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| Tipperary Stonethrowers |
| RALLY NEWS No.1 - Pre Start - Sunday @ 08:05:06 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.1 Rally HQ/Sunday
This Tipperary MC Stonethrowers Rally has attracted a strong entry and competition should be fierce. There are 3 World Rally Subarus at the head of the field with the drivers, Niall Maguire, Derek McGarrity and Melvyn Evans, locked in a battle for National Championship points. All three reported their cars in tip-top condition before the rally. Niall Maguire said his just required routine maintenance following the last National round in Sligo. Derek McGarrity’s Impreza needed a new gearbox casing and a cracked exhaust section was replaced. Melvyn Evans’ example had the gearbox and differentials overhauled back at his garage in Wales. Melvyn has been setting a superb pace on the last few rallies, has really upped the ante and it will be interesting to see just how he goes here.
Kevin Barrett and Seamus Leonard were to start at 4 & 5, but haven’t been able to make it. This leaves Alan Ring in his GpN Lancer running 4th on the road. Alan had the misfortune to retire from the Killarney Lakes. This is his first proper rally since and it will be a great warm up for the Ulster Rally. The Mk2 Escorts of Mike Quinn, Wesley Patterson and Declan Boyle are the next three up. A battle royal is promised between these three and indeed quite a few more of the Escort drivers.
Sean Flanagan is at 10 and his GpN Impreza has been fitted with a new centre differential that should improve the handling. Just outside of that is David Armstrong in his beautiful Mk2 yellow Escort. Then at 12 is Mark Nangle in his GpN Impreza. Some further non-starters from the top end of the entry include Eoin Doyle, Eamonn Daly, David Percy, Stephen Cullen and Anthony Neville. There have been some more entries since the programme was published, David Leonard for example whose Citroen has the number 118 will start in the top 40. Re-seeds include Wayne Evans (No.47), Paddy O’Dwyer (28 , Jason Roche (34) and John McQuaid (30)) will alll start just inside the top 20. The rally also has a junior section of about a dozen cars, headed by Darren & Nicola McKenna in their Corolla. The juniors will join in at stage 5.
On the subject of entries, Pat Price, who starts the rally at 46, won the motor club €500 draw for submitting his entry in good time. In a splendid gesture, Pat has asked for the money to be given to charity. The club has decided to match Pat’s €500 with another €500 and put it into the Cardiac Unit at Crumlin Hospital. This is in respect of 5 year old David Boland who sadly passed away there 4 weeks ago. David was a real motorsport fan, his father Charlie co-drives and his Uncle Micheal is an official of the rally. Indeed most of the family are involved in rallying. We extend our deepest sympathy to them on the loss of David.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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