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| Jim Clark Rally 2008 |
| RALLY NEWS No.9 - After SS17 Final Stage - Wednesday @ 11:34:48 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.9 Charterhall Service/Sunday 1.45
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 17 – FINAL STAGE
1st (2) Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Impreza WRC) 2.03.30.1
2nd (4) Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 2.03.34.3
3rd (1) Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 2.04.27.0
4th (14) Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy (Impreza N) 2.07.57.0
5th (15) Stuart Jones/Andy Bull (MG S2000) 2.10.23.0
6th (11) David Higgins/Ieuan Thomas (Impreza N) 2.11.04.7
7th (19) James Wozencroft/Chris Ridge (Impreza N) 2.13.01.1
8th (16) Jonny Greer/Jonny Hart (Lancer N) 2.13.20.2
9th (23) Kevin & Martin Kelleher (Lancer N) 2.14.51.5
10th (37) Adam Gould/Seb Marshall (Clio) 2.18.30.8
Eamonn Boland and his co driver Damien Morrissey have scored an historic win on this Jim Clark Memorial International Rally. Their Buckley Motorsport prepared Subaru finished just over 4s ahead of Tim McNulty’s similar machine, while Gareth MacHale turned in a scintillating display over the final stages to reinforce his 3rd place. The only down side for Gareth is that his brother Aaron’s Focus stopped on the final stage following the jump over the Swinton crossroads when a steering arm broke. This was similar to Austin MacHale’s problem in Rally Ireland. Mark Higgins then moved up to 4th place and scores maximum points on both the Tesco 99 British Championship and GpN on the Global Group Tarmac Championship.
Eamonn Boland commented at the finish. “We were absolutely flat out at the end. We made a bollox of the first stage of the rally and we were battling after that. We were never more than a couple of seconds away and then we got ahead. It’s a lovely rally when its dry”. Tim McNulty said. “That’s International rallying. It is down to the wire. The car cut out a couple of times on that last stage. Now we’re on Plan P for Donegal!” Tim’s co driver Eugene O’Donnell said. “Tim drove hard on that stage, he put everything in for the last few stages”. Gareth MacHale scored a fastest time on the final stage, even when Boland and McNulty were flat out. Gareth said. “We’ve learned an awful lot coming here. The stages are unique and I’m happy to finish and get some Tarmac points. In fairness to the lads in front, they drove well”. Brian Murphy who was co-driving for Gareth this time, said. “He hasn’t put one foot wrong. He upped the pace all weekend and we didn’t have one moment. We were not in one hedge, not gambling”.
Mark Higgins said at the finish. “We had problems at the end with the hand brake lever coming out, and also there was a hellish noise from the car when it was in the air over the jumps. I was sure there was something gone and I wasn’t going to make it”. David Higgins dropped well over a minute on the final stage when his Impreza gearbox gave trouble. Stuart Jones got ahead of David despite the fact that Stuart’s car had power steering problems. Young Jonny Greer was another who was flat out towards the end and he just failed in his quest to catch James Wozencroft. Robert Swann had a huge accident on the last stage when his new Impreza jumped badly over a bridge and the car landed in a corn field. There is a huge amount of damage, to the car not the corn field, and somehow or another Robert managed to get the car to the finish of the stage and only lost about 30s. So he finishes inside the top 15 overall. Karl Simmons had more brake problems in his Impreza over the last couple of stages and he also finishes just outside the top 10 with Wyn Humphreys breathing down his neck.
Adam Gould won his class despite losing some time at the acute right hapirpin when he had to reverse the Clio. George Thomas was the highest placed Citroen C2R2 finisher. George reported a few problems with the car cutting out, he thinks the coil may be going and he will be happy to get over the ramp at Kelso. In overall terms he thought it was a fantastic rally and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Finally for now, many thanks to all who supported and assisted with the Rally News.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
*For SMS results text RALLY ITC to 60066 (UK): Or 53030 (Irl.): Text RALLY ITC OFF to stop. Cost 25p/30c. Provided by stagetimes.com
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