|
RALLY
NEWS NO.2
Millstreet Service - Saturday 11.30am
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1 Mushera
1ST (1) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 9.52
2nd (3) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Corolla WRC) 10.00
3rd (2) Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Impreza WRC) 10.05
4th (4) Peadar Hurson/Ian Porter (Celica GT4) 10.08
5th (6) Melvyn Evans/Marc Jones (Escort WRC) 10.16
6th (8) Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Impreza WRC) 10.18
7th (5) Donal O'Donovan/Pat Lordan (Celica GT4) 10.19
8th (9) Ollie O'Donovan/David Moynihan (Subaru) 10.25
9th (16) Trevor Cathers/Dessie Wilson (Lancer 5 N) 10.29
(17) Roy White/Greg Shinnors
(Lancer 7 N) 10.29
Just a darling of a morning here in County Cork.
Early morning mist has cleared to give blue skies and
bright sunshine. The first stage, Mushera, through
the Boggeragh Mountains opened the proceedings for the
competitors. Tarmac Champion, Andrew Nesbitt, was first on
the scene here into Noel C. Duggan's Equestrian Centre at
Millstreet and Andrew commented "We had a nice smooth
stage, although I think I picked a Pirelli compound just a
little hard, the car was moving about under braking,
particularly on the 2nd half of the stage".
Andrew's thoughts were echoed by man of the top drivers who
were surprised just how slippy the roads were, although
they appeared to be bone dry. Austin MacHale, so
often in the rally doldrums lately, was in top form when he
arrived in, 2nd fastest a reminder of just how talented a
driver he is. The Dubliner saying "As you know,
we have softened the suspension, we just need a bit of fine
tuning, the car's taking the jumps better, not landing on
its nose". Eamonn Boland reported a small spin
at the mucky section through the farmyard. Donal O'Donovan
had a good run, despite being a bit rusty. Melvyn Evans in
the Escort WRC reported some minor difficulties with a
sticking throttle. Kevin Barrett in the gold Impreza WRC
was a bit down in the dumps, feeling the car had a misfire.
Liam McCarthy & Kieran Murphy once again had a bit of a
struggle with their Corolla WRC engine mapping, but it is
getting better and their time was 10.50. Johnny
O'Sullivan's Escort WRC stopped in a cloud of smoke on the
way to Macroom.
In Group N we are in for a ding-dong battle between the top
contenders, with Trevor Cathers still the man to beat, but
young Roy White in the FESP Evo7 Lancer determined to give
it a go. Trevor caught and passed Kevin Barrett in
the stage, as can be seen above, Kevin's Triton Showers
Subaru had the msifire. Roy White had a couple of
minor overshoots and hit the front of the red Lancer on one
occasion, but with no real damage. Other gpN times included
- Bob Fowden on 10.33. Seamus Leonard in the 2 door Impreza
10.39. Aaron MacHale 10.49. Dickie Curran 10.48. John
O'Leary 11.52.
More news later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
|
