UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 11
1st (86) Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Escort Mk2) 1.23.44.6
2nd (81) Tommy Doyle/Liam Moynihan (Clio) 1.24.48.7
3rd (79) Callum Duffy/Emmet Sherry (Fabia S2500) 1.25.42.3
4th (17) Phil Collins/Stephen McAuley (Escort Mk2) 1.26.03.4
5th (16) Colin Byrne/Brian Quinlan (Escort Mk2) 1.26.43.5
6th (21) Mark Dolphin/Colin Fitzgerald (Escort Mk2) 1.27.26.1
On stage eleven Mullentaura Josh Moffett set another fastest time to move into a slender lead. There is still only a handful of seconds covering the top four and with just three stages to go this Cork 20 is shaping up to have a fantastic finale. Josh Moffett said after his fastest time in stage eleven ‘we were comfortable, no big moments I am not going to do anything stupid in the last loop’. Sam Moffett said he was asleep for the first two stages this morning but he certainly woke up on the third stage of the loop when he was only a second down on his brother Josh but was faster than both Roy White and Keith Cronin. Roy would dearly love to win this rally and he was fastest through stage ten but was just a couple of seconds away in stage eleven. Roy said ‘there was one big crest I did not take flat out and a bumpy crossroad were I hesitated, that was enough, it is just a second here and a second there’. They will be flat out the next time.
The big question mark in all of this equation is how Keith Cronin will go over the final three stages. Keith is 100% concentrating on the Tarmac Championship. Third or better will do him today. When Keith pulled his Citroen into the David Greer service area he took time to tell us ‘I am watching every bit of dirt on the road, driving round stuff I would normally take flat out and watching every gear change, listening for every noise’. Just outside that top four Johnny Greer said he was happy enough and he certainly had a good time through that stage eleven and laughed when he told us ‘I took it handy on that one and got a good time, when I push hard the time is not so good. Hard to understand!’.
Kevin Kelleher lost a few seconds when his Subaru started to fill up with smoke when a drive shaft boot split and sprayed grease onto the Impreza’s turbo. Joe Connolly in the red R5 has gone well over the last few stages to move into the top ten. Marty Gallagher is now 11th and 8 seconds ahead of Callum Devine in 12th. Callum is working very hard to keep it all together as he is in line to win the R2 section of the Tarmac Championship and also the Southern 4 Championship. In the national section Brian Brogan is setting some very impressive times with his Escort. Donal O’Brien is reportedly stopped in stage ten, his Escort having run wide and possibly damaged something in the steering.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
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