On the 2nd run over stage 15 Fanad Head 2 (SS14 did not run) Darren Gass was fastest by 3s from Garry Jennings and Darragh O’Riordan was a further 1s in arrears. When Garry Jennings, who has led this Topaz Donegal Rally from the start, reached the stage finish he said. “We made a good push there, picked the right tyre and it went well”. The fact that Darren Gass was fastest was quite significant as well as he started the day 10th o/a and is now up to 6th and pushing hard for enough points here in Donegal to maintain his lead in the Tarmac Championship. Conditions were dry when the top cars came to the end of the Fanad stage. The very heavy rain from earlier had eased back a little. Darragh O’Riordan reported a good run with no problems. Niall Maguire dropped a place on the leaderboard. He chose a different type of tyre for the stage and he wasn’t overly happy with it.
In the Citroen Racing Trophy Kevin O’Connor leads and he is 12th o/a over 30s ahead of Kieran Daly with Peter Barrable now into 3rd. David Carney was 3rd in his Citroen but collided with a chicane on the first run over Fanad. This damaged the radiator and he was forced to retire. Stephen & Kieran Feeney have retired their Citroen (No.72) following an accident.
In Group N Sam Moffett was the fastest over stage 15, 5s faster than his younger brother Josh and 8s up on Conor Harvey. Sam said at stage finish. “Its about time I woke up today.” Josh however still leads the category and there is huge rivalry between the two Monaghan brothers. Interestingly, Gerry McGarrity is running the 3 top Group N cars.,
In the National Rally Manus Kelly turned in a superb time on the 2nd run over Fanad, 10s up on Declan Boyle. This has reduced Declan’s lead to 27s. Ed O’Callaghan still leads cl.13 and is 4th o/a. This is Ed’s first Donegal Rally which makes his achievement all the more significant. Daniel McKenna is still running in Super Rally and his time for the stage was 15s slower than Manus Kelly although Daniel did have a slight spin.
More news morning. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAELwww.rallynews.net
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