UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Gortree

1^st (10) Kevin Lynch/Allan Harryman (Impreza WRC) 18.05.1

2^nd (4) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC) 18.09.6

3^rd (7) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 18.13.5

4^th (5) Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 18.15.7

5^th (8) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 18.17.4

6^th (11) Gareth Jones/David Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 18.18.7

7^th (1) Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 18.25.5

8^th (6) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Lancer WRC) 18.32.8

9^th (9) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 18.35.9

10^th (12) Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 18.38.1

Car No.3 Colin McRae/Nicky Grist (Metro 6R4) 18.22.5:  (Equivalent to 7^th o/a in international)

We have shown Colin McRae’s time above outside the leaderboard for the International as Colin is in fact competing in the National part of the rally.  Colin commented when the car came in here to service that everything was going well but it was hot work in there.  Incidentally Modern Tyres are having an autograph signing session tomorrow evening (Saturday) at the Pirelli unit in the Mt Errigal Hotel car park at 8.30pm and most of the top drivers have promised to be there including Colin & Nicky.

Looking at today’s action Eugene Donnelly said here at service “We’re not going bananas but its still a good pace. In fairness on the second stage I thought I was going well but a couple of times I lifted off when really I shouldn’t have”.  Rally leader Kevin Lynch is hoping to get his gear change trouble all sorted here at service and Kevin admitted he was going hard, patting his heart to indicate a few tricky moments.  Tim McNulty in 3^rd is right on the pace of the 2 in front and there is so little in it its just the blink of an eye.  Similarly with Derek McGarrity, although he did admit to being too timid with the brakes on his Subaru in stage 2.  Gareth MacHale said “The brake pedal is still soft, you push it half way down before it bites, it’s a bit exciting and doesn’t do the heart a lot of good”.  Gareth went on to say he could have made a better tyre choice but then most of the top drivers were saying the same thing. The ones on slick tyres felt they should have been on intermediates and the ones on intermediates felt they should have been on slicks! Interestingly Eugene Donnelly said his car and his tyres were working perfectly, no complaints.

Matthew Wilson said he felt a bit more comfortable in his Focus through stages 2 and 3 once he had got the diff settings corrected and Matthew was another to say he wasn’t happy with his tyres, that he felt he had picked too hard a compound. Andrew Nesbitt said he was settling in to his Lancer on stage 3, getting more used to the suspension set up and indeed it was reflected in stage time which was just a few seconds off fastest. Although Andrew is 8^th at the moment this could be just a warm up for the meat of the rally at Knockalla tomorrow when it could be a whole different story. Andrew’s team mate Mark Higgins was nowhere near as happy, his co driver Rory Kennedy saying “The car is just not working, its scary. It was perfect last night when we tested it”.   When we looked to Mark for an answer to this he shrugged his shoulders and said. “I just don’t understand it. Perhaps its just the change in the conditions”.   Austin MacHale had got over his first stage brake troubles and he was well on the pace through stage 3 saying it was a “fifty fifty” choice on tyres, he had gone for slicks and it wasn’t a mile away. Paul Harris is settling in to his Corolla WRC but had an overshoot on the last square right in stage 3, otherwise going quite well and although he feels he picked the wrong tyres as well he just made the best of it. Kevin Barrett would appear to have some gearbox troubles and there is also some smoke appearing inside his Impreza WRC through the stages. Patrick Elliott has been going well but was slightly slower through 3 and doesn’t really know why.

In Group N Shaun Gallagher turned in a good time through stage 3, Shaun is not happy with the handling of his Lancer. Garry Jennings had a good run in 3 but still has brake troubles. Willie Fannin has speeded up.  Seamus Leonard was approximately 5^th fastest, 2 ahead of Roy White. James Cullen is struggling a little with an intercom that is not working properly. Michael Curran says his tyres aren’t even marked after 3 stages which leads him to think something is not quite right. Car 58 Danny & Rory McBride retired their Subaru after SS2 with a mechanical problem. Eugene Meegan/Paul McGee had a spin in stage 3 with their Cleo otherwise going well and provisionally leading their class. More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net

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