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| Tour of the Sperrins |
| RALLY NEWS No.4 - Service - Saturday @ 13:40:45 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.4 Service/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Megargy
1ST (1) Derek McGarrity/Diarmuid Falvey (Impreza W RC) 13.42.5
2nd (2) Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 13.54.7
3rd (6) Derek McGeehan/Arthur Kierans (Mini WRC) 13.55.0
4th (5) Marty McCormack/James O/Reilly (Fabia S2000) 13.55.3
5th (4) David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Fiesta R5+) 14.03.8
6th (3) Paddy McVeigh/Gary McElhinney (Impreza WRC) 14.04.5
7th (9) Frank Kelly/David Vance (Escort) 14.14.0
8th (8) Camillus Bradley/Crawford Henderson (Escort) 14.27.8
9th (12) Adrian Hetherington/Ronan O/Neill (Escort) 14.28.5
10th (29) Callum Devine/Brian Hoy (Opel Adam R2) 14.40.8
On the short 3rd stage, Megargy, PJ McDermott spun his Subaru again, fortunately with no real damage. He decided after the stage that he would withdraw from the rally, as he was feeling unwell. PJ has not done a rally since last year`s Donegal when his Subaru broke the gearbox on day 1. The car has been at McKinstry Motorsport ever since, and now suddenly it is all stations go as it is Donegal time again! On the subject of Donegal, Scottish crew David Bogie & Kevin Rae are coming over for the Letterkenny based classic on the 3rd weekend in June. They will be driving a brand new, special, Mk2 Escort.
Meanwhile, here on the Sperrins Rally, Derek McGarrity was fastest through stage 3 with Marty McCormack 2nd fastest and Derek McGeehan 3rd. Just a couple of seconds separated the top 6 cars apart from McGarrity who was out on his own. Derek McGarrity said at stage finish `That was an absolutely brilliant stage`. Desi Henry is driving an older model Subaru and he was disappointed with his time through stage 3. Marty McCormack messed up on the first hairpin in the stage that was quite dusty and slippery, but still set 2nd fastest time. We reported earlier that Niall Henry`s Lancer was off the road. The latest news is that he got going with very little damage.
Frank Kelly had a massive moment when he kept his Escort flat out for a 1 right over crest jump. Bystanders reckoned that `Baby Blue` was going into orbit! Seamus O`Connell`s Escort landed on the grass at the same jump. Robert Bunting`s Lancer is parked up after stage 3 because of a blown turbo.
In the Group N category Clive Kilpatrick leads in his Lancer from the similar car of Colm McFall with Geoff McMahon 3rd (Lancer). Provisionally Kieron Graffin is 4th GpN and Simon Woodside 5th. Ashley Dickson is about 6th having lost a few seconds on stage 1 when his Lancer slid briefly into a ditch.
In R2 Callum Devine now has an 11s lead over Jon Armstrong with Rob Duggan 3rd a further 7s back. Rob Duggan is trying a harder suspension set up. None of these top three R2 cars report any real problems so far. There are several very good young drivers scattered throughout the filed and running in R2. We do not have all the times just yet.
Our thanks to the Marty McCormack team for a lovely lunch. The fresh baked bread was delicious! We wish a very Happy 60th Birthday today to Eamonn McCrystal (otherwise known as Buffer). Buffer is a tremendous rally enthusiast and great supporter of the Sperrins Rally.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON + MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
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