Garry Jennings made a great start to this Topaz Donegal Rally, especially as it is his first outing in an Impreza WRC S14. He said at the end of that opening Manor stage that the car was bottoming out on some bumps and he will get the mechanics to raise the ride height at service. Darragh O’Riordan felt he was being too cautious. Seamus Leonard in 3rd said he had a really good run. No.1 seed Darren Gass reported that his Impreza seemed a bit dead in the engine compartment. Darren did get the engine management turned down a bit towards the end of the Rally of the Lakes, and he is wondering if it was ever turned up again. Donagh Kelly had a good run to record 5th fastest. Derek McGarrity in 6th stalled his Impreza on the start line and this knocked him out of kilter for the first few miles of the stage.
In the National Rally Daniel McKenna has new aluminium heavy duty suspension fitted for the first time. Part of the reasoning is to dissipate the heat in the brakes as his Escort has suffered from warped discs in the past. Certainly everything seemed to work well on that first stage. Wesley Patterson has switched from his “classic” Escort BDA to his blue Escort, the modified one, and he was a bit nervous on the opening stage. Daniel Conaghan finished the stage with some damage to the front of his Escort. Brian Brogan lost a couple of minutes in the stage when the car stopped.
Further snippets include:- Conor Harvey lost around 15s when his Lancer suffered an overshoot. Trevor & Kenny Bustard were slowed due to a gear linkage problem on their Lancer. David Bogie was running late, something to do with a fuel switch not on.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL www.rallynews.net
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