RALLY NEWS NO.6                     Portumna/Finish/Sunday 6.30

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 - LAST STAGE
1st (1) Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 1.10.43
2nd (3) JJ Fleming/Robbie Ward (Impreza WRC) 1.12.10
3rd (15) Ivan Stewart/Gerard Callaghan (Esc.Cos) 1.13.52
4th (12) James Foley/Andrew Cullen Lancer N) 1.14.19
5th (5) George Cullen/Sean Mullally (Celica) 1.16.00
6th (6) John Spain/Peter Egan (Manta) 1.16.21
7th (33) Sean Lyons/John Devine (Escort) 1.16.52
8th (11) Dominic Loughran/Lisa Roe (Lancer N) 1.16.59
9th (14) Wesley Patterson/Bob Kelly (Escort) 1.17.26
10th (21) Gary Cairns/Gary Monteith (Lancer N) 1.17.30

Just outside leaderboard - Tom Halliday 1.17.48: David McNulty 1.18.18: Shaun Gallagher 1.18.22: Pat McDaid 1.18.54:  Aidan Walsh 1.19.03:

Michael Barrable, co driven today by Dermot O'Gorman scored a very convincing win here today on this Galway summer Rally.  Michael stalled his Subaru at the start of stage 8 and lost quite a few seconds, but then went like the wind through 9 to score another fastest time and cement his victory.  Unbeknown to Michael, his closest pursuer Patrick Elliott had crashed his Subaru off the road on that last stage which brought JJ Fleming into 2nd place and removed any possible pressure for the winner. Michael Barrable, the winner in Tipperary a couple of weeks ago, said at the finish ramp here at the Shannon Oaks Hotel "It was a tough rally but very enjoyable. Obviously we had a few small problems with the car but I still enjoyed it".  For co driver Dermot O'Gorman it was also 2 wins in a row of course - Dermot had gone 10 rallies on the trot without a finish, and he joked as he climbed out of the Subaru "A hat trick would be nice, with McGarrity next weekend on the Ulster!"

JJ Fleming in 2nd place commented "We had a nice run, it was good to be out but I'd need to keep at it".  Letterkenny man Ivan Stewart in 3rd said "It's nice to get a good result now and again!" 

James Foley drove a brilliant rally to win group N. His closest challenger was George Tracey but he crashed his Subaru off the road in stage 7 to leave Dominic Loughran 2nd in the category and Gary Cairns 3rd. This made it a Mitsubishi top 3 in gpN.

There was great rivalry for local honours between George Cullen and John Spain,  with Cullen forging ahead over the last couple of stages as he settled into the car, while John Spain lost momentum, his Manta suffering small brake troubles and a fluffy engine hot helped by a manifold damaged on a jump earlier on.  Sean Lyons came through strongly in his Mk6 Escort to finish 7th overall and take 2nd in cl.14 behind Spain.  Wesley Patterson survived a spin to take the honours in class 12 from Tom Halliday. Shaun Gallagher had a brilliant run to take class 6. Correction from earlier - Anthony O'Halloran's car died after a big jump - he did not thump a rock as suggested. Well done to new CoC Pat Shiel and all at the club for a good day's rallying.  BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON