RALLY NEWS NO.5 Service/Sunday 3.30

UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6 Brogan
1st (2) Charlie Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Corolla WRC) 47.57
2nd (4) Adrian McElvaney/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 48.07
3rd (5) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza WRC) 48.21
4th (6) Glenn Allen/Damien Connolly (Corolla WRC) 48.36
5th (3) Patrick Elliott/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 48.45
6th (8) Michael Barrable/M Morrissey (Focus WRC) 48.51
7th (11) Martin Doherty/Andrew Cullen (Impreza WRC) 49.28
8th (10) Aaron MacHale/Craig Parry (Corolla WRC) 49.41
9th (7) Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Impreza WRC) 49.52
10th (12) Hugh M Doherty/Michael McBride (Impreza WRC) 50.29
(14) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Impreza N12) 50.29
12th (15) Willie Fannin/Mick Courtney (Impreza N12) 50.35

As the breaking news on our last Rallynews indicated Ray Breen lost his lead and indeed any chance of victory when his Focus WRC gave problems through stage 5, and then again through stage 6. In stage 5 the current Dunlop champion’s time loss was around about 30s, but in stage 6 it was well over 2 minutes. Breen’s total now is 51.52. When he eventually reached service Ray told us. “There is something wrong with the engine, don’t know what, but its cutting out completely and then we have to switch all the systems off and wait for a while before starting it up”.

Charlie Donnelly had a good run through stage 5 and was fastest again through stage 6. There was a bit of a worry that Donnelly had too hard a compound tyre, but the rubber seemed to work well as the temperature rose and he had no complaints. Charlie did discover that on the first 3 stages of the day that there was a pin broken on the rear anti roll bar which accounted for some wayward handling with the Corolla.

Adrian McElvaney lost a few seconds when he got caught behind Breen through stage 6 but otherwise had a good run. Niall Maguire also got caught behind the Breen Focus, lost maybe a couple of seconds but overall Niall feels he is going well. Patrick Elliott’s co driver Rory Kennedy said they have lost a lot of their motivation following their stage 5 puncture when Patrick clattered the Subaru over a big rock. Glenn Allen forgot to turn his Corolla differentials on for stage 5 and also has a problem with his Toyota anti roll bar, but through it all not going bad at all.

Kevin Barrett stalled his Subaru at the start of stage 6 and then the car misfired for a while which lost some time. Michael Barrable had a scorcher of a time through stage 5 so all his adjustments to the suspension would appear to be paying off. Michael is mostly stiffening the car which he says seems to suit him and that’s what its all about. Aaron McHale reckons his Corolla lost some power through the twisty bit of stage 6. Martin Doherty has improved to 7th overall so he’s going nicely and Hugh M Doherty is happier with his Impreza WRC, now lying joint 10th.

Alan Ring and Willie Fannin are having a major battle, just seconds separating their 2 Impreza N12s on every stage. Fannin however feels that his new car is down on power and he was getting so frustrated in stage 6 that he clipped a rock and did some damage to the front left guard. Tadgh Linehan spun his Subaru and lost a few seconds, his total now 52.00. Ian Barrett is on 51.53. Gabriel Martin 52.09. PJ McGrath 51.04. As suspected earlier Kevin Kelleher was forced to retire his lancer with turbo trouble.

In the Modified section of the rally Maurice Moffett continues to lead on stage time, 41s up on Enda Keenan and over a minute in front of Trevor Lancashire, but Maurice’s Starlet was in trouble after stage 6 with drive shaft trouble and may have penalties. Looking further afield – Anthony O’halloran leads the Clare Single Stage Rally today after stage 1, his manta 10s ahead of Paul Purtell with Mike Moloney a further 9s back, the latter 2 in Escorts.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net