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RALLY
NEWS NO.6
Showgrounds/Saturday 6.30pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 LOUGH ALLUA
1st (1) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 1.06.23
2nd (2) Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Impreza WRC)
1.07.25
3rd (4) Peadar Hurson/Ian Porter (Celica GT4) 1.07.51
4th (5) Donal O'Donovan/Pat Lordan (Celica GT4) 1.09.05
5th (8) Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Impreza WRC) 1.10.21
6th (19) Bob Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Lancer 5 N) 1.11.30
7th (9) Ollie O'Donovan/David Moynihan (Subaru) 1.12.21
(16) Trevor Cathers/Dessie Wilson
(Lancer 5 N) 1.12.21
9th (7) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla WRC) 1.12.49
10th (25) Dickie Curran/Anthony Donnelly (Lancer 6 N)
1.13.07
Andrew Nesbitt brought his Impreza WRC into parc ferme safe
in the knowledge that he has a 1m buffer over Eamonn Boland
for the Sunday leg of this Cork 20 Rally. The main
aim for Andrew today was to keep the car in top fettle, get
to the end of the rally, and score at least the 1 Tarmac
point he needs for his second Tarmac Champion title.
With that in mind, Andrew's comments reflected the story,
saying "We tried to pace ourselves, but still stay
sharp. The spectators I think were still getting their
value, the car ran faultlessly."
Interestingly, Andrew was one of the first drivers to be
asked to give a sample to the Irish Sports Council
Anti-Doping Unit, and co-driver James O'Brien, who as usual
is doing a fabulous job, started to laugh.
"There's not many will take the piss out of
Andrew!". Second placed Eamonn Boland had a
smooth run over the last few stages, while Peadar Hurson
was disappointed in his stage 8 time, and said. "I
think I was starting to try a little too hard, the car
pushed the nose a couple of times, I was
over-committed". Donal O'Donovan is looking
fairly solid in 4th place, the reason for all the smoke in
the car has been diagnosed as a bolt missing from the front
differential. Donal reckons this can be sorted
out in the morning. Maurice Gass in 5th reports no
problems. Bob Fowden in 6th, who also leads gpN, told us
"We've sorted the suspension out in the car, and we
are also getting full power from the engine now. I was
pissed off in Killarney when the other gpN drivers just
blew us away".
Trevor Cathers leads the Group N Tarmac points here, and
needs only to get a decent finish to clinch the title, so
Trevor was trying no heroics today, but was reasonably
close to Fowden until a drive shaft broke in stage 6.
This mean Trevor having to do 3 stages on just 3 wheel
drive, which has seen him fall back, but still hold 2nd in
the category ahead of Dickie Curran. Aaron MacHale is now
4th in gpN and just outside the leaderboard in 11th.
News from Le Touquet - Shaun Gallagher still leads the
Peugeot 206 Super Cup contenders by 17s from Garry
Jennings, with David Wright 3rd.
Recap on Ford Ireland Focus contenders - Brendan Kelly back
in lead, Colm Murphy and Oliver Stanely suffered punctures.
More news in the morning. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
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