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| Sean Conlon Memorial Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.6 - Service after last stage - Sunday @ 17:27:33 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.6 Service/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6 – FINAL STAGE
1st (3) Philip & Simon Morrow (Lancer N) 44.56
2nd (2) Owen Murphy/James O`Brien (Lancer N) 44.59
3rd (1) Mick O`Brien/Greg Shinnors (Focus WRC) 45.44
4th (4) Martin Cairns/Andrew Purcell (Impreza WRC) 46.42
5th (5) Daniel O`Brien/Mark Glennerster (Focus WRC) 46.43
6th (7) Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Lancer N) 46.44
UNOFFICIAL 2WD L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 6 – Final Stage
1st (202) Desi Henry/Barry McNulty (Citroen DS3) 47.35
2nd (201) Shane McGirr/Jackie Elliott (Starlet rwd) 47.53
3rd (203) Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort) 49.35
4th (204) James Coleman/Liam Brennan (Escort) 49.43
5th (206) Paul Fitzgerald/Pierce Doheny Jnr (Escort) 49.52
6th (221) Fraser Mulholland/Geoff Patterson (Escort) 51.19
7th (210) Niall Donnelly/Eamonn Gallagher (Escort) 51.26
8th (205) Dean Rafferty/Aileen Kelly (Civic) 51.38
There were certainly dramas right to the finish of this Sean Conlon Forestry Rally with Phillip Morrow turning in a fastest time in the 4 wd section to take victory by 3s from Owen Murphy. In the 2 wd section Desi Henry drove his heart out on the final stage to push his Citroen DS3 to the front ahead of Valvoline Championship 2 wheel drive leader Shane McGirr. Phillip Morrow even survived a heart stopping moment on that final stage when his Lancer suffered a half spin. For Phillip and his brother Simon it really was a sweet victory following their stage 4 time loss with a puncture. Owen Murphy/James O`Brien had their own share of car problems towards the end and they drove gallantly to try and hold on to the lead. Mick O`Brien`s 3rd place today in his Focus WRC means the Championship stays very close the front, although with dropped scores and joker scores still to come into play anything could happen. Martin Cairns stepped up his pace late today and managed to squeeze ahead of Daniel O`Brien for 4th while Josh Moffett also speeded up and finished 6th o/a, 2nd in GpN behind Phillip Morrow.
In the 2 wheel drive section Desi Henry/Barry McNulty drove superbly over the very wet and difficult final few stages to take the category victory in their Citroen DS3. This is one of Desi`s best ever results and will put him in top form for the forthcoming BRC Scottish Rally. 23 year old Desi did admit that he had a slice of luck on the last stage when a wheel knocked a rock and got pushed slightly out of line. Shane McGirr tried everything to hold on to the lead, but lady luck did not smile on the Fivemiletown man as his Starlet suffered a puncture 3 miles from the finish of the stage. Shane said. `It was a great battle today Desi pushed us hard, he went very well`. Mickey Conlon was able to hold on to 3rd place in the 2 wheel drive despite a very big moment on the slippy tracks of that Kilcoran stage. James Coleman was pushing Mickey hard but his Escort suffered a puncture 3km from the end.
Dean Rafferty & Aileen Kelly did another brilliant job in winning the Junior category from Daniel Cronin & Coleman Hurley. One of the really interesting aspects of the rally was the race for class 3 amongst the 1600 Escorts and Paul Fitzgerald finished 20s ahead of Fraser Mulholland with Niall Donnelly 3rd for 1st 2nd and 3rd in the class. Mulholland and Donnelly have no real experience of these forests which augurs well for their future.
We would like to thank all the people who helped and supported our RallyNews service. Well done to CoC Noel Reynolds and his Tipperary MC team for their efforts in putting together such a fine event. Thanks as well to Dougie Hughes for distributing RallyNews.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
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