RALLY NEWS NO.6 A Galway/Saturday 16.45 Ammended 19.00
UNOFFICIAL INT. L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 6 – END OF DAY 1
1st (4) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 36.55.3
2nd (3) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (BMW Mini WRC) 37.33.5
3rd (5) Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Fiesta WRC) 37.39.4
4th (7) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Fiesta WRC) 37.52.4
5th (6) Dean Raftery/Mark Kane (BMW Mini WRC) 39.56.5
UNOFFICIAL NAT/ L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 6 – END OF DAY 1
1st (8) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 39.05.9
2nd (21) Liam Howlett/John McGrath (Escort) 40.34.5
3rd (19) Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort) 40.46.6
4th (28) Stephen Greaney/Kieran Feeney (Escort) 41.26.2
5th (33) Declan Wilmott/Anthony Nestor (Escort) 41.31.9
6th (18) Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Escort) 41.41.3
LATE NEWS
Day 1 rally leaders Declan & Brian Boyle have dropped to 14th overnight following a 5 minute penalty being applied when their Subaru failed to fire up in the control zone at the start of Stage 3. The crew eventually got the car to start but five minutes had passed and Motorsport Ireland regulations state that the penalty for lateness is 1 minute per minute late.
Current Tarmac Champions Declan & Brian Boyle in their Subaru have an overnight 10.2s lead over Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan in their Subaru. Eugene Donnelly is a further 38s back in the Mini WRC. Declan Boyle beat the bogey time through several stages today, so in theory his advantage should be greater, but that is the way it is. Donagh Kelly also beat the bogey on stage but only by a couple of seconds, whereas Boyle beat it by 9s. Kelly had a very smooth run throughout the day so the rally is finely poised. The Sunday stages are of a more twisty character than today`s. This should give the drivers of the 1600cc WRC machinery, such as the Mini and the Fiesta, a chance to pull back some time. Eugene Donnelly made some changes to his car late today and seemed to improve his times by a vital second or two.
Dean Raftery has done a brilliant job in the second Mini to move up through the field to 6th o/a. Dean`s times are very close to Donnelly`s and sometimes faster. The two Moffett brothers from Monaghan in their respective Fiesta WRC cars have also been very close to the best times all day which would indicate that this rally is far from over. Pauric Duffy is lying just outside the top 6 in his Fiesta R5 to lead class 5. Jonny Greer is just behind him and really improving by the stage. Jonny said about the new car. `I cannot get over how fast it is. It is a professional car for a professional driver, not an amateur like me`. Brendan Cumiskey has stiffened the suspension on his Subaru and continues to lead GpN Class 4, from Brian O`Keefe.
In the National Rally Brian Brogan has dropped to 6th following the transmission trouble with his Escort. Declan Gallagher has built up a big lead over 2nd placed Liam Howlett with Mickey Conlon now up into 3rd. Declan Gallagher commented. `I have got to stay on the boil to keep the concentration`. Interestingly, the German crew of Kai Dieter Kolle/Bianca Hutzfeldt in the Porsche Carrera are now up to 9th in the National. David Quigley/Sam Johnson broke a steering arm on their Civic on an early stage and dropped right down the order. They have now battled back to 13th. In the Historic Rally after stage 5 Ernie & Will Graham had a 17s lead over Gareth Lloyd/Gwynfor Jones, both in Escorts. Joe Connolly and his son John were 3rd ahead of John Spiers in the Porsche.
Finally for now news from Rally Latvia is that Craig Breen (Peugeot) is leading by 1m23s from Sim Plangi (Lancer) after stage 5. Jon Armstrong is going strong in his Peugeot 208 R2 and held 17th o/a after SS4.
More news in morning: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
