RALLY NEWS No.4 - After Skehanagh - Saturday @ 14:44:42
RALLY NEWS NO.4 Gort Service/.Saturday
UNOFFICIAL L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Ballybuck
1st (4) Declan & Brian Boyle (Impreza WRC) 13.009.8
2nd (1) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 13.12.7
3rd (6) Sam Moffett/James O`Reilly (Fiesta WRC) 13.19.3
4th (5) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 13.21.1
5th (9) Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 13.45.0
6th (2) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Mini WRC) 13.46.5
7th (12) Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza N) 14.01.0
8th (14) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Lancer N) 14.06.3
9th (26) Stephen McCann/Lisa O`Dowd (|Lancer N) 14.11.4
10th (21) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (Lancer N) 14.15.2
UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 4
1st (10) Peadar Hurson/Damien Connolly (Escort WRC) 13.24.6
2nd (16) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 13.33.5
3rd (17) Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Escort) 13.50.3
4th (25) Pat Kelly/Jonathan Kelly (Impreza) 14.05.3
5th (57) Ed Murphy/John McCarthy (Escort) 14.06.0
6th (19) Tom Flaherty/Patrick Curley (Escort) 14.17.3
7th Neil Pierce 8th Kevin Eves 9th David Quigley 10th Liam Howlett
Fastest on the 2nd run over the Ballybuck stage was Garry Jennings in his Subaru, almost 2s quicker than rally leader Declan Boyle. Boyle was not a happy man at stage finish. His Subaru was showing a coolant pressure of 2.5 bars and it should really be 1.0 bar. The car seemed to be slightly cutting out. There is no service between the two loops of stages this afternoon that means Declan is on his own with no way of sorting what is looking like a sick engine. Hopefully the problem may correct itself but at the end of that stage it did not look too clever. Garry Jennings seemed to have perked up somewhat and he was certainly taking an interest in other drivers times. Earlier he just seemed to be hanging on, nursing his sore back. Eugene Donnelly came through the stage OK and he said. `I am happy. The car is one hundred per cent`. Donagh Kelly commented. `We seemed to be going alright but not fast enough. The other drivers have speeded up by 10s on that stage, we have only speeded up by 5!` Sam Moffett got his Fiesta WRC all out of shape and in a very big moment clipped the rear left wheel hard against the scenery. Fortunately there was no puncture or no broken wheel.
Steve Simpson is pleased with his progress and he is certainly well in the hunt.
Colm Murphy continues to lead Group N from Josh Moffett. We thought Martin Doherty might be in there challenging but his GpN Lancer suffered a big spin and he dropped 20s.
Peadar Hurson is having a ball in his old Escort WRC to lead the National Rally but is being chased hard by Declan Gallagher in his Starlet. The Flying Milkman was only 2s off Hurson`s time through that 2nd Ballybuck stage. News of further retirements is that both Andrew Kearney and his brother Pat have retired . Pat`s Lancer broke the gearbox on the first junction of the first stage and he hopes to re-join under Super Rally rules. Andrew`s Corsa suffered a broken piston in stage 2. Although the car got to the end of the test, Andrew`s really is over for the day. Another driver in piston trouble is Tommy Flanagan. His Escort arrived into service with white smoke billowing everywhere. It would appear that one of the pistons is holed and a fragment of the piston hit the spark plug and the end of that has gone into the engine as well.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL with thanks to Zoe Patterson. www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
