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RALLY
NEWS NO.5
Snave Bridge/Saturday 3.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 Fuhiry
1st (2) Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 59.15
2nd (5) Donie O'Sullivan/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 1.00.14
3rd (4) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 1.00.20
4th (6) Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Lancer WRC) 1.00.56
5th (3) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC) 1.01.07
6th (15) JJ Fleming/Robbie Ward (Impreza WRC) 1.02.32
7th (10) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla WRC) 1.02.48
8th (14) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Celica) 1.03.02
9th (18) Johnny O'Sullivan/Pat Cashman (Escort WRC) 1.03.12
10th (7) George Treacy/Jakes Kelly (206 WRC) 1.03.54 ***
The face of this Killarney Rally of the Lakes changed
somewhat in stage 7, Lough Allua, when Eugene Donnelly's
Corolla WRC rear prop shaft broke. It was current Pirelli
points leader Donnelly who was chasing after McGarrity for
the lead, but that has all gone by the wayside now.
Donnelly lost just over 20s on stage 7 and over a minute in
stage 8, to drop back to 5th place. McGarrity is looking
relatively untroubled at the front, and indeed commented
here at service in control "Cruising now".
Eugene was obviously down in the dumps, and feels he may
have even caused the damage himself when he tried a practice
launch control start on the way to that 7th stage. The
worry for Eugene now is that although he has a spare prop
shaft at service, there could be damage done to the
differential or gearbox seals. There is gear oil leaking on
to the carrier.
Further dramas include - stage 8 Fuhiry being blocked by
George Cullen's Impreza although we understand that it
wasn't a serious accident. The following cars went
through in convoy including George Treacy's new Peugeot so
we have included a "standard" time for George -
hence the asterisks on the leaderboard above.
Austin MacHale seemed a bit happier after that stage. He has
tightened up his Focus front differential and suspension.
Donie O'Sullivan also stiffened his Focus up. Further
down the leaderboard Denis Cronin reckoned he was half
asleep in stage 8. Possibly a legacy of his Celica
blowing its turbo last night and some midnight oil being
spilt repairing the damage. JJ Fleming seems to be well on
course again after his earlier gear troubles. Johnny
O'Sullivan felt that he was a bit off the pace on the last
couple of stages, but no real troubles.
In Group N now after stage 7 we had Alan Ring leading in
12th overall. James Foley 2nd gpN and Colm Murphy 3rd. Eoin
Doyle 4th although these 2 are tying on equal times.
Garry Jennings is over a minute behind the leading gpN car.
Garry now has his Lancer wheel bearing fixed and is back on
course. More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
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