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RALLY NEWS NO.7
Killarney/Saturday 6pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 11 Lough Guitane
1st (5) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 1.28.15.2
2nd (2) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Impreza WRC) 1.28.32.4
3rd (10) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla WRC) 1.30.07.3
4th (7) Donie O'Sullivan/Paul Nagle (Impreza WRC) 1.30.17.3
5th (3) Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 1.30.42.7
6th (8) Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Impreza WRC) 1.32.00.6
7th (167) Trevor Cathers/David Moynihan (Impreza N) 1.32.04.8
8th (22) Dickie Curran/Billy McCullins (Lancer N) 1.33.28.0
9th (4) Eamonn Boland/ Damien Morrissey (Impreza WRC) 1.33.49.6
10th (13) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 1.34.02.7
Austin MacHale was fastest through stages 9, 10 and 11, Lough Allua, Fuhiry and
Lough Guitane, from Eugene Donnelly. Eugene's car suffering more and more with
head gasket maladies. Derek McGarrity crashed his beautiful Impreza off the road
in Fuhiry and lost several minutes. Andrew Stewart was leading gpN and he
crashed his Lancer off the road in stage 11, looks like the Donegal man will not
get going.
Eugene Donnelly commented here at overnight parc ferme "You can feel the
engine losing it's punch, especially on the quicker stuff, when you are up the
gears and really need the power". Austin MacHale said "We made a
real mess of things this morning running cut slicks in the rain, 6 stages wrong,
knocked the heart out of it. Went well over the last few". Donie
O'Sullivan, leader for the first 2 stages today, said "I'm more than
pleased with m y day, couldn't have worse conditions, happy to be this far and
of course there's a full rally tomorrow". Liam McCarthy in the
Corolla WRC has gone well all day, but lost a few seconds in Lough Guitane with
a half spin. Derek McGarrity told us "It was a right hander, a 6
right over crest towards the end of Fuhiry, I got into the grass and suddenly it
was away. Certainly there is some damage, and we had 6 minutes road penalty, but
the car is driving well and tomorrow's another day".
Further stories include - Paddy White's Impreza WRC developing a slipping clutch
through Lough Allua and then through Fuhiry and Lough Guitane. Paddy confident
he will get it changed in the morning. Trevor Cathers, once again the gpN leader
following Andrew Stewart's accident, said "Not a bad day, but I think we
were losing out on the fast stuff. It was a tough day, I'll sleep tonight!"
Roy White, fastest gpN through stage 11, said "We made a wrong tyre choice
late on today, but we got the tyres sorted and the last stage gave me a bit of
heart". Tim McNulty had a fairly miserable day but commented "A
bit better towards the end, it started to flow". Johnny O'Sullivan's
Escort WRC still not handling right after earlier drive shaft problems, on a
total of 1.36.04.3. Roy White 1.35.07.7. Alan Ring and Brian Duggan were leading
the class by just over a minute but they crashed their Peugeot just at the end
of stage 11, still lead the class but a lot of work to do to fix the damage in
the morning.
In the Ford Ireland Focus championship after stage 8 Colm Murphy has surged back
into the lead, 18s ahead of John Foley, with Oliver Stanley 3rd and David
Delaney 4th.
In the Historic part of the rally Ray Cunningham is the early leader from Martin
Freestone. More news in the morning. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
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