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RALLY
NEWS NO.1
Smerwick
Harbour Hotel Dingle-Sunday morning…
The peace and tranquility of the
Smerwick Harbour Hotel, and the
fabulous roads of the Dingle Peninsula
are due to be shattered for a few
hours this weekend when this second
round of the Dunlop National Rally
Championship gets under way. 150
cars will face 8 special stages around
the peninsula, led by some of the best
drivers in the country. Reigning
Champion Paul Harris is No.1 seed.
The Letterkenny man got off on
the wrong foot on the opening round in
Mayo, when he retired, but he has made
changes to the suspension of his
Subaru since then and is hoping for a
better run this weekend. Paul
tells us "The way the car was it
was almost undriveable in Mayo. Although
there was no damage in the accident,
and I probably could have gone on, it
wasn't advisable. I've put the
car back the way it was before and it
feels really good".
No.2 seed Niall Maguire, current
Dunlop series leader, is fresh from a
top 6 finish on last weekend's Circuit
of Ireland, so should be sharp from
the word go here. The Monaghan
man reports no problems with his
Subaru following his Easter outing.
No.3 seed Michael Barrable, and
No.4 seed David Armstrong, cannot make
the start. Barrable's Subaru
incurred engine bay wiring loom
problems on Friday in testing. David
Armstrong's Escort Cosworth has ECU
troubles. That leaves No.5 Liam
O'Callaghan, 3rd on the road. Liam
has been away from the sport for a
while, so this outing is very much a
toe in the water and a decision will
be made after the rally as to further
events. Liam drives Kenny
McKinstry's left hand drive gpA
Subaru. At 6 is Tim McNulty, his
Subaru repaired after frontal damage
received on a trip into a stage 1 Mayo
bog. Then at 7 is Jim Harrison.
Jim had a good result in Mayo,
went slightly off the boil on the West
Cork Rally, so is pretty determined to
get back in the frame here on the
Dingle stages. Jim is driving
McKinstry's Impreza WRC. At 8 is
Patrick Elliott, 9 is Donal O'Donovan,
the West Cork man recovered from a
bout of 'flu which saw him turn in a
lacklustre performance in Mayo. At
10 is Kieran Shaw in his Escort WRC.
Kieran set some good times on
the opening Mayo round, but his
overall performance was spoiled by one
bad stage.
There are some pretty talented drivers
outside the top 10 - Ed Synan, Anthony
O'Halloran, JJ Fleming, Sean
Gallagher, Dermot Kelly in his new
Escort WRC and a whole lot more.
None can be ignored as regards
making an impression on the
leaderboard. Micky McArdle at 19
is a non starter. Tom Randles, whose
Escort counts Bio-Tech amongst the
many sponsors, is the highest seeded
Mk2 Escort. Andrew Stewart is in the
highest seeded gpN car. The
Donegal man drives a newly acquired
Lancer Evo6 this weekend, run by
Richard Hogg. Also in group N, Noel
Redmond in a Lancer and then John
O'Leary and Owen Doyle in Subarus,
then another two Lancers in the hands
of Willie Fannin and Aaron McHale. The
latter was really getting on to his
Mitsubishi at the tail end of last
week's Circuit. 151 cars are due to
take the start, with several of the
reserves slotted in.
More news from the end of Conor Pass,
and don't forget, if you miss any of
the RallyNews - they are up live on
www.rallynews.net
BRIAN
& LIZ PATTERSON
Fivemiletown - Kevin O'Kane won from
Nigel Trotter, Hugh O'Brien 3rd. |
