RALLY NEWS NO.2      Start of SS2-Sunday-Noon-in atrocious weather! UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1 1st  (2) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Subaru) 9.58 2nd (1) Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell (Subaru)  10.05 3rd (134) Trevor Cathers/David Moynihan (Lancer N) 10.16 4th (14) Sean Gallagher/Liam Costello (Escort) 10.19 5th (6) Jim Harrison/Harvey Bell (Subaru) 10.21      (17) Brendan Kelly/Rory Kennedy (Subaru) 10.21 7th (7) Patrick Elliott/Sean Moriarty (Subaru) 10.26 8th (9) David Armstrong/Herbie Blackburn (Escort Cos) 10.27 9th (11) Glenn Allen/Shane O'Neill (Escort WRC) 10.28 10th (138) James Gillen/Victor Carruthers (Escort Cos) 10.35 Through driving sleet, rain and high winds the top drivers on this Mayo Stages Rally  battled through the opening stage, Lough Feenagh, and there were many stories of major skids and incidents.  One of the first to go was No.4 seed Tim McNulty, his Pierse backed Subaru right off the road and stuck in a peat bog. Ivan Stewart's Escort Cosworth suffered a similar fate, as did Garry Jennings in the little Peugeot.  Kieran Shaw dropped 10 minutes when his Escort WRC slipped quietly off the road at less than 30mph, but got stuck in the bog for 10 minutes. Kieran got the car out eventually with no damage, but really it is an academic exercise to continue. As can be seen above, Niall Maguire was fastest. The Monaghan man has had his ex Nesbitt Subaru WRC convertged to right hand drive, seemed reasonably comfortable, but still found the car very wide.  Paul Harris reported that his tyres and suspension were too hard and at one point he had to reverse out of a ditch. Tim McNulty's excursion happened on a long 5 right, first reports indicating that there is no damage to the car.  Jim Harrison is using Kenny McKinstry's left hand drive Impreza WRC for the first time and was taking it slightly steady, pacing himself in fact. As ever, Trevor Cathers put on a heroic show to not only lie 3rd overall, but also to lead group N.  Brendan Kelly in a slightly newer Lancer was only seconds away from the Omagh man and that promises to be a titanic battle for gpN supremacy today. George Tracey cannot be discounted in gpN either, his Subaru stopped the clock on 10.38. Other stories include…Glenn Allen having picked thewrong tyres. David Armstrong, like many of the drivers, struggled with a misted up front screen. Joe McHugh had a spin and finished on 11.01.  James Gillen, apart from the fogged up windows also caught Eamonn Ferry and dropped a few seconds, Eamonn unlucky enough to have his wiper blade fall off on the very first crest of the stage.  More news later..BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
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