RALLY NEWS NO.5 Service/Saturday
3.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6
GORTAHURK
1st (2) Charlie Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Fabia WRC)
32.42.1
2nd (3) Glenn Allen/Damien Connolly (Corolla
WRC) 32.59.9
3rd (5) Raymond Johnston/Richard Bell (Impreza
WRC) 33.11.5
4th (35) Wesley Patterson/Joe Friel (Escort)
34.21.3
5th (10) Richard Hogg/Mark Hanna (Lancer N)
34.55.3
6th (28) Charlie Beatty/Camillus Murray (Lancer
N) 34.57.4
7th (14) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla
WRC) 35.09.3
8th (23) Rodney McKnight/Seamus Donnelly
(Lancer N) 35.10.9
9th (20) Alistair Cochrane/Pam Norris (Escort)
35.25.8
(24) Paul McKenna/David Crossan (Lancer N) 35.25.8
With 2 stages remaining Charlie Donnelly has a 17s
advantage over Glenn Allen with Raymond Johnston 12s behind
Fermanagh man Johnston. For Charlie it is a matter now of trying
to win his home rally, while for Glenn Allen and Raymond Johnston
its not just the runner up spot at stage but also points in the NI
Championship. Donnelly commented here at service. “we had an
overshoot in stage 5, I was being very aggressive with the car,
testing it, trying it, trying to find the limit, but I think
really its probably faster to keep it smooth”. Glenn Allen said.
“It’s a lot better now, we’ve had a right cut over the last couple
of stages but I don’t want to put the car over the edge”. Raymond
Johnston said. “We’ve adjusted the Proflex suspension, a couple of
notches, it has helped the car a lot, I’m quite happy”. Raymond’s
co driver Richard Bell wasn’t quite so happy however, as for the
first time ever he’s being sick in a rally car.
Wesley Patterson is turning in a stunning performance in
his Mark 2 Escort to hold 4th overall while Richard
Hogg leads group N and is 5th overall. Richard saying.
“These are great stages”. Although he is many minutes behind in
the overall leaderboard Johnny McKenna is now having a great dice
with Hogg, Johnny saying his earlier gearbox problems seem to have
disappeared. Martin Elliott is just outside the leaderboard,
Martin having a bit of an off day because along with his turbo
problems he picked the wrong tyre for this loop of stages, went on
an RE thinking it would rain. Liam McCarthy moved up the
leaderboard over the last couple of stages, Liam discovering that
his Corolla front diff was locked and it was giving the car some
horrible handling characteristics.
Stephen Kelly overshot in stage 5 and dropped a little
time. Errol Clarke dropped out of the leaderboard when he put his
Subaru up a bank in stage 5 and also incurred a puncture. Kieran
Graffin lost about 10s in stage 5 when he got a square right
junction wrong after missing a gear. Rodney White is just outside
the leaderboard in his Sunbeam, saying his only problem was
Alistair Cochrane in front. James Cassidy and Adrian Johnston in
the Donnelly G3 Escort are having a great day despite a misfire
for a couple of stages. Callum Guy is speeding up now, his time
for stage 6 just a few seconds down on Cochrane and Rodney White.
Stanley Ballantine spun his Lancer twice and is just outside the
leaderboard. While Greg McCormick continues to have gear problems
and now has a misfire. Howard Clarke’s Lancer was off the road
for a minute in stage 3.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON
www.rallynews.net
