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RALLY NEWS NO.5
Service – Saturday 3.30
UNOFFICIAL INT. LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 5 ROWAN TREE
HILL
1st (4) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza
WRC) 27.23.9
2nd (1) Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza
WRC) 27.48.7
3rd (2) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla
WRC) 28.00.8
4th (5) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Impreza
WRC) 28.06.1
5th (8) Kevin Lynch/Gordon Noble (Impreza
WRC) 28.16.8
6th (3) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus
WRC) 28.20.5
7th (6) Peadar Hurson/Glenn Patterson (Impreza
WRC) 28.26.5
8th (7) Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza
WRC) 28.27.1
9th (16) Sean Devine/James McKee (Impreza
WRC) 29.25.1
10th (57) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy
(Lancer N) 29.25.5
Andrew Nesbitt has streaked away from the field through
stages 4 and 5, and that is despite clipping a wheel going over a
narrow bridge and bending a steering arm. Andrew said that he just
had to drive round the problem, managed to straighten part of the
damage himself. Derek McGarrity was a wee bit disappointed with his
stage 5 time, saying that the car seemed to land very heavily after a
jump/crossroads, just after the start of the stage. It seemed to
upset the balance a little. Eugene Donnelly battled very hard to hold
on to 3rd place through those last few stages, Eugene
saying that when the Corolla left service at Belcoo the centre diff
pressure dropped. That affected the braking, and on stage 4 he
overshot a junction. He went on to say that he pushed as hard as he
could through stage 5, but couldn’t take any real big risks. He is
reasonably sure that the problem is electronics and not hydraulics,
and said. “Hopefully one of these genius’s with their laptops can sort
it out”. Eamonn Boland is having a really good run to hold on to 4th.
Kevin Lynch in 5th reckons he needs to pick up the pace a
bit, but joked. “It’s a tactical approach”. Peadar Hurson in 7th
lost time with a spin at a square left. Tim McNulty ran for a couple
of stages with no intercom.
Two further top retirements include Gareth Jones who
spun his Subaru off at a cautioned K left into square right over
bridge in stage 3. Maurice Gass is taking the Fermanagh sunshine at
the side of the road and staring ruefully at his steaming Impreza WRC.
New engine for rally, head gasket blown, Maurice not happy.
In Group N Garry Jennings continues to set the pace,
and that was despite getting held up by Colm Murphy in stage 3 when
Colm spun. Seamus Leonard was just a fraction off Garry in stage 5
but still a bit of catching up to do. Following his spin in stage 3
Colm Murphy then crunched the side of his GpN Impreza against a post
in stage 4 at a square left. He was a very unhappy young man when he
came into service, says he just can’t drive the car today, seems to be
grip, no grip, and he doesn’t know whether it is himself or the car.
Outside the leaderboard, after stage 4, Sean Devine was
in 11th. Willie Fannin, Conor Byrne and Paddy White were
all in the top 15. Alan Nesbitt, Jack Sleator, Raymond McLaughlin and
Emma McKinstry were all just inside the top 20. Frank O’Mahony was in
22nd and still pushing on in his first trip in this Impreza
WRC, and still raising funds for the Temple Street Children’s
Hospital.
On the Easter Stages, on our last RallyNews, we had
Glenn Allen leading from Dickie Curran from Raymond Johnson after
stage 5. There has been a certain amount of messing about with road
penalties. It would appear now that Glenn Allen has 20s. Raymond
Johnson has 10s, which would put Dickie Curran into the lead on
29.20.7. Glenn Allen 2nd on 29.32.7. Raymond Johnson 3rd.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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