RALLY NEWS NO.3                     Oldcastle - Sunday  5.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2
1st (1) Tim McNulty/Andrew Cullen (Impreza) 18.26
2nd (17) Adrian McElvaney/Brian Duggan  (Lancer N 18.27
3rd (4) Paul McCann/Shay McCann (Esc.Cos) 18.47
4th (15) Martin Brady/Martin Cahill (Eswc.Cos.N)  18.58
5th (3) Ivan Stewart/Timothy Duggan (Esc.Cos) 19.00
6th (10) James Foley/Dominic Markey (Lancer N) 19.01

Some further times - Dessie Keenan 19.20: Tom Holton 19.40: Enda Keenan 20.21: James Cole 19.24: Dominic Loughran 19.26: Mickey Cadden 20.18: James Cribben 20.42: Willie Fannin 20.06: Rodney Wilton 19.35: Mervyn Wedlock 20.13:
Paul McEnroe 19.51: There are several later seeds going really well and they will possibly come into the top 10.

Tim McNulty turned in a scorching time through stage 2 of 9m even as against his first stage of 9.26.  Once again Adrian McElvaney drove brilliantly in his gpN Lancer and he recorded 9.05. This leaves Tim McNulty ahead by 1s and it looks like he is the winner of the rally, as we are getting word from the officials that stage 3 will not happen as the road closing time will run out.

McNulty commented here when he reached service "We upped the ante, we are getting the lines better, learning lessons from the first run. We had one big moment, a fast medium left and we were in 5th gear, got totally broadside. McElvaney reported "We had a clean run, tried to keep it steady  but at the same time keep the pace up."

Local man Paul McCann was expected to make a real charge through that 2nd stage, but an errant water bottle got under the pedals of the Escort Cosworth, causing Paul all sorts of problems through the stage, and he was only able to improve on his first stage time by 5s.  Martin Brady had a really good run to take 4th overall and 2nd in gpN in his Escort Cosworth.

Donegal man Ivan Stewart was pretty stunned when he saw Tim McNulty's time and said "We thought we had a good enough run, felt as well it wasn't as slippy that time".  Interestingly, when the first dozen or so cars went into the stage the heavens opened once again, and visibility dropped right down, the drivers telling us that it lasted for 4 or 5 miles. Dessie Keenan finishes  just outside the leaderboard and we think he has won class 14. His father Enda struggled earlier with a gearbox problem, and fitted a 4 speed box for that run with didn't help his time any. Rodney Wilton had a spin but still finished with a respectable total. James Cribben also having a spin. Pat White retired his Subaru with transmission troubles.

It was a difficult day for Clerk of the Course Breen McNamee and all his team from Castle MC - but still a very enjoyable rally for all that.  As usual the welcome was great - we look forward to next year. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
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