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| Fastnet Stages Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.5 - After S6 - Sunday @ 14:23:06 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.5 Service/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6
1st (2) Melvyn Evans/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 57.11
2nd (3) Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 57.49
3rd (4) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 58.13
4th (9) Ed O'Callaghan/Ger Clancy (Escort) 58.57
5th (10) Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins (Clio) 59.44
6th (12) Sean Flanagan/Brian Duggan (Impreza N)# 59.48
7th (15) Eugene Meegan/Brian Sharkey (Lancer N) 1.00.02
8th (8) Declan & Brian Boyle (Escort) 1.00.06
9th (18) Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Lancer N) 1.00.18
10th (119) Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery (Escort) 1.00.29
Through stages 5 and 6 Melvyn Evans continued to set the pace, his lead now 38s over the similar Subaru of 2nd placed Kevin Barrett. Daragh O’Riordan lost more time in stage 6 when a turbo pipe came adrift on his Impreza WRC. On top of his puncture in stage 4 and ongoing brake problems Daragh is having a tough time of it and he commented here at service. “If we didn’t have bad luck we’d have no luck!”
On our last RallyNews we reported on Keith Cronin bashing the back of his Lancer in stage 4 and he has since made the decision to pull out of the rally. Keith and his co-driver Connor O’Neill drove the car into service so there is no major damage. Eugene Meegan was fastest of the GpN drivers through stage 6, his Evo 10 stopping the clock on 11.16. Sean Flanagan set a time of 11.18 despite bashing into another chicane. Co-driver Brian Duggan joked here at service. “I told him flat out to the chicane, not into the chicane!” Jer O’Donovan lost any chance of a good GpN place when his Impreza suffered a puncture in stage 6 and he dropped 4m changing the wheel. Brian O’Keefe is just outside the leading GpN bunch on a total of 1.01.35. Thomas Fitzmaurice is 3rd in the category but feels he lost it a wee bit in stage 6.
In the Mk2 Escort battle Ed O’Callaghan is still the man to beat. He was 16s faster than Declan Boyle through stage 6 and 20s up on Mike Quinn. Boyle’s Escort has now got a damaged rear suspension turret, and he is going to try and get it welded here at service. Damien McCarthy in his Civic has a very slender class 11 lead over John Hendy in his Corolla. These two are having a marvellous battle. Further down the order Eugene Donnelly has moved up to 41st o/a after S5 and is leading class 10 from Stephen Sheahan in his Sunbeam. Sean Liston did lead that class but there doesn’t seem to be a time for him after 5. Eoghan Calnan has retired his Escort following clutch trouble. Joe Connolly has lost time on a couple of stages when he caught up with other cars. Joe is now 4th in his class in his lovely red Escort and he said. “The results aren’t doing justice to the way we are going!” Denis Cronin’s co-driver Helen O’Sullivan has been released from hospital and has arrived back here in service. Denis is still puzzled as to why his Subaru took a mind of its own going into the square right corner where he crashed. The first few times from the Juniors are showing Kevin O’Connor leading in his Citroen C2 from Cal McCarthy (Civic) with Jonathan O’Callaghan 3rd in a Peugeot 106.
On Rally Spain Loeb has won and Petter Solberg & Chris Patterson are 2nd with Sordo 3rd – all in Citroens. It is fabulous to see a co-driver from Ireland guiding a Norwegian to 2nd o/a on a World Championship Rally.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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