RALLY NEWS No.3 - Rathcormack Service - Saturday @ 21:29:14
RALLY NEWS NO.3 Rathcormack Service/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Chimneyfield
1st (5) Garry Jennings/Liam Moynihan (Lancer N) 24.14.8
2nd (3) Darragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC)) 24.16.9
3rd (9) Brian O'Mahony/John Higgins (Impreza WRC) 24.20.4
4th (1) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 24.47.5
5th (6) Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Lancer N) 25.29.5
6th (2) Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 26.06.4
7th (7) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Lancer N) 26.18.3
8th (4) Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly (Fabia S2000) 26.34.7
9th (10) Willie Mavitty/John Rowan (Lancer N) 27.08.7
10th (68) Eugene Meegan/Brian Sharkey (Lancer N) 27.32.7
NATIONAL CATEGORY
1st (15) David Armstrong/Damien Fleming (Escort) 27.23.1
2nd (24) Charlie & Johnny Hickey (Escort) 28.34.4
3rd (25) Alan Treacy/Bob Fitzgerald (Corolla) 28.59.7
It was Garry Jennings who set the pace through stage 2 Badgers Hill, while on stage 3 it was Darragh O’Riordan who was fastest in his Subaru. No.1 seed Tim McNulty described the conditions as “terrible”. There was thick fog in places and flooded roads which made the going very difficult for the drivers. Kevin Barrett lost time on the 2nd stage when his Subaru slithered off the road on a 6 right. He quickly recovered and set a decent time through stage 3. Darragh O’Riordan reported that it was very hard to see the road he also had a difficulty with his intercom, possibly through dampness getting into a connection., Even Garry Jennings, despite being fastest on SS2, had a very big moment when he went into a square left corner in 5th gear. He threw his Lancer sideways and scraped along the parapet of a bridge.
Colm Murphy was expected to excel in these difficult conditions but his Impreza developed a severe misfire and he has pulled out of the rally. Robert Barrable lost several minutes in stage 2 when the lamp pod on his Skoda came loose and nearly came off. Robert and co-driver Damien Connolly had to stop in the stage and take the pod off the car and throw it on to the back seat and finish the stage with no spotlights. They got it sorted for stage 3. Alan Ring was just one of several drivers who said conditions got so bad at one point that he just couldn’t see the road. Brian O’Mahony led the rally after SS1 and set good times through stages 2 and 3 but then his Subaru had gear selection troubles on the road section into service. He did make service eventually.
David Armstrong set a really good time through stage 3 to move into the lead of the National Rally from Charlie Hickey, both in Escorts. We have no times in as yet for Raymond Conlon. He was well on the pace through the spectator stage in his Corolla.
In the Citroen Racing Trophy Kieran Daly seems to be in a league of his own over these opening stages and has well over a minute lead on Graeme Colfer with Scott McElhinney 3rd. Joe McGonigle’s C2R2 was suffering a misfire through the spectator stage and we have no times as yet for stages 2 and 3 for the Donegal man.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
