King Kelly of Clare!
Since acquiring his ex-Mikko Hirvonen
Ford Focus RS WRC from John Joe Fleming just before the Donegal
International Rally back in June, Donagh Kelly has struggled to get
used to the Left Hand Drive Focus. A winner in Right Hand Drive
Subaru's, many wondered when (and a small few even wondered if) Kelly
would get the hang of the new car.
But today on the Clare Stages Rally,
the Donagh of old reappeared. Blindingly fast from the start, he was
never troubled once over the six tough stages. It sets him up
perfectly for the Cork 20 Rally, the final round of the Irish Tarmac
Rally Championship in two weeks time.
Clare wasn't a round of the Irish
National Rally Championship this year as part of the rotational
system employed by the Championship. But it still attracted a massive
entry, two stages repeated three times was the order of the day. A
titanic scrap for the overall win was maybe lost with the withdrawals
of Niall Maguire and Peadar Hurson before the rally, but this can't
take away at all from the impressive performance of Donagh Kelly.
After SS1, Kenny McKinstry initially
held second place behind Kelly, in his Subaru Impreza WRC S14. Having
been involved in rallying for almost 40 years he's certainly showing
no signs of slowing up! But it all went sour when a damaged radiator
was the result of an overshoot on SS2, putting the Banbridge man out.
Stephen and Susanne Wright brought
their ex-Garry Jennings Mitsubishi Lancer Evo home in an impressive
second place, almost a minute down on Kelly. Stephen is having a very
rewarding full-time switch to Tarmac this year, having almost solely
competed on gravel in previous years, with some really spectacular
performances in the new car!
Another man with a new car for this
year is Kevin Barrett, switching from an S11 Subaru to an S14 model.
Kevin is gradually getting to grips with the new car, finishing in
third place overall in Clare. Just behind him was the 2WD winner,
Edward O'Callaghan in his 2 litre 16v Mk2 Escort. Ed also scoops up
the award for Class 13 winners and fourth place overall.
With Stephen Wright forefitting his
award for being the fastest Group N car, Shane Maguire takes the
Showroom class in his Subaru Impreza N11. Maguire, son of former
National Champion Niall Maguire, took fifth place overall by a
slender 4 secs over Ed Synan in sixth place, who also won Class 14.
Second in Class 14 was Mike Quinn, also
seventh overall. Ninth place went to Jack Maguire, who swapped from a
Class 13 Mk2 Escort to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 during the summer.
With Andy Hayes on the notes, the pairing once again won Class 20.
Sandwiched in between these two in
eighth place was the mightily impressive Noel Kelleher. Piloting his
Honda Civic, Noel hasn't been on the stages for two years but you'd
certainly not think it from the times he was putting in! Seeded at
Number 91, he certainly proved the surprise of the rally and in GRN's
view, was certainly the drive of the rally. Michal Fitzgibbon rounded
out the Top 10.
Perhaps the hard luck story of the
rally was of Frank Kelly. With 'trainee navigator' (a sticker found
on the back window of Frank's car) in the shape of Gary McElhinney in
the hot seat for the weekend, the pairing sat third overall for a
time. But, a reported fuel pump problem dropped Frank and Gary loads
of time, then running repairs gained them massive time penalties,
both of which transpired to send them to dead last. As deflating as
it was, they still managed to have a “savage days craic”!
No stopping Jennings in Killarney!
When Garry Jennings moved up to the
start line of SS1 on Saturday morning to head up the daunting Molls
Gap, he wouldn't have believed that less then 48 hours later he would
be standing back at The Gleneage Hotel at as winner of the 2013
Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes.
It was truly a rally of attrition, with
Derek McGarrity falling victim to a puncture on the very first stage.
With this he dropped 30 secs, but it was a sign of things to come for
the World Rally Car crews.
Darragh O'Riordan flew up the Gap in
his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, the new generation 1.6 litre car proving that
it can more than hold it's own with the 2 litre cars it replaced,
taking the overall lead. This lead was cut to just 0.8 secs by Denis
Cronin, armed with his newly-aquired Subaru Impreza S11 WRC, after
SS2. But it all went awry for Denis from here, he crashed out on the
next stage, wedging the car between two banks and damaging the
steering.
Only three seconds down on the flying
Fiesta pilot was Thomas Fitzmaurice. Another driver with a new car
this year (last year's Rally of the Lakes winning S12C to be
precise), Fitzmaurice ran well getting used to the new car in Galway
before retiring with mechanical trouble. Now, however, he was within
sight of the leaders.
But it was all over after SS5. An off
at close to 120mph on the extremely fast Gortnagane stage left
Fitzmaurice with a severely damaged ankle. Co-driver Fionn Foley
emerged shaken but uninjured, but the Subaru was destroyed, rumoured
to be beyond saving but we'll leave this decision up to the team's
mechanics and the car-maker's Prodrive. It's testament to the
strength and safety of the modern-era WRC cars that Thomas and Fionn
survived the impact. It sends a shiver down your spine thinking of
the possible outcome of such an accident 10 years ago, never mind
during the ruthless Group B era.
Jennings was the only man keeping out
of trouble, with O'Riordan spinning on SS4 and Declan Boyle retiring
with a damaged gearbox. Derek McGarrity was suffering with steering
problems as well, and he didn't have the parts to cure the problem.
The problems were forcing him to adapt his driving style, not
left-foot braking anymore and this was curbing his effort to regain
lost time.
So at the end of Day 1, O'Riordan lead
the rally by 7.3 secs over Jennings (who survived a late overheating
scare), with Killarney novice Donagh Kelly holding a surprise third
and Derek McGarrity fourth. Alan Ring lead Group N in fifth and Eoin
Doyle held sixth in his Ford Focus WRC.
Now, outside of a rally car, Darragh
O'Riordan is a man who cuts a small, quiet stature. But put him in a
rally car and he can make things happen, rapidly. He blew everyone
away on Sunday morning's first run up Molls Gap, ripping 18.1 secs
out of Jennings in the process. But his Bertie Fisher-esque pace in
Killarney all came to nothing on the next stage, crashing out on a
fast right-hander. Only slight frontal damage was done, but he was
stuck and out of the rally.
With O'Riordan out, Jennings took over
a 48 second lead Kelly in second place, who was in turn 38 secs ahead
of McGarrity. McGarrity had only six stages left to catch and
overhaul the S11 driver to make it a 1-2 for DMG-prepared. Amazingly,
he set five fastest times on the bounce to pass Kelly into the final
stage and command a 0.8 sec lead in the race for second. The pair of
them went all-out over the final stage, and Kelly went fastest
overall. But it was only by 0.3 secs meaning McGarrity took second by
half a second!
It was only Jennings' second
International win, but he can lay claim to winning arguably both of
the most important and symbolic rallies in Irish history, the Rally
of the Lakes and Donegal International Rally.
Sam Moffett won the Group N battle
after early leader Alan Ring went out with mechanical problems. He
lead home Stephan Wright by 3 mins 15 secs in a similar Lancer Evo,
with brother Josh Moffett in third, 4 mins 19 secs off the pace.
