RALLY NEWS NO.8
Service/Saturday 10.30 am
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 Cark Mountain
1st
(10) Kevin Lynch/Allan Harryman (Impreza WRC) 47.55.9
2nd
(6) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Lancer WRC) 48.06.2
3rd
(1) Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 48.09.3
4th
(5) Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 48.17.0
5th
(19) Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy (Lancer WRC) 48.17.7
6th
(11) Gareth Jones/David Moynihan (Impreza WRC) 48.29.1
7th
(9) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 48.59.2
8th
(12) Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 49.00.5
9th
(8) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 49.01.8
10th
(7) Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 49.14.6
11th (2)
Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr (Focus WRC) 49.21.0
12th
(17) Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 49.32.4
Rally
leader Kevin Lynch was quite a few seconds off the pace in stage 8,
Kevin telling us at the end of the stage that his Subaru had gearbox
troubles in the stage and 2nd and 3rd cogs seemed to have gone
missing. Kevin has of course held on to the lead but the Stan
Harper mechanics will need to put in some sharp work at service to
get the Impreza back on song. Andrew Nesbitt has moved from an
overnight 7th to 2nd place, Andrew saying
“We’re keeping it nice and tidy everything is working well including
the Pirelli tyres. We haven’t broken sweat yet, I’m just driving
comfortably, normally at this point on the Saturday I’d be
perspiring, but the water bottle is still full”. Gareth MacHale in
3rd recounted a big moment on that Cark Mountain stage
when his Focus WRC slithered sideways on shiny tar and careered down
the grass verge, fortunately without hitting anything.
Tim McNulty
had been 2nd overnight but slipped back to 12th
after a puncture in stage 7 and has now moved up to 10th
with a good time in stage 8, McNulty saying “The horns came out
after the puncture”. Gareth Jones was 3rd and has now
moved back to 6th, firstly getting held up behind McNulty
and then just not going well in stage 8. Co driver David Moynihan
said. “The rhythm just went”. Derek McGarrity is keeping it neat
and tidy with no problems. Eamonn Boland had a clear run through
stage 8 having lost the time in stage 7 when he stalled the car.
Colin McRae lost maybe 10s in stage 8 when he caught Matthew Wilson,
Colin said that he caught Matthew just coming out of the fast
section into the chicane and there was no way past the struggling
Focus, which had a punctured front left tyre. Ironically Matthew had
clipped a stone in the previous stage. The tyre had not deflated but
he had put on a good spare just as a precaution and it was this
spare that went down just over a mile into the stage.
Eugene
Donnelly had a good run through stage 8 although there is a question
mark over a couple of the stage times for that particular test.
Eugene said it was wet and slippy and suited him quite well.
However he is so far back it is really mission impossible now for
the Tarmac Champion, his total 54.22.4. Fastest through stage 8 was
Mark Higgins, although just how he is doing it is a bit of a
mystery, Mark is very unhappy with the car and was nearly off the
road twice, saying the brake pedal goes half way down before
anything happens, and then the back brakes lock up. Austin MacHale
was held up slightly in stage 8 behind Wilson’s incident. Paul
Harris’s Corolla suffered a broken rear shaft in stage 8, the
Letterkenny man kept his brain in gear and still set a good time
without damaging the car. Denis Biggerstaff had a spin in that
stage.
Shaun
Gallagher continues to lead group N. Letterkenny man Shaun made a
good tyre choice for this morning and extended his group N lead. He
told us that he is getting the lend of a rear differential from
David Greer, as the one he has in his car has no pre-lead. He
reckons this weekend is a good warm up for the Jim Clark event in
this new car. Garry Jennings picked totally the wrong tyre and
dropped time but still holds 2nd group N. Michael Curran
has dropped out of 3rd his Lancer stuck in a ditch in
stage 8. Roy White has had a good run this morning and he’s 3rd
gpN. Frank Wray/Joe McNulty put their Lancer off on a square right
in stage 8, lost 2 minutes and dropped down the order.
In the
National part of the rally Colin McRae leads by quite a margin from
Enda Keenan who is having a big battle with Phil Collins. Collins
said “We’re steady away, Keenan’s the man”. Behind Collins Damien
Gallagher is having a huge battle with Camillus Bradley for 4th
and 5th place plus their own class. Bradley had all sorts
of engine problems before the start but is going well now. Finally
for now, just a reminder that Modern Tyre Service is hosting a major
autograph signing session with many of the top drivers present,
including we hope McRae, at the Pirelli unit beside the t Errigal
hotel tonight at 8.30. More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
**FOR LIVE
SMS RESULTS: Irish mobiles text RALLY ITC to 53503: UK mobiles text
RALLY ITC to 60066. Cost 30c/25p
