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| Circuit of Kerry |
| RALLY NEWS No.4 - After SS5 - Sunday @ 14:11:16 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.4 Service/Fels Point Tralee/Sunday 2.10
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 5 Desmonds Grave
1st (1) Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 42.45
2nd (2) Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 42.46
3rd (4) Darren Gass/Diarmuid Falvey (Impreza WRC) 42.57
4th (14) Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery (Escort) 44.48
5th (6) Garry Jennings/David Moynihan (Lancer N) 45.10
6th (8) Kevin & Martin Kelleher (Lancer N) 45.12
7th (7) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Lancer N) 45.23
8th (5) Donie O'Sullivan/Paul Nagle (Proton S2000) 45.33
9th (17) Des Moore/Arthur Kierans (Escort) 45.44
10th (9) Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Lancer N) 45.51
On this middle loop of stages Darren Gass was fastest through stages 3 and 4 and then in stage 5 it was Patrick Elliott who set the quickest time with Gass 3s down on Elliott for Desmonds Grave and Niall Maguire 1s further back. Patrick Elliott told us: “It’s a very enjoyable battle, we are going as good as we can, making a little time back but that stage 5 was very slippy. It’s a matter of keeping our noses clean from here on in”. Darren Gass said: “We’re not making it easy for ourselves”. As co-driving chocolate expert Diarmuid Falvey explained: “On a gravelly square right over bridge we slid on and had to reverse out of a field. We lost maybe 10 or 12s. I’ll tell you though, this man Darren is not afraid to drive!” Niall Maguire did lead a couple of stages ago but is now 1s down on Elliott and former National Champion Niall admitted. “I just wasn’t aggressive enough on that last stage. It was very slippy and I ran wide in a couple of places and had to hand brake around a junction”.
Mike Quinn is up to an amazing 4th o/a in his Mk2 Escort and he reported that the hand brake in the Escort isn’t working as the hydraulic pipe has broken. Group N leader Garry Jennings in 5th said he had a poor enough run on that last stage, it just didn’t seem to click for him. As regards the misfire that he mentioned earlier he told us that he keeps the car running at the stage arrival controls and doesn’t switch it off, then the misfire doesn’t appear. Kevin Kelleher has set a couple of superb GpN times through the last couple of stages. He reckoned the reason for the good times was that he was using super soft compound BF Goodrich tyres. Alan Ring, 7th o/a and 3rd in group N, reported no problems. Donie O’Sullivan in 8th can’t just pinpoint where he is losing the edge on the group N cars. He did say: “I’m hanging on to the group N men, maybe I’m rusty, but I’m hitting the rev limiter in top gear and we’re learning all the time”. Des Moore in 9th with his Mk2 Escort said. “We’re going good there’s not much left, we just need a bit more local knowledge!” Top Part West Coast Champion Ed Synan lost some time through the last couple of stages as his Escort has run out brakes. He said. “I may as well put my foot out the door on the road!”
Thomas Fitzmaurice is hanging grimly on to 10th o/a and 5th GpN. He currently leads GpN on the National C/ship and is very anxious not only to score points here but also to finish what is his local rally. Thomas feels that his Lancer is down on power and he is contemplating either changing the turbo or the intercooler here at service.
Paul Elliott is now into 11th o/a and 6th group N and he reckons he lost a few seconds in stage 5 as his tyres went off the boil. Brian O’Mahony has dropped down the order as he struggled to get his Clio S1600 into service. The foot brake was virtually useless on the last few stages and he had to drive on the hand brake. Frank Sweeney is 2nd in cl13 in his Escort and he found that stage 5 very slippy but otherwise going well. Anthony O’Halloran and his co-driver Charlie McEnery have retired their Lancer in stage 5 following an accident. Ruan man Anthony was in the top 10. More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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