S-WRC Champion Craig Breen lead the
National class after Day 1 by 19.7 secs, piloting what else but a Mk2
Escort. An early misfire was sorted and he drove superbly, relishing
every stage but admitting coming across the aftermath of Thomas
Fitzmaurice's crash shook him. It was looking like a fairytale drive
for the young Peugeot works driver, but head gasket failure put paid
to that. This set up a battle between Fergus O'Meara and young Paddy
Kiernan, National winner last time out in Galway. O'Meara fought back
from engine troubles to win the National class by 21.5 secs.
Wesley Patterson showed the European
drivers how to tackle the Killarney stages by winning the Historic
category by 1 min 32 secs in his FIA Appendix K Ford Escort Mk2 over
a sideways Mark Falvey, driving a Mk1 Escort. Andrew Siddall took
third but by being over 8 mins back he show just what a pace the Top
2 were on.
Vincent McSweeney won the Junior
section of the rally, with Conor Moore and Daniel Cronin (Triple
British Champion Keith's younger brother) backing him up on the
podium. All three drivers were armed with Honda Civics, what appears
to be the tool of choice for up and coming young drivers!
Finally, GRN would like to wish Thomas
Fitzmaurice and Fionn Foley a speedy recovery and an equally speedy
return to the stages.
Donagh Kelly wins Circuit of Kerry
Before he made the jump to the top
level of Irish rallying, Donagh Kelly was already a very successful
driver in the showroom Group N classes. However, since the purchase
of an ex-Chris Atkinson and PJ McDermott Subaru Impreza S11 WRC, he
has been nearly on the pace of the established top men.
However, today he proved that he is now
on the pace of the regulars by winning the Circuit of Kerry Rally by
1 min 28.5 secs over the legendary Kenny McKinstry, his first
closed-road rally in his latest purchase, an Impreza S14. Kevin
Barrett took another of the Impreza's from the McKinstry stable home
in third place.
At the start, Declan Boyle lead the
rally in his Subaru Impreza S12 WRC after some stunning driving over
the first stage, only 2.8 secs ahead of Kelly but an amazing 30.8
secs ahead of McKinstry, who was struggling to get used to the
left-hand drive car. Boyle set an even more impressive time over the
next stage to increase his lead to 11.5 secs.
On the very next stage, it was all over
for the Glenties driver. He was caught out by a square right and the
S12 slid off the road into the ditch, rolling once before coming to a
rest on its wheels. Both he and co-driver Brian Boyle were ok, and
luckily the car only suffered mostly panel damage. However they were
out of the rally, and Kelly took over the lead, which he held to the
end.
Alan Ring won Group N and took fourth
overall in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, just ahead of Frank Kelly.
Kelly, with Stephan Quinn on the notes, was fastest 2WD and winner of
Class 14 in his Ford Escort Mk2 in fifth place overall. Eugene Meehan
and Jonathan Treanor took rounded out the Top 6.
John McQuaid pushed Frank Kelly hard in
the 2WD stakes, but the alternator belt slipped and he wisely decided
to back off, but still managed to take seventh place. James Laverty,
Frank Sweeney and Cal McCarthy rounded out the Top 10.
McNulty lands Spring Rally laurels
Rallying is all about finishing, as
Enda McNulty can now testify after winning the Omagh Spring Rally in
his Subaru Impreza, watching as others fell by the wayside.
 |
| Enda McNulty 1st Overall |
Martin Cairns lead the rally after SS1
in his Subaru Impreza S12, but he made an unexpected trip into the
County Tyrone trees and straight out of the rally. Surely favourite
to win the rally, owing to massive forest experience and a far
superior car, it was a shame to see Cairns go out so early.
 |
| Gareth Sayers 2nd Overall |
More known for his sideways and
spectacular exploits in 'Baby Blue', his Ford Escort Mk2, Frank Kelly
was stuck without an engine before the rally. Quite unexpectedly,
Conor KcKenna stood up and offered his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo to Frank
for the rally, marking Frank's return to 4WD for a good few years. It
began well, and with only a brief test before the event, Frank was on
or near the pace from the start. A puncture on SS2 cost him loads of
time, but three straight fastest times brought him back up to third
place. Closing on second place, Frank outbraked himself and the Evo
found itself heading into a bog upside down. Little damage was done,
but no spectators were about so it was game over for Frank and
co-driver Sean Ferris.
 |
| Shane McGirr 3rd Overall |
Gareth Sayers drove a superb rally to
take second place, with the win only 7 secs up the road. Shane
McGirr, in the sideways Starlet, took third, less than half a minute
behind winner McNulty. Marty McCormack was back in the Historic-spec
Escort Mk2, and took fourth. Amazingly, co-driver Liam Moynihan
guided Marty to the Historic class win in Omagh, and then drove
straight to Birr to win 2WD with Tommy Doyle in his new Clio R3!
 |
| Marty McCormack 4th Overall Historic Winner |
Desi Henry took his Citroen DS3 R3 into
the forests for the first time this year, only 4 secs ahead of the
flying Fiesta R2 of Jon Armstrong, who was amazing the spectators
with his pace throughout the day. Desi and Jon took fifth and sixth
overall.
 |
| Jon Armstrong 6th Overall |
Adrian Heatherington took seventh
overall, surviving a big moment with a ditch to bring his 'gravel'
Mk2 home safe and sound. Oran Donnelly took eighth and dominated
Class 6, for 2 Litre 8 Valve cars. Anthony Cairns and Joseph
McGonagle took ninth and tenth, with Joseph taking the brilliant
little Clio R3 into the forests.
Father and son team Robert and Darren
McKelvey were out in force, with Robert back in his Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo 8 and Darren in the other Mitsubishi, this time an Evo 6. Robert
and co-driver Aaron Johnston took 19th place overall, and
third in Group N. Darren and Denver Rafferty fared a little worse,
within seconds of father Robert all day but they bogged the Evo 6 on
a particularly cut-up hairpin. Both crews running GRN stickers as
well!
 |
| Malachy Loughran 25th Overall 4th Class 6 |
GRN's Jordan Murphy made his début on
the stages on the Omagh Spring Rally, as co-driver to Malachy
Loughran. The pair got off to a shaky start, but steadily climbed the
leaderboard as the rally went on, ending the tough event only 7 secs
behind third in Class 6, Declan Campbell. It was a baptism of fire
for the young navi from Co. Donegal, who “took an awful battering”
over the rough gravel stages!
Cronin masters Galway!
Keith Cronin came back to Ireland with a bang, showing his level of talent by rocketing past the opposition in his Subaru Impreza S11.
Wet lanes coated with mud greeted the crews on Sunday morning and the Galway Rally got underway. Fastest out of the blocks was returning Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly, who was back driving the Colm Quinn-sponsored MINI John Cooper Works WRC. However this time it was in right hand drive form, with some subtle upgrades over last year's version. He was 12 secs faster than anyone else over SS1.
