Tim McNulty was dead cool when he got to the end of the Molls Gap stage but his time was red hot, 7s faster than Gareth MacHale with Eugene Donnelly 3rd quickest a further 8s back. The Gap has been shortened this year, starting up at the lay by where the Killarney Historic Rally would normally start. Consequently we cannot really compare with previous Rally of the Lakes times but it seems fantastically quick to cover the 17.50km of the stage in just over 8 minutes. Of course the road has been improved as well, but still it was a brilliant performance from the top drivers. Conditions were dry but slightly cold.
McNulty, a former winner here said as his Subaru came into the small village of Glenflesk. “We had a clean enough run”. Eugene Donnelly commented. “I was very cautious, a steady drive really. I kept it clean but I’m happy enough with that”. Gareth MacHale also reported a good run. His brother Aaron had some gear light indicator problems but still set a very good time. Patrick Elliott lost a few seconds with a stall at the start line of the stage
In Group N Alan Ring set the early pace and reading between the lines the Killarney man was pushing hard. Shaun Gallagher was a bit taken aback to be 37s down on Ring. Sean Flanagan who is out in a Lancer this time was 11s down on Alan and Alastair Fisher was a further 6s back. Mark Nangle was a half a minute back when his GpN Impreza had some clutch slip in the stage. We have no times as yet for former GpN champion Colm Murphy.
Early news from the Fiestas is that Kyle Orr has been delayed with a puncture.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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