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RALLY NEWS NO.8
Belcoo
service-Sunday 11.15am UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 10 Cromlin 1st (7) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 53.09 2nd (2) Austin McHale/Brian Murphy (Corolla WRc) 54.38 3rd (5) Eamonn Boland/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 54.40 4th (3) Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 54.47 5th (8) Peadar Hurson/Ian Porter (Celica) 55.06 6th (4) Daniel & Michael Doherty (Impreza WRc) 55.13 7th (9) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza WRC) 56.03 (6) David Greer/Michael Reid (Corolla WRC) 56.03 9th (19) Trevor Cathers/Gordon Noble (Lancer N) 56.19 10th (10) Brendan Kelly/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 56.54 11th (26) Dickie Curran/Gary Lyons (Lancer N) 57.39 12th (11) Roy White/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 57.45 Andrew Nesbitt came in here to service still unhappy about his transmission and feels sure that there is a problem with the rear differential. Andrew saying "I went as easy on the car as I could through those last couple of stages, a steady pace, it's up to the engineers now to diagnose the trouble and try to sort it out". Nesbitt was still fastest through 9 on 6.48, Doherty 7.01 and McHale 7.03. In stage 10 Nesbitt was fastest again on 7.48, McHale 7.50 and Boland 7.52. Austin is still unhappy with his car's suspension, he reports it very nervous over the bumps, but the 5 times Tarmac Champion is still setting good times, and the removal of a 10s road penalty from yesterday sees him up into 2nd place. Eamonn Boland lost a bit of ground when he clipped a bridge parapet in stage 9 with a front left wheel and punctured a tyre, but happily there was no suspension damage to his Impreza WRC. Peadar Hurson has dropped rapidly down the leaderboard through stages 9 and 10, his Celica reduced to 2 wheel drive. It would appear that a driveshaft to the front differential has snapped and they do not have a spare. This may perhaps spell the end to his gallant drive. Derek McGarrity is still struggling with his Impreza gear change and was caught out on a hairpin left in stage 9, his cause not helped by the ignition cut out device in thegearstick also giving trouble. To add to his time loss, Derek caught up with Hursons' struggling Celica in stage 10. In Group N, Trevor Cathers dropped 2s to Brendan Kelly in stage 9, but bounced back with a 12s gain through stage 10 when Brendan had a brush with a bank and lost momentum. Cathers commented here at service "No problems, dodging on, going nice". Roy White has softened the front suspension of his Lancer and it has transformed his times. The young Tipperary man equalled Cathers in stage 9 and was just 1s away from Kelly in stage 10. Other stories include - David Armstrong getting a puncture in stage 10 and dropping out of the leaderboard with over a minute time loss. Looking back - Fergal Allen retired his BMW M3 when a fuel regulator went adrift and they went OTL making running repairs. More later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON |
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ã 2002 www.rallynews.net (Patterson Agencies). All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Last update31/03/02 10:26:44
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