrew Nesbitt seems to have taken up where he left off on the 2000 Shell Donegal by setting consistently fastest times, his Impreza WRC a full 14s faster than the similar S8 Subaru of Derek McGarrity’s today’s final stage, Gortree. The 2 Pirelli shod machines stopped the clocks on 6.35 and 6.49 respectively. Eugene Donnelly in the Niall Maguire Impreza clocked 6.50. Peadar Hurson 6.52 and Eamonn Boland 6.54. Andrew commented as he came into overnight parc ferme "We took a couple of stages to get used to the paddle gear shift in this new car, and after that we just took it steady. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, a lot of rallying to do, some new stages". Derek McGarrity told us "We went alright over the last few stages, but I just don’t understand how Andrew was 14s quicker in just over 7 miles of stage 6". Eugene Donnelly said "We’re going very well, it’s a serious pace out there, looking forward to tomorrow, and I’m really surprised to be 3^rd overall in this company. It’s a good car, but not the newest one here". One name not on the leaderboard, at least not at the moment, is that of Eamonn Boland. On stage times Eamonn is 4^th fastest for today, having led after stage 1, but he is shown with a 2 minute road penalty for arriving early at the start of stage 4, although he appeared to be in his correct order.

In Group N Seamus Leonard really got the hammer down through stages 5 and 6 to get ahead of Roy White. Seamus said "We had a nice tidy run, and I’m getting my confidence in the new car". Roy White did lose some time when he had to manoeuvre past Andrew Stewart’s stricken Lancer on stage 6 – Andrew’s gearbox had broken.

In the rear wheel drive battle Philip Shaw is still 3s ahead of Seamus Donnelly. What a race these two are having. Despite a broken clutch Garry Jennings is still turning in fabulous times in his Peugeot 106 Maxi, his total now 43.18. Other times include – JJ Fleming on 43.43, JJ struggling with his new car because the gear indicator on the dash is not working, which means that with the sequential change he has no idea of what cog he is in. Sean Devine is on 43.20 and thoroughly enjoying his birthday gift, although Kevin Lynch has managed to get ahead. Austin MacHale is on a total of 49.53. Austin was contemplating pulling out, but he has decided to continue which is great news for the fans. Glyn Jones punctured a tyre getting past Stewart’s Lancer. Young Conor Curley is still going well in his Mk2 Escort, and joked "We could save a bit of time if the co driver (Nigel Frazer) would lose a bit of weight!!" Paul Gallagher in the Corolla lost some time when the car ran very hot on the first stage, thinks it was something to do with the fuel, has gone well since. Aaron MacHale has had the brake master cylinder changed on his Lancer on the way into parc ferme, and that seems to have cured the long brake pedal.

On the WRC Cyprus Rally Gronholm now leads from Rovanpera with Solberg 3^rd, Panizzi 4^th, Loeb 5^th, Colin McRae up to 6^th ahead of Marko Martin. Rory Kennedy, sitting with Alistair Ginley, is a brilliant 16h. Niall McShea & Chris Patterson were 3^rd in gpN but have lost a bucket of time with a broken front strut, but still going. More news in the morning…BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON