1^st  (2) Derek McGarrity/Diarmuid Falvey (Impreza WRC) 1.39.17.0

2^nd (1) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC) 1.40.00.8

3^rd (4) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 1.42.03.6

4^th (12) Rory Galligan/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 1.43.15.5

5^th (11) Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy (Impreza N) 1.43.18.4

6^th (15) Ryan Champion/Craig Thorley (Lancer N) 1.43.42.2

7^th (16) Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Ignis) 1.43.57.5

8^th (21) Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Lancer N) 1.44.52.0

9^th (24) Colm Murphy/Ger Loughrey (Impreza N) 1.44.59.8

10^th (30) Stuart Jones/Craig Parry (Lancer N) 1.45.41.1  

This Jim Clark Rally may be coming into its final stages but the top drivers are still flat out with just a second here and there between their stage times. Derek McGarrity was fastest on stage 14 and stage 16, Eugene Donnelly was fastest through 15 and always Eamonn Boland is just 1 or 2 seconds away.  Further back in the rally drivers in trouble include Jonny Milner whose Lancer appeared here at service with collapsed rear suspension which has knocked Jonny out of the top 10. Phillip Morrow's Lancer hit the bridge at Langton,  Phillip got the car to the end of the stage and was working like mad trying to fix it but has not appeared here as yet. David Higgins retired his Lancer with mechanical problems on that loop. Dorian Rees was delayed by a 3 minute puncture and William Stobart has crashed his Focus WRC at the end of the Eccles stage. Brian O'Mahony's Puma stopped at the end of Blackadder with a mechanical problem.  Unconfirmed reports are coming in that Shaun Gallagher who was running under Super Rally rules has crashed his Lancer.

Eugene Donnelly is still first on the road despite lying 2^nd at the moment so his Corolla was the first car to come sliding into the service area straight off the finish line of the Little Swinton stage. Eugene commented "Going OK but we can't do anything with Derek in front".  Paul Kiely was suffering somewhat from a cricked neck sustained over the Swinton crossroads jump.  Interestingly Derek McGarrity's co driver Diarmuid Falvey was also suffering having bitten his tongue over the same jump.  Derek joked when he said "There's a couple of jumps in there might need a caution!"  Eamonn Boland reported no problems and looked very composed but he is fully aware that with the 2m gap to the car in front there is little he can do now to move up the leaderboard.  John Cope is running further back in his Impreza WRC and is now enjoying the stages, having lost a mountain of time last night with electrical ECU troubles.

Just over 2 seconds now separate Rory Galligan and Mark Higgins at the front of the group N category. Rory saying "The Eccles stage wasn't so good for us but we had a good run then, I thought Mark would have been sharper on some of these stages which have been used in previous years".  When this was mentioned to Mark he said. "That doesn't really apply, the way the stages are run".  Ryan Champion in 3^rd group N place said. "We can take the odd bit out of Mark and Rory but its too big a gap now, we'll go for 3^rd, it's a bit frustrating to have lost time with the spins last night".  Seamus Leonard is now up into 4^th group N having got ahead of Colm Murphy. Leonard reported a massive moment over the jump crossroads in Swinton.  Colm Murphy broke his Impreza sump guard and was forced to slow down a little. 

Jonny Milner had a puncture at the start of that stage 16, stopped to change it and then the suspension just collapsed over the big jump, so Jonny wasn't a happy man when his lancer been crabbing into service. Stuart Jones changed the diff mapping again on his Lancer but reckoned it was going backwards so put it back again the way it was and his times have improved somewhat.  Roy White is still struggling with a down on power engine. Neil McCance has got his clutch fixed and is going well. David Wright has now moved well up the top 20 and he survived a big moment when he took the crossroads flat out in his Subaru Impreza.

Guy Wilks is well in control of the Super 1600 category, reckons he can't do anything about the guys in front and said "These group N cars are getting stronger!" 

In the Fiesta Sporting Trophy Simon Hughes and Claire Mole led by 7.3 seconds from George Thomas with Owen Murphy a further 6.9 s behind. Jonny Wigmore is 4^th and going hard, Gordon Coleman 5^th having broken an anti roll bar earlier on. Ian Brown hit a deer in stage 1. 

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

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