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| ALMC Stages Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.6 - After SS9 - Sunday @ 19:19:51 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.6 Finish/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 – FINAL STAGE
1st (3) Damian Cole/Craig Drew (Focus WRC) 1.16.31
2nd (2) Michael Barrable/Damien Connolly (Focus WRC) 1.16.44
3rd (8) Simon Mauger/Ashley Trimble (Escort) 1.17.41
4th (18) Trevor Mulligan/Sean Hayde (Escort) 1.18.23
5th (6) Michael O'Brien/Patrick Walsh (Focus WRC) 1.18.28
6th (21) Brian Brogan/Siamack Walsh (Escort) 1.19.33
7th (12) Declan McNaughton/Denis O'Mahony (Escort) 1.19.46
8th (16) Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Lancer N) 1.19.56
9th (20) Neil Williams/Eurig Davies (Escort) 1.20.15
10th (17) Stephen Cullen/Billy Collins (Impreza N) 1.20.47
Damian Cole and his co driver Craig Drew have scored a memorable victory here today in their Ford Focus WRC following a dramatic final few stages. Cole was having a great dice with local driver Michael Barrable in a similar Focus, but Barrable dropped 15s in stage 8 and has fallen back to 2nd place. Barrable and his co driver Damien Connolly had led from the start despite a misfire in their Focus WRC.
Simon Mauger/Ashley Trimble put up a brilliant performance to finish 3rd in their Ford Escort Mk2. The damp conditions today certainly didn’t favour the 2 wheel drive cars but Mauger was undeterred. Similarly with Trevor Mulligan bringing his Escort into 4th place, it was a terrific showing. Another top driver to retire almost within sight of the finish was David Kynaston. Devon man David and his co driver Andy Russell had been as high as 4th but ere 6th when their Audi A3 engine cried enough at the end of stage 7. There was a small under-bonnet fire in the Audi, which fortunately was not too serious. There was also no oil left in the sump.
When Damian Cole brought his Focus into the finish he said. “It was very tricky all day with the weather and we had a problem with the car towards the end with the throttle. I switched the engine off for 10m before the last stage to let it cool down. Then the engine stopped at the end of the stage but everything went well and the Patterson notes were perfect. We have 4 maximum scores now in the championship.” A disappointed Michael Barrable told us. “We dropped time on the last 3 stages with the fly by wire throttle. It was a new unit from M-Sport but it was one of those things, they can last for 5 miles or 500 miles. If we hadn’t had the misfire earlier we would have had a bit of a buffer. It was still a great event”. Simon Mauger reported. “We did our best. The conditions were against us. Typically I went for a softer tyre for the final loop and the roads were dry. Your Patterson notes worked really well for us. We really enjoyed the day and it was only the 2nd time Ashley has co-driven for me”.
Damian Cole has moved into the lead of the MSA Asphalt C/ship with 100 points. Simon Mauger is 2nd with 84 and John Stone who retired his Skoda today with turbo problems is 3rd with 82 points. Sam Moffett finished 8th o/a and won group N and also scored maximum points in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge. Brendan Cumiskey came through strongly to finish 2nd GpN and 2nd best Evo Challenge contender. Geoff McMahon was 3rd GpN and 3rd best Evo following some turbo problems. Kenny McKinstry battled through to 13th o/a and finished 3rd in class 14. Welsh crew Neil Williams/Eurig Davies have won cl.13 in their Escort following a few close shaves this morning in the damp conditions. Finally for now our thanks to everyone who supported and helped with the Rally News service, particularly the Rally News sponsors plus Ciara, Dougie and Angus Sealy. Well done to the ALMC for putting on such a fine rally today.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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