Other drivers weren't so fortunate, with Derek McGarrity bringing his Subaru Impreza S14 back only to suffer from intercom problems and Garry Jennings was suffering from gearbox problems. However Darren Gass came off the worst, the reigning Champion sliding off into a ditch and retiring on the very first stage.
Heading into the first service of the rally, Donnelly still lead but with a reduced lead after Derek McGarrity cut the gap to under 11 secs. Keith Cronin continued to get used to his car, holding onto third place.
At the end of the second loop, Donnelly continued to lead but by a minute 0.1 secs over an on form Cronin, who had begun to up the pace in his ex-Thomas Fitzmaurice S11. He won SS5 by 12 secs. Declan Boyle was getting a feel for ITRC pace, beginning to close on McGarrity for third place.
The beginning of the final loop was swept by drizzle and light rain, but it didn't faze triple British Champion Cronin. He laid waste to all around him, despite being on a set of old Pirelli's he went into a 12.5 sec lead overall. Donnelly maintained second place, with the conditions deteriorating he couldn't afford a mistake with McGarrity and Boyle waiting for one of the Top 2 to slip up.
The final stage saw Cronin extend his lead up to 13.8 secs over Donnelly, who joked he might buy a dress soon as he always appears to be the bridesmaid in Galway. It was a sterling drive for the young man who was only adapting to the car throughout the whole rally. Declan Boyle finally overhauled Derek McGarrity with a big push through the final stage for third place.
McGarrity took fourth place in the Kerrs Tyres-sponsored car, with Donegal man Donagh Kelly in fifth place. Garry Jennings took sixth place, curing his gearbox problems only to suffer from handling problems in his new Impreza S12, the car getting all out of shape coming into junctions and tight corners.
Highest Galway crew were John Joe Fleming and Robbie Ward in their striking Ford Focus WRC. They took a solid seventh place amidst the horrible conditions, with John Joe saying it's the nicest car he's ever driven, but is struggling to get used to left hand drive. He was promoted one place after Thomas Fitzmaurice retired his Subaru Impreza S12C with reported gearbox problems.
Alan Ring won the Group N award in his regular Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, finishing ahead of the Moffett brother's Josh and Sam in similar cars. Ring winning by 21 secs over Josh, with Sam finishing 7 tenths behind his brother in third place. Sam Moffett was putting Ring under pressure going into the final test but his Evo started to misfire and that was the end of his challenge.
Paddy Kiernan and James McCarville took a last gasp National Rally win in their beautiful Ford Escort Mk2. Leaving the final service the pair trailed then National leader Tom Flaherty by 3 secs, but put in a solid drive to take the lead by 9.2 secs after SS6, only for Flaherty to fight back and cut the deficit to 2.9 secs going into the final stage.
The final stage was Kiernan's finest performance of the rally, he and co-driver McCarville finishing the stage in the hope they had done enough, McCarville even saying “Young Kiernan I hope we done it boy!”. They had in fact done it, and the National crown was theirs. Fergus O'Mara rose to second place, demoting Flaherty to third place at the end of the final, treacherous, test.
Wesley Patterson lead the Historic section in his immaculately prepared Ford Escort Mk2 (built to FIA Historic specification), until his engine failed close to the end. This let James O'Mahony into the lead and he held it to the end, leading home Ray Cunningham in one of his famous Mini Cooper's. John Spiers took third in his Porsche 911.
Richard Moore took a dominating victory in the Junior class in his Honda Civic, finishing over 3 mins ahead of second placed Kenneth Quirke. Justin Ryan took third place as the final finisher on what proved to be a rally of attrition for the entire field.
Daniel McKenna to contest BRC
Daniel McKenna will swap his Class 14
Ford Escort MK2 for a Ford Fiesta R2 when he contests the British
Rally Championship and fights for the Pirelli Star Driver Award this
year.
McKenna, the Billy Coleman Award winner
last year, announced recently that he will contest the BRC thanks to
the €50,000 he netted by winning the Billy Coleman Award. He has
already undertaken testing in his Fiesta R2, and reportedly took to
the new car very quickly. The Monaghan driver plans to contest a
round of the Irish Forestry Championship to gain competitive
experience of the car, and will also complete a day of testing prior
to the Rally North Wales, the opening round of the BRC.
With the Pirelli Star Driver Award
running once again alongside the BRC this year, and once McKenna
secures a nomination for the season-ending shoot-out (the prize being
a fully funded drive in the 2014 BRC), he will upgrade to an R3
specification and go for the overall Championship.
Arthur Kierans will co-drive for
McKenna this season as his regular co-driver Andrew Greenan has since
emigrated to Australia.
Hero's awarded at Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards
Monaghan ace Daniel McKenna was today
named as the Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year, beating
off still competition from Dean Raftery and Stephan Wright.
 |
| McKenna in action in Monaghan |
The Billy Coleman Award, named after
the 1984 Irish Tarmac Rally Champion, awards €50,000 to the driver
that is deemed to have come out on top after a series of
examinations. Previous winners include Gareth MacHale, who went on to
win the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, and the late Rory Galligan,
the inaugural winner and latterly Mitsubishi works driver in the BRC.
S-WRC Champion for 2012, Craig Breen,
won the Driver of the Year Award after claiming his second World
Title in as many years, but under some terrible circumstances.
Breen said: "In the aftermath of
the accident it took some time to decide on my next step but after
making the decision to continue, I knew it was the correct one. I
love every minute of what I do and it's times like this that I can
look back on in years to come. The second half of the season has been
difficult at times but to come back and win three rounds out of four
in the SWRC has been very rewarding. I want to again thank everyone
who supported me, it would not have been possible without you."
 |
| Brian O'Mahony at the Donegal Harvest Rally |
Enda Sherry received his and driver
Darren Gass' award for winning the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship
this year. Brian O'Mahony and John Higgins went home with the Vard
Memorial Trophy as Irish National Rally Champions. Garry Jennings
took the award for Irish Forestry Rally Champion, with Arthur Kierans
winning the co-driver's award.
Eoin Longworth (Birr and District Motor
Club) was awarded the Ivan Webb Memorial Trophy as Most Outstanding
Contribution to Motorsport, having been an important piece of the
motorsport puzzle in Ireland. Former Tarmac Rally Champion co-driver
Paul Kiely added another trophy to his mantle piece as he took the JC
Millard Memorial Award for Clubman of the Year, assisting with the
running of the Sligo Stages Rally and having input into the Dunlop
National Rally Championship. Sylvie Mullins collected his award as
National Hillclimb/Sprint Champion, ending the long-time domination
of Simon McKinley.
 |
| Mullins at the final National Hillclimb Championship round |
Note: Daniel McKenna Monaghan Stages image copyright to Declan Boyle/DBPics, all other images copyright to Global Rally News/Jordan Murphy. No unauthorised use.
Jennings does the (Double) treble!
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| Garry Jennings |
 |
| Declan Boyle |
 |
| Brian O'Mahoney |
2 mins behind winner Jennings was Brian
O'Mahoney, who took third place to land the Dunlop National Rally
Championship title. Brian didn't have a quiet rally however, after he
had to carry a message to a radio point after an elderly resident on
SS5 took ill.
 |
| Declan Gallagher |
 |
| Martin Doherty |
 |
| Garry Jennings and Neil Doherty |
 |
| Gary McElhinney doing a bit of entertaining as 00 car |
 |
| Frank Kelly |
Subaru Impreza '001' comes to Donegal!
