RALLY
NEWS NO.5 Tralee/Finish/Sunday 6pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 (LAST STAGE)
1st
(5) Kevin Lynch/Gordon Noble (Impreza WRC) 56.50
2nd
(8) Patrick Elliott/David Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 58.30
3rd
(7) Ray Breen/Andrew Purcell (Focus WRC) 58.32
4th
(1) Niall Maguire/Paul Nagle (Impreza WRC) 58.45
5th
(9) Noel Redmond/Diarrmuid Falvey (Impreza WRC) 59.30
6th
(12) Melvyn Evans/Aled Davies (Impreza WRC) 59.51
7th
(17) Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Impreza N) 1.00.26
8th
(15) Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Impreza WRC) 1.00.48
9th
(22) Gabriel Martin/Mark Kane (Impreza N) 1.00.59
10th
(18) Andrew Stewart/Damien Connolly (Lancer N) 1.01.00
11th
(14) Sean Gallagher/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 1.01.08
12th
(19) Michael Curran/Fabian McShane (Lancer N) 1.01.29
Latest
Dunlop Championship positions – provisional: Patrick Elliott
leads on 31 points: Ray Breen 2nd on 30:
STOP
PRESS: Jim Harrison & co driver Harvey Bell have crashed their
Subaru out of this Circuit of Kerry Rally just a couple of corners
from the end of the eighth of the final stage having led all day.
MORE
DRAMA……Ray Breen crashed his Focus at a 6 right 6 left in stage 7.
The car was stuck in 2nd gear and he went into a field,
did a few doughnuts before getting sorted out. Continued unabated
but lost 2nd place by 2s to Patrick Elliott. Passenger
side of Focus badly damaged, co driver Purcell’s ribs sore, but he’s
smiling!
When the
surviving cars of this Circuit of Kerry Rally arrived back into The
Square here at Tralee it was Kevin Lynch’s white KPL Subaru Impreza
WRC which led the convoy. In contrast to this morning’s grey skies
and heavy rain there were blue skies and bright sunshine. Kevin and
co driver Gordon Noble stepped out of the Impreza sporting broad
grins; Kevin saying. “I enjoyed the day, it took a while to get on
to the new tyres, we went well towards the end.” Gordon Noble said.
“It was difficult at the start, hard to predict the grip. Kevin put
the pressure on Jim Harrison towards the end. We took a chunk of
time out of him on the penultimate stage, and had him in our sights
on the last stage. Whether that contributed to his accident only Jim
can answer. I’m surprised he didn’t get out of the stage and get
down here, there didn’t seem to be too much damage. The accident
happened on a 2 left into 2 right into 4 left and he spun the Subaru
backwards into gateposts”. Patrick Elliott was delighted to have
finished 2nd and take the lead in the Dunlop
Championship. The Cavan man saying. “I found it a tough day. We took
a steady approach, conservative, and it paid off. At times mind you
I wondered!” Ray Breen was making light of his penultimate stage
accident, but he admitted himself that he was fairly lucky to bring
his Focus WRC into here to Tralee in 3rd overall.
Competitive man that he is though he rued the 2s to 2nd
place!
Current
Dunlop National Champion Niall Maguire finished 4th and
stays nicely in the points. Niall seemed to be well off the pace
and was back in 6th for most of the day. He commented.
“I’m as happy as a mouse in a mealbag. The car went well, no hassle,
they were tough stages and yes, I could have had a better result,
but this is OK”. Noel Redmond/Diarmuid Falvey in 5th
retain their lead in the Top Park West Coast c/ship of which this is
the 2nd round. Welshman Melvyn Evans came good towards
the end of the day with a 2nd fastest time in stage 7,
which will restore his confidence a little, following earlier brake
problems.
Willie
Fannin was 7th and wins Group N. Willie saying “We had a
good run although we backed off a little towards the end. It was a
great result for me following the nightmare of the Circuit of
Ireland”. Kevin Barrett also went well towards the end to bring his
Triton Showers Subaru into 8th. While Gabriel Martin and
Andrew Stewart in 9th and 10th take 2nd
and 3rd in Group N. Sean Gallagher was 11th
and Michael Curran was relegated to 12th following road
penalties. This dropped Michael to 4th Group N. Anthony
O’Halloran would appear to have finished best 2 wheel drive finisher
in his Manta. Maurice Moffett was leading, but has disappeared. Joe
McHugh has won Cl.15 from David McNulty. Finally for now, very well
done to all at Kerry Motor Club for a fabulous rally – it was such a
pleasure to be here in Tralee with all its hospitality once again.
The service area was good, organisation great – well done! Our
thanks to all who helped and supported us with the RallyNews.
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
