UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2 Lough Melvin

1^st (6) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 23.27.5

2^nd (7) Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr (Focus WRC) 23.29.3

3^rd (4) Kevin Lynch/Allan Harryman (Impreza WRC) 23.50.7

4^th (9) Glenn Allen/Damien Connolly (Corolla WRC) 24.25.1

5^th (2) Freddy Loix/Robin Buysmans (Ignis) 24.28.2

6^th (11) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 24.37.5

7^th (23) Aaron MacHale/Ger McMonagle (Lancer N) 24.41.6

8^th (1) Daniel Carlsson/Mattias Andersson (Lancer N) 24.42.4

9^th (16) Roy White/Stephen McAuley (Lancer N) 24.56.5

10^th (14) Shaun Gallagher/Charlie McGinty (Lancer N) 24.58.9

Stage 1 was difficult because of the low cloud, poor visibility and damp conditions. Stage 2, Lough Melvin, wasn’t a whole lot better.  It was slippery and there was a lot of gravel.  One top driver badly caught out was Austin MacHale, his Focus WRC sliding off the road on a gravelly left hander over a crest.  The car seems relatively undamaged by all accounts but it is stuck and Austin can’t get it out.  Fastest in the stage was Eamonn Boland, 1s up on Kevin Lynch with Matthew Wilson just a fraction slower than Lynch. 

Eamonn Boland recounted that he had a good run, no real problems, not compared to the first stage anyway where the car was off the road and he got away with it. Kevin Lynch admitted to a slow enough start, reckons he was on too hard a compound tyre and the diff settings were too tight for the conditions, but he said he got the welly down on stage 2 where he was able to slacken off the diffs a little.  Kevin said he is now going on to a softer compound tyre and will give it a real good go through stages 3 and 4.

Matthew Wilson admitted to all sorts of dramas through the first stage, the 2^nd stage wasn’t a whole lot better as he thumped the front right corner of the Focus early on in the stage.  There was a bad vibration came into the car then and as Matthew says “It was mega slippy over the gravel, very difficult”.   Glenn Allen reported some brake troubles on the 1^st stage but it certainly came good on the 2^nd and he was 4^th fastest in the stage to move up to 4^th overall.   Freddy Loix in 5^th is having a real ball in the little Suzuki, the Belgian driver saying “The car is going very well, it is an exciting thing to drive, very nervous, but it seems to suit my style.  I need more top speed, need the 7^th gear!” 

Garry Jennings has moved into the group N lead and 6^th overall, Garry saying that he ran out of brakes about 4km from the end of that Lough Melvin stage, reckons he’s left foot braking too hard.  Aaron MacHale led group N after the first stage, but slipped to 2^nd after stage 2.  Aaron commented “We went really well on the first one, the tyres worked well but then they weren’t so good on the 2^nd, its all a compromise”.  Daniel Carlsson in 8^th is on his first Irish rally and he’s trying to figure out which would be the best Pirelli tyre to fit for the conditions, it is all new for him here.  Roy White went well to hold 9^th overall in the FESP Lancer.  While Shaun Gallagher in 10^th still hasn’t settled in totally.  Gareth MacHale is 11^th.  Gareth lost time in stage 1 when he stalled at a hairpin and then in stage 2 he had some brake problems. Noel McCarrick is 12^th in his Impreza WRC. Gordon Coleman is 13^th in a Lancer (his father Billy is OOing in Alan Nesbitt’s Impreza). Eddie Donaghy is 14^th and Seamus Donnelly 15^th.  George Tracey is 16^th in the Peugeot and says be is braking for everything he is so nervous. Sean Devine is 17^th and still having gearbox troubles with his Impreza WRC.

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

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