RALLY NEWS NO.5                 Service/Sunday 1.45

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 COALBROOK

1^st (2) Ray Breen/Andrew Purcell (Focus WRC) 31.05

2^nd (3) Charlie Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Corolla WRC) 31.28

3^rd (5) Noel Redmond/Killian Duffy (Impreza WRC) 32.21

4^th (14) Michael Curran/Fabian McShane (Lancer N) 32.55

5^th (15) Alan Ring/Derek Brannigan (Impreza N) 33.05

6^th (18) PJ McGrath/Damien Morrissey (Impreza N) 33.15

7^th (29) Ian Barrett/Eoin O'Flaherty (Lancer N) 33.18

8^th (11) Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Impreza N) 33.25

9^th (31) Joe McHugh/Declan Gallagher (Esc.Cos) 33.31

10^th (24) Eamonn Daly/Ger Healy (Lancer N) 33.34

Charlie Donnelly was fastest through stage 3, Coolquill Castle, by 3s from Ray Breen and then on stage 4 Breen was the faster of the two, by 4s.  These 2 are out on their own now. Noel Redmond is a distant 3^rd. Kevin Barrett was slowed in stage 3 when his Subaru suffered a 1 minute puncture.  Jim Harrison is still going, the car is in good health, but the question over the stage 2 accident, or rather the stage time, is still unresolved.  It could well be that Jim will be given the interrupted time for the stage, plus 30s for each car that passed the scene of his accident. This is because the stage was then interrupted further along when Sean Gallagher crashed, and although Harrison got going he wasn’t able to reach the stage finish because of the other blockage.  Sounds messy, but it may be the only fair way to resolve the situation and it would put Jim on a total of 34.21, outside the top 10. 

Ray Breen commented when he came into service. “Got a bit of a fright at the start of stage 2 I was still unsettled, messy, when I got to stage 3 but went well in stage 4”.   Charlie Donnelly said everything was “hunky dory”.  Earlier in the rally Charlie looked very tense and uptight, but he says he is very happy with the way it has gone, he never set out to be a hero earlier on, as he reckoned some of the leading cars would pay the price of overexuberance. Noel Redmond in 3^rd place seemed a little down in the dumps, saying “Maybe I’m just getting a bit old for this”. 

Kevin Barrett was a bit annoyed about his puncture, says he didn’t hit any stones or anything, the tyre just went down a couple of miles into the stage leaving him with about 5 miles to go on the flat rear.  Jim Harrison reported earlier that his Subaru had some sort of gearbox problem, that seems sorted and the bodywork damage is remarkably light following the accident. Jim was delayed slightly in stage 3 when he caught and passed 3 slower cars.Missing here at service after stage 4 is Richie Curran’s Escort Cosworth and Jack Sleator’s Fabia, no news of their whereabouts as yet.

In Group N young Michael Curran has moved to the front of the pack although Michael did report a slightly overshoot in stage 4, getting out of the situation he reversed into a telegraph pole.  Oh dear!  At least Michael’s Lancer isn’t as battered as Alan Ring’s Impreza – the front of his car is in tatters, Alan being off the road 3 times in stage 4.  Willie Fannin reports a soft brake pedal in his Impreza, the current Dunlop Group N Champion not a happy man at all, and says he is just not in form. Gabriel Martin in the gpN Impreza is on a total of 33.49. Don Butler 34.03. James O’Sullivan 34.03.  The latter still bemoaning a lack of power in his Lancer.

In the race for 2 wheel drive honours Liam Wall is shaping up to be the man to beat. His total is 33.47 while James Coleman is on 34.06 having lost a few seconds with an off road excursion in stage 1.  David James lost a few seconds with a broken engine mounting on his Escort. Liam Wall did say that he was getting very sideways, said he picked too soft a compound tyre. Martin Ward in the BMW M3 is having a great race with a Douglas Richardson in his Escort. Martin slightly in front in the race for class 14 honours.  In the Ford Focus series Oliver Stanley did lead but has gone off the road in stage 4 to leave David Delaney in front from Kieran Daly.

In the Rally Finland with 1 stage to go Marcus Gronholm had over a minute in hand over Loeb with Martin 3^rd, Solberg 4^th and Hirvonnen 5^th. P.Flodin led group N from the similar Lancer of Kuistila with Keiskonen 3^rd in an Impreza.  Daniel Sordo led the Juniors, Kris Meeke way back following yesterday’s accident. On the Dogleap Rally yesterday Kevin Lynch won from Glenn Allen, Neil McCance 3^rd in his group N Lancer. John McGlaughlin 4^th in the similar gpN Lancer.

More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net