NATIONAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6
1st (14) Daniel McKenna/Andrew Grennan (Escort) 51.21.5
2nd (21) Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Escort) 52.14.7
3RD (25) Barry Meade/Eamonn Hayes (Escort) 52.22.8
4TH (19) Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Escort) 52.42.0
5TH (20) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 52.47.7
6TH Manus Kelly 7th Eugene Ferry 8th Brian Brogan 9th Paul Harris 10th Martin McGee 11th Sam Kelso 12th Rodney Wilton
Tim McNulty was fastest through stages 4 and 5 while Alastair Fisher, who was leading the rally after stage 3 and then lost it to McNulty, was quickest through stage 6. Seamus Leonard had his Subaru up into 3rd place after stage 4 but has reportedly stopped at the end of Atlantic Dr. with a oil feed problem. Daniel McKenna continues to lead the National Rally. The back axle of his Escort which was damaged earlier today and then repaired at service is making horrible graunchy noises but is still working. It would appear that Daniel managed to leave service on time and did not receive road penalties.
When Tim McNulty reached service at the end of this Day 1 of the Topaz Donegal International Rally he said. “We were going hard this afternoon and we picked dry weather tyres and the plan worked.” Alastair Fisher is looking forward to tomorrow’s stages and feels that the roads may suit his Fiesta S2000 better. Derek McGarrity was a bit down in the dumps when he reached service. He picked the wrong tyres for the afternoon stages and suddenly the gap between them and first place is 1m24s. Daragh O’Riordan’s co driver Tony McDaid reckons they made a few mistakes today but things should be a lot better tomorrow and they are introducing a few changes to the car. Kevin Barrett said. “Happy to get day 1 of this saga over. The car is good now. The problem turned out to be a crack in the hydraulic pressure filter”.
Donagh Kelly in the Airtricity Lancer is still the best of the conventional GpN cars although he felt he lost time with a poor tyre choice. Phillip Morrow turned in some scorching times this afternoon trying to make up for lost time this morning after his accident. Phillip told us there is a vibration from the front wheel but otherwise OK. Wesley Patterson arrived in to service with his Escort sounding pretty rough, blowing out oil and smoke. It is hard to imagine the car going much further. Conor Curley has reportedly crashed his Escort on the Glen stage. He has phoned his father Cahal to say they are both OK. The Bustard brothers Trevor & Kenny are reportedly stuck in that stage and trying to get out. Geoffrey Dolan in the Sunbeam leads the National category in the Tarmac C/ship but he is struggling today, firstly with a wrong tyre choice and now with a bad misfire in his Sunbeam engine. Martin Howley has had to retire his Lancer because his new gearbox packed the fiddle. Vincent Bonner has knocked a bit of his Escort rear bumper so he obviously getting into his old sideways style! After stage 5 Scott McElhinney is leading the Citroen Racing Trophy contenders by 21s from Mark Sheahan with Joe McGonigle 3rd a further 19s back.
On the World Rally Championship Acropolis Rally in Greece after SS5 Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson still hold the lead by 29s from Latvala, Ogier is now 3rd after setting fastest time on SS5.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net (with thanks to Michael Patterson): You can keep up to date with us on our Twitter feed at both @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
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