By all accounts stage 8, Widow Magee, was very slippery and guttery, but that did not deter Garry Jennings from having a real blast. His time was 11s faster than Donagh Kelly that moves Garry into the lead of this Todds Leap Ulster Rally and puts the Kesh man in line for an Ulster hat trick of wins. When the cars arrived into service here at St. Angelo, Garry`s co driver Rory Kennedy said. `Garry set a good time but was not dangerous, absolutely safe`. Donagh Kelly did not seem too annoyed and he said. `We were cruising and it was a difficult stage, more lanes really`.
While waiting for his service arrival time Donagh took the opportunity to walk over to a big hangar where a local company is constructing cruisers. Donagh quizzed the boss, Tom Leonard, and soon elicited the information that these were forty one foot cruisers suitable for coastal and inland waterways. They are powered by 2 Volvo D4s producing 600hp and have a 27 knot top speed. From what we could see they are an absolute work of art and a credit to the company, Westwood. In fact Donagh popped the question, `How much would you allow me on a Focus WRC?`
One major change at the top end of the rally through stage 8 was that Stephen Wright has retired his Fiesta R5 following a small excursion into a ditch that damaged the radiator. Although Stephen kept the car going to the next junction, he thought it better to pull in and save the engine from damage. Derek McGarrity is having further troubles with his Subaru gearbox. It is now selecting 2 cogs on the down shift. An engineer from the Garry Jennings camp is going to have a look to see if he can diagnose the problem. Jon Armstrong reckons the suspension set up on his Peugeot was set a little soft for stage 7 but worked pretty well in stage 8, where he dropped just 1s to Rob Duggan. Duggan pushed hard in stage 8 and had a major moment at a chicane but there was no damage.
Daniel McKenna stalled his Toyota GT86 twice and said it is a real juggling match with the throttle, the handbrake and the gears. Alistair Cochrane`s Escort suffered a broken brake pipe on Topped Mountain, and he reckons he has had more trouble on this rally than he has had in the last 2 years. Historic Rally leader Raymond Johnston was off the road twice in stage 8. The first time when his Escort under-steered on a 3 right into square right and damaged a mud guard. Then he damaged the other guard when he skidded downhill into chicanes at a junction. He still leads the Historic category from Rob Smith by 22s. Joe McGonigle is 20th o/a and is having trouble with the gear change going stiff on his Skoda, and also had alternator issues and he had to choose between having the wipers going or the demister blower going. Despite his Subaru crabbing Brendan Cumiskey has regained the GpN lead from Marc Johnston.
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