RALLY NEWS NO.9 Milford Service/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL INT. L/BOARD AFTER SS11
1ST (3) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 1.14.13.1
2ND (1) Declan & Brian Boyle (Fiesta WRC) 1.15.05.3
3RD (2) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Impreza WRC) 1.15.41.2
4th (4) Derek McGarrity/Diarmuid Falvey (Impreza WRC) 1.16.40.4
5th (5) Daragh O`Riordan/Tony McDaid (Fiesta WRC) 1.16.58.1
6th (6) Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Impreza WRC) 1.17.11.2
7th Stephen Wright 8th Joe McGonigle 9th Aidan Wray 10th Dara Leonard
UNOFFICIAL NAT. L/BOARD AFTER SS11
1st (24) Manus Kelly/Donal Barrett (Escort) 1.18.01.4
2nd (21) Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Escort) 1.18.29.4
3rd (29) Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 1.18.31.9
4th (28) Paul & Karl Reid (Escort) 1.19.34.0
5th (25) Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 1.19.34.7
6th (22| Damien Gallagher/Brendan McElhinney (Escort) 1.19.43.8
The rally has moved to new territory, Carnhill, but it made little difference to Garry Jennings who was again fastest, covering the 14.8km stage in 7m47s. Declan Boyle was 2nd fastest, 2.4s back and Donagh Kelly 3rd a further 5s in arrears. Garry reported all well at stage finish. Declan Boyle made the point that he had driven hard but still dropped that 3s to Jennings. What puzzled Declan was where or how he could find the extra 3 or 4s. He reckoned everything went as well as it could go through the stage and wondered if a couple of clicks on the suspension would make any difference. When Donagh Kelly came into the stage finish and saw the time, he said. `That was just average`.
Derek McGarrity has picked a harder compound tyre for this afternoon and reckons that although it may not work well on the first stage after service as the heat builds up in the tyre carcase it should be good for the 2nd loop. Seamus Leonard was able to put his gearbox worries behind him and set a decent time through stage 11. He said that although he found it a bit slippy he really enjoyed the stage and the car. Daragh O`Riordan had a very big upset when he got a fast slot 3 right junction wrong and his Fiesta WRC banged along the top of a hedge. There was no real damage and little time was lost but a major scare for Daragh and co driver Tony. Stephen Wright and Joe McGonigle set an equal time through stage 11. Aidan Wray continues to hold 9th o/a and leads Group N from Dara Leonard. Pat Kirk reported gearbox trouble earlier and is running well down the field.
In the National Rally Manus Kelly was fastest by 5s from Brian Brogan with Adrian Hetherington and Paul Reid just 1s behind Brogan. This is very much home territory for drivers such as Manus Kelly and Paul Reid so it is not easy for non-Donegal crews to match their times. This makes Adrian Hetherington`s performance, especially with no hand brake in his Escort, all the more noteworthy. Frank Kelly was disappointed to drop about 14s with an overshoot at a fast downhill section into a hairpin. David Bogie spun his Escort and admitted to too much hand brake, in front of a huge crowd of spectators, and the cheers of the crowd are still ringing in his ears!
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