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RALLY
NEWS NO.6 End of stage 10 - Sunday 5.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 10 Scart Mnt.(LAST STAGE)
1st (2) Eddie Kinirons/Greg Shinnors (Celica) 43.23
2nd (10) Kevin Lynch/Martin McNicholl (Impreza WRC) 43.49
3rd (3) Kevin O'Kane/Francis Regan (Impreza) 43.52
4th (7) James Murphy/Con Mulcahy (Esc.Cos) 43.57
5th (4) John Donnelly/Joe McAleese (Escort WRC) 44.18
6th (6) John Shanahan/David Moynihan (Impreza N) 44.45
7th (19) John Reid/Brendan Green (Escort) 46.05
8th (9) John McGaffin/Alan Russell (Legacy) 46.11
9th (27) Tom Kiely/M.Cuddihy (Escort) 46.31
10th (15) Brian Lawlor/Peter Kavanagh (Escort) 46.46
Amazingly John Shanahan was fastest through stage 9 in his GjpN Subaru
with a time of 7.11. James Murphy was also very quick with 7.12 and then
it was Eddie Kinirons with 7.18, Kevin O;Kane 7.32 and Kevin Lynch 7.35.
Then on the final stage Kevin Lynch stopped the clocks on 5.34, Eddie
Kinirons was 5.41 and Kevin O'Kane 5.44. The significance of this
was that Kevin Lynch got ahead of Kevin O'Kane for 2nd place, Eddie
Kinirons' steady run over the last 2 stages, despite his Celica having a
broken shock absorber, was enough to reinforce his win. John
Shanahan's heroic efforts through stage 9 proved too much for his Subaru's
turbo, and he was lucky to get the car through stage 10, and indeed still
had a long road run to the finish. Kinirons commented here at the
end of the last stage "We had a great day, despite that broken shock
absorber towards the end. It was a good rally".
This was Eddie's first outright rally win, and it moves him into the lead
of the KBB Doors Championship. Kevin O'Kane up to 2nd, both now ahead of
John McCarthy, who of course was forced to retire earlier today.
Kevin O'Kane had a good run throughout the difficult stages, and indeed
felt at the end that he had done enough to win the rally. Kevin
feels that an earlier stage time of Kinirons is not valid, but that pales
into insignificance as regards Kevin winning the rally with the news that
Lynch had got ahead. Lynch's stage 9 spin removed the rear bumper from his
Impreza WRC, but that did not seem to dampen his enthusiasm. John
Shanahan's run to 6th place netted him the Group N victory despite that
turbo failure.
Other stories included - John Donnelly having a big 5th gear moment in
stage 9, his Escort WRC clipping the bank and then went on to its nose,
but he seemed to get away with it. Brian Lawlor eased back slightly over
the last few stages to let Tom Kiely edge ahead, Lawlor's Escort suffering
from a broken wheel stud. Tom Kiely had a great run throughout the
day to finish 9th overall and win his class. Just outside the
leaderboard we have Alan Treacey on a total of 47.05. Billy O'Connell on
46.50. Colin Walsh in his gpN Impreza on 48.55. Michael Tynan in the Astra,
fighting for grip through the torrential showers, 48.57. Denis Cronin got
faster as the day went on and his total is 48.44. Ray Benskin had 48.58.
Looking outside this Moonraker Rally --Letterkenny'' Shaun Gallagher
finished 2nd on the Terre de Provence, a round of the gravel French 206
Cup, or as they call it "volant Peugeot". Finally for now, many
thanks to Pat Maguire and all the hard working Munster Motor Cycle &
Car Club team who led on such a good event. Many thanks as well to Elaine
& Daphne and Dougie Hughes.
BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON |
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