UNOFFICIAL NAT. L/rBOARD AFTER STAGE 11
1st (14) Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore (Proton) 1.34.52.1
2nd (16) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 1.35.16.6
3rd (36) John Bonner/Emmet Sherry (Escort) 1.38.09.5
4th (28) Eugene Meegan/Daragh Mullen (BMW) 1.38.29.1
5th (15) Adrian Hetherington/Ronan O Neill (Escort) 1.39.20.3
6th (48) Conor McCarthy/JJ Cremin (Lancer) 1.39.24.2
Fastest through stage 11 was Desi Henry in his Fiesta R5, 0.7 of a second up on Sam Moffett. Rally leader Donagh Kelly admitted that he has taken the foot off the gas in his Focus WRC and is now eyeing the finishing line just 3 stages away. Donagh had one slight worry this morning when his car had a pulley bearing problem before the first stage. Declan Boyle has also slowed down but in his case it is out of necessity, as an arm has broken in his Fiesta WRC rear suspension. Josh Moffett is still struggling with the throttle on his Fiesta, the problem is coming and going, through it all he has lost very little time. Sam Moffett referred to his tyre troubles earlier, that the rubber would not heat up in the cold conditions, and with flakes of snow in the air over Clonakilty, Sam is switching to a wet compound tyre. Desi Henry seems to have really got the bit between his teeth now, and even with a couple of small overshoots, he had that fastest time.
Robert Barrable is hot on Desi’s heels and said he is happy with the headway he is making. Willie Mavitty still leads group N and David Guest is making slow headway about reeling him in. Guest’s Lancer is now suffering from a blow-out in the exhaust manifold. Callum Devine is holding his R2 position and holding his Fiesta R2T in top gear as much as he can through the stages because once the car loses momentum it is hard to pick up the speed again. Eugene Donnelly’s Hyundai R5 has gone well through the last couple of stages but broke down on the way into service. Fuel starvation is suspected.
In the National category Gary Kiernan is driving like a demon and has extended his lead over John Dalton. Gary said about his Proton – ‘I am building up the faith in the brakes and the cornering. It is a much better proposition than the Escort’. John Dalton’s cause was not helped when the intercom in his Darrian gave problems. Frank Kelly was 3rd National but a broken manifold slowed him and now his Escort has stopped in SS11. It looks as if the heat from the broken manifold has damaged the crank shaft sensor. Damien Tourish slipped off the road at a hairpin left and dropped over a minutes, so he is no longer on the leaderboard. John Bonner has had the hammer down through the morning stages and is now up to 3rd National.
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