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| West Cork Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.9 - End of stage 13 - Sunday @ 15:56:47 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.9 End of stage 13/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 13
1st (1) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 1.37.56.9
2nd (5) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 1.41.07.7
3rd (7) Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Civic) 1.43.12.7
4th (4) Alan Ring/James O'Brien (Lancer N) 1.43.37.5
5th (9) John Cope/Alastair Wylie (Impreza) 1.43.43.0
6th (15) John Hendy/Alan Whyte (Corolla) 1.44.24.0
7th (12) Kevin O'Donoghue/Johnny Hickey (Escort) 1.45.05.0
8th (17) Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Escort) 1.45.55.8
9th (20) Gwyn Thomas/Anthony O'Conaill (Puma) 1.46.34.6
10th (141) Sean O’Donovan/Harold Atkinson (Impreza N) 1.47.11.3
Stage 13, Shanaway, that starts up near Enniskean and finishes near the Keohane Concrete works in Ballingurteen may prove pivotal in the final result on this Quality Hotel West Cork Rally. We knew that rally leader Daragh O’Riordan had turned down the rev limiter on his Subaru and the million dollar question was how much time he would lose to John Dalton.
Well, he didn’t lose any time, in fact he was 39s faster than the Darrian through the 18.1km stage. Daragh must be driving really well as he has reduced the top revs from 7250 to 6000 and was still totally dominant. John Dalton reported no problems but did say that he has made the decision to ease back, that there was no chance of catching the leader.
The big question mark now is can young Damien McCarthy hold off the hard charging Alan Ring with just 3 stages to go. The statistics would point to McCarthy holding on to his 3rd place. Alan Ring is really in the groove now but his Lancer stopped the clock just 3s quicker than the flying McCarthy Civic., John Cope is of course right in the mix, just 6s behind Ring, and if there is the slightest hiccup amongst the two cars in front Cope’s Impreza WRC could well move into a podium place.
Kevin O’Donoghue is the leading Escort. Killarney man O’Donoghue mentioned that he could feel a small vibration at the rear of his Escort when he reached the finish line of the stage at the little pub in Ballingurteen. Kevin did not seem unduly worried about it. John Hendy is still going superbly well in his Corolla to hold 6th place despite the rear tyres going off towards stage finish.
Wesley Patterson seems a little subdued when he finished the stage but he still looks solid in 8th. Gwyn Thomas’ 9th place could be coming under threat from Sean O’Donovan as Gwyn’s co driver Antony O’Conaill reported a misfire in their Puma. Brian O’Keefe is 11th o/a just over a second behind O’Donovan so there is still a battle there.
We mentioned earlier that Leonard Downey/Mark Murphy had retired from 9th place. We have an unconfirmed report that their Escort slid off the road backwards on a square right corner in the Clogagh stage. Fergus O’Meara/Diarmuid Lynch retired their Escort in stage 10 when the prop shaft cried enough.
In the Citroen Racing Trophy following Joe McGonigle’s retirement David Carney continues to lead by 10s from Kevin O’Connor, both in C2R2 Max machines. In the Historic section John Hackett in his Mini has regained the lead. John Murphy in his Escort is 2nd. Alan Courtney (Porsche) is 3rd and David Cremin has slipped to 4th in his Mk1 Escort.
Finally for now we would like to say g’day to Mr. Bones, the former legendary Clerk of the Course of this rally, who is now living in Australia and is following the RallyNews reports.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net Follow RallyNews on Twitter @ pacenotes
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