RALLY NEWS NO.6        Finish..Sunday 6.15

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 - LAST STAGE

1st (1) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Subaru WRC) 1.02.44

2nd (3) Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell (Subaru Impreza)1.05.55

3rd (12) Jim Harrison/Mike Gibson (Escort Cos) 1.06.25

4th (17) James Gillen/Shane O'Neill (Escort) 1.06.43

5th (4) Ray Breen/John Purcell (Subaru Impreza) 1.07.39

6th (29) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (BMW) 1.08.14

7th (16) Rory O'Connor/Francis Kenny (Escort Cos) 1.08.45

8th (31) Joe & Dermot McHugh (Escort Cos) 1.09.16

9th (14) Joe McGurk/Arthur Kierans (Celica) 1.09.33

10th (20) Glen Allen/Adrian Johnston (Escort) 1.09.38

Andrew Nesbitt was very much the clear winner of today's rally, telling us when he arrived back here at the Downhill hotel "Really enjoyed the day, never missed a beat, and James in the passenger seat did an excellent job, pulling the reins back when necessary. Certainly Paul Harris showed us the pace early on, but we had the car set up slightly wrong. Once we got going it was really good, I've never had a car go over the jumps like this one. We'll probably do a bit more tyre testing before Killarney, but we're ready to go".  Following his puncture, Paul Harris had a great run over the last couple of stages to pull well clear of Jim Harrison, who still did well to take 3rd place. James Gillen in 4th finished the day with his Escort Cosworth's steering rack bent, following a heavy landing on a jump. Ray Breen was relieved to get his new car to the finish and 5th was a nice result, while Denis Cronin's 6th place in the 2 wheel drive BMW was a superb achievement.  The West Cork man reported a misfire earlier in the M3, it turned out to be a faulty throttle control switch which was then sorted out.

Joe McHugh has won group N, we don't know as yet who is 2nd as John Cairns who was in 2nd place a couple of stages ago, is seeded back at 47. Certainly Noel McCarrick in the Subaru is right in the frame for an award. Seamus Gallagher in the Honda would appear to have won his class, while Glen Allen takes class 11A.  Mac McKenna and Maurice Moffett had a great battle towards the end for 2nd in class 11A and ended up with equal total times.  Charlie Beatty was 18s ahead of Paul Gallagher going into the last stage in the bid for class 10 honours and we are still awaiting times for that. Tim McNulty ran into problems towards the end with the ex McHale Celica, no sign of him at the finish as yet. Mick McArdle lost 2 mins towards the end when his BMW developed a vibration and the petrol fuses kept jumping out.  Finally for now, well done to Eddie Quinn and all his team for a tremendous day's rallying on this opening round of the Dunlop National Championship. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON (with thanks to Noel Clarke)