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| Ulster International rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.9 - After SS9 - Saturday @ 11:38:55 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.9 End of SS9/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 SLIEVE GALLION
1st (2) Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 1.06.54.1
2nd (1) Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Fabia WRC) 1.07.03.1
3rd (4) Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Impreza WRC) 1.07.29.1
4th (8) Glenn Allen/Damien Connolly (Corolla WRC) 1.09.30.3
5th (5) Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas (Impreza N) 1.09.39.3
6th (7) Gwyndaf Evans/Chris Patterson (Lancer N) 1.09.50.9
7th (9) Darren Gass/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.10.46.6
8th (10) Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 1.11.02.3
9th (11) Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Lancer N) 1.13.22.3
10th (19) Kris Princen/Bram Eelbode (Clio) 1.13.46.9
The 17.4 mile Slieve Gallion stage has caused many of the top 10 drivers problems with Darren Gass, Adam Gould and Euan Thorburn all being off the road and only Gass kept going. Gareth MacHale was fastest through the stage by 11.7s from Donnelly which changes the leaderboard. We are now getting news in that only 3 cars have got through stage 10 before the stage was stopped. Glenn Allen has knocked a wheel off the Corolla in S10 and Darren Gass has crashed.
Eugene Donnelly was first on the road and it was expected that he would dominate that Slieve Gallion stage as that is where he tests his cars. At stage finish he seemed just a little bit agitated and said. “Not a good run. I feel under pressure. Everyone thinks I know this stage but I only use a couple of miles of it and I didn’t get a good recce.” Gareth MacHale commented. “We had a good stage, real fast”. McGarrity said. “We went alright but I fluffed my notes in the middle of the stage”. Glenn Allen said. “We had a pretty good run, but where Darren Gass went off there was a bit of wreckage. The car had left and I thought I would catch up with him round any corner. I did eventually but it was no problem”. Darren Gass commented. “I was very lucky. It was a high speed spin and although we clipped a few things the car was pretty much OK. But there was a terrible vibration and we stopped to check the wheels. Gwyndaf Evans passed us then we passed him!” The explanation for that came from Gwyndaf. “No brakes at all, pedal right to the floor, nothing”. Mark Higgins was 11s faster than Gwyndaf and it says a lot for Welshman Evans’ skill and experience that he was able to keep the time difference down to so little.
Two times Ulster Rally winner Higgins said. “I was a bit careful, otherwise OK and it’s a great stage”. Mark’s glasses were teamed up at stage finish so maybe he was trying hard. Adam Gould and Euan Thorburn went off the road within half a mile of each other so it wasn’t a good stage for Subarus but all the crews are reported to be OK. Dave Weston’s Impreza ran out of brakes and he went off the road but then got going and dropped just under 5m. Jonny Greer had a reasonable time although his car us suffering from a misfire. Alan Carmichael also had a good run but he really needed 4th gear in that stage and it is still acting up. Marty McCormack set a good time to continue to lead the Citroen Racing Trophy but Marty reckoned he was being too hard on the brakes and they started to fade. Matti Rantanen set a cracking time in his Clio which is virtually a stand car. Kris Princen continues to lead the Clios. Marty McCormack now 15th o/a Pritchard 18.
IRC Barum Rally: Czech Rep: After SS4: Kris Meeke fastest on SS4: Now up to 4th o/a: Kopecky leads from Loix from Bassos. Kris had no problems apart from suffering from flu.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL www.rallynews.net
*For SMS results text RALLY ITC to 53030 (Irl) or 60066 (UK). Text STOP to switch off. Cost 30c/25p. Provided by stagetimes.com
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