RALLY NEWS No.3 - After Skehanagh - Saturday @ 13:22:22
RALLY NEWS NO.3 Gort Service/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Skehanagh
1st (4) Declan & Brian Boyle (Impreza WRC) 7.23.7
2nd (1) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 7.28.3
3rd (5) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 7.28.9
4th (6) Sam Moffett/James O`Reilly (Fiesta WRC) 7.29.6
5th (2) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Mini WRC) 7.30.5 **
6th (9) Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 7.45.6
7th (12) Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza N) 7.56.4
8th (14) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Lancer N) 7.56.7
9th (21) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (Lancer N) 8.00.2
10th (26) Stephen McCann/Lisa O`Dowd (|Lancer N) 8.02.2
**Eugene Donnelly would appear to have a wrong time for SS3 that almost certainly will be corrected shortly.
UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 3
1st (10) Peadar Hurson/Damien Connolly (Escort WRC) 7.32.6
2nd (16) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 7.39.3
3rd (17) Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Escort) 7.46.0
4th (25) Pat Kelly/Jonathan Kelly (Impreza) 7.56.4
5th (20) Pat Donegan/Alan Keena (Escort) 8.01.9
6th (41) Liam Howelett/John McGrath (Escort) 8.07.2
7th (19) Tom Flaherty/Patrick Curley (Escort) 8.09.9
8th (31) Neil Pierce/Aileen Kelly (Civic) 8.10.4
On our last RallyNews we had Ed O`Callaghan in 6th. In fact Ed did not start the stage because his Escort broke a prop shaft.
Out at the front of the rally Declan Boyle had a great run through the very much shorted Skehanagh stage, while initial rally leader Sam Moffett seemed to lose time with launch control difficulties on his new Fiesta WRC. Donagh Kelly reckoned he was braking too early for the chicanes. Eugene Donnelly reported a good run and is driving well within himself but his engineer has told him that his Mini WRC lost the anti lag mode for 2km of the opening stage. Otherwise Eugene said. `No dramas`. Further stories included: Martin Doherty in the GpN Lancer said. `Just wanted to get the car to service. Get a few miles done to warm up`. Declan Gallagher in the flying Starlet RWD said. `I was trying too hard on the opening stage`. Wesley Patterson told us. `The car is 100 percent`. Dundalk man Brendan Cumiskey said he was just trying to get used to having good brakes for a change. Tom Flaherty felt he was getting no heat into his Escort times and dropping time. Pat Donegan`s Escort is showing signs of low fuel pressure and will not rev out. When we asked Pat Kelly how his Subaru was going he said. `Like a watch!` Aaron MacHale went better on the Skehanagh stage than Ballybuck and he reckons that it was the fact he had put on the heated front windscreen for that opening stage that sucked all the electrical power out of the car.
Billy Coleman Award winner Stephen Wright, out for the first time in his new Peugeot R2, said. `I am not leaning on the car, not getting heat into the tyres`. Pat Kirk has a new Lancer this weekend and he said. `I am just bedding in. The car is great. I am not!` Neil Pierce in the Civic was one of the few drivers to say that the stages were nice, that he was getting grip despite the wet conditions. Kevin Eves` Corolla GT was suffering from a misted up windscreen. More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL (with thanks to Zoe Patterson): www.rallynews.net Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