Organisers of the Donegal Harvest Rally
2012 have announced that the very first of the iconic Subaru Impreza
555 (Chassis Number 001) cars will grace the Donegal stages when the
third rally in Co. Donegal in 2012 comes to Donegal Town.
This particular model of the Impreza
range, this specific one has been hailed as the 'First Ever Built'
Impreza 555, was piloted by greats such as Colin McRae and Carlos
Sainz to many wins as well as two Manufacturers Championships and
McRae's 1995 World Championship. It was also the final Group A car
Subaru produced, before the 2 litre turbo WRC regulations took over.
Closer to home, the legendary Bertie
Fisher took a Subaru Impreza 555 to many wins here in Ireland, with
the Toughmac cars evoking many memories of the spectators who were
lucky enough to be on the ditches during the 1990's.
The car has been fully restored to it's
former glory and will sport the 'Safety 00' stickers for the Donegal
Harvest Rally, the final car to pass through the stages before the
first of the competing cars does.
"the idea behind getting this car
here is to give spectators the opportunity to witness this fantastic
machine in action, the experienced crew will make the final safety
checks before car number 1 enters the stage. Cars like this are very
hard to come by in this country and getting a chance to see this car
in action could be few and far between.” said Entries Secretary,
Gary McElhinney.
Gass leads Ulster overnight
ITRC points leader Darren Gass will
carry a 15.4 sec lead into Day 2 of the 2012 Todds Leap Ulster Rally
after 6 demanding stages.
The day began dry with the first loop
comprising of the infamous Knockboy, Torr Head and Glendun. Baking
sun greeted the crews as they tackled the first loop, with not a
cloud in sight. Gass lead into service with Derek McGarrity second
and Darragh O'Riordan third. Garry Jennings spun his hired Subaru
Impreza WRC right around in front of GRN's resident photographer,
losing precious time.
The second loop saw the National
runners added into the mix, along with the Ulster Rally, Rally NI,
Ulster Historic Rally and the BRC Challenge event. The top runners
managed to avoid the heavy rain that fell at the end of the loop,
almost catching out a lot of crews.
After the end of the second loop, which
ended the day, Gass continued to lead, but this time by an amazing 15
secs over McGarrity. 11 of those seconds came from the second run
over Torr Head, when a perfect tyre choice helped Gass extend his
lead up to 15 secs. Garry Jennings will remain third overnight, 1 min
off of the lead in his Subaru.
Behind the Top 3, Darragh O'Riordan
sent his Subaru up a bank, losing 20 secs. The debris spread about by
O'Riordan's excursion caused Alastair Fisher, Joe McGonigle and Desi
Henry punctures, dropping them 2 mins plus.
Robert Barrable is fifth overnight,
ahead of Sam Moffett, Steve Perez and Stephen Wright round out the
surviving Ulster Rally crews. Willie Mavitty didn't survive the first
day, but will re-join tomorrow under Rally 2 regulations.
In the Rally NI section of the rally,
Keith Cronin is rocketing away from the opposition in his Citroen
DS3. He maintains a 55.6 sec lead over Elfyn Evans' Ford Fiesta R2.
29 secs back is Johnny Greer, who displaced Osian Pryce for third
over the final test.
Tommy Doyle holds fifth place in his
newly acquired DS3, adjusting to his new mount rapidly. Tom Cave is
breathing down his neck however, only 1 sec behind. Mark Donnelly is
seventh after Cave got by on the day's final test.
Guy Wilks is on his first event out in
a few years, piloting the little Renault Twingo R2 Evo into eighth
place. Reported low sun on SS6 cost the former British Rally Champion
a few seconds. Jukka Korhonen and Matthew Cathcart round out the Top
10.
In the Ulster Historic Rally, Tomas
Davies leads a quartet of Ford's in his Escort MK2. 1 min 10 secs
separates the Top 4, with Julian Reynolds, Ernie Graham and Tim
Pearcey in the other 3 Ford's. Rob Smith's Vauxhall Chevette and
Keith McIvor's Porsche 911 round out the Top 6.
Richard Sykes holds a comfortable 30
sec advantage over Jon Armstrong in the Ulster Challenge Rally. Times
are fairly spread out in the Challenge Rally, with just under 6 mins
separating the eight runners.
The sole MINI John Cooper Works WRC in
the rally currently leads the Ulster National Rally overnight, with
Derek McGeehan piloting his example perfectly along the tight lanes
to command a 21.9 sec lead overnight. Going well in second place is
Ulster Rally newcomer Frank Kelly, complete with new 'special' half
shafts (designed for transferring 300+bhp from the engine to the
road). Less than 2 secs behind Kelly is Camillus Bradley's bright
orange MK2 Escort in third.
Meeke's magnificent Lurgan Park
Kris Meeke showed his World
Championship spec class on last weekend's Lurgan Park Rally,
dominating from SS2 to the finish of the iconic event.
Competing on his first rally of 2012 in
one of two Derek McGeehan run MINI John Cooper Works WRC's, the
former MINI works driver was bested by double Irish Tarmac Champion
Derek McGarrity in another MINI. But once Meeke got the hang of his
car and the “green” stages, he was flying.
Within the remaining 7 stages, Meeke
had amassed a lead of 30.3 secs over 'King of the Park' Kenny
McKinstry. McKinstry was using one of his own hire cars, this
specific one usually used by John McGaffin. King Kenny's usual X14
SRT was being used as a demonstration car.
A tense final stage fight between Garry
Jennings and Derek McGarrity over 3rd place lead to Jennings claiming
the position by 1.9 secs. Jennings entered the event in a
forestry-spec Subaru Impreza 555, a dinosaur compared to McGarrity's
MINI, and while the car wasn't a match for the competition, Jennings'
crazy, all-or-nothing style certainly was. His co-driver on this
occasion was his partner Kerry McCarter, who belied her lack of
experience to keep her partner away from the trees.
The battle for fifth was even tighter,
with Kevin Barrett's Impreza edging Derek McGeehan's new right hand
drive MINI JCW WRC by 0.6 secs. Stuart Biggerstaff brought the
glorious Metro 6R4 out for a run, and he, in a car over 25 years old,
took the fight to Ray Brammer's Impreza WRC to edge Brammer by 1.5
secs and snatch 7th.
John McKeown's Ford Escort WRC popped
and banged all the way to 9th place. Alan Carmichael
stalled his McKinstry Motorsport Impreza S11 on SS1, and struggled to
get used to left hand drive. With Donegal International Rally winning
co-driver Neil Doherty sitting with him, he claimed a solid 10th
place in The Park.
Alan Mullen won Group N in his
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, with Paddy McVeigh in second. Mullen received
a slight scare when his throttle started to stick. Not something you
want with the infamously solid Lurgan Park trees are only a few
metres away, just ask Derek McGarrity what can happen.
