RALLY NEWS NO.3 Cavan/Service/Sunday 2pm
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Shankill
1st (2) Charlie Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Corolla WRC)
26.11
2nd (3) Patrick Elliott/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC)
26.20
3rd (6) Aaron MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC)
26.23
4th (133) Adrian McElvaney/Paul Goodman (Impreza
WRC) 26.48
5th (5) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza
WRC) 26.53
6th (8) Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Impreza WRC)
27.05
7th (10) Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Impreza N)
27.34
8th (9) Martin Doherty/Andrew Cullen (Impreza WRC)
27.37
9th (11) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Impreza N) 28.05
(15) Ian Barrett/Eoin O'Flaherty (Lancer N) 28.05
11th (141) Peter Wilson/John Kilmurray (Lancer N)
28.07
Charlie Donnelly was fastest through the opening stage,
Aaron MacHale was quickest on the 2nd and then it was
Charlie Donnelly again topping the time sheets on stage 3. When
Charlie arrived in here to service he told us. “Grand so far”. But
somehow he didn’t seem desperately happy and when quizzed a bit
deeper he admitted “Well, there’s a wee thing, something, don’t
quite know what, in the suspension doesn’t seem right”. Rory
Kennedy, co driving for Patrick Elliott, said about their
performance so far. “We’re lacking a bit of bite, but its not too
bad”. Adrian McElvaney said. “We’re picking it up a bit now, the
car’s great since the engine was done, just made a brutally slow
start”.
Niall Maguire reported a massive overshoot at a square left
over crest in stage 2, lost a few seconds. Aaron MacHale had a great
run and said “The car feels OK, going well”. While co driver Paul
Nagle was looking for a drink of water, Paul saying “A lot of notes,
very twisty roads”. Still the pair were happy at having set that
fastest time in stage 2. That is no mean feat on a Dunlop National
Championship round in the heat of the battle. Kevin Barrett made a
real good start to the rally, 4th fastest on stage 1, but
lost some momentum on stage 2 and said that he had several big
moments. Similarly Martin Doherty cooled down a bit when he clipped
a bridge with a front wheel, no real damage but Martin kept waiting
for the tyre to go down, then he had an overshoot over a crest, we
think the same place as Maguire, but Martin said he really enjoyed
stage 3.
Willie Fannin continues to lead group N although he did clip
a rock with his new Impreza on the 2nd stage and then
felt the tyre going down slightly in stage 3. Alan Ring has had a
good run so far, as has young Ian Barrett although he tried to go
the wrong way at a crossroads in stage 2. Peter Wilson found his
tyres going off in stage 2, let some of the pressure out, and found
the car a whole lot better then and set fastest group N time in
stage 3. PJ McGrath is just outside the leading GPN pack on a total
of 28.11, but found his Lancer steering column coming a little loose
on some of the harsh jumps. We reported earlier about Gabriel Martin
having turbo lag problems with his Lancer on stage 1. He was able to
dig down to the bottom of the switch and get it fixed for stage 2.
Maurice Moffett is driving his heart out in his
Starlet, but can’t match Rodney Wilton in his Escort who is
absolutely flying through the stages and is far and away fastest of
the 2 wheel drive cars. Gordon Rogers has had several spins in his
Escort. Trevor Lancashire had an overshoot at a square left corner
and went into a field in his Escort in stage 2, lost some time but
no damage. Tadgh Linehan, running No.158 in his Impreza, has had
several overshoots at junctions and joked that there is not enough
road for him! Russell Woods, Escort No.28, got caught out in
pouring rain in stage 1 and lost quite a bit of time. Manus Kelly
spun his Corolla backwards down stage 2 and gave himself quite a
fright. More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
fwww.rallynews.net
