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RALLY NEWS
NO.4 Service..near Cahir..Sunday 2.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3
1st (7) Donald O'Donovan/Pat Lordan (Celica) 25.30
2nd (3) Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru WRC) 25.35
3rd (9) Jim Harrison/Harvey Bell (Impreza) 25.53
4th (2) Frank Meagher/Micheal Maher (Escort WRC) 25.58
5th (12) Tim McNulty/Julian Nangle (Celica) 26.01
6th (6) Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza) 26.09
7th (70) George Cullen/Dermot O'Gorman (Celica) 26.15
8th (15) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (BMW M3) 26.20
LATE NEWS - CRONIN CRASHED IN STAGE 4
Drama struck some of the top crews through stage 3, Scart.
Eamonn Boland had been leading, but spun and stalled his World
Rally Car losing 20 seconds. Frank Meagher had been 3rd but he
finished the stage with no rubber left on a front rim. Pete
Doughty's Escort WRC ground to a halt with turbo troubles.
Michael Barrable's Celica stopped for a long long time with a
broken wire, eventually got going, but could be over maximum.
Niall Maguire dropped several minutes when his Subaru skidded
off the road on cold tyres. Hugh Dunne did not appear at
stage finish, reason as yet unknown. This changed the face
of the leaderboard of course, with O'Donovan setting a scintillating
time of 9.25 for the 11.8 mile test, to move into the lead.
Jim Harrison and Tim McNulty were equal 2nd fastest on 9.31,
and then it was Denis Cronin on 9.32.
Frank Meagher covered almost 2 miles with a flat tyre, Frank
having no explanation as to why the front right tyre punctured.
Boland's car was undamaged in the drama of the spin. Jim
Harrison was slowed in the dust behind Maguire's car when he
eventually got going. O'Donovan also suffering a little from
a dust problem. Tommy Graham had a major overshoot in the
stage, as did Paul Harris.
In the Ford Ka Championship after 2 stages John Carroll leads
by 7s from the tying O'Dowd and Stanley. Travers is 4th
a further 6s back, then its Gerry Keys with Barry Barrable 6th.
Philip Johnston was out in the Protec Puma but damaged the car
in stage 2 and was forced to retire. This was the same Puma that
Max McKillen used yesterday at Silverstone to finish 2nd behind
Simon Maugher. Maugher's win at Silverstone clinches the Puma
Championship. Further to our last RallyNews - Micky McArdle
subsequently retired his BMW because of the gearbox trouble.
John Rooney had the gearstick come off his Escort but he managed
to keep going wit little time loss. Kieran Molloy was having
turbo problems with his gpN Lancer, unofficially Patrick Elliott
leading the category from English visitor Jon Tainton by 10s.
More news later.BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON (with thanks to Martin
Walsh-Irish Examiner) |
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