Lurgan Park regular Mark Doyle
campaigned his usual Toyota Celica, bring it home to 11th.
Doyle ran fifth after SS1, but slid off then ran out of wet tyres and
plummeted down the order. His brother was dispatched to get some more
wet tyres from his house, and with the new rubber fitted Doyle was
back on form.
Gary Owens won the historic class in
his immaculate Ford Escort MK2 RS1800 by 10 secs over Raymond Nelson.
Owens suffered a near major disaster when he managed to snap the gear
stick off. Luckily, co-driver Denver Rafferty was carrying a lump
hammer in his co-drivers bag!
Jimmy McRae won the FIA Historic Class
in Wesley Patterson's Ford Escort MK2. The legendary Scotsman
remarked at the end “There's life in the old dog yet!”. Drew
Wylie took second 2.7 secs behind with Raymond Johnston in third.
If any of our readers watch the BAFTA
winning Irish TV programme Mrs. Brown's Boys, you may be familiar
with the names Danny O'Carroll and Paddy Houlihan. More commonly
known as 'Buster Brady' and 'Dermot Brown', respectively, both were
in the co-drivers seat for the Lurgan Park Rally. Buster found
himself in the hot seat alongside Stuart Biggerstaff, claiming 7th
O/A and class honours. Dermot was on demo duties alongside Philip
Greenlee, and was involved in a small crash. There is a debate over
whether Dermot called the note too late, or Philip misread the
corner. Either way, the bright orange MK2 Escort was left a bit worse
for wear after a fairly heavy thump!
Evans dominates ALMC stages
Melvyn Evans put in a stunning drive on
last weekend's ALMC Stages Rally to head up a Subaru Impreza WRC
1-2-3, 1 min 28 secs ahead of James Belton in second.
Evans lead the rally from start to
finish, and even held a lead of one minute by SS6. Another phenomenal
time over the very next stage, SS7, allowed him to cruise over the
final stage, to the finish.
Belton and Stephen Simpson, both
driving cars prepared by rally winner Melvyn Evans, took their cars
to second and third. Damien Cole was running second for a time, but
problems with the throttle on the final stage dropped him to fourth.
Evans had made the decision to compete
on the Irish leg of the REIS Get Connected Championship was to take
back lost points in the championship after withdrawing from the Jim
Clark Rally. However it was announced that his victory wouldn't count
towards the championship table as he, and other competitors, hadn't
fitted mud flaps that comply with the regulations to their cars. This
now means that Cole retains the championship lead, over Simpson.
Chris Armstrong put in an excellent
drive in his MK2 Escort to seal fifth. The 22 year old Cavan driver
was fastest 2WD to boot, only headed by the championship leading
World Rally Cars. Amazingly, it was only Armstrong's third event in
the car! David Armstrong took sixth in another MK2.
Problems befell pre-rally favourites
Eugene Donnelly and Thomas Fitzmaurice. Donnelly's Toyota Corolla WRC
suffered even more engine problems, and on the first stage too.
Subaru-mounted Fitzmaurice pulled out when co-driver Fionn Foley took
ill.
Dick Mauger dominated the Historic
section in his Ford Escort MK2, winning by 2 mins 7 secs over Roy
Smith's Porsche 911. Philip McKibbin took third in his Ford Cortina,
3 mins 7 secs behind.
McKibbin was being guided by rookie
co-driver Padraig Foran, the young Kerry lad put in an excellent
performance in the hot seat on his very first rally. A short
highlights video of Philip and Padraig's rally will be uploaded in
the next few days. Keep an eye on this young co-driver, he could be
well on his way to big things and GRN wishes him all the best!
Kevin McLaughlin put in a stunning
drive to win the Junior section of the rally by 1 min 36 secs. He
beat Sean Brady's Peugeot 205 into second place, with Jill White
almost 5 mins behind.
Finally, on a very sombre note, news
broke yesterday of the death of Peter Donnelly, father of Eugene and
Charlie Donnelly.
Eugene, multiple Tarmac Champion, said
of his father: "Dad was always very supportive in everything we
did. That was the kind of man he was and typical of his life story.
Regardless of what we decided to do, be it in business, Motorsport or
anything else, he always gave constructive advice and his full
support, and offering any help he could. Dad was such a loving man
and will be miss terribly by all of us".
GRN sends our most sincere condolences
to the Donnelly family at this difficult time.
Jennings dominates Donegal
A huge weight has now been lifted off of Garry Jennings' and Neil Doherty's shoulders, after the new pairing dominated the 41st running of the Donegal International Rally, Ireland's premier rally.
 |
| Garry Jennings |
Jennings lead from the outset, winning
SS1 by 3.7 secs over Darragh O'Riordan. He really demoralised the
opposition when he won Sunday's opener, the Glen stage, by 15 secs
over O'Riordan. Amazingly, this performance came in wet conditions
when Jennings, and most of the other competitors, were on slicks.
Jennings' Donegal glory also marks the
Subaru Impreza S14's first win on Irish tarmac, after it's
troublesome début in Galway. On smooth European tarmac, the S14 has
had moderate success, but not on the unique Irish roads until
Jennings' Donegal win.
 |
| Seamus Leonard |
His run to victory was not without
trouble. Jennings' hit a bank hard on SS11, injuring his arm and
wrist. No serious damage was done to the Impreza, just some bodywork
damage as well as taking off a wing mirror, which Jennings' said was
“four grand's worth!”. Even with this moment, he impressed
throughout the weekend, and his hired Impreza certainly impressed his
parter Kerry, who, when asked by her partner “will we sell the
house?”, actually considered it!
 |
| Derek McGarrity |
Seamus Leonard took a surprise second
overall after O'Riordan got a closer look at the Donegal scenery than
he would have wanted during the rally on SS18. He lost 7 mins in a
ditch but managed to get back on the road, but then took the decision
to retire from ninth place. Leonard was lucky to get away with a
massive moment on the Fanad stage when his Impreza WRC ran wide and
mounted a bank.
Third went to Derek McGarrity in his
newly-aquired Subaru Impreza S12B, last years winning car in the
hands of Tim McNulty. Local driver Donagh Kelly is still adjusting to
his ex-PJ McDermott Impreza S11, but still took fourth.
 |
| Declan Boyle |
Fifth went to a hugely impressive
Darren Gass. Gass was pulled over on a road section by an Garda
Síochána for an alleged speeding offence on the way to SS4. He
hauled his older S10 Impreza back up the leaderboard to take fifth
spot, and hold on to his lead in the ITRC Driver's Championship. His
challenge was helped somewhat by Niall Maguire's Subaru failing on
him on the final test.
Sam Moffett took sixth overall as well
as first in Group N ahead of his brother Josh. Both driving identical
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo's, the pair were never far apart throughout the
rally. Sam eventually beat Josh by 17 secs. Martin Doherty took third
in Group N and eighth overall.
 |
| Sam Moffett |
Kevin O'Connor was first 2WD home in
his Citroen C2 R2 Max, 39.2 secs ahead of the Renault Clio R3 of Joe
McGonigle, in tenth.
