UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 13 Garrygort

1^st (1) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC)  1.12.10.6

2^nd (7) Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 1.13.25.3

3^rd (6) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Impreza WRC) 1.13.26.4

4^th (4) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 1.14.42.2

5^th (2) Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Impreza WRC) 1.14.39.1

6^th (16) Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Impreza WRC) 1.17.15.2

7^th (11) Cathal Arthurs/John McElhinney (Accent WRC) 1.17.25.4

8^th (9) Steve Perez/Neil Dashfield (Focus WRC) 1.17.52.3

9^th (23) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 1.18.37.9

     (12) Gareth Jones/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 1.18.37.9

11^th (18) Denis Biggerstaff/Sean Moriarty (Impreza WRC) 1.18.53.4

12^th (17) Maurice Gass/Andrew Cullen (Fabia WRC) 1.19.14.6

Further to our last RallyNews Derek McGarrity managed to get his Subaru in here to service and although at one point it looked as if his rally was over, his Impreza suffering a broken drive shaft and a cooked clutch, Derek managed to get the car through the stages in really good times but did lose quite a lot of road time, 13 minutes at 15s penalty per minute – 195 seconds.  He is hopeful of getting all the damage repaired here at service and resuming his chase after Donnelly. Although Eugene Donnelly leads the rally he didn’t look too happy when he arrived here at service, his Corolla gear change still not right. Indeed it was Eamonn Boland who set fastest time through stage 13, Garrygort. Tim McNulty felt he was a little slow but no real problem. Austin MacHale seems content to hold station for the moment, the front of his Focus WRC still showing signs of damage where he pushed McGarrity’s stricken Subaru.

Garry Jennings leads group n although he reckons his Lancer is down on power, but Garry’s engineer Kieran Graffin would like to change the turbo, although is wary of perhaps wringing off a stud. Cathal Rogers is now well into the group N picture but his Lancer is suffering some 2^nd gear troubles. Still no word on Seamus Leonard, his Lancer was in gearbox trouble and we believe he has now retired. Also in the group N picture is Aaron MacHale, Alan Nesbitt and Terry McGonigle, but there is still some confusion over the stage blockage times following Knockalla.

Steve Perez, on his first visit to the Donegal International Rally was fairly stunned and impressed with the run over the Knockalla stage, one of the most spectacular tarmac stages in the world.   His co-driver commonly known as Dishy Dashers has changed his mind about his favourite stage which was Wythop stage in Cumbria..he is now orgasmic about Knockalla!

Further stories …Shaun Gallagher had a big moment in stage 12, trying to counteract for a loose back end on his Lancer, he put a wheel in a ditch, spun and punctured, dropping about a minute. Seamus McCusker’s silver Escort is suffering from a slipping clutch. Padraic Price’s Celica has boild brakes.  Paul Blackburn in the Corsa at 137, with Alexis Harper co driving, straightened the steering after banging into a bank. This is Paul’s 50^th birthday today. And it was Kenny McKinstry’s 53^rd birthday yesterday!  Garry Jennings was giving off stink after Knockalla having been very distracted by a helicopter flying alongside. Gareth Jones had a poor stage 13, stalled the car twice. Denis Biggerstaff is having 5^th gear troubles in his Impreza. Phil Collins is not a happy man, still leads the National part of the rally but has lost 3 out of the last 4 stages due to accidents in front of him. Cathal Arthurs stalled his Accent at the hairpin in Knockalla.

Looking back slightly – some class leaders in the international included Guy Woodcock in the Escort Maxi leading cl.7.  Keith McElhinny leads cl.3 in his Civic. Peter Wilson also in a Civic leads cl.2. Andrew Bushe in his Peugeot has retaken the lead of class 6. Trevor Graham is in front in cl.1 with his Swift and venerable Harry Cathcart leads class 5 in his Swift.

More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net (with thanks to Michael Patterson)

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