UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 End Day 1
1st (1) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 1.22.12.3
2nd (2) Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 1.25.36.4
3rd (4) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Lancer N) 1.26.09.1
4th (11) Tommy Doyle/Liam Moynihan (Clio) 1.28.43.2
5th (9) Sam Moffett/James O'Reilly (Lancer N) 1.28.49.8
6th (10) Ross Forde/Robbie Ward (Lancer N) 1.32.38.8
NATIONAL
1st (8) Tom Flaherty/Patrick Curley (Escort) 1.28.31.3
2nd (12) Pat Kelly/Dean Raferty (Impreza) 1.30.01.9
3rd (21) Geoffrey Dolan/Conor Murphy (Sunbeam) 1.32.20.9
4th (18) Eamonn Dervan/Keith Gardiner (Escort)# 1.33.49.6
5th (20) Neil Pierce/Enda O'Leary (Civic) 1.34.39.5
6th (34) Alan Fair/Jarlath Conneely (Civic) 1.37.38.4
Tim McNulty & Paul Kiely brought their Subaru in to Parc Ferme at Oranmore with a massive overnight lead of 3m.24s on Kevin Barrett & Sean Mullally also in a Impreza WRC. Alan Ring & Adrian Deasy are 3rd, just 32s behind Kevin Barrett. McNulty commented. “That 3rd loop of stages was even wetter again, a lot of floods and we had a bit of aquaplaning. For tomorrow I will try and consolidate the lead, keep the momentum and the concentration going”. Kevin Barrett said. “I was concentrating on just getting the car to the finish over the last couple of stages. I was trying a new type of Pirelli winter tyre to counteract the flooded roads. It worked well but I have never used them before and it took a while to get the confidence in them”. Alan Ring said. “The mechanics changed the differential in the Lancer and all is well. I am trying to narrow the gap a little to Kevin and keep the pressure on”.
? Tommy Doyle in 4th place has had power steering problems with his Clio and is still tortured with the misting up screen. Sam Moffett’s Lancer has had a split exhaust for the last few stages and he had to run with the anti lag off but still set very good times. Ross Forde’s Lancer received a new ECU that stopped the engine racing but also reduced the power. Ross was fortunate to stay in 6th having lost 4m in stage 9 when the Lancer suffered a puncture. David Quigley & Des Sherlock in the All Weather Covers Civic set consistently good times throughout the afternoon to come into 7th while Tom White dropped quite a few seconds with a couple of spins which rather detracted from some good times. Liam Egan got 3 clean stages towards the day’s end and has closed to within 19s of Martin Donnelly who also made the trip from the USA for this Galway Rally.
In the National Rally Tom Flaherty has driven brilliantly through the floods in his Mk2 Escort to hold a 1m.30s advantage over Pat Kelly’s Subaru. Geoffrey Dolan reported a river running down the road in stage 9 but kept his Sunbeam on course to hold 3rd place. In the Historic rally Ed Murphy has had a superb run in his Mk1 Escort to hold a 3m30s lead over Seamus Burke with James Power 3rd also in an Escort. James Sutherland had been up to 2nd but his Porsche skidded into a field at a junction. Frank Cunningham retired his Escort following a electrical problem. More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *For SMS results text RALLY ITC to 53030 (Irl) or RALLY ITC to 60066 (UK): Text STOP to switch off. Cost 30c/25p. Provided by stagetimes.com