Donegal pairing Declan & Brian
Boyle won the National Rally by just 4.8 secs in their MK2 Escort.
Second went to Manus Kelly, in Gary McPhillip's usual car, after a
spectacular drive. Martin McGee took third, lucky to finish at all
after he damaged a wheel on the final stage passing Niall Maguire's
failed Subaru.
The Historic Section went to Andy
Johnston. Driving his immaculate Vauxhall Chevette, he and co-driver
Jim McSherry won by just 6.9 secs after two days of competition.
Stephen McFerren was a further 4 mins 40 secs behind in third.
 |
| Andy Johnston |
Damien Whoriskey won the Junior Rally
in his Ford Escort by 25 secs over a trio of Toyota Corolla's, lead
by Barry McLaughlin. Third went to Christopher McLaughlin, just under
2 mins behind.
Perhaps the most impressive story of
the rally was of local driver David Ward. Piloting his Talbot Sunbeam
in the rally, Ward's engine failed on the Friday of the rally. A
purpose built competition engine is very hard to come by late at
night mid-ways through a rally, never mind finding somewhere to fit
it then fitting the unit itself.
 |
| Damien Whoriskey |
So, Ward came up with a solution that
few else would think of. He put up an ad on Done Deal searching for
an engine for his Sunbeam. He then proceeded to buy a Suzuki Swift
from a woman in Letterkenny for €250, remove the engine from the
Swift, bolt on his set of twin Webers and drop it into his Sunbeam
rally car! And he re-joined the rally on Saturday!
Faultless Jennings leads in Donegal
At the end of Day 1 in Donegal, Garry
Jennings leads the 2012 Donegal International Rally by 15.9 secs over
Darragh O'Riordan.
Jennings made a scorching start in his
hired Subaru Impreza S14 WRC, and held the lead throughout the day.
Slowly extending his lead throughout the day, Jennings has quickly
got to grips with the Banbury supercar. His only gripe was his launch
control failed at the start of SS6.
Darragh O'Riordan has a consistent day,
holding down second by a margin of 17.4 secs over Seamus Leonard.
Leonard, a former Group N winner here in Donegal, is 33.3 secs off of
Jenning's pace.
Derek McGarrity, Niall Maguire and
Donagh Kelly round out the Top 6. Kelly joked at the end of SS3 that
“the car is fine but the driver would want to a bit better!”. A
SS2 stall for McGarrity seems to have thrown him out of balance as he
is 56.6 secs off the lead. Aaron MacHale, sporting a Global Rally
News sticker on the bonnet, sits seventh after launch control
problems dropped him time. He is currently 1 min 34.7 secs off of
Jenning's scorching pace.
The Donegal crew of Declan and Brian
Boyle will lead the National Rally overnight. He commands a 33 sec
lead over Manus Kelly, who is driving Gary McPhilips usual car.
Scottish visitor Calum Duffy holds an incredibly impressive third
place.
Daniel McKenna lead the National Rally
after SS1, and did so up until SS4, when differential failure
intervened and put him out of the rally. Frank Kelly, another Global
Rally News sponsored car, held joint second after SS1, but his engine
dropped a valve on SS2. That caused terminal engine damage and put
him out of the rally for good. David Bogie's glorious MG Metro 6R4
was running well up to SS5, belching flame out of the twin exhausts
all day long. However, he took a wheel off on SS6 and put him out for
the day. Reports say he will return under SupeRally tomorrow.
In the Group N battle, the Moffett
brothers lead the pack of Mitsubishi Lancers. Sam Moffett leads the
way by 24.6 secs over brother Josh. Martin Doherty is 35 secs behind
in third.
Kieran Daly leads the Citroen Racing
Trophy, in 16th overall. He's ahead of Kevin O'Connor,
who's 2.3 secs back, and David Carney.
Tomorrow will see the introduction of
the Historic section. GRN's logo's can be seen on the Ford Escort MK2
of Gary Owens/Denver Rafferty and the Mini Cooper of William
Todd/Aaron Johnston.
Garry Jennings, Aaron MacHale, Joe
McGonigle (Renault Clio, 19th), Brian Quigley (Honda
Civic, 33rd), Gary Owens and William Todd are all sporting
GRN logos for the Donegal International Rally. Frank Kelly was also
sporting two logo's, but sadly his rally ended with an engine
problem.
For all the crews still in the rally,
and especially the crews sporting GRN stickers, all we can say is...
Best of luck lads!
Countdown to the Donegal International Rally!
Excitement and anticipation continues
to build with only a matter of days until the only remaining 3 day
rally in Ireland, the Donegal International Rally.
The rally will get under way on Friday
morning at 11:20 am when the competitors will be waved off of the
start line at An Grianán Theatre. Last year, World Rally legend
Markku Alén waved the crews off, before taking off to watch the
stages.
After the start ramp, the crews will
head off into the stages. The Gortree stage begins the rally, and
with fast straights followed by treacherously sharp corners, the
crews had better be wide awake and on full alert. 8 stages will run
on Friday, interspersed with 2 service stops.
Day 2 of the rally begins on Saturday
at 9:53 am. The surviving competitors will head north, towards Fanad
Head. Today sees the infamous and terrifying Fanad and Knockalla
stages being run. Running alongside the coast, the route makes for
spectacular scenery for the spectators to indulge in between cars.
However, the equally spectacular roads will require the drivers' full
attention, unless they wish to get a closer look at the scenery. The
Historic Section joins the rally today, and will run on the final
day, too.
The final day, run on Father's Day,
sees a shorter but no less testing six stages facing the crews who
have survived both days. The beautiful Atlantic Drive stage is
Sunday's biggest stage (notoriety wise), with the second run closing
the rally. The Junior Section will join the rally on the Sunday. The
cars that have survived the tough, demanding 22 Donegal stages are
expected back to the Finish Ramp outside the Mount Errigal Hotel,
also Rally HQ, at 5:01 pm.
Darren Gass will lead the 130-strong
entry away at No. 1 seed from the ramp on Friday morning in his
Subaru Impreza S11. He will be followed by Darragh O'Riordan, Garry
Jennings, the returning Mark Higgins, Derek McGarrity, Niall Maguire,
Donagh Kelly, Seamus Leonard (a former Group N winner here in
Donegal) and Aaron MacHale in one of the family Ford Focus WRC's.
Some drivers have different than usual
machinery for the rally, with Garry Jennings having rented out Peter
Lloyds Subaru Impreza S14 for the rally, Joe McGonigle has bought
Tommy Doyle's Renault Clio, Manus Kelly is out in Gary McPhillips'
MK2 Escort and Derek McGarrity having bought Tim McNulty's Impreza
S12C. Rumours suggest that 'Big Tim' has called a halt to his
rallying exploits after having sold the car. Speculation also
suggests that Mark Higgins, the man who lead the legend that is
Sebastian Loeb by over 40 secs at one point 5 years ago, is driving
McGarrity's MINI John Cooper Works WRC, but he is down on on the
entry list as driving a Subaru. Only scrutiny on Thursday evening
will tell what everyone is driving.
