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RALLY NEWS
NO.3 Service "In"..Sunday 4.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2
1st (2) Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Celica) 16.39
2nd (1) David Armstrong/Herbie Blackburn (Escort Cos)16.54
3rd (3) Connie Smith/James Murtagh (Escort) 17.22
4th (7) Joe McGurk/Brian Duggan (Celica) 17.26
(9) Eugene Ferry/John Gallagher (Escort) 17.26
6th (4) Patrick Elliott/Martin Cahill (Lancer N) 17.38
7th (151) Sean Gallagher/Liam Costello (Escort Cos) 17.42
8th (18) Mervyn Wedlock/Philip Smith (Escort) 17.53
9th (8) Camillus Bradley/Danny O'Neill (Escort) 17.57
10th (26) Noel Conaty/Bernard Cosgrove (Escort) 18.04
Tim McNulty was fast the first time through this Castle Single
Stage, but second time he was stunningly so. On his first
trip, Tim's Toyota stopped the clock on 8.24, as against Armstrong's
8.34, this time the Celica recorded 8.15, as against the Escort
Cosworth's 8.20. Both drivers reported their cars to be
running a lot cleaner than the first time, and realistically
there is no one else on their pace.
Connie Smith reported things a bit better, his time for stage
2, 8.36. Patrick Elliott in the gpN Lancer recorded 8.40 and
felt that there was maybe another 5s in it, but that was about
it. Joe McGurk also had 8.40, and he felt his tyres had gone
off very slightly. Camillus Bradley had an overshoot on
his first stage, and gave away a lot of time to fellow class
11A runner Eugene Ferry. This time Camillus had a clean
run but still couldn't match Ferry's time, which was a full 8s
quicker. Mac McKenna is also runing in cl.11A in his rear
wheel drive Peugeot, he had a bit of a go in that 2nd stage,
but took the double cautioned jump very fast and knocked the
steering out slightly.
Mervyn Wedlock is 3rd in that multi valve 2 litre class 11A and
having a good run. Mervyn commented "The pace is unreal".
Mick McQuaid, still getting back into the groove after his Cavan
accident, commented after that stage 2 "Its nice to be back".
Paddy White mentioned after stage 1 that his Escort Cosworth
seemed to be suffering from a faulty sensor problem, it is looking
more like it was something to do with the water injection. Padraig
Price is having a ball in Clerk of the Course Dominic Loughran's
Sierra Cosworth. He is just outside the top 10 on 18.13, but
feels the clutch may be starting to slip. Noel Conaty was
delayed earlier when the distributor cap fell off his 1600 Escort,
but he has set 2 scorching times to suddenly appear into the
top 10. Freddie Walker commented about his co driver Aidan
Burke when they arrived in here to service "He thinks he
is Tom Cruise, he wants to take all these crests flat".
Ivan Stewart had an even slower run in stage 2 than he did in
stage 1 - it turns out there is some control bar to the turbo
broken, and co driver Joe Friel said "Its like sitting in
a 2 litre Cortina!" And that's no disrespect to 2
litre Cortinas! Pat Higgins now seems to be having small
intercom troubles, his total not so far away on 18.39.
Sean Gallagher had a super time on stage 2, 3rd fastest, so he
is really settling in to this ex Gilleece car now. He is however
being shown with 15s road penalties, although this is unofficial
and may be removed. Young Gareth McHale came in after the first
stage and reported "Not a bother"..while co driver
Brian Murphy quickly compared their time with James & Ann
Foley - Gareth was quite a few seconds slower than James, but
not that far away nonetheless for a young man on only his 2nd
rally. More after stage 3...BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON |
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