RALLY NEWS NO.5
Clonakilty Service/Saturday 4.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6
1st (3) Liam
McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Impreza WRC) 46.37.4
2nd (4) Denis
Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 46.38.6
3rd (8) Steve
Fleck/Mark Aspinall (Impreza WRC) 47.25.1
4th (12) Tony
Davies/Jakes Kelly (Impreza WRC) 47.35.0
5th (24) Ashley
Field/Janice Hooley (Darrian) 47.44.5
6th (11) John
Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 48.04.3
7th (7) Bob
Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Impreza WRC) 48.06.8
8th (6) JJ
Fleming/Robbie Ward (Focus WRC) 48.16.9
9th (10) Phil
Collins/Derek Brannigan (Escort) 48.45.1
10th (9) Nigel
Hicklin/Sam McMullan (Octavia WRC) 48.46.2
The race between the leading
two, Liam McCarthy and Denis Cronin, is intense. They are swapping
seconds on every stage, with McCarthy just having the edge through
stages 5 and 6, and that is despite Liam’s engine not being
exactly right. His Subaru arrived in here to service with the oil
and coolant temperature screaming off the top of the gauges,
lights flashing on the dash. Hopefully the McKinstry mechanics
can sort the job out before Liam goes out to the tackle the final
2 stages of this first day. Denis Cronin reports his car to be
running well, but he wasn’t particularly happy at the end of stage
6, some sort of delay or misunderstanding at the stage start
upsetting both Denis and co-driver Helen. No doubt it is a
temporary hiccup.
Donal O’Donovan was lying a
very solid 3rd after stage 4, but his Celica has ground
to a halt with some sort of transmission problems.
We mentioned earlier that
there is a disputed time with Steve Fleck, he is either 3rd
or 8th! In the meantime Steve is going very nicely
indeed. Tony Davies was back in 10th after the first
stage, and now he is up to 4th, with some hard charge
driving. He was 3rd fastest through both stages 5 and
6, and hopes he will be even quicker second time over the stages.
Ashley Field remains 5th, Ashley a lot happier now that
his Darrian front suspension has been sorted out following an
earlier contretemps with a ditch.
John Dalton rounds off the
top 6 in his Darrian, John making no impression really on the car
in front, but certainly keeping Phil Collins well at bay.
Further stories include – JJ
Fleming’s Focus WRC having some intercom problems. Nigel Hicklin
has been playing about with the diff settings on his Octavia WRC,
and feels he is making progress all the time. His co driver Sam
McMullan reports that his damaged ribs are sore but bearable.
In Group N James O’Sullivan
continues to lead, just outside the top 10 on a total of 48.48.3,
but the 023 Tiles man told us that his Lancer engine is not in the
best stage of health, using a lot of water and he feels it won’t
go much further. Mark Morgan is 2nd GpN at the moment,
having a smooth run. Mark’s total is 49.38.8, Group N newcomer
Kevin Kelleher is now flying and on a total of 49.51.1. Kevin
O’Donoghue is on 50.23.0. Gabriel Martin 50.30.4. O’Donoghue has
had a broken gearbox mounting on his Lancer for 2 stages. Gabriel
Martin was slightly delayed in stage 5. PJ McGrath survived a
stage 5 overshoot and his GpN Impreza is now on a total of
50.00.0. John Hickey is on 51.12.5 in his gpN Impreza and reckons
he will have to get a bigger wallet to get all the whistles and
bells into the car, including a dog box.
Gwyndaf Evans is just outside the
leader board in his Mik2 Escort on a total of 49.30.8, Gwyndaf
hasn’t done a rally since this time last year, and says he is
really starting to wake up now. Peter Lloyd continues to have a
smooth run in his Impreza and is on 50.30.4. George Thaw was
finding his Impreza brakes glazing over, has changed them, and is
a lot happier, his total 50.03.2. Leonard Downey clattered his
Escort into a ditch at the end of stage 4, bent the steering rack,
has it replaced and is going well again. Finally for now, at
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff Wales are leading 16-6 coming up to
half time. More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
