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| Fastnet Stages |
| RALLY NEWS No.4 - Skibbereen - Tuesday @ 12:58:00 |
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UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Bredagh Cross
1st (2) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla WRC) 38.37
2nd (6) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Lancer N) 39.25
3rd (5) Kevin & Martin Kelleher (Lancer N) 39.41
4th (15) James M Stafford/Frank O'Dwyer (Darrian) 39.49
5th (11) Washington James/Eurig Davies (Darrian) 39.50
6th (3) Bob Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Subaru) 40.45
7th (39) Simon Kehoe/Enda Kennedy (Astra) 40.48
8th (4) Aaron Burkart/Joern Limbach (Citroen C2) 40.55
9th (28) Tommy Doyle/Colin Fitzgerald (Clio) 40.57
10th (17) Fergus O'Meara/Liam Brennan (Escort) 40.59
11th (18) Leonard Downey/Mark Murphy (Escort) 41.05
Liam McCarthy and his co driver Kieran Murphy continue to lead this Fastnet Rally fairly convincingly, but having said that Liam looked just a little bit shaken when he brought his Corolla in here to service after stage 4, Bredagh Cross. Liam commented. “That was a very difficult stage, there was running water in places and I banged a wheel, thought I had a puncture and backed off”. There were two major retirements amongst the top crews on that stage – Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner stopped when their Citroen C2 suffered a broken drive shaft. Shaun Gallagher had been up to 2nd overall but his Citroen C2 is reported parked at the side of the road, possibly in the ditch, details as yet unclear.
Kevin Kelleher was fastest group N car through that stage 4 but Alan Ring still holds the upper hand in the category following his great time over the Mizen Head stage where Kevin was a bit hesitant. When “The Big Fella” Lancer arrived in here to service Kevin told us. “That was better, we’ve made a few adjustments to the suspension and it definitely made an improvement”. Alan Ring said he again went for the slick tyres and had a few big moments over the running water. Bob Fowden is starting to move up the leaderboard, the Welshman said that his Subaru suspension seems to be working a lot better and the car seems more stable now.
News of further retirements is that Daragh O’Riordan has crashed his Corsa out on stage 2 after holding a top 10 place. Kevin O’Donoghue has also retired, his Escort suffering some sort of gearbox leak.
Further stories include: Tommy Doyle lot a few seconds when he caught up with a struggling Subaru in front. Ger O’Donovan punctured a tyre on his Subaru and then nearly landed on top of Shaun Gallagher’s Citroen. Simon Keho is going flat out in his Astra, having no problems and is currently 6th o/a. Eognan Calnin/Conor Calnin are going very well in their Escort and were up into the top 10 after the Mizen Head stage, running now about 11th o/a. Aaron Burkart had a good run over that stage 4 although the young German driver felt that an earlier jump and heavy landing had made the gear change a little sticky. He also remarked that he had a little difficulty making his pace notes as he had to drive a little more slowly than he is used to on the world championship. James M Stafford continues to lead the 2 wd category, but by the most slender of margins from the similar Darrian of Washington James, these two having a great battle.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net |
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