1^st (2) Charlie Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Corolla WRC) 1.17.33

2^nd (3) Patrick Elliott/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 1.18.04

3^rd (6) Aaron MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 1.18.07

4th (133) Adrian McElvaney/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 1.18.52

5^th (5) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza WRC) 1.20.05

6^th (8) Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Impreza WRC) 1.20.46

7^th (9) Martin Doherty/Andrew Cullen (Impreza WRC) 1.20.58

8^th (10) Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Impreza N) 1.22.17

9^th (15) Ian Barrett/Eoin O'Flaherty (Lancer N) 1.22.32

10^th (20) Jack Sleator/Andrew Purcell (Impreza WRC) 1.22.45

11^th (11) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Impreza N) 1.22.56

12^th (22) Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Escort) 1.23.16

Charlie Donnelly & Paddy Toner have led this Cavan Rally from start to finish.  Patrick Elliott pushed hard throughout the day but a mistake on the penultimate stage lifted the pressure on Donnelly. Aaron MacHale was making a huge charge fro the front but his Focus WRC got held up on the last stage when Niall Maguire spun his Subaru to a halt and got jammed between two banks. 

Willie Fannin survived 2 punctures to take group N victory in his new Impreza N12.  Young Ian Barrett drove brilliantly on his first run in the James Foley Lancer Evo 9 to take 2^nd in group N while Alan Ring overcame the time loss of 2 punctures to take 3^rd group N and keep his Dunlop National championship hopes very much alive.

Charlie Donnelly said at the finish here at the Hotel Kilmore. “I really enjoyed the day, they were great working stages, anyone who has driven a Mk2 Escort will know what I mean, it was deadly. The car went 100 per cent, the organisers did a great job”.  Charlie gets maximum points in the Dunlop National championship but local man Patrick Elliott still heads the points table.  Patrick said at the finish. “We made a stupid mistake when we went up an escape road on the penultimate stage. Any chance we had of keeping Charlie under pressure was gone, indeed I was lucky to get 2^nd place at all.  Adrian McElvaney was all smiles at the end when he brought his Subaru in, the Monaghan man saying. “A Great rally and we had a terrific race towards the end with Niall Maguire, swapping seconds, but then he put it off on the final stage”.  Niall said. “It was a 3 right into a square left, the car spun right round and jammed and I told Paul to jump out and run back in case MacHale would run into us. I’m sorry to have held him up”.  For his part Aaron MacHale just shrugged his shoulders and said. “It was a rally accident, obviously a bit disappointed but it was a great day. I think we were 4s ahead of Patrick going into the last stage, but that’s the way it is”.

Kevin Barrett in his own words “got the finger out towards the end” to hold on to 6^th place and keep Martin Doherty at bay. Jack Sleator had another puncture in his Impreza and remained in 9^th. 

In Group N Willie Fannin was delighted with his victory which justified him buying the new Subaru and very much keeps his Dunlop championship hopes alive.  Alan Ring was very much on a damage limitation exercise following his 2 punctures. While young Ian Barrett was just delighted to have got 2^nd group N and a top 10 finish after so many problems earlier in the season. PJ McGrath was 11^th overall and 4^th GpN with his Lancer going into the last stage, but he put the car into a field and retirement.  Young Peter Wilson stopped with him to make sure he was OK which probably cost him at least one place on the leaderboard. Still, Peter had a good run to finish 13^th o/a, Gabriel Martin was 14^th and Tadgh Linehan had yet another puncture on his way to 15^th. Maurice Moffett was 16^th and won class 14 in his Starlet.  As can be seen above Rodney Wilton was 12^th o/a, won class 13 and was best 2 wheel drive. Ollie O’Reilly was 17^th and 2^nd in class. Gordon Rogers 18^th and 3^rd in class. Russell Woods brought his Escort into 19^th and won class 11, while Paul Elliott was 20^th in his Lancer. Finally for now many thanks to Marty Sherlock and well done to him and all the Cavan MC team for running such a good rally.  Our thanks to Alex Coleman, Nikki and Lyn in the rally office and to Noel Clarke and Dougie Hughes. Thanks also to all who helped and supported the Rally News service.   BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net