David Bogie is back this year in the
glorious MG Metro 6R4, and will face stiff opposition from the usual
brigade of MK2 Escort's. Top Escort seed is Daniel McKenna, but he is
chased by over 20 other MK2's. Over from Britain is tarmac
specialist, Simon Mauger, who is up against it in his MK2. Calum
Duffy is also over from the Isle of Mull.
Sam Moffett heads the scrap over Group
N honours, chased by Conor Harvey, Pat Kirk and Trevor Bustard.
A 15 entry-strong Historic Rally kicks
in on Saturday, as well as the 11-strong Junior Rally which comes in
on the Sunday. Gary Owens, sporting Global Rally News logos, will
start at H6 in his historic-spec MK2. We wish him all the luck and
hope to see the Global Rally News logos on the finish ramp on Sunday
evening in first place!
Even with the recession that has all
but crippled the country, the rally is expected to take in over €25m
into the local economy, as well as taking in over 50,000 rally
spectators. With these figures, it isn't hard to see why the Donegal
International Rally is still seen as the biggest attraction in the
North West.
Rory Galligan 1973-2012
With immense sadness and regret we have
learned of the death of former BRC front-runner Rory Galligan, who
passed away on Monday (21st May), aged just 39.
Galligan was an immensely well-liked
and talented driver. He was perhaps most well-known for being a
Mitsubishi works driver in the 2005 and 2006 in the British Rally
Championship. Committed and spectacular, he had pace on every
surface.
His rallying career started in 1993,
when he took to the stages in a Talbot Sambia. After 2 years learning
the rope's, the Sambia was ditched in favour of a Peugeot 205, a
challenge-spec car.
This is where Galligan's talent was
really seen. Even though the car was nearly standard, he beat cars
far and above his own class, including WRC cars! The opposition
couldn't stand his sheer pace, and he took many class wins in Ireland
and Britain on the way to winning the British Class A7 Rally
Championship in 1998.
He jumped up to a Peugeot 106 S1600 to
contest the 106 Super Cup, a hotly contested affair. His first year
was blighted by crashes, but it was also his first year on gravel,
and again he showed his pace.
He spent another year learning the
stages and the car, before, in 2001, he blew the opposition into the
weeds when he took four 106 Super Cup wins out of 8 rounds, on his
way to the Championship.
He was awarded a works drive in a
Peugeot 206 S1600 Kit Car for 2002 for winning the 106 Super Cup the
year before. Fraught with mechanical problems throughout the year, he
finished on the podium in 3 of the 4 events he finished, including a
3rd place on his very first rally in the car. This lead to
a 4th placed finish in the hugely competitive S1600
Championship.
He made another class jump with a move
to the Mitsubishi Evolution challenge in 2004. He spent the season
fighting with his old Peugeot rival Paul Wedgbury, claiming the title
on the last rally by a single point.
This is when his career really took
off. He was rewarded with a Mitsubishi works drive for the full
British Rally Championship in 2005. He took 5 Group N wins in his
first year as a works driver and took second overall in the
Production Championship. He was easily the fastest driver on both
gravel and tar.
With WRC cars banned in the BRC for
2006, and Galligan chosen to drive a works car for another year, he
was given his first proper shot at going for the British Driver's
Title. From the first 4 rounds he took a second, a third and 2
retirements. He also took part in Rally Finland in a Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo taking a creditable fifth,in the Group N class, showing he
had the talent to compete at world level. Things were going from good
to great for the Irishman and it was only a matter of time before he
took his first BRC win.
Tragically, it wasn't to be. He was
struck down with illness part-ways through the 2006 season, and as
the illness took hold, he was forced to can his rallying career after
his home Ulster Rally. He had spend 13 years in the sport he loved,
and 2 years at the very top of British Rallying.
After his premature retirement from
rallying, he kept himself in the sport. He was always up-to-date with
all the goings on and was willing to help wherever he could.
Rory passed away on Monday from Motor
Neuron Disease. His funeral will take place on Thursday (24th
May). A guard of honour will take place before and after the funeral
mass as a final salute to Rory.
GRN sends its deepest condolences to
Rory's family, wife Treasa, son Charlie, daughter Ella and his many,
many friends.
O'Riordan takes second Killarney win
Darragh O'Riordan took a dominating win
in Kerry last weekend at the Killarney Rally of the Lakes.
Following up his breakthrough win last
year in The Kingdom, O'Riordan and co-driver Tony McDaid guided their
Subaru Impreza S12B faultlessly over the legendary Killarney stages
to take a commanding win of over 2 mins, ahead of Championship leader
Darren Gass.
It wasn't all plain sailing for
O'Riordan, and stiff competition came in the form of reigning Tarmac
Champion Tim McNulty. Making his second appearance of 2012 after
missing the Circuit of Ireland, McNulty flew into an early lead ahead
of O'Riordan. It all fell apart for 'Big Tim', when his Subaru
vanished off the road backwards whilst negotiating the famous Molls
Gap stage, SS4.
McNulty's adventure let Eugene Donnelly
up into second overall, but by now O'Riordan was driving away from
the opposition. Donnelly, piloting his Toyota Corolla WRC, was
keeping Darren Gass at bay, Gass marking only his second trip to
Killarney.
Gass took advantage of an intercom
problem for Donnelly on SS10, the Tim Healy Pass, and cut the deficit
down to 1 sec before moving into a 3 secs lead. Disaster struck for
the 7-times Tarmac Champion, as a piston failure put him out of the
rally. This looks to be the end of the road for Donnelly's
Championship aspirations.
This put everyone behind up a place,
including moving Group N leader Garry Jennings into 3rd
overall. Gass maintained second but there was nothing he could do
about the leading S12B of O'Riordan.
The order remained the same as Darragh
O'Riordan blew the opposition into the weeds with a spectacular
second consecutive win in Killarney. Gass took second, maintaining
his Championship lead over Garry Jennings, who took third overall and
Group N win. Indeed, such was Jennings winning margin in the showroom
class that he had his service engineer Colm Grant knock back the
power in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo so he could cruise to the finish.
Jenning's nearest rival, Sam Moffett, went out from fourth overall
with the timing went funny in his similar Evo.
JJ Fleming struggled to get used to his
ex-Mikko Hirvonen Ford Focus WRC, but still took fourth, albeit over
13 mins off the lead. Vincent O'Shea took fifth overall and second in
Group N to the rapid Garry Jennings. Sixth went to the Citroen Racing
Trophy winning Citroen C2 of David Carney and Ray Fitzpatrick.
Aaron McHale made his return to
rallying in his usual Ford Focus WRC. The car had been out of action
for a few years and a list of problems plagued the car, including
clutch, battery and alternator problems. Eoin Doyle had a strong run
in his also newly acquired Ford Focus WRC, but went out on the
Ballaghbeama stage.
In stark contrast to the International
field, there was a massive fight for the win in the National section.
Roy White (MG ZR S2000) and Barry Meade (Ford Escort MK2) swapped
times throughout the rally, but an electrical problem caused White's
MG to stall twice in one stage, and even thought he threw caution to
the wind to catch back up, but Meade held on to win by 10 secs.
