RALLY NEWS NO.3                 End of stage 2/Saturday 12.45

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 2 Drumclamph

1^st (3) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC) 21.05.7

2^nd (4) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 21.21.0

3^rd (6) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 21.21.5

4^th (7) Peadar Hurson/Damien Connolly (Impreza WRC) 21.30.2

5^th (5) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 21.33.6

6^th (2) Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 21.38.5

7^th (8) Gareth Jones/David Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 21.44.2

8^th (9) Sean Devine/Killian Duffy (Impreza WRC) 22.10.9

9^th (11) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Lance3r N) 22.24.3

10^th (16) Seamus Leonard/Gerry McVeigh (Lancer N) 22.30.7

NEWS COMING IN…Tim McNulty puncture SS3 lost over 2m. Donnelly fastest.

We reported on the last RallyNews that Derek McGarrity was fastest through the first stage but that his Subaru was suffering a slipping clutch. The engineers managed to change the unit and Derek is now running 3^rd on the road and there is a 30s penalty being shown, although of course the times at the minute are provisional. Eugene Donnelly was fastest through stage 2, the Pirelli Tarmac Champion saying at stage finish. “We had a wee spin in the middle of the stage and we have a brake problem, but we’re not going too bad”.  Eugene went on to say that when the mechanics were bleeding the brakes at service a cylinder for the rear brakes semi collapsed and he’s just going to have to live with it for the next 2 stages. Tim McNulty, now up to 2^nd place, was almost 9s slower than Eugene through that 2^nd test. Tim saying that the car spun at a square right beside a house and he had to reverse back a bit to get the job sorted.

Eamonn Boland in 3^rd place reported no problems. While Peadar Hurson in 3^rd said he was a bit cautious. Having said that, Peadar’s cautious and ours are probably 2 different things. The Warrenpoint man was 2^nd fastest through the stage and he’s really going very well indeed. Austin MacHale in 5^th seemed happy enough with his Focus and Derek McGarrity in 6^th said he felt that the car was sliding about a bit, just wasn’t overly happy at the way things are going.

All in all there were no major dramas on that 2^nd stage amongst the top runners, but one big story is that Phillip Morrow and co driver Derek Brannigan retired their new Lancer and did not start the stage. It was discovered after re-fuelling that the boot floor was getting very hot where the exhaust ran underneath, and the bag tank was semi melted, which could have led to a very dangerous situation and they decided to withdraw rather than risk the new car. Garry Jennings was fastest of the group N drivers, but by just a smidgeon from Seamus Leonard.  Most of the other leading group N competitors were 7, 8 and more seconds slower than these 2.  Garry reported his car sliding about a lot and Seamus Leonard almost echoed his words when he appeared. Colm Murphy still has a problem with the car cutting out and Roy White feels he is not driving so well. James Cullen has borrowed a set of pads from Jennings and feels there is no great bite with them. Connor McCloskey set a good time through the 1^st stage, but wasn’t just as quick through the 2^nd, feeling the car is not settling down on the road. But he is still 3^rd gpN and 11^th overall behind Leonard. Paul Harris is 12^th and 4^th GpN. James Cullen 13^th and 5^th GpN.         

More later news…..William Mavitty retired his new Fiesta, possible mechanical problem.

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

Live Results From North East Rally Services