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| West Cork Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.10 - Finish - Sunday @ 18:13:00 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.10 Finish/Clonakilty/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 16 FINAL STAGE
1st (1) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 2.01.00.8
2nd (5) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 2.05.22.6
3rd (7) Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Civic) 2.07.28.2
4th (4) Alan Ring/James O'Brien (Lancer N) 2.07.36.0
5th (15) John Hendy/Alan Whyte (Corolla) 2.09.02.0
6th (9) John Cope/Alastair Wylie (Impreza) 2.09.26.0
7th (12) Kevin O'Donoghue/Johnny Hickey (Escort) 2.09.52.5
8th (20) Gwyn Thomas/Anthony O'Conaill (Puma) 2.12.06.8
9th (141) Sean O’Donovan/Harold Atkinson (Impreza) 2.12.07.8
10th (32) Tommy Mason/Damien Fleming (Escort) 2.12.10.2
This time last year Daragh O’Riordan was pipped for victory by 1s. It is a completely different story this year. Co-driven by Tony McDaid once again Daragh dominated the rally from start to finish despite a few niggly worries today with his Subaru Impreza WRC S12C. The car lost 6th gear halfway through today’s long route and Daragh had to reduce the revs so as not to stress out the engine. He was still able to score fastest times on most of the final stages to take victory by almost 4m from Welsh crew John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones in their Darrian. Dalton has had a long held ambition to win this West Cork Rally but he is going to have to come back another year to fulfil that dream.
This weekend has though been quite a dream come true for young Damien McCarthy and his co-driver Eamon Hayes to take the final podium place on this very prestigious West Cork Rally. In theory their 1.6 litre Civic should have been outgunned by the more powerful cars in the top 10, many of them 4 wheel drive, but that wasn't the case.
Alan Ring/James O’Brien had a calm enough first day on the rally. They really charged today to try to take that 3rd place. They missed out by just over 20s so had to make do with the GpN award as well as 4th o/a. John Hendy/Alan Whyte had quite a rally also, finishing 5th o/a in their old model Corolla and that was despite some dubious tyre choices. The weather of course, following a hailstorm on the 2nd stage, turned out really well and the roads heated up which played havoc on anything but dry weather rubber.
John Cope/Alastair Wylie drove a very accomplished event to take 6th o/a in their Impreza WRC. Killarney man Kevin O’Donoghue with Johnny Hickey co-driving finished best of the Escort crews in 7th.
Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity were heading for 8th but their Escort stopped on the final stage. Gwyn Thomas/Antony O’Conaill survived a misfire in their Puma over the last few stages to take 8th. Sean O’Donovan/Harold Atkinson in their Impreza and Tommy Mason/Damien Fleming (Escort) rounded off the top 10. Unofficial news is that Brian O’Keefe/Donnacha O’Callaghan who were 12th o/a have stopped on the final stage.
The Citroen Racing Trophy provided fireworks right to the end when Kevin O’Connor, co-driven by Shane Buckley, produced some stunning times over the final few stages to move ahead of the similar C2R2 Max of David Carney/Ray Fitzpatrick.
Finally for now we wish to thank all the people who backed, supported and helped with the RallyNews service. Well done to CoC Martin Godfrey and his wife Mags as well as the hard-working team from Cork MC and further afield who made this massive rally such a success.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net Follow RallyNews on Twitter @ pacenotes
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