RallyNews Live from The Circuit of Kerry Rally 2003

RALLY NEWS NO.5 Tralee-finish-Sunday 7.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 - LAST STAGE
1st (2) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Impreza WRC) 59.54
2nd (4) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRc) 1.00.58
3rd (5) Patrick Elliott/Martin Cahill (Impreza WRC) 1.01.16
4th (18) Noel Redmond/David Doyle (Impreza WRC) 1.02.25
5th (44) Kevin Lynch/Martin McNicholl (Impreza WRC) 1.02.57
6th (15) Gareth Jones/Ryland James (Impreza) 1.03.15
7th (17) Paddy White/Frank Sweeney (Impreza) 1.03.39
8th (12) Roy White/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 1.04.03
9th (31) Aidan Walsh/Jim Casey (Escort) 1.04.40
10th (26) Tony Kearns/Billy McCullins (Lancer N) 1.04.48

Austin MacHale, co driven by Brian Murphy, finished this Circuit of Kerry Rally a very conclusive winner, Austin's new Impreza WRC immaculate at the finish. The 5 times Tarmac Champion commented "It's a good car, we had no dramatics today, its an easy car to drive and I'm really looking forward to Easter and the Circuit of Ireland. Fair play to the club here they put on a good show today, a good rally". Second placed Tim McNulty's Impreza was not quite so pristine at the finish as it was before the 8 special stages. A damaged rear bumper evidence of just how hard Tim was trying at times. He observed here at the square in Tralee "I learned a lot about the car today, it was good to get the mileage before the Circuit". Tim went on to say that he had damaged the rear of the car overshooting a junction at the football field in stage 7, but it was no great problem. Patrick Elliott was delighted with his 3rd place after a relatively trouble free run. Noel Redmond had been worried about his Subaru's clutch going into the final loop, but he reckoned that the cooling down period in service between stages 6 and 7 did it no harm at all and the finished with no trouble. This was Kevin Lynch's first real tarmac rally, indeed he only started rallying a short while ago so 5th overall was a good result. Gareth Jones, on his first visit here to Ireland, can be well pleased with his 6th place, the young Welshman showing great promise for the future.

Roy White was the group N winner, Roy saying "Perhaps I was over-driving the car at times, but it was good to get the mileage done and I felt we were going really well towards the end". Tony Kearns was 2nd in gpn and provisionally Gerry McKiernan 3rd. Gerry's cause was not helped by a puncture earlier on. Aidan Walsh drove well to bring his Escort into the top 10 and the winner of class 13. Doc Halliday finished just outside the top 10 on a total of 1.06.41 and he will almost certainly win class 12.

In the Ford Ireland Ka Championship, with 1 stage to go, Ian Chadwick had moved into the lead from Emily O'Mahony in 2nd place. Early leader Martin Laverty crashed out on stage 7. Finally for now, well done to Donal Lynch and all the Kerry MC team for putting on a superb event today. It was a gala occasion and the brilliant weather didn't do any harm either. Many thanks to all who helped and supported the RallyNews service. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON

Other Useful Links

Kerry Motor Club Website