RALLY NEWS NO.3
St Angelo Service/Saturday 10am
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD
AFTER STAGE 2 Tyrone
1st (4) Gareth
MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 28.01.9
2nd (7) Eamonn
Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 28.38.8
3rd (5) Eugene
Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Corolla WRC) 28.40.3
4th (6) Kenny
McKinstry/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 29.05.8
5th (2) Chris
Atkinson/Glenn Macneall (Impreza N) 29.18.2
6th (9) Ray
Breen/Andrew Purcell (Focus WRC) 29.45.7
7th (25) Michael
Curran/Fabian McShane (Lancer N) 29.47.6
8th (11) Patrick
Elliott/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 30.04.1
9th (17) Aaron
MacHale/Ger McMonagle (Corolla WRC) 30.44.9
10th (21) Garry
Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 30.46.7
There was a major upset to the
leaderboard in stage 2 when the No.1 seed Daniel Carlsson’s Lancer
sustained a front left hand puncture costing over 3 minutes. The
Swedish pair, Daniel and his co driver Bo, made the decision to stop
and change the wheel as they were only half way through the 27.4km
stage. They had been in 2nd place but this episode
relegated them to 16th.
Gareth MacHale had been
fastest on the first stage of the rally to lead, but dropped a
couple of seconds to Eugene Donnelly on the 2nd stage,
Gareth saying that he stalled the Focus WRC on the start line of the
stage. This 05 Focus runs a different launch control system to the
03 car which just caught Gareth out. He also reported a big moment
on a right hander over a crest just before the final junction,
saying that there was quite a kick in it. Otherwise he’s happy to
keep a fast pace and just hold position – at the front!
Eugene Donnelly will have
something to say about that of course, Eugene fastest through stage
2 and a lot more comfortable with his Corolla on that one. The
roads were smoother and more flowing, Eugene saying it was much more
like Galway where the car was set up just perfectly. The Tarmac
Champion went on to say. “I’ll get the boys to soften the suspension
here, I can’t tweak it myself between stages, there are 3 knobs on
the struts and one I need, the only way to get at it is to take the
wheel off. It was disappointing to lose so much time earlier on,
Paul said at the end of the stage ‘you were terrible in there, just
s..t’. After the 2nd stage he said ‘that was very good’.
I think I made a mistake as well with the boost, I had it on No.3,
too aggressive”.
Further stories include: Kenny
McKinstry was fairly cautious in the 2nd stage. He had
lots of ice patches added to his notes and some of them had cleared
and some hadn’t. He wasn’t prepared to take any chances.
Chris Atkinson continues to
lead Group N and he said that he picked a medium compound Pirelli
for stage 2 and he really needed a soft compound which was what
other people were running. He was also trying a few different things
with the suspension. Michael Curran holds 2nd GpN and he
had a big moment at the end of that 2nd stage when his
Lancer kicked sideways, a rear wheel slithering down the ditch.
Michael commented. “Otherwise OK, we’re on a good pace”. Garry
Jennings wasn’t so happy, his new Lancer having all sorts of
transmission troubles, and although he made it into service in 10th
overall Garry will be lucky if he can continue. Roy White has
retired his FESP Lancer with a sheared prop shaft. Mark Hamilton
lost some time when his Lancer suffered a rear wheel puncture
halfway through the first stage. John McGlaughlin says he has no
confidence at all in his new Evo 9 he was more comfortable in his
Evo 7, but at least he is clocking up miles for the Circuit of
Ireland. John is 12th overall, just behind Shaun
Gallagher. Letterkenny man Sean feels his Lancer has a slightly
slipping clutch. Emma McKinstry is going well this morning, says the
car is 100 percent, enjoyed the 2nd stage and is 18th
overall.
Although he is listed in the
results under the super rally system Noel McCarrick’s Subaru has not
tackled a stage at all – the car stopped on a road section on the
way to stage 1 when a prop shaft sheared. Strange…but true! Noel
is listed at 22nd overall. Also strange but true….Billy
Coleman is driving the 00 Subaru and had Secretary of State Peter
Hain on board for stages 1 and 2 but ran out of fuel on stage 2 and
Peter Hain returned to the service park in a helicopter.
More news later. BRIAN &
LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
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