UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6
1st (2) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 58.02.9
2nd (4) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 59.04.0
3rd (3) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 1.00.05.3
4th (10) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 1.01.05.3
5th (14) Sean Flanagan/Liam Brennan (Impreza N) 1.02.19.7
6th (20) Ed O'Callaghan/Ger Clancy (Escort) 1.02.41
7th (11) Bob Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Impreza) 1.02.43.0
8th (36)) Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Civic) 1.02.47.2
9th (15) Washington James/Llinos J-Davies (Darrian) 1.02.48.9
10th (8) JJ Fleming/Robbie Ward (Impreza WRC) 1.03.04.2
The battle for the lead of this West cork Rally more or less evaporated through stages 5 and 6 as Denis Cronin had to run his Subaru in 3 wheel drive and No.1 seed Liam McCarthy pulled out of the rally following his delay in stage 4. John Dalton was fastest through stage 5, The Ring, by 0.5 of a second from Tim McNulty, but then through the difficult stage 6, Dunworley, Dalton lost a lot of time and told us that the stage simply does not suite his car. Tim McNulty said he is driving well within himself and is trying different little things with the set up in preparation for the Circuit.
The story on Denis Cronin is that on stage 4 he felt something knocking underneath the car and when he got the Subaru into service the engineers discovered a broken drive shaft. When they looked in the van where 4 spare shafts normally reside there was not one to be seen. Denis had to tackle stages 5 and 6 with his Subaru in 3 wheel drive while someone motored over to Ballyvourney for the shafts. Hopefully the correct one will be fitted now and the Impreza will be restored to full health for the final 2 Saturday stages.
We reported on the last RallyNews that Michael Barrable had lost time and there was no sign of the Focus coming into service. When he eventually arrived he told us that a wheel rim had split and this had damaged the suspension. Michael has now decided not to continue in the rally. Another name now missing from the top 10 is Scotsman Billy McLelland. His Lancer crashed into a gatepost at the end of the Ring stage. The car was not too badly damaged but the intercooler was no longer working and Billy decided to pull out. We hear unconfirmed reports that Jason McSweeney has rolled his Civic on the Dunworley stage. Jason was due to marry his co driver Ruth Guest in 4 weeks time so we hope that arrangement still stands. The main things is that both Jason and Ruth are reported to have no injuries. JJ Fleming dropped a couple of places on the leaderboard when he put his Impreza up a bank on a fast section of the Ring stages.
Kevin Kelleher had to tackle staged 5 and 6 with his Lancer still in 2 wheel drive as there wasn’t sufficient time at service to change the differential. Brian O’Mahony is back on full song with his Clio and set a couple of really good times through 5 and 6. His total now is 1.05.34. Ed O’Callaghan is still best of the Escorts despite his car still having a misfire. Adrian Hetherington has been trying to get on to O’Callaghan’s pace but lost a few more seconds in stage 6 with a spin. Damien McCarthy still leads cl.11 and had a good run over the last couple of stages although his Civic’s rear tyres went off the boil on the high speed Ring stage. We have an unconfirmed report that Damien’s class rival John Hendy has had fuel pump problems with his Civic. Barry Ryan is well on the pace in his 1600 Escort despite warped brake discs on the Ring stage.
Rally Argentina: Kris Meeke dropped 7s to Hanninen in stage 5. Kris’ Peugeot has an engine cutting out problem connected with the gear change. Service now in Carlos Paz. More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
(Our thanks to Bryan Allen/Great Stuff Catering)
