Having taken the lead on stage 7 the advantage slipped away from Sam Moffett`s grasp in stage 8, Knockalla, where Declan Boyle was a full 12s faster. Declan said. `It was dry and we had a nice clean run.` Moffett commented. `Declan drove well and it did not click for us`. Darren Gass in 3rd had a decent run, just a fraction quicker than Moffett. Garry Jennings is still a bit out of sorts and was a couple of seconds down on Gass and Moffett. Following his great run on stage 7 Garrygort Donagh Kelly dropped half a minute over Knockalla when his Focus clutch gave problems. Derek McGarrity is still suffering a lack of confidence in his Subaru`s ability over the bumps and jumps and remains in 6th place. Josh Moffett had a splendid run over Knockalla to reinforce his GpN lead and 7th o/a in the International. Pat Kirk commented. `My get up and go has got up and left and I made it even easier for Moffett by having a spin on Knockalla`. Eugene Meegan maintains 3rd GpN and 9th o/a. PJ McDermott is struggling on with the now manual gear change on his Impreza WRC and holds 10th just ahead of Stephen McCann. Trevor Bustard is just behind Stephen McCann and reports his Lancer to be still overheating but at least handling well. No sign here at service of Shane Maguire.
In the National Rally Daniel McKenna was 6s quicker than Gary McPhillips over Knockalla to increase his lead to 25s. McPhillips was feeling unwell this morning but seemed a wee bit better when he arrived here at service. Manus Kelly reckons he has damaged his Escort`s first gear under heavy braking on Knockalla, but stays 3rd. Conor Harvey lost a few seconds when he overshot a Knockalla junction and also boiled his Escort`s brakes. Brian Brogan joked when he came into service and was being interviewed by 1983 Donegal International winning co-driver Seamus McGettigan. `I have a big problem, two McGettigans on my hands here!` Frank Kelly had a good run over Knockalla but said. `The car is still very alive, it is a white knuckle ride`. Wesley Patterson reported that his Escort suffered a damaged gearbox over a Garrygort jump and lost its oil and then the car tried to climb an ESP pole on a tight square left in Knockalla. Vivian Hamill has lost several minutes because of a fuel starvation problem with his Escort. Michael Dunlop has reportedly put his Escort in a ditch, he got going but with a skew whiff rear axle. May not be able to continue but he has made it into service.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net (with thanks to Michael & Zoe Patterson) *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
