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| Mourne Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.8 - Finish - Saturday @ 16:44:13 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.8 Finish/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 – FINAL STAGE
1st (1) Darren Gass/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 1.13.31.5
2nd (2) Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Focus WRC) 1.14.35.7
3rd (19) Paddy McVeigh/Paul Hamill (Impreza WRC) 1.15.40.2
4th (4) Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.16.09.8
5th (6) Frank Kelly/Stephen Quinn (Escort Mk2) 1.16.39.3
6th (8) David Armstrong/Paul Mulholland (Escort Mk2) 1.16.42.8
7th (3) Derek McGeehan/Michael Orr (Mini WRC) 1.16.46.5
8th (12) Jonny Leonard/Niall Byrnes (Lancer) 1.18.28.0
9th (7) Keith White/Damien McCabe (Escort Mk1) 1.19.15.1
Darren Gass and co-driver Enda Sherry scored a very impressive victory here on this Mourne Rally. Following a few fine adjustments to their Subaru the car ran faultlessly throughout the tough 9 stages. A great shakedown and warm up for the Donegal Rally. Darren is 24 years old and will be 25 on the Friday of the Donegal Rally, but he has already won this Mourne Rally previously and is of course the current Tarmac Champion. He is not registered for the Ni series so Derek McGarrity has scored maximum points today to extend his lead in this year’s series.
At the rally finish at the Sheepbridge Inn McGarrity commented. “OK we had problems with the launch control today and a couple of wee silly things, but they should be easily sorted. The way the car was going over the last couple of stages it feels really good. We are going to test the car on Tuesday with different suspension and also do back to back comparisons with the Subaru before we decide which car to take to Donegal”. Paddy McVeigh/Paul Hamill appeared very self contained and under no pressure when they brought their Subaru in to the Finish in 3rd place, and Paddy said. “You know it is only my 3rd time driving this car so I am quite pleased with the result”. Kevin Barrett in 4th told us. “I really enjoyed those stages today and it is nice to get a full rally done”.
Frank Kelly/Stephen Quinn slotted in to 5th place getting ahead of the Mini WRC of Derek McGeehan. Frank was the best of the Mk2 Escorts after a superb and very sporting battle with David Armstrong. Frank said. “I was trying very hard. Unfortunately I broke the gear knob off in stage 7 and I may have damaged 2nd gear as well but it all worked out well”. His great rival for the day David Armstrong was the faster of the two on the final stage but it was not quite enough and David was just over 3s down at the finish, and he said. “I really enjoyed it. It was one of the best rallies I have ever done – a great battle and my car was very good”. Derek McGeehan slipped from 5th to 7th at the end and although he enjoyed the rally he was also down in the dumps, and he said. “I found it very hard work but I tried hard, braking deep into the corners and there is no more in it for me. The car is very good but I just can’t match the 2 litre cars”. Jonny Leonard overcame his early problems and had a reasonable run through the later stages to finish in the top 10. Keith White also managed to get his Mk1 Escort on to the leaderboard throughout the day and he said at the end that he was “wrecked”.
In Group N there were some dramas towards the end. Rory Byrne in the Modern Tyres Lancer lost many minutes on the final stage so that we are not certain yet who has won GpN, but despite all the trouble with his car it may go to Damien Toner.
We would like to thank everyone who helped and supported our RallyNews service and well done to all the Newry MC team for all their hard work and dedication in putting the rally together.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews: Associate Rally Sponsor – MS Motorsport
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