UNOFFICIAL NAT/ L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 5
1st (12) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 37.20.8
2nd (28) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (BMW M1) 38.18.4
3rd (5) Denis Cronin/Coleman Hurley (Impreza WRC) 38.21.2
4th (15) Phil Collins/Adrian Deasy (Escort) 38.36.7
5th (29) Enda O`Brien/John Butler (Escort) 38.44.7
6th (25) Mark Dolphin/Finbar Quirke (Escort) 39.04.5
Vincent McSweeney 3919.1: Donal O`Brien 39.19.8: Ross Marshall 40.08.4
Stage 5 was the first of the afternoon loop, a change of scenery for the drivers, and the stage, ironically called Inch, is one of the longest in the rally at 19.4km. Donagh Kelly was just over 2s faster than Daragh O`Riordan through the test and closest to these top two was Roy White, 4s in arrears of O`Riordan. The top drivers agreed that it was quite a technical stage but it all went well for them. Daragh O`Riordan had moved on to a harder compound tyre to combat the rise in temperature and he found the car sliding about initially, as the tyres took time to warm up. Donagh Kelly is still footering about with helmets and intercoms but seems to be OK. Keith Cronin and Roy White both reported no problems. Melvyn Evans said the stage was `challenging`. Interestingly, Melvyn`s son Meirion is driving a Citroen DS3 R3 in the International Rally and going quite well.
Stephen Wright is still setting good times, but he had a bit of a fright at the start of stage 5 when the throttle of his Fiesta R5 stuck 20 per cent open on a couple of medium speed corners. Stephen was going to have a look at the set up on the road section and hopefully get it cleared. Pauric Duffy dropped a couple of seconds in SS5 when he took a short trip up `somebody else`s lane`.
In Group N David Guest still leads although Brendan Cumiskey equalled his time on that stage 5 and MacHale was just a few seconds back. Brian O`Keefe retired his Group N Impreza with gearbox/clutch troubles.
In the National Rally Declan Gallagher has such a clear lead now that he does not need to push his Starlet quite so hard. Eugene Meegan is still going strong in 2nd place with Denis Cronin 3rd. Denis was fastest National through SS5. Phil Collins continues to hold 4th despite his Escort suffering an intermittent misfire. In the Historic Rally Gareth Lloyd moved to the front on stage 4, ahead of Ernie Graham who had led earlier. Ernie`s Escort did develop a noisy 2nd gear and he has changed the box. Richard Hall has retired his Sierra Cosworth due to a broken differential. Nick Whale has retired his BMW because of throttle/crank shaft trouble.
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