Fergus O'Mara was third, but nearly 3 mins off the leading pair.
Local knowledge always helps when
rallying. Having a good car also helps. As does being a competent
driver.
However, give Camillus Bradley his
infamous orange MK2 Escort and put him in Davagh Forest, only a brave
(indeed extremely brave) man would bet against him not winning. But
that is exactly what he did on last weekend's Tour of the Sperrins
rally, making him the first 2WD driver to win a round of the NI Rally
Championship for over 10 years!
Based this year in Davagh Forest, and
not on the usual closed public roads, Bradley was easily favourite to
win the rally. Even thought Championship leader Derek McGarrity had
entered in a Hyundai Accent WRC, which actually transpired to be a
state-of-the-art MINI John Cooper Works WRC, Bradley was still
favourite in his equally state-of-the-art MK2.
The 4 mile Stage 1 got under way at
just before 11 O’clock with McGarrity fastest out of the blocks,
but not much more than half a second faster than Bradley. He
continued his space over the next test, extending his lead to 6.4
secs over the bright-orange MK2.
But, on the next stage, Bradley decided
to give it the boot. He was fastest on the final four stages, there
were only 6 in the rally, converting his 5.8 sec deficit into a 26.1
sec win. It did help that McGarrity dropped 40 secs on SS5, but
chances are that Bradley would have caught and passed the MINI with
or without the problems.
The time loss put McGarrity down to
third, boosting Drew Stewart up to second in another MK2 Escort.
Kieron Graffin took fourth in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 with
Alistair Cochrane took fifth in his MK2, 10 secs clear of Raymond
Mason's Evo.
The two MK2 Escort's of James Kennedy
and Gary Price took seventh and eighth, heading a pair of Evo's,
piloted by Gerard McFall and Kyle Orr.
Round 3 of the McGrady Insurance Junior
1000 Rally Championship was held in Eniskillen, part of the McAleer's
Spar Stages Rally. Adam Bustard took the spoils for the first time,
with championship leader and winner of the first two rounds, Ben
Crealey, barely one and a half secs back in second. Rhys Bunting
survived the slippery conditions to take third.
McKenna takes mighty Monaghan!3 WRC crews entered the 2012 Monaghan Stages Rally, and they occupied the first 3 slots on the entry list. They were followed by a trio of MK2 Escorts, flying machines in their own right. Leading the MK2 charge was Daniel McKenna, but he had his work cut out to topple the leading WRC Subaru's, lead by local legend Niall Maguire.
|
| Rally Winner Daniel McKenna |
 |
| 2nd Overall Sam Moffett |
In the end, however, the WRC cars were
nowhere to be found. Seamus Leonard was the first to go, out on SS1.
Next was WRC newcomer Donagh Kelly. Kelly, who previously sported an
ex-Kevin Lynch Ford Focus WRC but is more accustomed to a Group N
Mitsubishi, crashed out on SS3. Niall Maguire was the only one left
standing, establishing a 1 minute lead by SS7. One minute is nothing
when you gearbox goes bang, which Maguire's did, and out he went.
So cue the MK2 Escort's it seemed.
Anyone who ever doubted the sheer pace that a well-driven MK2 Escort
can achieve have well and truly been schooled. Daniel McKenna and
Gary McPhillips stood up and flew.
 |
| 3rd Overall Maurice Moffett |
McPhillips was caught off guard by
McKenna over the opening loop of stages. He dropped 32 secs to the
flying McKenna. It was “shoulder to the wheel” time over the next
loop, as Gary fought to gain back the lost time, winning all 3
stages. SS6 saw vast amounts of standing water and McKenna nearly
lost it all when an overshoot at a hairpin lead to a the Scanbitz
MK2's rear end suffering a God-almighty wallop. McPhillips overshot
the same hairpin, but to a lesser extent. Both crews left the scene
at the same time, with spectators witnessing two MK2 Escorts fighting
to the stage end, side by side.
McKenna got his shortened MK2 repaired
in service, and the pair were dead level after SS7. That was as good
as it got. McKenna passed the red MK2 of McPhillips, suffering from
suspension failure. Gary lost over 6 mins with the failure, dropping
him to 14th.
 |
| Group N Winner Shane Maguire 4th Overall |
Sam Moffett took second in his
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, and his Dad, the infamous (and slightly
mental) Maurice, took third. Shane Maguire won Group N in his Subaru
Impreza, taking a fine fourth overall in the process. Maguire was
scrapping with the third Moffett in the rally, Josh, and eventually
took a 17 sec win over the Evo driver, who also took fifth. Donegal
crew Declan and Brian Boyle took sixth, and Class 14, despite an
early puncture in their Limelight-backed MK2.
A big thanks must go to another Declan
Boyle, of DBPics, who stepped in to sponsor our Monaghan Stages Rally
report, as well as supplying the photos in this report. Declan is an
outstanding young photographer, and will be supplying more photos to
Global Rally News in the future. Cheers Declan!
 |
| Best Donegal Result Declan Boyle 6th Overall |
McGarrity makes it two from two
Derek McGarrity made it two from two
with a dominating display in his newly-acquired MINI John Cooper
Works WRC, leading the McGrady Insurance Stages Rally from start to
finish.
With McGarrity's new car only arriving
a few days before the event itself, he had little time to adjust to
it, but it wouldn't look like it, as he won the first stage by
7.8secs. This white-hot pace continued up until the finish, winning
the rally by 51 secs after it's 6 stages.
After a scrap with the other MINI of
Derek McGeehan, Kieron Graffin made the switch from his usual Group N
Mitsubishi to a Subaru Impreza WRC S9 for this event and took second,
with McGeehan in third, only 1.7 secs behind.
John McGaffin took fourth in the second
Subaru Impreza WRC, 40 secs ahead Group N winners, David Graham and
James McDermott in fifth. Sixth went to 2WD winners James and Heather
Kennedy in their MK2 Escort.
Dominic McNeill brought his Mitsubishi
Lancer home in seventh, 6 secs ahead of David Armstrong in eighth.
Trevor Ferguson took ninth, just ahead of event sponsor Fintan
McGrady, tenth in his MK2 Escort.
In the showroom category, David Graham
took the win by half a minute over Trevor Ferguson, with the Group N
'new boy' Jason Curran, who is still getting used to his new car,
third again in Group N.
Curran landed himself a 20 sec penalty
for landing into SS1 start control early, putting him on the back
foot before the rally had even begun and throwing him back to 33rd
overall and last in Group N, but he and co-driver Barbara Love fought
back to claim third in Group N and 12th overall. Jason and
Barbara hope to do the full Northern Ireland Rally Championship this
year, and two thirds from two events mark a near-perfect start for
the likeable pairing.
The Junior 1000 Rally was won by Ben
Crealey and Liam Regan in convincing fashion, marking their second
straight win. After only 4 stages, young Ben's winning margin was an
impressive 20 secs. Kyle Orr took second in class in his Peugeot 107,
with Rhys Bunting in third.
