RALLY NEWS NO.10 Killarney/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 16 FINAL STAGE
INTERNATIONAL
1st (1) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 2.10.54.6
2nd (4) Darren Gass/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 2.13.20.0
3rd (6) Garry Jennings/Barry McNulty (Lancer N) 2.19.09.1
4th (12) JJ Fleming/Robbie Ward (Focus WRC) 2.23.31.1
5th (15) Vincent O'Shea/Brian Hickey (Lancer N) 2.24.50.7
6th (39) David Carney/Ray Fitzpatrick (Citroen) 2.26.47.3
7th Kevin O’Connor 8th Kieran Marshall 9th Ian Hynes 10th Colm Forde
NATIONAL
1st (23) Barry Meade/Liam Moynihan (Escort) 2.17.40.5
2nd (10) Roy White/Liam Brennan (MG S2000) 2.17.50.4
3rd (18) Fergus O'Meara/Diarmuid Lynch (Escort) 2.20.31.8
4th (24) Ed Murphy/John McCarthy (Escort) 2.22.17.1
5th (33) Denis Moynihan/Eamonn Hayes (Escort) 2.24.18.3
6th (20) Charlie Hickey/Johnny Hickey (Escort) 2.24.38.6
7th John Hickey 8th Ken O’Neill 9th Rob Duggan 10th Cal McCarthy
Daragh O’Riordan and his co-driver Tony McDaid have followed up last year’s victory here on the Killarney Rally of the Lakes with another superb win. Their Subaru ran immaculately throughout the rally and Daragh never put a wheel wrong. Similarly Darren Gass & Enda Sherry who were 2nd in their older model Impreza WRC drove a great rally and kept cool heads when under pressure from Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner. Unfortunately Donnelly retired from the rally on the Ardgroom test when his Corolla engine cried enough.
Garry Jennings/Barry McNulty take the final podium place this evening, as well as winning the Group N Production category. Garry’s Lancer broke a brake disc on the Healy Pass stage at lunchtime today. He had enough in hand to fit second hand brake discs to the front of the car and got engineer Colm Grant to turn down the power of the engine and he was able to cruise the last few stages. Jennings’ closest rival for GpN was Sam Moffett, but he had to retire his Lancer from 4th o/a when the engine timing went awry on the Cods Head stage this afternoon.
In Tarmac Championship terms Darren Gass maintains a very strong position at the top of the points table. Garry Jennings is now into 2nd o/a. Daragh O’Riordan has scored maximum points today, and he intends to contest the remaining rounds.
There was a tremendous battle today for supremacy in the National section. Barry Meade in his Escort led initially then Roy White made a huge charge to put his MG S2000 into the lead. Meade fought back to get in front. There was very little in it. On the Ardgroom stage however Roy White’s FESP backed machine stalled twice at junctions because of an electrical problem. White and his co-driver Liam Brennan did make a massive charge through the final stage, Kilmackilloge, but Meade held on to score a notable victory. Fergus O’Meara drove a very accomplished rally to take 3rd in his Dairymaster Escort with local man Diarmuid Lynch co-driving.
In the Citroen Racing Trophy David Carney moved into the lead on the Tim Healy stage when Kieran Daly’s C2R” suffered a seized gearbox. Kevin O’Connor led initially and finished 2nd that should be enough to keep his lead in the series. In the Historic Rally, with a couple of stages to go, Wesley Patterson had a substantial lead in his Escort. Todd Falvey, who had his 16-year-old son Peter co-driving on his first event, was 2nd in his Porsche 911. Phillip Wylie took 3rd place in his Mk1 Escort. Gary Dineen had a substantial lead in the Juniors from Derek Butler with 1 stage to go. Daniel Cronin was 3rd.
Finally for now our thanks to all who supported and helped with the RallyNews service. Well done to Dermot Healy and all his hard-working Killarney & District MC team plus all the other motor clubs and various organisations who also helped with this massive and superb event.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net Follow RallyNews on Twitter @ pacenotes
